Despite his history of mental instability, the music of Robert Schumann is characterized by bold idealism and noble purpose.  His friends and colleagues included Johann Kalliwoda and Niels Gade, who were among the era's most prominent musicians.  g This program opens with a delightfully virtuosic Duo for violin and viola by Kalliwoda.  g It is followed by the second piano quartet by a very youthful Mendelssohn, whose compositional style is already well established at the tender age of fourteen.  g A Duo for clarinet and piano by Burgmüller (a composer much admired by Schumann and Mendelssohn) is next.  g The concert concludes with Schumann's own majestic Piano Quartet, Opus 47.