One of the foremost pianists of the Romantic period, Clara Schumann’s career began as a child prodigy and spanned more than six decades. Her works include concertos, quartets, and songs, and she also taught generations of piano students in Frankfurt.
Clara Schumann (born Sept. 13, 1819, Leipzig, Saxony [Germany]—died May 20, 1896, Frankfurt am Main, Germany) was a German pianist, composer, and wife of composer Robert Schumann.
Encouraged by her father, she studied piano from the age of five and by 1835 had established a reputation throughout Europe as a child prodigy. In 1838, she was honoured by the Austrian court and was also elected to the prestigious Society of the Friends of Music (Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde) in Vienna.
Despite strong objections from her father, she married Schumann in 1840, and they had eight children between 1841 and 1854. Though family responsibilities curtailed her career, she taught at the Leipzig Conservatory, composed, and toured frequently.
Beginning in 1853, the Schumanns developed a close professional and personal friendship with the composer Johannes Brahms that Clara maintained after her husband died in 1856.
Her compositions include works for orchestra (among them a piano concerto), chamber music, songs, and many character pieces for solo piano.
- Clara Schumann did not like the music of Richard Wagner, which she found “horrible” and “repugnant”, or many of Franz Liszt’s pieces. She was a proponent of the Traditional school of music, which favored “absolute music” (music for music’s sake) and a more restrained approach to structure and harmony.
- Clara was the primary breadwinner for her family, continuing to tour and perform despite the demands of motherhood and her husband’s career.
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