Clara Schumann, a composer and internationally acclaimed piano virtuoso, was once asked if her husband, Robert Schumann, was also a musician during one of her concert tours in Russia.
Composer Biography
Clara Schumann composed over twenty songs, a piano concerto, and several chamber works despite raising eight children and having a husband who was not always easy to deal with.
Composition History
Robert Schumann's song cycle Myrthen, Op. 25, was a wedding present to Clara Schumann on September 12, 1840, composed in the spring and summer of that year.
Composition History
Robert Schumann's last song cycle, Gedichte der Königin Maria Stuart, Op. 135, from 1852, is an unusual portrait of a woman and a self-portrait, reflecting his identification with Mary, Queen of Scots' predicament.
Critical Reception
Clara Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor was condescendingly reviewed in 1837 by the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, stating "one should not speak of a review as such… because this is a work by a lady."
Composition History
The shared song cycle Liebesfrühling (Spring of Love), Op. 37 (Robert) and Op. 12 (Clara), originally omitted specific authorship for each song, causing confusion among contemporaries.
Composer's Artistic Vision
Clara Schumann expressed doubts about her compositional talent, writing in 1839 that she had abandoned the idea of possessing creative talent, believing "no lady ever did so before, so why should I be destined for it?"
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