Robert Schumann: Herald of a 'New Poetic Age'  

The author, John Daverio has published works on a number of composers and he writes comprehensively showing much research about the life of Schumann who has been portrayed by many as a tragic figure who was forced to abandon his career as a concert pianist because of a self inflicted hand injury and ended his life in a mental institution.Daverio argues that Schumann's whole life was guided by the desire to fill his music with the intellectual substance of literature and a closer look at his literary activities reveals this sensibility.The book describes Schumann's life set against the social and cultural history of the time and gives us a fascinating analysis of his works.