Clara Josephine (Vic) Schumann is a famous pianist, composer and teacher. She worked as a professor at the conservatory and made a huge contribution to the development of musical art. Clara was the wife and first performer of her husband Robert Schumann’s compositions.
Clara Schumann. Biography: early childhood
Clara (Vic) Schumann was born on September 13, 1819 in Germany, in the city of Leipzig. Her father, Friedrich Wieck, was a teacher, and also engaged in the repair and sale of musical instruments. Mother Marianne Tromlitz was a famous pianist and singer, who often traveled with concerts. Clara was the oldest child in the family. She had three more younger brothers. The girl’s parents divorced when the fourth child was born. Clara was five years old at that moment. All the children remained to live with their father, and the mother married a second time and moved to Berlin. Clara's father also soon married a second time.
Parenting
Little Clara was a rather modest and silent child. She started talking only at the age of four, although she remained quite silent at an older age. The girl began her studies at a comprehensive school, but already at a young age her talent for the game showed up. Noticing this, Clara’s father, having an imperious and authoritarian character, decided to pick her up from school and start studying at home. His plans included raising from the daughter of a musical prodigy. All their classes were aimed at obtaining a musical education and the development of technology and virtuosity of the game, as well as singing. There was very little time left to study other sciences, and little attention was paid to them. With extensive teaching experience, Friedrich Wieck developed his own teaching methodology, which he used in lessons with his daughter. Clara practiced two to three hours every day. Much attention was paid to the development of memory. Father taught his daughter to play from memory.
In the early years, Clara’s father independently kept a diary on her behalf, which the girl herself continued to fill out with age. However, even here extra liberties were not allowed - the father constantly checked the notes.
First concerts
Talent and persistent music lessons have borne fruit. The first serious performance of the girl took place at the age of nine. And at eleven she gave a concert in the concert hall of her native city. At the age of 12, Clara already performed in Paris, and at the age of 18, in Vienna. Many talented musicians admired her talent and manner of playing, including Chopin, Paganini, Mendelssohn.
Clara's father was always personally involved in her training and completely controlled the schedule. His teaching method became known, and Friedrich Wieck helped to become famous for more than one musician.
Friedrich also performed the duties of an impresario. He was involved in the preparation and organization of the girl’s tour. I personally wrote invitations, chose a room and monitored the health of a musical instrument. In some cases, the piano was even sent in advance so that nothing could interfere with Clara’s play.
At the age of 11, Paganini himself noted the play of Clara Vic, who invited her to perform on the same stage. At the age of 18, the girl gave several concerts in Vienna. At the same time, she was honored to be a royal musical virtuoso.
The author of musical compositions
Pretty early, Clara began to write music herself. At the age of ten, her works were first published. However, the work of a young girl could not be taken seriously enough. Writing musical compositions was not typical for the ladies of that time.
Clara Schumann: appearance description
The young pianist had a pleasant appearance. She had long dark hair that adorned her aristocratic face. The pianist’s big brown eyes betrayed her creative and fragile nature. In her youth, Clara had sophisticated forms.
A large number of portraits of the great pianist have been preserved, but few of them were pleased with Clara.
Acquaintance with the future husband
When Clara was eight years old, she was invited to speak in the house of the director of the hospital for mentally ill people. Among the invited guests at the evening was Robert Schumann. He was nine years older than the pianist. The girl’s play inspired and delighted him so much that he decided to quit his studies and begin studying music. Before meeting, the young man studied law, but he never liked science, and the performance of the gifted pianist only prompted a decisive step. He began to take musical lessons from father Clara. For a deeper study, Robert even moved to the Wikis and stayed with them for about a year. At this time, the relationship between the young people was friendly. Robert did not take the little gifted girl seriously. Only when Clara was sixteen years old, their relationship changed, and the young man even dedicated a play to her.
Despite the growing feelings of young people, Frederick Wieck was opposed to Robert. He considered him unworthy of his daughter, because the famous musician did not work out of him, because the young man began to have inflammation of the tendons of the finger. Even the fact that Robert Schumann became a famous music editor, and soon the founder of his own magazine, was not enough for him. He strongly opposed their communication and created all conditions so that young people could not spend time together. Friedrich Wieck even deprived his daughter of ink so that she could not write to her beloved. And in order to exclude their dates, he made her schedule denser and tried to ensure that she spent more time on tour.
For a painful four years, the couple maintained a relationship and hoped that Clara’s father would change his mind. But in 1839, without waiting for any changes, the young people decide to go to court with a lawsuit against Friedrich Wick. They demand either to give them consent to marry, or simply to agree to the planned marriage. The case dragged on, and after almost a year the court ruled to allow the couple to get married. In September 1840, they played a wedding in a small church near Leipzig. Only three years later, Clara’s father could forgive their willfulness and took a step towards.
Family of Robert and Clara Schumann
After a passionate romantic relationship, Clara plunged into a real family life. Robert had a difficult character, was the head of the family and demanded that his wife consent, and in some matters even submission. Despite this, the girl escaped from the custody of her father and now she could determine what she wants to do and what she likes to study. She made up for gaps in general education, read a lot. The girl continued to perform and often went on tour, which the young spouse did not really like, who preferred quiet family evenings. Robert had an impact on her creative essence. He insisted that Clara’s music become less romantic, and bring it closer to his style. He wanted to achieve unity in everything.
Robert Schuman continues to work and create. “Variations on the theme of Clara Wieck”, “Symphonic Etudes”, as well as “Spring Symphony” come out from under his pen and immediately become very popular.
Like Clara’s father, Robert wished to keep a family diary in which the spouses took turns taking notes. The texts were never hidden, and this sometimes even helped to strengthen relations. Clara wrote all the unsaid in a diary, and the husband could draw some conclusions and go towards his wife.
The Schumann family was large. In the marriage, the couple had eight children. Due to lack of funds, Clara continued to travel on tour, because her income was the main means of the family. The Schumans set off on each new journey, as a rule, together. However, Robert soon stopped speaking due to hand disease. Clara performed his works and thereby supported his fame and glory.
The death of Robert Schumann
In 1849, Robert Schumann was offered a job in Dusseldorf. Soon the family moves to a new place of residence. Here Robert was involved in organizing the work and performances of the choir and orchestra. Clara continued to perform, helping her husband in her free time. However, during this period, Robert becomes ill. In 1854, his illness worsened amid heavy loads. He begins auditory hallucinations, and sometimes even visions. Schumann is suffering a severe illness and soon decides to attempt suicide. Robert Schumann rushes from the bridge into the river, but he is saved. After this event, Clara decides to place her husband in a psychiatric hospital. During this period, a woman carries a child, and doctors forbid her to visit her spouse, since his condition only worsens, and dates can harm a future baby. In 1856, Robert Schumann dies. After his death, the couple’s children travel to different cities.
Acquaintance and relationship with a young fan
In 1853, the Schumann family met a young composer. Johannes Brahms impressed them with his play. The talent of the composer, who is 14 years younger than Clara, was noted by Schumann in an article he published. Supporting the opinion of her husband, Clara often performs Brahms' compositions at her concerts.
After the development of Robert’s illness and his placement in a psychiatric hospital, communication between Clara and the young man began to occur more often, which is confirmed by the surviving letters. It is known that a young man was in love with a famous pianist and repeatedly spoke out to her about his feelings. The couple’s relationship developed slowly. It is known that for some time the young man lived in their house in Dusseldorf, and also sometimes accompanied the pianist on tours. After the death of Robert, the pair's communication declined and soon ceased altogether. Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann decided to destroy most of their correspondence, so accurate information about the development of their relationship has not been preserved.
The last years of the pianist's life
At the age of 44, Klara Josephine Schumann moved to Baden-Baden. Here she is actively engaged in creativity, tours a lot. The pianist visits with concerts the cities of Germany and Europe. When a woman turns 59 years old, she receives an invitation to study at the Conservatory in Frankfurt. The German pianist agrees and moves again. Here she works until 1892. Her teaching activities have greatly influenced the improvement of the quality of the playing of young pianists.
Schumann’s wife, Klara Schumann, supports her husband’s fame, not letting people forget about his work and musical merits. A woman is involved in the editing of his works, publishes some letters. Until the last years, Clara Schumann (Vic) continues to perform and she gives her last concert at 71 years old. At the age of 76 (March 26, 1896), the pianist dies from an apoplexy shock. Before her death, the woman wished to be buried next to her husband in Bonn, in the old cemetery, and her wish was fulfilled.
Memory in the cinema
Love for his wife inspired Robert Schumann to write the famous Spring Symphony. In 1983, a film of the same name was dedicated to the life of lovers in Germany. Another equally famous film, also about Clara and Robert Schumann, is “A Song of Love”, shot by an American director in 1947.