Editorial

We are very pleased to present the latest volume of the Schumann Journal, now in its fifth year. The go-ahead for the publication of a separate Schumann Journal was given in 2011 thanks to the support of the then German Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, when the project management of the Schumann Network, in existence since 2005, was able to start working, along with the new Schumann Forum, on the first Schumann Journal which was then presented as Volume 1 in the spring of 2012. The Schumann Journal has an international orientation, taking into consideration Schumann activities worldwide, and is therefore largely bilingual, in German and English. Our target group is primarily not a musicological specialist audience but artists, Schumann lovers and other interested non-professionals who are meant to be well and competently informed and be stimulated at the same time.

In Issue Five, 336 pages, you will find two artist talks, one of them being a conversation between Dr Christoph Vratz and the young pianist and new member of the Schumannn Forum, Boris Giltburg, within the scope of a public event organised by the Schumann Forum, and the other one being a discussion between Jan Ritterstaedt and Ragna Schirmer, another member of the Schumann Forum, about her new Schumann and Brahms CD, “Liebe in Variationen [Love in Variations]”, released in 2015.

Furthermore, there is Peter Härtling’s thank-you speech upon accepting honorary membership of the Robert Schumann Society in Frankfurt through the agency of Professor Dr Hansjürgen Hellwig. A separate contribution to the Journal deals with the fascination of the Orient in music and literature of the 19th century. You will find information on the impressive series of events held in Düsseldorf on the occasion of the anniversary of “175 Years of A Poet’s Love“ in 2015, on the awarding of the Schumann Prize of the town of Zwickau to the Schumann Research Centre in Düsseldorf, and the review of 2015, hopefully, will cover everything that has been important to Schumann lovers in 2015.

As always, we present you an ample selection of the latest publications of the last year, many of them featuring detailed reviews and summaries in English, with 2015 bringing again an astounding wealth of remarkable CD recordings and also sheet music editions and books, including of course, new publications of the Complete Schumann Edition and the Schumann Letter Edition.
Looking forward, we would like to draw your attention to some particular events relating to Robert and Clara Schumann or to artists of the Schumann Forum in the current year.
Individual pages are dedicated, as always, to the artists belonging to the Schumann Forum which was newly established in 2011 and whose numbers we have, fortunately, been able to increase year after year.
Last but not least, the members and partners of the Schumann Network together with their contact details are, of course, listed also.
As always, we wish you much pleasure in reading the Schumann Journal.

Ingrid Bodsch & Irmgard Knechtges-Obrecht

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