The Life and Music of Clara Schumann
The Life and Music of Clara Schumann
Vocal Pedagogy Presentation 4/25/13
Clara Schumann (Wieck) was born in Leipzig, Germany in September 1819 and died in Frankfurt in May of 1896. She was born to Friedrich Wieck and Marianne (Tromlitz). Her father was a talented pianist who taught but began his career in theology at his mother’s insistence. Clara’s mother, Marianne, was a pianist and soprano who studied with Friedrich. Friedrich and Marianne were wed in 1816 and he began training her to perform and help to forward his own career as a teacher. After eight years and five children, she left him and got a divorce. He then turned his musical focus to his eldest child, Clara and began to train her in her mother’s stead. Clara made her concert debut in the Leipzig Gewandhaus at age 9. Her official debut was at age 11. She then traveled and performed in Paris at 12 and then Vienna at 18. Whilst in Vienna, she performed her fourth concert and after it was finished, the enthusiastic applause from the audience recalled Clara to the stage thirteen times. During all of this, her father had other pupils that he was instructing. One of these was Robert Schumann, a local university student. Clara was nine years younger than Schumann, but she surpassed his talents and caught his interest. He did not begin courting her until she was sixteen years of age. Once her father found out however, he made his objections of the union quite clear, resolving to keep her inheritance from Clara if she proceeded. Robert and Clara fought him in court in what has been described as a “legendary legal battle.” They were wed in 1840, one day before her twenty-first birthday. They worked together, composing and performing and raising their eight children. In Clara’s childhood, she met, performed for, and was admired by performers and composers such as Goethe, Paganini, Louis Spohr, Chopin, Liszt and Mendelssohn. She was influenced by each of these men and made an impact on them as
Vocal Pedagogy Presentation 4/25/13
Clara Schumann (Wieck) was born in Leipzig, Germany in September 1819 and died in Frankfurt in May of 1896. She was born to Friedrich Wieck and Marianne (Tromlitz). Her father was a talented pianist who taught but began his career in theology at his mother’s insistence. Clara’s mother, Marianne, was a pianist and soprano who studied with Friedrich. Friedrich and Marianne were wed in 1816 and he began training her to perform and help to forward his own career as a teacher. After eight years and five children, she left him and got a divorce. He then turned his musical focus to his eldest child, Clara and began to train her in her mother’s stead. Clara made her concert debut in the Leipzig Gewandhaus at age 9. Her official debut was at age 11. She then traveled and performed in Paris at 12 and then Vienna at 18. Whilst in Vienna, she performed her fourth concert and after it was finished, the enthusiastic applause from the audience recalled Clara to the stage thirteen times. During all of this, her father had other pupils that he was instructing. One of these was Robert Schumann, a local university student. Clara was nine years younger than Schumann, but she surpassed his talents and caught his interest. He did not begin courting her until she was sixteen years of age. Once her father found out however, he made his objections of the union quite clear, resolving to keep her inheritance from Clara if she proceeded. Robert and Clara fought him in court in what has been described as a “legendary legal battle.” They were wed in 1840, one day before her twenty-first birthday. They worked together, composing and performing and raising their eight children. In Clara’s childhood, she met, performed for, and was admired by performers and composers such as Goethe, Paganini, Louis Spohr, Chopin, Liszt and Mendelssohn. She was influenced by each of these men and made an impact on them as