The Clara Schumann Channel
Dedicated to one of the most influential composers and pianists of the Romantic Era.
Category: Clara Schumann
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[CW: Suicide, depression, grief.] Robert Schumann’s attempted suicide was a tragedy on many levels. When he jumped in the Rhine, it was an inconsolable loss, not only for the musical world but for his family. Clara was six months pregnant, at the time, with their eighth child—a boy named after Felix Mendelssohn who would never…
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When Clara and Robert met, she was only 10 years old and he was 19. They loved each other madly. There is zero doubt their affections endured without waning throughout their sixteen year marriage. And on Clara’s part– she loved him another forty years, past his death to her own. There are no signs that…
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It’s pride month! So I can’t help digging into this question. And the answer is one giant YES! There was so much queer in Clara Schumann’s life– starting with her own husband! 1) Robert Schumann was probably bisexual. We’ll never know for sure, but the Peter Ostwald bio has a quote from a letter Mendelssohn…
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Clara Wieck was intended from the cradle to be the Paganini of the piano. Before she was old enough to sit at the piano, she listened to piano lessons and her mother practicing arias and piano concertos for performances every day. As a late speaker, she took lessons for almost two years before she could…
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Clara Schumann (1819-1896), the Queen of the Piano, the Priestess of Art, was a powerful force in classical music’s Romantic Era. Her career as a composer and pianist shaped the piano repertoire as we know it and influenced the most prominent European musicians of the mid to late 19th century. Today, she’s most famous as…
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There are countless myths around the relationship between Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms. Some of them involve love triangles and infidelity. Most of them belittle Clara in some way, either morally, personally, or professionally. Some of them poke fun at Johannes or try to humiliate Robert. One myth even claims that Johannes dumped Clara –…
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What are my research sources? Here’s a compilation of the sources I use for most of my tweets, posts, videos, etc. It’s not exhaustive as I’ve read more articles than I can remember. They’re not listed in alphabetic order (sorry librarians!), but in order of how frequently I use them or how relevant they are…
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(Originally published in The Schubertian, October 2021) It’s easy to overlook how important Franz Schubert’s music was in the life and career of Clara Schumann. She’s most famous for championing the works of Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms, and for being the first to cement Beethoven, Bach, Mendelssohn, and Chopin in the piano recital repertoire.…
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