In this post, we’ll read Robert Schumann quotes, who was a renowned German composer.
Robert Schumann (1810-1856) was an influential music critic and one of the most significant figures of the Romantic era in music.
He started piano lessons at a young age and composed his first pieces by the age of seven. He later injured his hand and couldn’t pursue his dream of becoming a concert pianist so he focused on composing instead.
He composed several piano pieces, lieders, chamber music and four symphonies.
He later founded the “Neue Zeitschrift für Musik” (New Journal for Music) in 1834 and became an influential music critic, championing the works of composers such as Chopin and Brahms. He married his wife who was a virtuoso pianist and composer and played a significant role in promoting his music and was an important source of support and inspiration for him. They had eight children together.
Let’s read some of the best Robert Schumann quotes on music, art and more.
Inspirational Robert Schumann Quotes
1. “The principal mark of genius is not perfection, but originality.”
2. “Talent works, genius creates.
3. “We shouldn’t repeat the same for ages on end, but look into the new as well.”
4. “Only when the form grows clear to you, will the spirit become so too.”
5. “Play always as if in the presence of a master.”
6. “Remember, there are more people in the world than yourself. Be modest! You have not yet invented nor thought anything which others have not thought or invented before. And should you really have done so, consider it a gift of heaven which you are to share with others.”
7. “Perhaps only a Genius can truly understand Genius.”
8. “A fiery, good beginner always stands higher than a master in mediocrity.”
9. “My heart pounds sickeningly and I turn pale… I often feel as if I were dead… I seem to be losing my mind.”
10. “My indifference to money and my spendthrift ways are disgraceful. You have no idea how reckless I am; how often I practically throw money out of the window. I am always making good resolutions, but the next minute I forget and give the waiter eightpence.”
11. “By means of industry and perseverance you will rise higher and higher.”
12. “Let your intimate friends be chosen from such as are better informed than yourself.”
13. “Nature best teaches how to pray, and how to reverence all the gifts the Almighty has given us. She is like a vast outspread handkerchief, embroidered with God’s eternal name, on which we may dry alike our tears of sorrow and of joy; she turns weeping into ecstasy, and fills our hearts with speechless, quiet reverence and resignation.”
Robert Schumann Quotes on Art
1. “Nothing right can be accomplished in art without enthusiasm.”
2. “I feel so entirely in my element with a full orchestra; even if my mortal enemies were marshalled before me, I could lead them, master them, surround them, or repulse them.”
3. “Art was not created as a way to riches. Strive to become a true artist; all else will take care of itself.”
4. “Think it a vile habit to alter works of good composers, to omit parts of them, or to insert new-fashioned ornaments. This is the greatest insult you can offer to Art.”
5. “If all would play first violin, we could not obtain an orchestra. Therefore esteem every musician in his place.”
6. “You write to become immortal, or because the piano happens to be open, or you’ve looked into a pair of beautiful eyes.”
7. “Endeavour to play easy pieces well and with elegance; that is better than to play difficult pieces badly.”
Robert Schumann Quotes on Life
1. “I am so fresh in soul and spirit that life gushes and bubbles around me in a thousand springs.”
2. “The poet sees better than other mortals. I do not see things as they are, but according to my own subjective impression, and this makes life easier and simpler.”
3. “Thus it is ever in life. The aims we once pursued no longer satisfy us; we aim, we strive, we aspire, until sight fails, and mind and body find rest in the grave.”
4. “Look deeply into life, and study it as diligently as the other arts and sciences.”
5. “My whole life has been a struggle between Poetry and Prose, or call it Music and Law.”
Robert Schumann Quotes on Artist
1. “To send light into the darkness of men’s hearts – such is the duty of the artist.”
2. “Can that which has cost the artist days, weeks, months and even years of reflection be understood in a flash by a dilettante?”
3. “An evil fate has deprived me of the full use of my right hand, so that I am not able to play my compositions as I feel them. The trouble with my hand is that certain fingers have become so weak, probably through writing and playing too much at one time, that I can hardly use them.”
4. “When you play, never mind who listens to you.”
5. “You will be most readily cured of vanity or presumption by studying the history of music, and by hearing the master pieces which have been produced at different periods.
6. “You should neither play bad compositions, nor, unless compelled, listen to them.
7. “You write to become immortal, or because the piano happens to be open, or you’ve looked into a pair of beautiful eyes.”
8. “That first concept is always the most naturally and best. The mind errs, the emotion never.”
9. “In order to compose, all you need to do is remember a tune that nobody else has thought of.”
10. “It is the curse of talent that, although it labors with greater steadiness and perseverance than genius, it does not reach its goal, while genius already on the summit of the ideal, gazes laughingly about.”
11. “We have learned to express the more delicate nuances of feeling by penetrating more deeply into the mysteries of harmony.”
12. “I sometimes lack confidence in public, although I am proud enough inwardly”
13. “If we were all determined to play the first violin we should never have an ensemble. Therefore, respect every musician in his proper place.”
Robert Schumann Quotes on Music
1. “To compose is to remember music that has never been written.”
2. “My symphonies would have reached Opus 100 if I had but written them down… Sometimes I am so full of music, and so overflowing with melody, that I find it simply impossible to write down anything.”
3. “If we were all determined to play the first violin we should never have an ensemble. therefore, respect every musician in his proper place.”
4. “The flame that is naturally clear always gives the most light and heat. If I could blend my talent for poetry and music into one, the light would burn still clearer, and I might go far.
5. “We may be sure that a genius like Mozart, were he born today, would write concertos like Chopin and not like Mozart.”
6. “Music owes as much to Bach as religion to its founder.”
7. “If, while at the piano, you attempt to form little melodies, that is very well; but if they come into your mind of themselves, when you are not practising, you may be still more pleased; for the internal organ of music is then roused in you. The fingers must do what the head desires; not the contrary.”
8. “For me, music is always the language which permits one to converse with the Beyond.”
9. “The flame that is naturally clear always gives the most light and heat. If I could blend my talent for poetry and music into one, the light would burn still clearer, and I might go far.”
10. “Believe me, were I ever to accomplish anything, it would be in music, which has always attracted me; and, without overestimating myself, I am conscious of possessing a certain creative faculty.”
11. “To poetry belongs the golden, decisive word. Other arts have accepted nature herself as arbiter, from whom they have borrowed their forms. Music is the orphan whose father and mother no one can determine, and it may well be that precisely in this mystery lies the source of its beauty.”
12. “If we were all determined to play the first violin we should never have an ensemble. therefore, respect every musician in his proper place.”
13. “Believe me, were I ever to accomplish anything, it would be in music, which has always attracted me; and, without overestimating myself, I am conscious of possessing a certain creative faculty.”
These Robert Schumann quotes reflect his passion for music as his music is celebrated for its lyrical beauty, emotional intensity, and innovative use of harmony and structure.
Schumann struggled with mental health issues throughout his life as he experienced periods of severe depression and psychotic episodes. In 1854, he attempted suicide by jumping into the Rhine River and was admitted to a mental asylum in Endenich, where he spent the last two years of his life. He died on July 29, 1856, at the age of 46.
Despite his tragic life, he remains as one of the most beloved and frequently performed composers in the classical music repertoire.
Which of these Robert Schumann quotes left an impact on you?
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