John Daverio

Who was John Daverio?

John Joseph Daverio was a musician, scholar, teacher and author, best known for his writings on the music of Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms.

Daverio was born in Sharon, Pennsylvania, the only son of Italian-American parents. He was a professor of music at Boston University; Daverio was highly regarded as a teacher, and received the University's Metcalf Award for Excellence in Teaching. His books included Nineteenth-Century Music and the German Romantic Ideology and Robert Schumann: Herald of a New Poetic Age.

Daverio died under mysterious circumstances, drowning in the Charles River at the age of 48. It remains unclear whether his death was accident or suicide, though foul play has been ruled out. Some have noted an unfortunate irony in the manner of Daverio's death, as Robert Schumann attempted suicide in 1854 by throwing himself into the Rhine river, and Daverio was among the world's leading Schumann scholars.

His major works include Nineteenth-Century Music and the German Romantic Ideology, Robert Schumann: Herald of a New Poetic Age, and Crossing Paths: Schubert, Schumann, and Brahms.