Feisty Female Friday: Clara Schumann

The FFF this week is Clara Schumann.

Although remembered chiefly as the wife of the composer Robert Schumann, Clara was a pianist, composer and teacher in her own right. She was born in Germany and a child prodigy in the international music world. Clara met her future husband, Robert, while she was still a child. They married and had eight children, leading Clara often to struggle with the demands of motherhood and with her activities as a concert artist.

Following her husband’s death, Clara maintained her international reputation as an outstanding pianist and teacher who attracted students from all over the world.
Clara Schumann was one of the key initiators of the Romantic movement, championing the music of Chopin, Brahms, and her husband. Many pieces that she played in concerts in her day remain in the piano repertory of concert performances today.

There are no surviving recordings of her piano playing, but press reviews of the time, her pupils’ recollections of her performances, and of her own editions her works, detail her tremendous technical and artistic interpretations in all her performances.

Clara successfully organized and performed her own concerts in a man’s world that was often hostile to all female artists. Her own compositions include songs, romances, sets of variations, character-pieces, a Piano Trio, and her Piano Concerto. She had five performances with the Berliner Philharmoniker, was a composer, celebrated conservatory teacher, and one of the most acclaimed pianists of her day. Clara performed her last concert at the age of 76, after performing for 61 years of her life.

Clara died and was buried with her husband in Germany, survived at the time by 4 of her 8 children; many of her grandchildren and family members remain active in music today. The Schumann museum, her residence with her husband, includes many professional and personal artifacts and is a tribute to both Clara and her husband.