This study has attempted to observe and understand the reorchestrations of the four Robert Schumann symphonies through the analysis of revisions found in the edited scores of several eminent conductors. To provide a faithful and effective performance of Schumann's orchestral conception, the conductor may find it necessary to alter certain features in his scores. Conductors have complained that Schumann's symphonies are ineffectual in many passages. This is the reason they are less frequently performed than they deserve. Four performance editions of the complete Schumann symphonies were chosen to form the basis for this study. They are: Gustav Mahler, Arturo Toscanini, George Szell, Felix Weingartner. The revisions of other conductors were incorporated as available and appropriate. These include: Fritz Reiner, Bruno Walter, Wilhelm Furtwangler, Georg Solti, Joseph Keilberth, Gotthold Lessing, Willem Mengelberg, Eugene Ormandy, Hans Pfitzner, Theodore Thomas, Max Reger, Fritz Busch. The study of Schumann's orchestration involved the investigation of his development as an orchestral composer, including the influence of the piano on his scoring and his understanding of the orchestra. The state of the orchestra in Schumann's time and his development as an orchestral composer were also studied in order to better understand his technique in terms of his orchestral experience. The study of the revisions reveals that Schumann's scoring was less successful than many other composers in providing an orchestration which supports and clarifies the structural logic of the composition. It thus becomes the conductor's responsibility to assume the role of editor to provide a faithful performance of the work. Analysis of the reorchestrations reveals changes concerning dynamic balance, clarity, timbre and style, as well as manner of performance. This study has attempted to provide vital information about the performing editions and the aesthetic effect achieved through alteration of the original Schumann scores.

An analysis of re-orchestrations of Robert Schumann's four symphonies employed by conductor Felix Weingartner (1863-1942). The text includes a brief history of Schumann's orchestral writing career and an overview of Weingartner's life as a conductor. The bulk of the dissertation discusses actual changes suggested by Weingartner (with score examples). Patterns of modifications are identified and discussed as they relate to historically entrenched problems perceived with Schumann's originally employed practices of orchestration. The analysis focuses on overall patterns of alteration imposed by Weingartner and their perceived effectiveness in achieving a noticeably improved aural outcome.

Robert Schumann's D-minor Symphony endured harsh criticism during the second half of the nineteenth century because of misunderstandings regarding his compositional approach to the genre of the symphony; changes in performance practices amplified the problems, leading to charges that Schumann was an inept orchestrator. Editions published by Clara Schumann and Alfred Dörffel as well as performing editions prepared by Woldemar Bargiel and Gustav Mahler reflect ideals of the late nineteenth century that differ markedly from those Schumann advanced in his 1851 autograph and in the Symphony's first publication in 1853. An examination of the manuscript sources and the editions authorized by Schumann reveals that he imbued the Symphony with what he called a "special meaning" in the form of an implied narrative. Although Schumann provided no written account of this narrative, it is revealed in orchestrational devices, particularly orchestration, dynamics, and articulation, many of which have been either altered or suppressed by later editors. A reconsideration of these devices as they are transmitted through the authorized sources permits a rediscovery of the work's special meaning and rectifies long-standing misperceptions that have become entrenched in the general literature concerning Schumann in general and the D-minor Symphony in particular.