Interview about the Schumann Violin Concerto

The Violin Concerto in D minor by Robert Schumann saw a tough path. In the series #akkordarbeit of the online magazine niusic, Antje Weithaas campaigns for this work since she thinks that “Schumann is still not sufficiently understood and appreciated. Unfortunately, he does not always occupy the place he deserves in concert life. And then, of course, I want to take up the cudgles for this beautiful violin concerto. There are so many crude theories about this work that it is always necessary to talk about it.”

She talks about the different movements, the “un-violin-ness” of this concerto (“not a single work by Schumann is violinistic! If you look at the great composers, they never wrote for the instrument. They always used the instrument to make their ideas audible. I think it’s our goddamn duty and responsibility to make this possible – no matter how hard it is. This is our job”. ) and how to make this work sound authentic. You can read the entire interview on niusic.

> read the interview with a lot of musical examples (in German)