LETTERS OF ROBERT SCHUMANN

The subjoined are a series of letters by Robert Schumann, written between 1835 and 1844, to Herr Anton von Zuccalmaglio, one of the most devoted contributors of the ‘Neue Zeitschrift für Musik,’ living at that time in the house of Prince Gortschakoff, at Warsaw. The MSS. are in my possession, and have been published in the ‘Academy.’ They afford valuable material for the great composer's life and literary career and will gain in interest if read in connection with the biographical facts related in the third chapter. For this reason it has been thought desirable to rescue them from the comparative obscurity in the columns of a journal. As to their literary merits, it must be confessed that, compared to the letters of Mendelssohn, they seem deficient in expression and void of those lively touches which have made the latter almost as popular as their author's compositions. But it ought to be borne in mind that Schumann's reserved nature was wont to discover its higher aims and deeper feelings rarely, and only to those nearest to him.

[Dictated.]

“Leipzig, 11th August 1835.

“Dear Sir,—It was not till some weeks ago that we received your MSS., and are delighted to find that our young institution [the ‘Neue Zeitschriffc’] has found an echo in the far North.

“The letter you contributed is a capital parody of certain epistles in German newspapers. Tour Wedel, the village sexton, is an excellent idea, and admirably adapted for our journal. Both the papers will shortly be printed.