Abstract
In this paper Prof. N. S. Nikolaeva’s essays on Robert Schumann, printed in the textbook “The 19th-century Music of Austria and Germany”, are considered and the extremely valuable contribution of this scientist and musician on the investigation of Schumann’s music is elucidated. Expanding traditions of Schumann’s studies in the USSR which go back to D. V. Zhitomirsky, N. S. Nikolaeva has pointed at large-scale design of quite a few Schumann’s compositions, their epic essence and the significant role which the composer has played in development of various genres of the 19th-century instrumental music.