If you had to characterize the present concertos with a single word, you could entitle the Cello (or violin) Concerto "upswing" since it tells of hope and beginning - while "swan song" would be suitable for the Violin Concerto, which speaks of despair and the end.

Schumann composed both works in Düsseldorf, the former in the fall of 1850 in
a phase of creative euphoria, immediately upon assuming the position as
music director, and the latter in fall 1853 in a phase of depression, only a few months prior to his attempted suicide.

This period, marked by professional and social setbacks, was brightened only by the uplifting encounters with the young musicians Johannes Brahms and Joseph Joachim.

                                                                                                            Thomas Albertus Irnberger
                                                                                                            translated by Albert Frantz