Meet Clara Schumann: Sixty Years at the Piano
MentorMinds
A prodigy
Clara Wieck made her debut at the Leipzig Gewandhaus at nine and began her Piano Concerto at thirteen; Mendelssohn conducted its premiere. She married Robert Schumann in 1840, after a court case against her father.
Carrying everything
After Robert was confined to an asylum in 1854, she supported their eight children by touring. Her friendship with the young Johannes Brahms lasted the rest of her life.
The composer who stopped
She wrote in her diary that a woman must not desire to compose. She largely stopped after Robert’s death — but what she left, including the Piano Trio in G minor, is now played again.
Why they belong at your table
Seat Clara Schumann when duty and art are competing for the same hours, and you need someone who kept both alive.
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