The Clara Schumann Channel
Dedicated to one of the most influential composers and pianists of the Romantic Era.
Category: piano
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This story is classic. A historic day in music history, the day 20-year-old Johannes Brahms met the woman who would make his career and, in many ways, define the rest of his life. The story has been told and retold so many times, it’s hard to know what’s true anymore. The details of the day…
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“When I was 14, I studied composition… I recognized the kind of enthusiasm I had when I was that age. It made me feel so close to this person while studying the concerto.” ~Beatrice Rana For the NY Times article, Clara Schumann and Florence Price Get Their Due, I interviewed pianist, Beatrice Rana, who debuted…
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“The only way we can get institutions to do it is if the leaders take it really personally.” ~Yannick Nézet-Séguin For the NY Times article, “Clara Schumann and Florence Price Get Their Due At Carnegie Hall,” I spoke with Yannick Nézet-Séguin about WHY he’s doing programs like Florence Price’s Symphony No. 3 and Clara Wieck’s…
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Why is Clara Schumann important? Clara Schumann helped define classical music as we know it. For those who squirm – how could that possibly be true? A woman with power? In the 19th century? It’s true. Clara Schumann curated an era. She shaped the tastes of the public that live on today. The traditions which…
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Clara Schumann did everything in her power to place Chopin permanently in the piano repertoire. The extent of her influence on his legacy is difficult to calculate. She included his music on most of her thousands of concerts for 55 years. She played his waltzes, nocturnes, etudes, mazurkas, and more from Vienna to London, from…
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Clara Schumann is famous for “hating Liszt,” but that’s not exactly accurate. Her feelings about Franz Liszt were much more complex and changed over the course of her life. Their relationship, in its conflicts and commonalities, was much more nuanced than simply like / hate. Clara admired Franz a great deal, referring to him as…
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Clara Wieck was younger than all the white dudes – yes, even younger than Mozart – when she composed, published, and premiered her Piano Concerto in A minor on original themes. She was 16 years old. Felix Mendelssohn conducted the premiere with the Leipzig Gewandhaus orchestra, November 9th, 1835. It was Clara’s only full orchestral…
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“There is nothing greater than the joy of composing.” ~ Clara Schumann I wrote an article for Donne about the out of context quote from Clara’s diary: “Women should not desire to compose.” It’s true origins and how it was a repetition of what society taught Clara–not her true believe. You can read about it…
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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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(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.…
The Clara Schumann Channel 