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Donald Macleod looks at Schumann’s need for the respect of his peers, and the need for a notoriously shy man to do some networking.

The 1840s was the decade when Robert and Clara Schumann’s married life began, and was the decade in which he established himself as a significant composer.

Artistic respect from his peers was important to Robert. He was embedded into the music scene of Leipzig thanks to his editorship of a music journal, but he didn’t feel he had the recognition as a composer that his music warranted. In this episode, Donald Macleod discovers whether this notoriously shy man could change that decisively with a series of major orchestral works, and some networking?

Fantasiestücke, Op. 88
II. Humoreske
Gordan Nikolitch, violin
Christophe Coin, cello
Eric Le Sage, piano

String Quartet No. 3 in A Major, Op. 41, No. 3
IV. Finale: Allegro molto vivace
Modigliani Quartet

Overture, Scherzo and Finale, Op. 52
Dresden Staatskapelle
Wolfgang Sawallisch, conductor

Symphony No. 4 in D Minor, Op. 120 (revised version, 1851)
I. Ziemlich langsam – Lebhaft
II. Romanze: Ziemlich langsam
Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra
Herbert von Karajan, conductor

Produced by Iain Chambers