Kreisleriana

And so if anything, [laughs] when I look back at this role of anxiety and performance anxiety and, you know, how it shapes who we are and maybe determines who might or might not be a professional musician, I think you can still benefit from it.

Because whenever I'm super stressed, I just think of, "Oh, would I rather do this or go on a stage and perform Schumann's Kreisleriana again?" I would choose this [laughs] at any time point, and I think those are good things to have.

So those playing an instrument, which you kind of hinted earlier, it's hard, and I think I've heard from some of my friends who would say, "Okay, so when my child is like they need to play the piano, and there comes this part, they're really like, 'Oh, I don't want to do this.'" You know, they just want to go do seven other things.

But what I'm telling them is that when they become uncomfortable, it means that they're learning, and it means that this is exactly what the brain needs.

End of Part Two Part Three of Robert Schumann, Tone Poet, Prophet, and Critic by Herbert F. Pieser This LibriVox recording is in the public domain.

The period through which we have passed witnessed the birth of many of Schumann's greatest piano compositions, the Davidsbündlertänze, the Carnaval, the F-sharp minor Sonata, the Kinderszenen, the Symphonic Studies, the Kreisleriana, the C major Fantasie, the Fantasiestücke, things which along with others scarcely less great were to become what might be called daily bread of pianists.

His circle of musical friends was steadily widening.

Those he esteemed most highly, perhaps, were Mendelssohn and Chopin.