Classical composer of the month: Clara Wieck Schumann
A romantic era pianist, composer and wife, Clara Wieck Schumann is not as recognized as she should be.
The name “Schumann” is highly known throughout the musical community, yet when referring to Schumann, many only think of Robert Schumann, not his wife Clara.
Clara Schumann published 23 works of mainly piano solos, chamber music and lieder (German romantic aged music with strong lyrical melodies and rich harmonies). Schumann stopped composing after her husband’s early death in 1856.
Schumann began writing as a teenager. One of her more known works is her Piano Concerto for piano and orchestra.
Through her music, Schumann portrayed emotions such as passion, sadness and grief. As she got older, her emotions were portrayed through more complex harmonic passages, showing the complexities of emotion in her works.
Schumann was a child prodigy and trained strictly by her father, Friedrich Wieck. Before she was a teenager Schumann had debuted at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig, Germany and toured in Paris.
Robert Schumann met Clara while she was still a student of her fathers. Robert asked Clara’s father for permission to marry and ended up taking the battle to court, where Robert and Clara won. Robert and Clara had eight children, one who died during infancy.
Image credits to http://womeninfluence.club/stories/Muse/yoko-ono/
