midicnMusic History 中文

Clara Schumann

A leading pianist who also wrote Romantic music for the keyboard

RomanticPianoCharacter Piece

Who he was

Clara Schumann (1819–1896) was born in Leipzig, where her father Friedrich Wieck, a piano teacher, was also her only teacher. She appeared at the Gewandhaus at nine, premiered her own Piano Concerto at sixteen, and married Robert Schumann in 1840. After his death she toured for decades and taught at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt, where she died in 1896.

His place

Clara Schumann was first of all one of the leading pianists of the century and a composer second. She premiered much of her husband's music and brought Beethoven, Chopin and Brahms into her programmes; her playing was known for restraint, clarity and song. Her composing belongs mainly to the 1840s and 1850s and runs to piano pieces, variations and songs — exactly the scale she could finish between household and touring.

What to hear

Listen first for the tone of a miniature. Each of the Three Romances Op.11 is short; the first is a whisper and the third turns ardent, and the same genre carries both. Then hear how a set is arranged. Soirées musicales Op.6 joins six scenes, toccata-like speed alternating with lyricism, a small portrait of her own programmes. Then follow where variations go: the Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann Op.20 take a theme of her husband's and move step by step away from its key before returning. Finally hear the edge of her technique. The Second Scherzo Op.14, with its octaves and leaps, shows that her keyboard command was not only gentle.

Key works

Influence

Her influence runs on two lines. As a performer she helped establish the modern idea of fidelity to the score, resisting the free ornamentation then in fashion; as an editor she prepared her husband's collected works and kept them whole. Her own music reminds later listeners that for a woman composer in the nineteenth century the obstacle was not talent but time and opportunity.

Listen in the library

3 Romances, Op.11C112:58《三首浪漫曲》Op.11——听三首小品怎样从私语走到激昂，第三首最常单独演奏（C1）DetailsSoirées musicales, Op.6C122:32《音乐晚会》Op.6——六个小景组成一套，听技巧与抒情怎样交替（C1）DetailsVariationen über ein Thema von Robert Schumann, Op.20C110:20《罗伯特·舒曼主题变奏》Op.20——以丈夫的主题写作，听变奏怎样逐步离开原调（C1）DetailsScherzo No.2, Op.14C13:38《第二谐谑曲》Op.14——听强烈对比的段落与八度技巧（C1）Details

All tracks from midicn-lib — inline badge is the license tier (C1 commercial / C2 non-commercial / C3 study only).

Sources

  • 舒曼生平、莱比锡与法兰克福时期及作品编号，参 The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Schumann, Clara"；本文为原创表述
  • 十九世纪女性作曲与钢琴演奏职业化的背景，参通行克拉拉·舒曼研究；实例 why 为本站听辨提示

Used for fact-checking only; all prose is original.