Schumann's genius as a composer is well known; perhaps less well known is the fact that he was also a gifted music critic who wrote hundreds of perceptive essays, articles, and reviews for the Neue Zeitschrift fur Müsik, the influential music journal he founded in 1834.The present work, translated and edited by noted critic Henry Pleasants, contains 61 of the most important critical pieces Schumann wrote for Neue Zeitschrift between 1834 and 1844. The articles are arranged in chronological order, with ample annotation, demonstrating not only Schumann's development as a writer and critic but also the evolution of music in Europe during a decisive decade.In addition to such major set pieces as "Florestan's Shrovetide Oration," the essays on Berlioz's Symphonie Fantastique and Schubert's Symphony in C Major, and the imaginative and literate "The Editor's Ball," this volume offers discerning observations on Mendelssohn, Chopin, Beethoven, Liszt, Cherubini, and other giants. Also included are critical considerations of an ensemble of minor masters: Sphor, Hiller, Moscheles, Hummel, and Gade, among others. The result is a rich and representative picture of musical life in the mid-19th century.Schumann's criticism has long been famous for its perceptiveness and literary style. Those qualities are in ample evidence in this treasury of his finest critical writings, now available to every music lover in this inexpensive, high-quality edition.

Introduction Preface An Opus 2 (1831) Henri Vieuxtemps and Louis Lacombe (1834) Theodor Stein (1834) J. N. Hummel: Etudes, Opus 125 (1834)New Year's Editorial (1835) Florestan's Shrovetide Oration (1835) Ferdinand Hiller: Etudes, Opus 15 (1835) Joseph Christoph Kessler From the Davidsbiindler Archives Sonata in C minor by Handley Two Sonatas by Carl LoeweGrand Sonata by Wilhelm Taubert Grand Sonata by Ludwig SchunkeLouis Spohr's 'Weihe der Tone' (1835) Christian Gottlieb Miiller: Symphony No.3 (1835) Some New Piano Sonatas (1835) Carl Loewe's 'Spring' Sonata 'Spring' Sonata by Count von Pocei Sonata by Franz Lachner 'Fury over the Lost Penny' (1835) Characteristics of the Keys (1835) Letters from a (Music-) Lover (1835) Berlioz' Sinfonie Fantastique (1835) Piano Sonatas by Mendelssohn and Schubert (1835) A Monument to Beethoven (1836) The Prize Symphony (1836) Theodor Dohler: Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1836) John Field: Piano Concerto No.7 (1836) Ignaz Moscheles: Piano Concertos Nos. 5 and 6 (1836) Henri Herz: Piano Concerto No.2 (1836) Chopin's Piano Concertos (1836) William Sterndale Bennett (1837)The Museum (1837) Adolf Henselt's Variations for Piano, Opus 1 Stephen Heller: Three Impromptus, Opus 7 Clara Wieck: Soirees for Piano, Opus 6 Felix Mendelssohn: Preludes and Fugues, Opus 35 Frederic Chopin: Etudes, Opus 25 The Editor's Ball (1837) The Old Captain (1837) 'The Huguenots' (1837) Schubert's Grand Duo and Three Last Sonatas (1838) Luigi Cherubini: String Quartet No. I in E flat (1838)Piano Concertos (1839) Gottfried Preyer's Symphony (1839) Felix Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No.2 (1839) Friedrich Kalkbrenner: Etudes, Opus 145 (1839) Liszt's Etudes (1839) Franz Liszt: Concerts in Dresden and Leipzig (1840) Schubert's Symphony in C (1840) The Municipal and Communal Musical Society of the City of Kyritz (1840) Chopin's Sonata (1841) Sigismond Thalberg (1841) Alexander Dreyschock: Grand Fantasy (1841)Chopin: Nocturnes, Ballade, Waltz (1841) Mendelssohn's 'Scottish' Symphony (1842) Louis Spohr: Sixth and Seventh Symphonies (1843) Rudolph Willmers (1843) Robert Franz (1843) Niels Gade (1843) 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' (1843) Robert Schumaml: Concerto without Orchestra (1843) New Paths (1853) Index