One can arguably say that the worlds of the German Romantic composer Robert Schumann (1810-1856) and the German Romantic writer E.T.A. Hoffmann (1776-1822) can seamlessly collide in their finest works. Schumann and Hoffmann were linked in many aspects of life including their shared passion for both literature and music, and in their eccentric and slight bipolar personalities - The similarities in their Romantic views as well as the way they expressed themselves through art form was uncanny. This is found to be most evident in Schumann’s piano song cycle, Kreisleriana, and in E.T.A. Hoffmann’s novel, Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr for numerous reasons.

Perhaps the biggest and most notable similarity between the two major works is the dualism and constant abrupt change in the literature and music. Hoffmann, in his novel, constantly switches back and forth from the section narrated by the Tomcat, Murr (“Murr continues” – m.c.) and the section that contains the flashbacks of Kapellmeister Johannes Kreisler’s life (“scrap paper” - s.p.). Hoffmann enjoyed jumping back and forth from the two contrasting sections without any preparation and usually always abruptly switched in mid-sentence of the narrations. However, the dualism and sudden contrast isn’t only found in the structure of Hoffmann’s writing but also through the characteristics of the main character, Johannes Kreisler. Each time the story flashes back to speak about Kreisler, the readers are led to discover more and more strange mannerisms about him. For example, in the first s.p. (“scrap paper”) section of the novel, Kreisler encounters Meister Abraham and speaks about the Fürstin’s birthday where Meister Abraham tells Kreisler about all the sorcery and magic tricks played at the festival. The important thing to note during this flash back is the way Kreisler reacts to Meister Abraham. He shows a vast variety of emotions within a very short period of time whilst speaking to Abraham – he was furious and full of anger which then quickly turned into excitement and laughter. Additionally, Kreisler’s bitter attitude towards the tomcat Murr when Meister Abraham first makes the offer of giving the cat to him; and how quickly the feelings of despise turned into admiration for the cat in just few seconds further exemplifies Kreisler’s constantly fluctuating bipolar personality. Kreisler’s emotions were constantly changing vastly that the characters around him in the story (as well as the readers) could never predict when, or where, or how he’s mood will change.

Similarly, Schumann used many of the same techniques and approach of the unexpected contrast in his Kreisleriana. He not only wrote contrasting themes within a movement, but wrote it in a way that the movements in the text of the whole song cycle contrast each other as well. (e.g. the tempo, mood, character of each movement and each theme contrasts from the previous and the following movement or theme). He, like Hoffmann, rarely prepares the listener for the changes as the tempo and mood constantly fluctuates and is very difficult to predict. For example, all of the movements are written in an ABA form – however, the B sections are sometimes so outrageously contrasting from the A section that it often sounds as though there are two separate pieces written in one movement. He even leaves room in between the themes within a movement such as fermatas, long held notes, and cadences - which creates a false illusion for the listeners that the movement is coming to an end though it has merely only reached its half-way point.

The theme of sudden constant changes in both of the artists’ respective works can be further explained and understood by their alter egos. Perhaps it was because of Schumann’s ongoing life battle with his mental illness (and possibly having a bipolar personality disorder) that led to the creation of his alter egos. During his lifetime, Schumann invented two alter egos; Florestan and Eusebius whom originally only appeared in his musical criticisms but later on found its way into his music as well –including the Kreisleriana. The creation of his alter egos allowed him to express his dual personality in his music more freely. Florestan’s character was more passionate and aggressive whereas Eusebius was generally more dreamy and introspective – all qualities that can be found in Schumann’s Kreisleriana. However, this particular song cycle being hugely influenced by Hoffmann’s novel, Schumann also portrays Kreisler and Murr’s characters in his music as well. Kreisler is portrayed to be much like Florestan in the novel – he is anxious, aggressive, and generally more dramatic while Murr is portrayed more like Eusebius with his calm, simple and dreamy personality. For example, some of his movements such as the first, third, fifth, and the eighth require a lot of energy and engagement of the fingers (intended to portray both Florestan and Kreisler) whereas some of his other movements such as the second, fourth and sixth are more reflective, slow and lyrical (portraying the characteristics Eusebius and Murr). Referring back to the point of all of the movements in Kreisleriana being written in an ABA form as mentioned in the previous paragraph, one must not make the mistake of thinking that each movement is only intended to portray one character. Though each movement is mostly made up of one prominent character (the A section), they all contain a middle section that has the character qualities of the opposing character – allowing for both character themes (Florestan/Kreisler and Eusebius/Murr) to make an appearance in every single movement. For instance, in movement II, Schumann starts out with a very lyrical and introspective theme that can be interpreted as the personalities of Eusebius and Murr. However, the B section is such a contrast from the first that it most definitely cannot be said to be still in the style of Eusebius and Murr, but rather the driving and aggressive personalities of Florestan and Kreisler. Schumann constantly shifted the style of his writing from the two main characters and his two alter egos in a very abrupt manner throughout his music – much like Hoffmann’s constant and unexpected switches between the two sections in his novel.

Similarly, Hoffmann was known to have created an alter ego as well; the character that keeps reappearing throughout Hoffmann’s work - Johannes Kreisler. (e.g. He is also the main character in Counselor Krespel). Kreisler is a character who constantly suffers from mental illness resulting him to have extreme mood swings (bipolar personality) in Hoffmann’s writing. His insanity and constant ‘ups and downs’ in his emotions and personality is well described throughout the story of Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr. Johannes Kreisler is considered to be an eccentric “outsider” by many - which was, surprisingly enough, very similar to Hoffmann and Schumann in real life.

As briefly mentioned earlier, the narrations of each section is cut often in mid-sentence as Hoffmann switches back and forth from the perspective of Murr, and to the biography of Kreisler. The idea of the narrations being incomplete in itself, but fitting in the context of the entire novel goes with the idea of Romantic fragments; something unstable by itself but complete as a whole. Despite the abrupt jumping from one section to another, Hoffmann keeps Meister Abraham as the character that unites the structure of the story linking the two ‘worlds’ or ‘sections’ together – He appears as the tomcat’s original master in Murr’s world, and also appears in Kreisler’s world as his mentor. This idea of Romantic fragments has a direct correlation with Schumann’s work as he wrote countless number of romantic fragments in his music as well. Likewise, in Schumann’s Kreisleriana, there are constant conflicts of Florestan/Kreisler and Eusebius/Murr in the contrast of the movements and themes– but when viewing the song cycle as a whole, the listeners are given a sense of completion. The movements, though they may seem so conflicting from each other, have intricate ways of being related to one another. The structural unity lies in the interplay between the tonalities of G major and/B flat major (recurring key signatures that are present in one form or another in all of the movements). The overall piece can be seen as imperfect and unfinished when listening to small segments of the song cycle, but when listening to the work as a whole Kreisleriana in itself, it can be understood as one great big work of complexity, romanticism and intricacy.

Both Schumann and Hoffmann, in no doubt, created a new Romantic perspective of viewing and appreciating literature and music. They both deviated from art in the Classical period where art was to be elegant, natural, simple, and always following the classical form and structure. Instead, they headed toward a new world of eccentric, expressive, mysterious and extreme art. It is through the analysis and comparison of Schumann’s Kreisleriana and Hoffmann’s Life and Opinions of the Tomcat Murr that one can come to an even more thorough realization and deeper appreciation for their art. Rather than Schumann’s Kreisleriana being just a piece of piano music, it now holds more meaning behind it and tells a story though the complexity and structure of the music. As listeners and readers, it seems striking indeed that a work of music and a work of literature could come so closely together in content, form, and the intent to evoke this fleeting world of madness and music.