AN ABSENT-MINDED CONDUCTOR

Robert Schumann’s later mental illness didn’t appear out of nowhere. Before the darkest years, friends noticed moments of distraction that could be almost comical—if they weren’t so telling.

One rehearsal is legendary. Schumann was conducting Bach’s *Passion* (the big opening chorus). The choir started strong, but Schumann’s beat grew smaller and smaller… until it stopped. He set down his baton, flipped through fifty or sixty pages, and began reading a movement from Part Two, completely absorbed.

The choir kept singing. Schumann kept reading. Everyone else watched in slow‑motion disbelief.

Eventually he “woke up,” heard music that didn’t match what he was looking at, and stopped the singers: “Good heavens—ladies and gentlemen—what on earth are you singing there?”

Accidental comedy, tragic foreshadowing.