Schumann, Robert

expressing his regret at not having been able to see him during his visit last summer, noting his wife had intended to play him her first trio, informing him that before he had heard of his wish to see his symphony he had wanted to send it to him to obtain his opinion on it, DISCUSSING THE GENESIS OF THE SYMPHONY, explaining that it was written towards the end of winter 1841 when he was in the throes of a longing for spring, observing that it was not his intention to depict such feelings, but admitting that the time of year no doubt will have influenced the work's composition, stating that he will not find the work easy, but not too difficult either; in a remarkable, extended passage, Schumann points out and discusses hard passages in the symphony, furnishes his discussion with two musical examples, notes that the slow movement poses no difficulties, and discusses in detail the problems posed by the scherzo, especially by its coda, which he describes as the most difficult in the symphony, and asks for his understanding if it doesn't come off straight away; in the closing part of the letter, Schumann observes that when he compares his [Spohr's] last symphony, which he read yesterday with true exaltation, with others, he realizes just how much is still to be done

...Ich schrieb die Symphonie zu Ende Winters 1841, wenn ich es sagen darf, in jenem Frühlingsdrang, der den Menschen wohl bis in das höchste Alter hinauf und in jedem Jahre von Neuem überfällt. Schildern, malen wollte ich nicht; daß aber eben die Zeit, in der die Symphonie entstand, auf ihre Gestaltung und daß sie gerade so geworden, wie sie ist, eingewirkt hat, glaube ich wohl... 



4 pages, 4to (26.8 x 21.2cm), Leipzig, 23 November 1842, light dust-staining and spotting along folds, splitting along folds repaired 

Only around half of the letter is published in Jansen (1904), pp. 222-223.

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate
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A SUPERB, AND APPARENTLY ONLY PARTLY PUBLISHED, LETTER FROM SCHUMANN TO HIS FELLOW COMPOSER LOUIS SPOHR.

Inspired by a spring poem by Adolf Böttger, Schumann's Symphony no.1 was composed in its outlines in four sleepless days in January 1841, and its orchestration completed by late February. It received its successful first performance on 31 March 1841 at the Leipzig Gewandhaus with Mendelssohn conducting - an event Schumann counted among the most significant of his artistic life.

The most remarkable part of this letter concerns Schumann's discussion of the weaknesses, as he saw them, of his symphony, a work which occupies a position halfway between absolute and programme music. Referring to specific page- and bar-numbers, Schumann draws Spohr's attention to several passages which have given him grounds for concern, asking in touching fashion for understanding from his celebrated contemporary.