Preview of Tenth Muse | Clara Schumann
- Leah Froyd
- 11 hours ago
- 5 min read
Hello and welcome back to our preview series for Tenth Muse! Last week we covered the life of Robert Schumann and his inspiration from his wife, Clara. This week we will do a deep dive into Clara’s life before and after her marriage with Robert, as well as on her impact on future generations of women performers and composers. To hear Clara’s work performed live, come to our concerts next month!
Clara's Life
As mentioned last week, Clara’s father was a renowned piano pedagogue in Germany. Clara received formal music and piano training from childhood and toured around Europe showing off her talents to many courts and societies, including a performance for the poet Johann Goethe and pianist Chopin. By the age of 19, Clara received honors from the Austrian court and was elected to the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Vienna: a large exception was made for her appointment as both a woman and foreigner.
"Composing gives me great pleasure... there is nothing that surpasses the joy of creation, if only because through it one wins hours of self-forgetfulness, when one lives in a world of sound." - Clara Schumann
Clara and Robert were married in 1940, a day before Clara's 21st birthday. In married life, Clara juggled family responsibilities with her musical career. She and Robert had 8 children— the first born in 1841 and last, Felix, named after their late friend Felix Mendelssohn, born in 1854. During this period, Clara also taught at the Leipzig Conservatory, toured, and hosted musical salons; at all of which her children accompanied her and would serve as her pupils and assistants whenever they weren’t away at school.
In addition to childcare and producing her own performances and compositions, she also frequently edited her husband’s work and managed his career. She continued to champion her husband’s work after his death in 1856 by continuing to edit and publish his works posthumously. She also continued touring and won a post at the Frankfurt Conservatory as the only woman professor.
This Scherzo by Clara is a wonderful encapsulation of Clara’s competence in both performance and composition. The opening rapid notes are gripping and meant to showcase the technical mastery of the performer; executing it requires the ability to imbue each phrase with energy, complexity, and drive.
The fierce storm of notes eventually makes way for a more calm, chorale passage spotlighting Clara’s mastery of harmony and voice leading. Despite the slower motion in this section, there are twinkles and flourishes that allude to the fiery spirit of the original theme. Before too long, the calmness is interrupted by the energetic return of the first motive, and we are thrust back into the lively fires of the original theme. This showcases her mastery of narrative and musical drama.
During Clara’s lifetime, she fostered deeply collaborative partnerships with many composers and artisans. Some of the most notable included Johannes Brahms, Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt, Fanny and Felix Mendelssohn, and Marie Pleyel. She gained many accolades from her predecessors and was instrumental in shaping the generation after her. Brahms famously lived with the Schumanns for many years and was a great source of support for Clara during Robert’s life and after his passing. She and her fellow women composers like Fanny (more about her here), Sophie Kaskel, Marie Pleyel, and many more often shared their music in private salons and corresponded throughout their entire lives. You can read more about her correspondences here.
Despite Clara’s immense musical influence, very few of her works were published compared to her male counterparts (though many more were published than her female colleagues) due to the restrictive gender roles of the 1800s. Altogether she had 23 published works. However, more recent research has revealed numerous unpublished works, collaborations, and adaptations which are now being performed in celebration of her legacy.
Further Listening...
Die stille Lotosblume
Die stille Lotosblume
Steigt aus dem blauen See,
Die Blätter flimmern und blitzen,
Der Kelch ist weiß wie Schnee.
Da gießt der Mond vom Himmel
All seinen gold’nen Schein,
Gießt alle seine Strahlen
In ihren Schoß hinein.
Im Wasser um die Blume
Kreiset ein weißer Schwan,
Er singt so süß, so leise
Und schaut die Blume an.
Er singt so süß, so leise
Und will im Singen vergehn.
O Blume, weiße Blume,
Kannst du das Lied verstehn?
The silent lotus flower
English translation © Richard Stokes
The silent lotus flower
Rises out of the blue lake,
Its leaves glitter and glow,
Its cup is as white as snow.
The moon then pours from heaven
All its golden light,
Pours all its rays
Into the lotus flower’s bosom.
In the water, round the flower,
A white swan circles,
It sings so sweetly, so quietly,
And gazes on the flower.
It sings so sweetly, so quietly,
And wishes to die as it sings.
O flower, white flower,
Can you fathom the song?
This beautiful art song, Die stille Lotosblume is the last in a collection of songs written by Clara during the first years of her marriage with Robert and likely served as Christmas or Birthday gifts for him. The poem depicts a quiet moment in the evening of someone observing a lotus flower and the perfect harmony of nature.
Clara sets the scene very well with the piano’s gentle rhythm underpinning the melody of the singer. We don’t get much tension until the very end when the singer asks if the flower can fathom the tragic song the swan sings. As an allusion to the open-ended ness of the poem, the last moments of the song are left unresolved— we expect the main theme of the first stanza to come back but it does not!
In this movement from Clara’s piano trio, listen for the duality of her compositional style: it begins with a slow, melodic theme which surrounds a more energetic middle section.
Although the Andante (slow) theme is originally introduced by the piano, we eventually hear the full use of lyricism provided by the string instruments as they each take turns playing it framed by flourishes by the piano and accompanying string instrument.
By contrast, the B section has a much more rigid rhythm, fixating on the long short (dotted) rhythm which propels the movement briskly and creates a very stark character change. In this section, we begin in a very intense energy which fluctuates between its seriousness and exploring softer and more playful interpretations of the same rhythm.
When the original melody returns, it’s taken by the cello which hasn’t gotten a chance to lead yet :-) A striking compositional choice made by Clara during this final iteration is that the violin makes its (bowed) entrance in the same register as the cello’s melody (rather than an octave higher), showing how the same melodic material can be changed through something like the voicing of the instruments.
Thanks for "tuning" in! To hear more of the Schumann’s work (both Robert and Clara), join us this February for our upcoming concert cycle, Tenth Muse!
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