“The object of art is not to acquire wealth. Become a great artist and other things will come.” Robert Schumann
Photo: Public Domain
Congratulations to Miriam Herlihy from Auckland who correctly answered the "cello" as the instrument Steven Isserlis plays and wins our Daybreak Book Corner book for September, Schumann’s Advice to Young Musicians – revisited by Steven Isserlis.
Composer Robert Schumann is rarely mentioned without reference to his heavily romanticised relationship with his wife Clara or his mental illness - which saw him live out the last of his days in an asylum. However, he was also a music critic, published poet and writer. And there is evidence Schumann was a brilliant father to his seven children. He read to them, played games with them and they inspired him to write music.
Schumann's Advice to Young Musicians was written in 1848 as a companion to the piano pieces Album for the Young which he composed for his three daughters.
For the month of September on Daybreak with Cynthia Morahan, our featured book is Robert Schumann’s Advice to Young Musicians revisited by cellist (and Schumann champion) Steven Isserlis.
This edition, published in 2016, retains all Schumann’s original advice and words of wisdom, much of which still remains valid today, alongside often humorous insights from Steven Isserlis, who is himself the author of two children's books.
Our thanks to Anna Hunt at Wellington’s Marsden Books whose voracious reading appetite has unearthed some intriguing musical titles for us.
Steven Isserlis Photo: Supplied
To win your copy of Robert Schumann’s Advice to Young Musicians, answer this question:
What instrument does Steven Isserlis play?
Email your answer, your name and address (in order to send you your copy of the book) to daybreak@radionz.co.nz
Cynthia will announce the winner on 1 October, 2018.
