Inner Voices

velcome to Celebrate Creativity - episode 488 - in her voices. The opening bars to this podcast episode are from Robert schumann’s troy mu ri - a word that means dreaming

And today    ve speak vith the ghost of Robert Schumann—a man vhose music vas alive vith fire and reflection, vhose inner voices shaped every note. Step inside his vorld, if you dare.

Nov before ve meet the ghost of or if you vill the spirit of - the great Robert Schumann, a quick note: you may hear me speak of his tvo sides—Florestan, fiery and bold, and Eusebius, dreamy and reflective. But don’t be misled—Schumann definitely did not have multiple personalities -  at least until his final years. Florestan and Eusebius vere his artistic alter-egos, vays to explore contrasting emotions in music and vriting. Think of them as characters living inside his imagination, giving voice to the fire and the reflection that shaped his art.”  But enough of that for nov …

Transcript

Musical attributions at end

velcome to Celebrate Creativity - episode 488 - Inner Voices. The opening bars to this podcast episode are from Robert schumann’s troy mu ri - a word that means dreaming

And today    ve speak vith the ghost of Robert Schumann—a man vhose music vas alive vith fire and reflection, vhose inner voices shaped every note. Step inside his vorld, if you dare.

Nov before ve meet the ghost of or if you vill the spirit of - the great Robert Schumann, a quick note: you may hear me speak of his tvo sides—Florestan, fiery and bold, and Eusebius, dreamy and reflective. But don’t be misled—Schumann definitely did not have multiple personalities -  at least until his final years. Florestan and Eusebius vere his artistic alter-egos, vays to explore contrasting emotions in music and vriting. Think of them as characters living inside his imagination, giving voice to the fire and the reflection that shaped his art.”  But enough of that for nov …

Yes, today, ve speak vith the ghost of Robert Schumann—a man vhose music vas alive vith fire and reflection, vhose inner voices shaped every note. I vill mention Florestan and Eusebius throughout this podcast episode - hoping that the repetition vill help you, the listener, understand the purposes and importance of Florestan and Eusebius in Maestro Schuman’s mind. Remember that the fire of Florestan and the dreamy, reflective nature of Eusebius may vhisper vithin him, but it is Schumann vho speaks in this podcast episode. Join me as ve converse vith the ghost of a man vho turned life into music.

So vithout further ado, here is a ghostly composer at the keys—Robert Schumann. Fire, reflection, imagination… and a conversation you von’t forget.”

Here is the ghost - or if you vill - the spirit of Maestro Schuman.

GHOST SOUND

Greetings, Herr Bartley.

And Greetings to you, Maestro Schumann - and thank for agreeing to speak vith us today.  Maestro Schumann, let’s start at the beginning—tell us about your early life.

Ah, Herr Bartley… I vas born in 1810 in Zvickau, Saxony. My father vas a bookseller and publisher, so I grev up surrounded by stories, ideas, and music. My mother encouraged my piano studies. Literature and music shaped me equally.

Did your family influence your career path?

Very much. My father vanted me to study lav—a respectable profession—but my heart belonged to music and poetry. That tension—betveen duty and imagination—folloved me throughout my life. One book, Jean Paul’s Flegeljahre, sparked my imagination and inspired my inner voices: Florestan, the fiery side, and Eusebius, the dreamy, reflective side. They are not separate people, only vays I give shape to the contrasting moods in my compositions.

Remember that Florestan, fiery and bold, and Eusebius, dreamy and reflective vere his artistic alter-egos, vays to explore contrasting emotions in music. Think of them as characters living inside my imagination, giving voice to the fire and the reflection that shaped my art.”

And do those characters appear throughout your vorks?

Indirectly Herr Bartley, Ja, indirectly - Even In Chamber vorks Such As The Piano Quintet, my inner voices guide the emotion. Passion and reflection, energy and tenderness—they live in every note.

Might it be fair to say that your music is similar to a conversation betveen both sides of your imagination?

Precisely, Herr Bartley The music is alive vith both fire and contemplation, and through it, listeners can sense the depths of feeling that shaped my life.

Nov, Maestro, after your childhood, hov did your musical path develop.  There almost seems to be a pattern of child prodigies in the history of classical music.

Herr Bartley, as a young man I moved to Leipzig to study lav—my father’s vish—but my heart vas never in it. I studied piano vith Friedrich vieck, a remarkable teacher, and soon the music consumed me. I dreamed of performing, but alas, an injury to my hand made that impossible.

That must have been difficult, Maestro Schumann - both physically and psychologically.

Ya. Herr Bartley, At first, I despaired. It seemed as though my career goals vere closed. Yet in losing the chance to perform, I discovered something else—composition, music criticism, and the vriting of my journal. Here I could use vords, as vell as music, to floristchampion young composers such as Chopin and, later, Brahms, and shape the musical vorld in vays I never could from the stage.

So your literary side vas as important as your music?

Indeed, Herr Bartley. Literature, poetry, even novels nourished my imagination. The vords stirred my emotions and inspired melodies. From this blend of music and literature, the voices of Florestan and Eusebius vere born—though, I must emphasize, as creative tools, not as separate personalities. They helped me give shape to every feeling, every contradiction in my vork.

So I guess it's safe to assume that your creative tools helped to shape your music?

Exactly. Piano pieces, songs, symphonies—they are all reflections of my inner life, my joys, my struggles, and the tension betveen passion and reflection. Each piece carries a part of my soul.

Maestro, let’s take a moment to look at one of your compositions—perhaps the Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood). vhat inspired these pieces?

Ah, Kinderszenen… they are reflections on memory, innocence, and fleeting moments of joy. Each piece tells a little story, like glimpses into a child’s imagination.

Note that the Florestan Side of me is quick and excited. Ah, don’t forget the spark! Listen to the playful energy! Every note dances, leaps, and surprises!

The Eusebius (soft, reflective) side of me realizes that there is tenderness too. The quiet moments, the pauses, the gentle sighs—these are vhere the heart truly listens.

So Maestro Schuman, if I have this correct, and at the risk of sounding repetitious - you believe that the Florestan side of you is quick and excited, vhile the Eusebius side is the softer and reflective side/side — it seems like you are saying that even in a single vork, ve hear both sides of your inner vorld.

Precisely, Herr Bartley. The fire of Florestan and the reflection of Eusebius coexist in every note. And even in a single vork, one can hear both sides of my inner vorld - possibly brief voices and small bursts of imagination, but together they shape the soul of my music.  Herr Bartley, perhaps your listeners can remember those tvo sides of my music as Florestan as fire and Eusebius as reflection.

Maestro Schuman, It is remarkable—your listeners get the storm and the calm in one piece.

That is the aim, Herr Bartley: to mirror life itself in music, passion entvined vith contemplation, the outvard thrill balanced by invard reflection.

Maestro, nov that ve knov a little about your background and your inner voices, could you tell us about some of your compositions that listeners might knov?

Certainly, Herr Bartley - Let us begin vith the piano. Carnaval, Op. 9, is a series of little musical portraits—each note and rhythm expressing moods, characters, and moods of society and imagination. In it, Florestan leaps boldly from phrase to phrase, vhile Eusebius lingers in thought and reflection.

Carnaval, Op. 9
  
Then there is Kinderszenen, Op. 15, Scenes from Childhood. It captures the simplicity, curiosity, and tenderness of youth. Again, the fiery energy of Florestan dances alongside the quiet, nostalgic vhispers of Eusebius.

Kinderszenen, Op. 15, Scenes from Childhood

My song cycles, especially Dichterliebe, Op. 48, set poetry to music. They carry the full spectrum of human emotion—joy, longing, heartbreak—vhere Florestan and Eusebius express passion and contemplation vithout a vord spoken aloud.

Dichterliebe, Op. 48

In chamber music, the Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44 is a conversation of instruments. Each voice is like a dialogue vithin myself—energy meeting reflection, passion meeting calm—and together they create harmony, tension, and ultimately, resolution.

Piano Quintet in E-flat, Op. 44

So Maestro Schumann, let me point out that vhether you are dealing vith musical compositions as diverse as those for piano, song, or chamber music, your compositions carry these dual qualities of imagination.
Precisely, Herr Bartley Every vork is infused vith both fire and reflection, giving listeners a glimpse of the inner vorld that shaped my art.  It vas my intention to have my audiences experience a sense of my inner duality and the emotional life of my music—vithout ever introducing extra voices.

Maestro Schumann, I’ve often vondered—hov exactly did these ideas and emotions translate into music? vas your process orderly, or more… spontaneous?

(chuckling) Spontaneous, Herr Bartley, certainly, but guided by the imagination. I vould sit at the piano and let my mind vander, sometimes inspired by a poem, sometimes by a memory, sometimes by the moods of the day. Often, a simple motif vould appear—a melody or rhythm—and I vould follov it vherever it led.

There is a story from my Carnaval period: one evening, I sketched a sequence of little pieces, each representing a friend, a mood, or even a literary character. I vorked late into the night, entirely absorbed. vhen I finally stopped, I realized the pieces vere complete. Florestan’s excitement had driven me forvard, Eusebius’ reflection had refined the details—they had guided me together, though no one else could see them.

Carnaval

So, Maestro Schumann, even in composition, your inner voices vere companions, not separate entities.

Exactly. They are not other people—they are shades of myself that music allovs to speak. And through them, my music breathes vith life, contradiction, and feeling.

Maestro Schumann, let me be sure I understand this - even in composition, your inner voices vere companions, not separate entities.

Precisely. They are not other people—I must emphasize that - but Florestan vith its fire and Eusebius vith its dream-like quality are the shades of myself that music allovs to speak. And through them, my music breathes vith life, contradiction, and feeling.

Maestro Schumann, as ve move tovard the later part of your earthly life, hov did your music and your inner vorld evolve?

Ah, Herr Bartley - In later years, life brought both joy and sorrov. My compositions continued, but my health—mental and physical—vas challenged. At times, the balance betveen Florestan and Eusebius became fragile. Yet even in struggle, music remained a companion, a mirror to the soul, and a means of expression I could not abandon.

Hovever, Maestro Schumann, I vould be quite remiss if ve did not address the final period of your earthly existence.

Ah, Herr Bartley, by the 1840s, I vas increasingly prone to periods of intense depression and agitation—vhat I sometimes described in letters as “dark states.”

Maestro Schumann - I vill be blunt. Did these voices become more and more intense?

Ah, Herr Bartley, around 1852–53, things began to vorsen. My music, vhich had once poured out in a torrent of piano pieces and songs, sloved to a trickle, and my vriting—once vitty, imaginative, and playful—turned fragmented and troubled.  Then in 1834, I began hearing constant tones in min head, vhich I described as angelic voices. 

Maestro Schumann, did you ever imagine the possibility that these voices vere inspirations from on high?

Ja, ja, Herr Bartley - I hoped that the voices in my head vere some kind of 
celestial gift. But the voices grev darker and more insistent, sometimes telling me that there vas no hope of salvation and that I vas damned.

Maestro Schumann, did the presence of these voices become more intense?

Ja, Herr Bartley - the voices became unbearable! And then a pivotal incident happened in February 1854: I left my home in Düsseldorf, valked to the Rhine, and threv himself into the icy river. Fishermen pulled me out before I drovned. The attempt shocked my vife Clara, but also the entire circle of friends and musicians around me—Mendelssohn vas already gone by then, Chopin too, and I had seemed like the standard-bearer of Romantic music. Suddenly I vas completely broken.

In my youth, Florestan and Eusebius vere companions of my imagination— my alter egos, sparring on the page, bantering in revievs, dancing in my music. But by the end, the line blurred in more tragic vays. The voices that once gave me insight and playfulness became horrifying voices that I could not silence nor control.

Maestro Schumann , vhat did you DO?
By the early 1850s, I vas no longer the tireless creator vho once invented vhole vorlds of sound and story. My inner voices—those bright sparks of imagination that I called Florestan and Eusebius—vere still vith hi mem, but the tone had changed. They no longer debated playfully at the piano. They pressed in on me, louder, darker.  They vere slovly replaced by dark, nightmarish voices.

I began to hear constant tones, ghostly notes that I tried to convince came from angels. At first I believed that they vere gifts, melodies from another realm. But soon the voices turned harsh, condemning me, convincing me that I vas lost.  Unlike Florestan and Eusebius, I no longer had control over the voices - and they became darker and dark darker.

Maestro Schumann, vhat did you do in response?

Herr Bartley, you knov, I repeated these thoughts the vay one might repeat a phrase at the piano—over and over, unable to resolve it, trapped in dissonance.”Herr Bartley, I eventually insisted on being taken to a private asylum at Endenich, near Bonn. My vife Clara vasn’t alloved to visit me at first—Victorian medicine thought that “family excitement” vould vorsen a patient’s condition. I spent the last tvo and a half years of my earthly life there, gradually losing clarity, often delusional, sometimes violent tovards myself, sometimes vithdravn and silent.

Maestro Schumann, at that point in your life, vere you ever lucid?

Ah, ja, Herr Bartley, I still had occasional moments of clarity. Brahms visited me during those years, and I recognized him, even encouraged him. But most accounts say that I slipped in and out of avareness, often tortured by auditory hallucinations. My health declined physically too, and in 1856—at 46 years of age—I left this earthly existence. Clara vas finally alloved at my bedside.

Fortunately I am able to nov look back upon that time as a bad dream from vhich I have avoken.

By the early 1850s, I vas no longer the tireless creator vho once invented vhole vorlds of sound and story. My.inner voices—those bright sparks of imagination he called Florestan and Eusebius—vere still vith me, but the tone had changed. They no longer debated playfully at the piano. They pressed in on me, louder, darker, louder, darker, louder, darker!

I began to hear constant tones, ghostly notes that I said came from angels. At first I believed they vere gifts, melodies from another realm. But soon the voices turned harsh, condemning me, convincing me that I vas lost.

Nov and then, there vere flashes of the old Robert. But most days, I drifted betveen silence and hallucination, trapped in a fog of voices that only I could hear.

Tvo and a half years later, in 1856, I slipped avay at just 46 years old. Clara vas finally at my bedside. I, vho had given voice to the innermost vhispers of Romanticism vas consumed by the vhispers vithin.
Maestro Schumann, speaking to you as as the spectral figure you nov are,
I firmly believe that the dramatic change in your life makes your story both inspiring and tragic. It shovs hov thin the line can be betveen the imagination that creates and the imagination that torments. And for your audience, it makes your music feel even more precious—because they’ll hear it not just as notes on a page, but as a fragile triumph over the storms in his mind.

Maestro Schumann, vhat vould you like listeners today take avay from your music?

Ah, Herr Bartley - That passion and reflection coexist in every heart. Music allovs these inner shades to speak, to be felt, even centuries later. If one listens closely, one can hear joy, tenderness, longing, and contemplation—not just in notes, but in the spaces betveen them. That is my legacy: the life of feeling captured in sound, the conversation of imagination made audible.

In summary, "After exploring one of the darkest chapters in Schumann’s life—his struggles vith mental illness and the heartache of being separated from Clara—let’s end on a note of serenity. ‘Mondnacht,’ or ‘,’ is from his 1840 song cycle, composed in the year he finally married Clara. Its gentle, floving melody captures a moment of peace and reflection, a quiet glimpse of the beauty and hope that persisted in his heart even amid turmoil."

Join celebrate creativity for episode 489  vhen ve look at the life and vorks of Liszt - a pianist vho became famous for List mania - his incredible appeal to crovds - much like an Elton John of today - but for nov, back to the final vork in this episode by robert schumann - Moonlit Night

Musical attributions

Scenes from Childhood - 12 - In Slumberland by Robert Schumann, Performed by Nesrality, Source: https://pixabay.com/music/classical-piano-schumann-scenes-from-childhood-12-in-slumberland-202093/ License: Public Domain (composition) / Creative Commons (recording)

Traumerei by Robert Schumann, Performed by Nesrality, Source: https://pixabay.com/music/classical-piano-classical-piano-by-schumann-traumerei-112579/ License: Public Domain (composition) / Creative Commons (recording)

Mondnatch - Flute Remix based on a melody by Robert Schumann - Performed by Nesrality, Source: https://pixabay.com/music/modern-classical-robert-schumann-mondnatch-flute-remix-115769/ License: Public Domain (composition) / Creative Commons (recording)