Clara Schumann: A Story of Grace, Determination, and Excellence
Written by Amelie Bazile.
This article is inspired by the NHSO’s upcoming concert, Clara & Johannes, which will take place on Thursday, October 17, 2024 at Woolsey Hall in downtown New Haven. Click here to learn more & buy tickets.
Who Was Clara Schumann?
Clara Josephine Schumann, neé Wieck, (1819-1896) was a German composer, pianist, and music teacher. Appraised as one of the most esteemed pianists of her time, Schumann gained a wide range of influence, which she maintained over a 61-year concert career. She used this influence to familiarize the world with her compositions, as well as make fundamental changes to the piano recital. Through her compositions, honors, and performances, Clara Schumann was able to leave a profound mark upon both the worlds of music and history.
Who Influenced Clara Schumann?
Schumann’s father, Friedrich Wieck, was a major figure in Clara’s childhood. A harsh and unyielding patriarch, he planned Clara’s life and career in complete detail; he was even the one to write her diary entries up until she was married. He trained her in musical subjects including piano, violin, voice, music theory, harmony, composition, and counterpoint, as well as in non-musical subjects, such as religion and languages. Mr. Wieck has been considered to be an abusive father, even alarming Robert Schumann (Clara’s future husband) upon his visitation to the Wieck household. In his diary, R. Schumann recalled viewing Mr. Wieck screaming at his nine-year-old son, who was playing the violin: “You wretch, you scoundrel, is this the way you try to please your father?” Incredulous, R. Schumann commented about the incident in his diary: “Am I among human beings?”
Why Did Clara Schumann Start Composing?
Schumann began her journey as a composer as a result of taking music lessons with her father. From the age of five, Schumann took daily lessons in composition, music theory, harmony, and counterpoint (among other subjects). She was exposed to composition through these lessons and continued through adulthood.
What Instruments Did Clara Schumann Play?
As a child, Schumann was taught lessons in voice, violin, and piano by her father. Taking the piano as her primary instrument, Schumann received daily, hour-long lessons with her father and was required to practice for two hours each day. Schumann made her official concert debut at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig when she was just nine years old. She toured all across Europe and became well known as a young prodigy.
A mellifluous pianist, Schumann became highly decorated in the field over the course of her 61-year performance career. She received a laudatory medal from Goethe, performed in Paris with virtuoso violinist Niccolò Paganini, and was named a Royal and Imperial Austrian Chamber Virtuoso, thereby receiving Austria’s highest musical honor.
An anonymous music critic, commenting on Schumann’s Vienna recitals, wrote: “The appearance of this artist can be regarded as epoch-making… In her creative hands, the most ordinary passage, the most routine motive acquires a significant meaning, a colour, which only those with the most consummate artistry can give.”
Schumann’s Work
What Important Works Did Clara Schumann Compose?
Over her lifetime, Schumann composed 66 pieces, including chamber music, works for solo piano, and piano with orchestra. Some of her most important works include her Piano Trio in G minor, Three Romances for Violin and Piano, Impromptu in E Major, 4 Pièces Caractéristiques, and Soirées Musicales. Each of these pieces is very characteristic of Schumann’s composing style, exploring notions of romance, elegance, nature, and melancholy. The Piano Trio is especially famous for its display of beautiful, intertwining melodies.
What Was Clara Schumann’s Most Famous Piece?
The most famous piece composed by Schumann is her Piano Concerto in A minor. Composed between 1833 and 1834, when Schumann was just thirteen years old, the Piano Concerto was her first major composition. The Concerto premiered in 1834 with fourteen-year-old Clara acting as the soloist under the baton of Felix Mendelssohn.
Schumann and Romance
Who Did Clara Schumann Marry?
Clara Schumann (then Wieck) met Robert Schumann while performing at the Leipsig home of a mutual friend. Robert was so enthralled by Clara’s playing that he ceased his law studies to take piano lessons with Clara’s father. While receiving lessons, he rented a room in the Wieck household and lived there for just about a year.
Robert Schumann (1810-1856) was a very famous pianist and composer himself. He wrote four symphonies, a piano concerto, as well as many chamber and solo piano works. He is widely known as one of the great composers of the romantic period.
When Clara reached eighteen years of age, Robert proposed to her and she accepted. Mr. Wieck, however, was strongly opposed to the marriage and refused his blessing. Clara and Robert went to court and sued him. The judge allowed the marriage and it took place the day before Clara’s 21st birthday. They had a total of eight children together, which Clara raised and cared for while still maintaining her career as a concert pianist and teacher.
Robert, however, was mentally unstable. In 1854, he had a devastating mental collapse wherein he attempted suicide and he was admitted to a sanatorium upon his request. It was at the sanatorium that he spent the last two years of his life. It is theorized today that Robert Schumann was ill with Schizophrenia, Scheuermann’s Disease, Bipolar Disorder, and Dissociative Identity Disorder, each contributing to his collapse.
Who Was in Love with Clara Schumann?
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) was introduced to the Schumann family by violinist Joseph Joachim in 1853. He was warmly welcomed into the Schumann household and performed for the family some of his compositions for solo piano. Subsequently, Robert lauded him to be the true heir of Beethoven in a widely read music publication. This commendation made Brahms instantly famous.
The Schumanns became generous friends and mentors of Brahms throughout his career, and he reciprocated the generosity in the Schumanns’ time of need after Robert’s mental collapse. He moved near to the Schumann household and helped Clara look after her children, sort through Robert’s affairs, and resume her career as a world-class pianist.
As Clara and Johannes kept more of each other’s company, their relationship transcended mere friendship. In a letter to a friend, Brahms wrote: “I believe that I do not have more concern for and admiration for her than I love her and find love in her. I often have to restrain myself forcibly from just quietly putting my arms around her and even—: I don’t know, it seems to me so natural that she could not misunderstand.” Clara, in turn, confided in her diary, “There is the most complete accord between us… It is not his youth that attracts me: not, perhaps, my flattered vanity. No, it is the fresh mind, the gloriously gifted nature, the noble heart, that I love in him.”
It is unsure whether these feelings were acted upon after Robert’s death. After a trip to Switzerland attended by Brahms, Clara, and family, the two parted; Clara never remarried, and Brahms never married. It is uncertain what occurred during that trip, yet it is certain that Brahms and Clara remained friends for the rest of their lives.
Schumann’s Legacy
How Did Clara Schumann Impact Music?
Clara Schumann greatly impacted music in numerous ways. Firstly, she made fundamental changes to the way the piano recital is performed that are still in practice today. She established the convention of musicians performing their recital pieces from memory as well as highlighted historical composers, such as Bach and Scarlatti, which was unusual for her time period. Schumann also promoted commitment to the intention of composers, highlighting the genius of the composer rather than the flashy skills of the soloist.
Secondly, she was very famous throughout Europe, which gave her the power to influence trends and opinions. She championed the works of Robert Schumann, Brahms, Mendelssohn, and Chopin, which helped boost them to the positions of fame they occupy today.
Finally, Schumann’s own compositions – especially her Piano Concerto and her Piano Trio – have become famous in modern times, and now occupy positions in concert programs worldwide.
Why Is Clara Schumann Important?
Clara Schumann had a profound impact upon music as well as history. She was a pioneer in her field and accomplished many great feats. Audiences, historians, and musicians alike will continue to laude her as one of the most influential figures of the Romantic Era.
Written by Amelie Bazile. Amelie is a violinist and is a senior at Staples High School, and worked as an intern at the New Haven Symphony Orchestra in the Summer of 2024.
This article is inspired by the NHSO’s upcoming concert, Clara & Johannes, which will take place on Thursday, October 17, 2024 at Woolsey Hall in downtown New Haven. Click here to learn more & buy tickets.
