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BBC Radio 3 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced Third Programme.

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Composer of the Week

Music: Classical

An informative guide to composers' lives and their music.

An informative and accessible guide to composers' lives and their music.

Composer of the Week: Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Composer of the Week: Robert Schumann (1810-1856): Episode 1: A Law unto Himself

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Factual: Arts, Culture & the Media

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Episode 1

Episode 1: A Law unto Himself

A Law unto Himself

BBC Radio 3 - Composer of the Week, Robert Schumann (1810-1856), A Law unto Himself

Donald focuses on Schumann's formative years and discovers his career doubts.

Donald focuses on Schumann's formative years and discovers how as a young man he couldn't make up his mind whether to become a lawyer, writer, pianist or composer.

Born 200 years ago on 8th June 1810 in provincial Saxony, Robert Schumann's story is about as Romantic with a capital R as it gets - dead at 46, a love life worthy of the opera stage, his final years incarcerated in a mental asylum.

The young Robert Schumann showed promise as a pianist, had great talent as a literary writer and critic, and composed sparkling often perplexing music. Yet, hand in hand with these qualities was a gaucheness that made Schumann misunderstood. For much of his life he was fought over by opposing factions - his parents over his vocation, his father-in-law and bride-to-be over his marriage, critics and performers undecided about his music and skills as a conductor. 

Donald Macleod sources the fascinating first-hand account of a man who knew Schumann well, his first biographer Wilhelm Von Wasielewski. Schumann's better-known pieces such as 'Carnaval' and 'Liederkreis Op.24' join company with rarely heard works including the astonishing oratorio 'Paradise and the Peri'. The ideal introduction to Schumann or a chance to re-evaluate a great composer in this his bicentennary year. 

Donald Macleod in 'A Law unto Himself' unravels Schumann's formative years and discovers how as a young man he couldn't make up his mind whether to become a lawyer, writer, pianist or composer.

Live music and the arts: broadcasts more live music than any other radio network. Classical music is its core. Genres include world and new music, jazz, speech and drama.

Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Romantic composer Robert Schumann

Donald Macleod explores the life and work of Robert Schumann. He uses the fascinating first-hand account of a man who knew the Romantic composer well - his first biographer Wilhelm von Wasielewski

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Composer of the Week

Robert Schumann (1810-1856)

Episode 1: A Law unto Himself

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