" He adds that his father, while composing,
actually saw his bride in his mind's eye, and heard her sing his
melodies, and accordingly as this imaginary vocalist nodded approval
or shook her head, he was led to retain or reject certain musical
ideas.
Schumann's letters contain a superabundance of evidence showing how
love suggested to him immortal musical thoughts. "I have discovered,"
he writes to his bride, "that nothing transports the imagination so
readily as expectation and longing for something, as was again the
case during the last few days, when I was awaiting a letter from you,
and meanwhile composed whole volumes--strange, curious, solemn
things--how you will open your eyes when you play them. Indeed, I am
at present so full of musical ideas that I often feel as if I should
explode." This was in 1838, two years before his marriage. "Schumann
himself admits," as Professor Spitta remarks, "that his compositions
for the piano written during the period of his courtship reveal much
of his personal experiences and feelings, and his creative work of
1840 is of a very striking character.
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