A Cinematic Treatment: The Visions of Robert Schumann

There was once a great composer of classical music, married to a famous pianist who adored his work. Roberta and Clara were their names, Schumann. Here were two of a kind that believed in a more mature ideal of God, one that underlines nature and the universe as principle. In science Robert found his inspiration, and in Clara he found his muse. He used his music to sing the exaltation of his beautiful wife, and the God that he saw working through her fingers. As he would write, his soul would present him with beautiful melodies, which he knew to be from God by the look of love on the faces of his audience, as Clara played on the piano.

It came to pass that another young composer, Johannes Brahms, came to stay and study with Robert in order to learn his craft. Upon hearing the notes that sprung forth, Robert immediately recognized that some day Brahms would outdo him musically, and the subtlest of jealousy took hold. This was solidified when Clara saw the same in the young composer, that Brahms was to be the most important of men in the world of music.

As Robert slept one night, he was awoken by a noise in the garden. A melody played to his ears more beautiful than any he had heard prior. At first Robert was jealous, thinking that it was Brahms who composed this magnificent melody, but it was not Brahms that he found in the garden.

Here is the actually melody that he heard that night in the garden.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4Xq7OALKdM

Instead of Brahms, he found his musical idol, Franz Schubert, playing to him in the darkness. He had a violin upon his shoulder, and every note that he played set Robert's ears on fire. Chills ran down the composer's spine, perhaps because the utter beauty of the melody, or perhaps because Franz Schubert, the man he saw in front of him, had been dead for many years.

Here was a man whose understanding of God is defined entirely by nature and science, and yet before his eyes stands not only a ghost, but a ghost of his most treasured idol. He could not believe his eyes! Still, he took every note down that Schubert played, and in the morning set to composing his latest work. He secluded himself, dedicating his time entirely to this masterpiece. So much was his dedication, that Clara was forced to spend most of her time in the company of Brahms, who was staying with them as Robert's apprentice.

Concerned by this bout of isolation, Clara followed Robert into the garden one night. There, she saw him composing and was much relieved. Strange though, she heard also her husband speak. He spoke to the air in front of him, and referred to the person he spoke to as Franz. This concerned her deeply, and she went to the doctor at once.

When the doctor arrived and explained why he was there, Robert flew into a rage. He had kept his relationship with the apparition a secret from all. How dare Clara sneak about behind his back like this! He accused his wife of infidelity with Brahms, and cast Brahms from his home.

The doctor explained to Clara that there was a good chance that Schumann was suffering from an illness of the mind, but she would not believe that. Schumann's music had touched the hearts and souls of too many for this apparition to be untrue. If Schumann said that Franz Schubert was singing God's word to him from the dead, then that was what was happening.

After a time, Robert calmed himself, and called Brahms back to stay with him and Clara. For a while, things were as they should have been, but this did not last. Robert began to have another vision, one that gave him no melodies, and set him to grave fear. It was a small black creature that followed him about wherever he went, hiding in the shadows. It would yell obnoxiously as Robert listened to Brahms' music, and stare at him from the darkness in the dead of night. He tried his best to ignore the creature, but it attacked him one night during a long period of isolation. Robert went screaming through the house, brandishing a knife. As Clara went to calm her husband, he swiped at her with the knife, cutting the palm of her hand.

It was then that Robert realized that he truly was mentally ill. He went to the doctor to see what could be done, and the doctor gave him medicine which made him ill. Unable to compose, the creature still following him, again Robert flew into a rage. He attacked Brahms this time, accusing him again of sleeping with his beloved Clara. Coming to his sense, Robert realized that he was endangering those he loved with his actions, and he threw himself from a bridge in the dead of winter.

Robert was fished out of the river, and brought home. He asked to be placed into an asylum for the mentally insane, where his symptoms only increased. Day and night he was struck with fear, and the creature grew in his mind. Some time later Clara came to see him, but he could not speak, for the terror was too great. She said her final goodbye, and days later he died.

Clara and Brahms were present for the autopsy, where the surgeons discovered a mass in Robert's skull. The Doctor had seen such a mass in the skulls of other patients who had similar visions. He informed Clara that it was his opinion that the mass was the cause of Schumann hearing melodies, and seeing visions of angels and demons. Clara faced a great dilemma. She would not believe that the music of the man she had dedicated her life to was the result of the tumor which had killed him. She knew that Schumann's music was the voice of God, and yet it could not be, for how could god be this vile, toxic tumor which had killed her beloved husband?

To earn some money for Robert's funeral, Clara performed a benefit concert, playing Robert's music for many royals. As she played, she looked to the faces of the audience. Joy, sorrow, love; these were the expressions they had as she played for them Robert's tunes. And then she came to know the truth, that it was not because of Robert's disease that he had been the instrument of God, but in spite of it.