Post by erik on Nov 6, 2021 12:48:24 GMT -5
Before becoming the wife of the gifted, if troubled composer of Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann, who was then Clara Wieck, composed an early great example of a piano concerto by a female composer. That work is in this week's Classical Works Spotlight.
Clara Schumann: PIANO CONCERTO IN A MINOR, OP. 7
As one of the great women composers of the 19th century, as well as the wife of a hugely gifted but often troubled husband, Clara Schumann, born as Clara Wieck in 1819, is a very important figure in terms both of composition and as a pianist. Born in Leipzig to parents Friedrich and Mariane, Clara was a child prodigy and made her debut as a pianist at the city’s famed Gewandhaus concert hall in 1828 at age 9. Although her father was opposed to her relationship with Robert Schumann, Clara did wed the composer, who was nine years older than her, and made an effort to encourage her husband to go into larger forms of the classical sphere, which, the following year, resulted in the instantly popular Spring Symphony (#1). In Clara’s compositional canon, the most significant work of hers is the Piano Concerto In A Minor, which she composed and orchestrated in surprisingly short order in 1835, and premiered that same year at the Gewandhaus, with her as the soloist and Felix Mendelssohn. The premiere was a huge success for Clara both as a composer and as a pianist, but it would be almost a century after her passing in 1896 that it would begin to enter the repertoire, primarily for female pianists, with anything approaching the popularity of her husband’s concerto in the same key. In the meantime, her husband’s mental troubles caused both of them considerable anguish; and while she had considerable support from the Schumanns’ close friends, violinist Joseph Joachim and the emerging composer Johannes Brahms, as well as having given birth to eight children, she never got over her husband’s passing at the age of 46 in 1856. Her wish to be laid to rest next to her husband was honored, in Bonn, Germany.
Piano: ISATA KANNEH-MASON
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/HOLLY MATHIESON (London/Decca)
Included (Romance: The Piano Music Of Clara Schumann):
THREE ROMANCES, OP. 11
SCHERZO NO. 2 IN C MINOR, OP. 14
THREE ROMANCES, OP. 22
PIANO SONATA IN G MINOR
Robert Schumann: MYRTHEN, OP. 25/I: WIDMNUNG (Arranged By CLARA SCHUMANN)
Robert Schumann: LIEDERKREIST, OP. 39/V: MONDNACHT (Arranged By CLARA SCHUMANN)
Clara Schumann: PIANO CONCERTO IN A MINOR, OP. 7
As one of the great women composers of the 19th century, as well as the wife of a hugely gifted but often troubled husband, Clara Schumann, born as Clara Wieck in 1819, is a very important figure in terms both of composition and as a pianist. Born in Leipzig to parents Friedrich and Mariane, Clara was a child prodigy and made her debut as a pianist at the city’s famed Gewandhaus concert hall in 1828 at age 9. Although her father was opposed to her relationship with Robert Schumann, Clara did wed the composer, who was nine years older than her, and made an effort to encourage her husband to go into larger forms of the classical sphere, which, the following year, resulted in the instantly popular Spring Symphony (#1). In Clara’s compositional canon, the most significant work of hers is the Piano Concerto In A Minor, which she composed and orchestrated in surprisingly short order in 1835, and premiered that same year at the Gewandhaus, with her as the soloist and Felix Mendelssohn. The premiere was a huge success for Clara both as a composer and as a pianist, but it would be almost a century after her passing in 1896 that it would begin to enter the repertoire, primarily for female pianists, with anything approaching the popularity of her husband’s concerto in the same key. In the meantime, her husband’s mental troubles caused both of them considerable anguish; and while she had considerable support from the Schumanns’ close friends, violinist Joseph Joachim and the emerging composer Johannes Brahms, as well as having given birth to eight children, she never got over her husband’s passing at the age of 46 in 1856. Her wish to be laid to rest next to her husband was honored, in Bonn, Germany.
Piano: ISATA KANNEH-MASON
Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra/HOLLY MATHIESON (London/Decca)
Included (Romance: The Piano Music Of Clara Schumann):
THREE ROMANCES, OP. 11
SCHERZO NO. 2 IN C MINOR, OP. 14
THREE ROMANCES, OP. 22
PIANO SONATA IN G MINOR
Robert Schumann: MYRTHEN, OP. 25/I: WIDMNUNG (Arranged By CLARA SCHUMANN)
Robert Schumann: LIEDERKREIST, OP. 39/V: MONDNACHT (Arranged By CLARA SCHUMANN)