Robert Schumann was a unique personality in nineteenth century music. A celebrated music critic and champion of new composers, he was also a talented perfomer and composer who did much to modernize the literature and performance style for the piano. This book explores how the generation that came after Beethoven was central in reshaping and refining the conception of concerto style, and particularly the piano concerto, focusing on the key period of 1845-55. It relates Schumann's own compositional development to his musical environment, recreating the exciting milieu in which Schumann and his...