Schumann's style marks an epoch because in it for the first time, at least on a broad scale, the details of form are not so much derived from established rules or formulæ as freshly generated from the necessities of the idea or sentiment. Form, in short, is made distinctly the servant of imagination, rather than a mould to which imagination must conform. Hence in every direction Schumann enlarged the scope of technical procedure, presenting novel melodic figures and phrase-plans, stretching the processes of harmonic sequence and modulation, devising intricate time-figures (carrying syncopation, for example, to excess), and searching for new colors and contrasts of quality and effect. All this was not the token of technical restlessness, but simply the fruit of exuberant imagination. Schumann's mind was phenomenally sensitive to impressions from persons, scenes and fancies, and for every vivid impression he strove to find a genuine musical expression. The topics that attracted him were amazingly varied, but always of an elevated and noble class. There is a marked absence of the abnormal and morbid. The marks of culture and spiritual distinction are everywhere to be seen. He clearly discerned the possibilities of music as an embodiment of the human spirit in its freest play of fancy, and his own endowments were so ample that he was able to open many new paths into inexhaustible fields of beauty.
On the formal side Schumann's style is strikingly unconnected with
that of the Haydn-Mozart period. It presents many points of kinship
with both Beethoven and Bach, for both of whom Schumann had the
deepest reverence. His relation to them, however, was not imitative, for
temperamentally he was diverse from both. He resembled Weber
probably more than any preceding master, though his genius was not
dramatically, but lyrically, centred.
Among his works those for the piano are the most spontaneous, especially the briefer ones. The interest of compressed, vivid sketches in tone had already been perceived by Field, and the keyboard song and the etherealized dance were being beautifully treated by several, but in emotional picturesqueness Schumann stands alone. In his longer piano-works, however, he belongs with those who were beginning to develop the orchestral capacity of the instrument. All his instrumental writing, though often full of technical difficulty, proceeds less from the technical than the ideal point of view. He does not seek to display the genius of the instrument for its own sake, but to load its tones with general musical significance. The same is true of his handling of vocal effects. In many cases his compression of style is almost extreme.
