Editing Robert Schumann (section)

===1850s===
[[File:Schumann-photo1850.jpg|thumb|upright|Schumann in an 1850 [[daguerreotype]]|alt=early photograph of a middle-aged white man, clean shaven, seated, leaning on the hand of his right arm, of which the elbow is on the adjacent table]]
''Genoveva'', a four-act opera based on the medieval legend of [[Genevieve of Brabant]], was premiered in Leipzig, conducted by the composer, in June 1850. There were two further performances immediately afterwards, but the piece was not the success Schumann had been hoping for. In a 2005 study of the composer, Eric Frederick Jensen attributes this to Schumann's operatic style: "not tuneful and simplistic enough for the majority, not 'progressive' enough for the [[Richard Wagner|Wagnerians]]".<ref>Jensen, p. 235</ref> [[Franz Liszt]], who was in the first-night audience, revived ''Genoveva'' at [[Weimar]] in 1855 – the only other production of the opera in Schumann's lifetime.<ref>Jensen, pp. 316–317</ref> Since then, according to ''[[The Complete Opera Book|Kobbé's Opera Book]]'', despite occasional revivals ''Genoveva'' has remained "far from even the edge of the repertory".<ref>Harewood, pp. 718–719</ref>

With a large family to support, Schumann sought financial security and with the support of his wife he accepted a post as director of music at [[Düsseldorf]] in April 1850. Hall comments that in retrospect it can be seen that Schumann was fundamentally unsuited for the post. In Hall's view, Schumann's diffidence in social situations, allied to mental instability, "ensured that initially warm relations with local musicians gradually deteriorated to the point where his removal became a necessity in 1853".<ref name=hall1127>Hall, p. 1127</ref> During 1850 Schumann composed two substantial late works – the [[Symphony No. 3 (Schumann)|Third (''Rhenish'') Symphony]] and the [[Cello Concerto (Schumann)|Cello Concerto]].<ref name=chron4>Perrey, Chronology, p. xvii</ref> He continued to compose prolifically, and reworked some of his earlier works, including the D minor symphony from 1841, published as his [[Symphony No. 4 (Schumann)|Fourth Symphony]] (1851), and the 1835 ''Symphonic Studies'' (1852).<ref name=chron4/>

In 1853 the twenty-year-old [[Johannes Brahms]] called on Schumann with a letter of introduction from a mutual friend, the violinist [[Joseph Joachim]]. Brahms had recently written the first of his three piano sonatas,{{refn|The work was published as Brahms's [[Piano Sonata No. 2 (Brahms)|Second Piano Sonata]] although it was composed before the other two.<ref>Jensen, p. 271</ref>|group=n}} and played it to Schumann, who rushed excitedly out of the room and came back leading his wife by the hand, saying "Now, my dear Clara, you will hear such music as you never heard before; and you, young man, play the work from the beginning".<ref>Walker, p. 110</ref> Schumann was so impressed that he wrote an article – his last – for the {{lang|de|Neue Zeitschrift für Musik}} titled "{{lang|de|Neue Bahnen|italic=no}}" (New Paths), extolling Brahms as a musician who was destined "to give expression to his times in ideal fashion".<ref>Schumann, pp. 252–254</ref>

Hall writes that Brahms proved "a personal tower of strength to Clara during the difficult days ahead": in early 1854 Schumann's health deteriorated drastically. On 27 February he attempted suicide by throwing himself into the [[Rhine|River Rhine]].<ref name=hall1127/> He was rescued by fishermen, and at his own request he was admitted to a private sanatorium at [[Endenich]], near [[Bonn]], on 4 March. He remained there for more than two years, gradually deteriorating, with intermittent intervals of lucidity during which he wrote and received letters and sometimes essayed some composition.<ref name=g788>Daverio and Sams, pp. 788–789</ref> The director of the sanatorium held that direct contact between patients and relatives was likely to distress all concerned and reduce the chances of recovery. Friends, including Brahms and Joachim, were permitted to visit Schumann, but Clara did not see her husband until nearly two and a half years into his confinement, and only two days before his death.<ref name=g788/> Schumann died at the sanatorium aged 46 on 29 July 1856, the cause of death being recorded as [[pneumonia]].<ref>Daverio, p. 568</ref>{{refn|As with the hand ailment earlier in his life, Schumann's decline and death have been the subject of much conjecture. One theory is that tertiary [[syphilis]], long dormant, was the cause, and the official certification as death from pneumonia was intended to spare Clara's feelings. This view is given varying degrees of credence by [[Joan Chissell]], [[Alan Walker (musicologist)|Alan Walker]], [[John Daverio]] and Tim Dowley,<ref>Chissell, p. 77</ref><ref>Walker, p. 117</ref><ref>Daverio, p. 484</ref><ref>Dowley, p. 117</ref> and is not endorsed by Eric Frederick Jensen, [[Martin Geck]] and Ugo Rauchfleisch, who regard the evidence for syphilis as unconvincing.<ref>Jensen, p. 329</ref><ref>Geck, p. 251</ref><ref>Rauchfleisch, pp. 164–170</ref> Another theory is an atrophy of the brain, linked to congenital [[bipolar disorder]]: in a 2010 symposium [[John C. Tibbetts]] quotes the psychiatrist Peter F. Ostwald: "Did the man have diabetes, did he have liver disease? We don't know. Did he have an infection? Did he have tuberculosis? We don't know. These conditions could be remedied today. We could take X-rays of the chest, we could do a test for syphilis, we could treat those conditions with antibiotics. A bipolar affective disorder is eminently treatable today".<ref>Tibbetts, pp. 388–389</ref>|group=n}}