“The World of Robert Schumann”

The World of Robert Schumann

“The World of Robert Schumann” is an original scheme for combining instruction about a great musician with enjoyment of his music. It was planned with knowledge and judgment and executed with skill. Easily adaptable as to scale, it should be a model for academic and domestic use.”
— Jacques Barzun

Key to the conceptual evolution of the series was Jacques Barzun, the eminent humanist and educator. I found him in his offices at Scribner’s publishers in New York City. With his advice and encouragement, I began to hammer out the prevailing metaphor of the series, the quintessential image of the Romantic duality—a man on horseback. This image unites the guiding intelligence of the brain (the rider) yoked to the primary creative impulse of the primordial instinct (the horse). It has proven to be an effective aural motif throughout the series; and the hoofbeats of horse and rider can be heard many times throughout these programs, contextualizing and recontextualizing the rhythms and currents of Schumann’s age.
— John C. Tibbetts, Background of the Series

See also John C. Tibbetts