There is no shortage of interesting June birthdays, musically speaking.

A case in point is that of arch-Romantic Robert Schumann, whose life story sports many colorful incidents – his ardent courtship of the under-aged Clara Wieck, which led to a spectacular court case against her father, who ultimately lost the suit (the matter was settled one day before the relationship would have been deemed legal); his mentorship of that young lion of German music, Johannes Brahms, who harbored a semi-disguised affection for Clara; and his bouts with mental instability, which led to his hurling himself into the Rhine and subsequent placement in an asylum.

Is it any surprise that such an overheated personality would write such emotionally turbulent music? Whether tender (the “Kinderszenen,” his reminiscences of childhood) or troubled (the “Nachtstücke,” a premonition of his brother’s death), Schumann was the ne plus ultra of Romantics.

Happy Birthday, Robert Schumann!

Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood), Op. 15, performed by Clara Haskil:

Nachtstücke, Op. 23, performed by Emil Gilels: