Talk:Symphony No. 1 (Schumann)

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"Schumann sketched the symphony in four days from January 23-26 and completed the orchestration within a month by February 20. (This type of manic pace is consistent with the retrospective diagnosis of bipolar disorder.)"

I removed the section in parentheses from the article for the following reasons:

1.) Bipolar disorder? Really? Who diagnosed it? Certainly it wasn't diagnosed in Schumann's lifetime. We may never know what Schumann was suffering from in his last years. Aside from bipolar disorder, I've also heard that he was afflicted with schizophrenia or syphilis, etc. In the end, these "retrospective diagnoses" are pointless because they are, at best, educated guesses and, at worst, merely speculation. In any case, I've always believed that poor Schumann was simply stressed out with the strain of his duties in Düsseldorf, the negative critical opinion of his works and conducting abilities, his not always rosy marriage with Clara (who would later shamelessly abandon him in Endenich as she re-started her career as touring virtuoso) and his self doubt of his own abilities. The poor man probably just needed a break which he thought he was going to get at Endenich. We all know how that ended.

2.) Why would working at a "manic pace" be indicative of mental illness? Mozart scribbled his Don Giovanni and Magic Flute overtures the day the operas were to premiere. Shostakovich wrote the Largo to his Fifth Symphony in three days; the Festive Overture in one day. There are scores of other similar incidents with composers who would write complex works in short periods of time. Were these men mentally ill too? I prefer to think that talent, inspiration, and hard work, as opposed to mental infirmity, were what spurred these men to work so fast. El Chileno Chido 04:17, 15 August 2006 (UTC)