Wagner and Schumann

A talk by Michael Downs on Monday 9th February at 19:00 via Zoom

Wagner and Schumann: parallels and contrasts: A Wagner Society Manchester talk on Monday 9 February 2026, at 7pm via Zoom, by Dr Michael Downes

 

 

Although Richard Wagner and Robert Schumann were only three years apart in age, knew each other well when they both lived in Dresden (Schumann’s diaries record the pair meeting on at least 24 occasions between 1845 and 1849), and shared a preoccupation with finding new ways to convey narrative in music, it is comparatively rare for them to be discussed together. In large part this is because Wagner later deliberately downplayed the importance of Schumann to his own career, as he did with every other contemporary composer who might have been considered a rival. Michael’s talk will examine the relationship between the two composers, consider the similarities and differences between their ideas on music and drama, and point out some intriguing evidence from Wagner’s work that suggests that Schumann might have had more of an influence on him than he let on.

 

Michael Downes is a versatile and experienced musician and musicologist, with interests in opera and in music of the nineteenth to twenty-first centuries. Since 2008 he has been Director of Music at the University of St Andrews, Scotland. Michael was awarded an OBE in the King’s 2025 Birthday Honours List for services to music and education and his new book on Wagner’s Ring cycle is published in the UK by Faber as ‘Story of the Century’. Michael has spoken to the Society before, in 2019, on the influence of Wagner on Elgar’s oratorios.

As usual, members of the Society will be sent the zoom link nearer the time. Non-members wishing to attend should contact susi.manchesterwagnersociety@gmail.com for details of how to attend the meeting. All are warmly invited to come along to what should be a fascinating talk