Mendelssohn & Schuman - The Progressive and the Universal in Musical Romanticism
Thursdays, September 20–November 8, 10 am–12:30 pm
Graham School of Continuing Studies
The University of Chicago
When Friedrich Schlegel dubbed romantic poetry the “progressive, universal poetry,” his words were equally applicable to romantic music. In the post-Napoleonic age, new thinkers in all creative fields threw off the shackles of the past and forged common ground. In this heady atmosphere, Mendelssohn and Schumann laid the foundation for modern music through formal innovation, poetic and literary association, and a fantastical sense of the irrational and the subconscious. Then, rethinking the implications of their youthful radicalism, they sought to reassert classicism in their maturity (such as Mendelssohn’s Bach revival). Contemporaries such as Liszt, Berlioz, Chopin, and Weber will also be discussed.
Register Online
$310 Early registration
$340 Regular registration (after September 4)
Teacher Recertification CPDUs: 20
Syllabus
Week 1: The Mendelssohn Family
- Judaism and Protestantism
- Moses Mendelssohn
- Mendelssohn the prodigy
- Felix and Fanny
- Octet Op. 20
Week 2: Schumann: His Youth and Education
- Papillon, Op. 2
- Davids Buendlertanzen Op. 6
- Other early piano works
Week 3: Mendelssohn
- Midsummer Night’s Dream overture
- String Quartets Op. 12-13
- Early songs
Week 4: Schumann: Early Travails
- Courtship and marriage to Clara Wieck
- Friedrich Wieck’s intransigence
- Fantasy Op. 17
- The song cycles
Week 5: Mendelssohn’s Symphonies and Overtures
- Symphony Nr. 1, 1824
- Symphony Nr. 2, “Lobegesang”, 1840
- Symphony Nr. 3, “Scottish”, 1842
- Symphony Nr. 4, “Italian” 1833
- Symphony Nr. 5, “Reformation”, 1830
Week 6: Schumann: The Master, the Amateur and the Poet
- Symphony No. 1 in B flat, “Spring”, (1841)
- Symphony No. 2 in C (1845-46)
- Symphony No. 3 in E flat, “Rhenish” (1850)
- Symphony No. 4 in D minor
(1841; revised in 1851) - Schumann’s criticism: Neu Zeitschrift fuer Musik
Week 7: Mendelssohn’s Oratoria
- St. Paul & Elijah
Week 8: The Tragedy of Schumann’s Mental Illness
- His final years
Recommended Readings and Performances
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