Clara Wieck

Clara Josephine Wieck was born on September 13th, 1819 in Leipzig, Germany. She was born into music, as her whole family growing up played an instrument. Her father Friedrich Wieck made a living as a first-rate piano teacher, and it was he who taught Clara and her mother Marianne. He even gave lessons to Clara’s future husband, Robert Schumann. After Clara’s parents divorced after eight years of marriage, she went to live with her father at the age of five. Friedrich Wieck saw the talent his daughter possessed, and began planning out her future for her. He gave her daily one hour lessons, and had her practice two hours on her own. Friedrich saw to it that Clara had only the finest musical education. Unfortunately, he neglected to provide much in the way of general education. Clara performed for the first time at age nine at the Leipzig Gewandhaus in 1828. She made her formal debut only two years afterwards. During this time and up until she was nineteen, Friedrich took on the role of her strict manager and mentor. Clara toured Germany, France, and Austria as one of the only pianists of her time to perform her music from memory. To her father’s dismay, Clara had fallen completely head-over-heels for Robert Schumann by 1836. Like most modern fathers, Friedrich thought that Schumann was unsuitable for his daughter. She had already made a name for herself as a performer, and Schumann was just another unknown composer. In attempt to end Clara and Robert’s infatuation with each other, Friedrich sent his daughter away to Dresden, where she was kept on a demanding touring schedule. While there, the love birds still wrote to each other in secrecy. The couple announced their plans to marry, and of course Friedrich would have none of it. It was illegal to marry without the father’s consent at that time in Germany, so Robert took the matter to court. After almost a year of legal battles, the court approved of the marriage. The two were wed on September 12, 1840, and