ShmoopTube

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Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by classical composers. Once you go Beethoven,

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you'll never go Bach.

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Which accomplishment does the passage cite as an expression of Schumann's happiness about his marriage?

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This question might be a little challenging, since the passage does mention all of these

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things in one context or another.

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If we don't remember immediately, we might need to zoom through the passage again, keeping

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an eye out for key words.

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Choice (A) seems the easiest to eliminate, since the passage mentions "harmony" and

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"tone" only when discussing how Schumann thought they were stupid things to learn about

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when first taking lessons from Wieck <<veek>>.

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The world is probably very lucky that Wieck put an end to that idea.

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In any case, choice (A) was not a product of Schumann's marital bliss, so we can cross it off our list.

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But how about answer (B)?

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Sorry, no dice.

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The tour of Europe with his wife was more about showing off her amazing piano skills

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than anything else, so we can nix (B).

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Choice (C) is the closest so far. The passage does mention that Schumann's "The Pilgrimage

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of the Rose" was performed in the Hague, while he and Clara were having a sweet time in Holland.

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However, we aren't specifically told that the piece was inspired by Schumann's marital

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bliss, so we can eliminate answer (C). Process of elimination tells us that choice

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(D) must be the right answer.

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Well, process of elimination and the passage itself, which specifically says that Schumann's

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symphony in B flat major expresses the joy he felt in his early years with Clara.

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"Symphony in B flat major"? What a romantic title...

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