Schumann's Virtuosity: Criticism, Composition, and Performance in Nineteenth-Century Germany by Alexander Stefaniak (review)

In his recent book, Alexander Stefaniak chose an unlikely topic, explicitly stated in the first part of the title, Schumann's Virtuosity. Robert Schumann's life and works have been considered from many perspectives, ranging from the relationship between his literary sensibility and his compositional style (John Daverio, Robert Schumann: Herald of a 'New Poetic Age' [New York: Oxford University Press, 1997]), to the influence of Beethovenian counterpoint on Schumann's compositions (Christopher Reynolds, Wagner, Schumann, and the Lessons of Beethoven's Ninth [Oakland: University of California Press, 2015]), to Schumann's output in relation to culture (Larry R. Todd, ed., Schumann and His World [Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1994]). Yet aside from a chapter on Schumann's improvisational practice (Dana Gooley, "Schumann and Agencies of Improvisation," in Rethinking Schumann, ed. Roe-Min Kok and Laura Turnbridge [New York: Oxford University Press, 2011], 129–56), Schumann's virtuosity has received minimal scholarly attention.

In his book, Stefaniak seeks to complexify the commonly held conception of Schumann as an antivirtuoso polemicist, claiming that his distaste for frivolity and showmanship was only part of Schumann's attitudes about virtuosity. Through close readings of Schumann's criticisms and analyses of selected compositions, Stefaniak makes a case for Schumann's support of serious virtuosity: "The rhetoric in his and his critics' reviews did not signal a wholesale rejection of postclassical virtuosity or the aesthetic of pleasure; instead, they attempted to describe the sound and the cultural status of specific showpieces and performances (partly by contrasting them with more accessible virtuosity)" (p. 126).

Organized largely chronologically, the book also contains two main sections. The first focuses on critical discourse about virtuosity, and the second on Schumann's notions of virtuosity in relation to the work concept. In addition, six chapters each examine a different aspect of Schumann's views about virtuosity. As the author explains:

Chapter 1 explores Schumann's critique of the pleasures that such showpieces provided. Chapter 2 analyzes his concept of the "poetic," and chapter 3 traces his involvement with amateur music-making and salons that cultivated "poetic" virtuosity. Chapter 4 shows how Schumann attempted to channel the sublime in virtuosity. … Chapter 5 examines how Schumann navigated a tension that nineteenth-century writers perceived between the spectacle of virtuosity and the aesthetics of the musical work. Chapter 6 follows Robert's collaborations with Clara and Joachim, two virtuosos whose interpretations of canonic repertoire gained them reputations as "priests" of high art.

(p. 11)

The epilogue draws connections between Schumann's views about virtuosity and those held by certain virtuosos today.

In the first part of the book, Stefaniak provides close readings of music criticism to reveal how Schumann, like others of his time, argued against overt displays of showmanship, even if he also encouraged virtuosity that inspired deep contemplation. For instance, in a review of the violinist Antonio Bazzini, Schumann contributed to negative discourse about virtuosity in general—especially in relation to showy pyrotechnics or artifice without musical substance: "For, all things considered, the newer virtuosity has contributed but little to the benefit of art" (Schumann as quoted in Stefaniak, p. 1). On the other hand, he praised Bazzini's virtuosity when it was transcendent—that is, able to transport listeners from the everyday to the realm of music: "Sometimes when he played, it seemed that he came from the land of song—not a land that lies here or there, but that land from which everything unknown eternally beckons" (p. 2). This transcendent virtuosity could be characterized by either "interiority/the poetic" or "sublimity." Although—as Stefaniak argues—"poetic virtuosity" cannot be reduced to any particular set of characteristics, it frequently takes the form of exquisite tone and voicing that enables nuanced lines to reach a listener's inner senses and uncover deep musical truths. He maintains that Clara...