Editing Clara Schumann (section)

== Life ==
=== Early life ===
==== Family ====
Clara Josephine Wieck {{IPA|de|ˈklaːʀa ˈjoːzɛfiːn ˈviːk|}} was born in [[Leipzig]] on 13 September 1819 to [[Friedrich Wieck]] and his wife [[Mariane Bargiel|Mariane]] (''née'' Tromlitz).{{sfn|Hall|2002|p=1124}} Her mother was a famous singer in Leipzig who performed weekly piano and soprano solos at the [[Gewandhaus]].{{sfn|Haisler|2003}} Clara's parents had irreconcilable differences, in part due to her father's unyielding nature.{{sfn|Haisler|2003}} Prompted by an affair between her mother and Adolph Bargiel, her father's friend,{{sfn|Reich Book|2001|pp=5, 13}}{{sfn|Borchard|1991|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=kdLlCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA27 27]}} the Wiecks were divorced in 1825, with Mariane later marrying Bargiel. Five-year-old Clara remained with her father while Mariane and Bargiel eventually moved to Berlin, limiting contact between Clara and her mother to written letters and occasional visits.{{sfn|Nauhaus Bargiel|2019}}

==== Child prodigy ====
From an early age, Clara's father planned her career and life down to the smallest detail. She started receiving basic piano instruction from her mother at the age of four.{{sfn|Klassen|2011}} After her mother moved out, she began taking daily one-hour lessons from her father. They included subjects such as piano, violin, singing, [[music theory|theory]], harmony, composition, and [[counterpoint]]. She then had to practice for two hours every day. Her father followed the methods in his own book, ''Wiecks pianistische Erziehung zum schönen Anschlag und zum singenden Ton'' ("Wieck's Piano Education for a Delicate Touch and a Singing Sound."){{sfn|Klassen|2011}}{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=1bo0AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA3 v. 1 pp. 3–4]}} Her musical studies came largely at the expense of her broader general education, although she still studied religion and languages under her father's control of the family.{{sfn|Reich Grove|2001}}

[[File:Julius Giere - Clara Wieck im Alter von 15 Jahren (Lithographie 1835).jpg|thumb|left|upright|alt=Lithograph of a young girl at the piano, with a hand on the keyboard but the face turned back, dressed in a festive gown|Clara Wieck, from an 1835 [[lithograph]]]]

Clara Wieck made her official debut on 28 October 1828 at the [[Gewandhaus]] in Leipzig, at age nine.{{sfn|Klassen|2011}}{{sfn|Borchard|1991|p=[https://books.google.com/books?id=kdLlCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA33 33]}} The same year, she performed at the Leipzig home of Ernst Carus, director of the mental hospital at [[Colditz Castle]]. There, she met another gifted young pianist who had been invited to the musical evening, [[Robert Schumann]], who was nine years older. Schumann admired Clara's playing so much that he asked permission from his mother to stop studying law, which had never interested him much, and take music lessons with Clara's father. While taking lessons, he rented a room in the Wieck household and stayed about a year.{{sfn|Reich, Susanna|1999}}

From September 1831 to April 1832, Clara toured Paris and other European cities, accompanied by her father.{{sfn|Klassen|2011}} In [[Weimar]], she performed a bravura piece by [[Henri Herz]] for [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe|Goethe]], who presented her with a medal with his portrait and a written note saying: "For the gifted artist Clara Wieck". During that tour, the violinist [[Niccolò Paganini]], who was also in Paris, offered to appear with her.{{sfn|Braunstein|1971}} Her Paris recital was poorly attended because many people had fled the city due to an outbreak of [[cholera]].{{sfn|Braunstein|1971}} The tour marked her transition from a child prodigy to a young woman performer.{{sfn|Klassen|2011}}

==== Success in Vienna ====
[[File:Andreas Staub - Clara Wieck (Lithographie 1839).jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Black-on-beige drawing of a woman's face and upper body, with attention to facial features|1839 lithograph]]
From December 1837 to April 1838, at the age of 18, Wieck performed a series of recitals in Vienna.{{sfn|Reich Article|1986|p=249}} [[Franz Grillparzer]], Austria's leading dramatic poet, wrote a poem entitled "Clara Wieck and Beethoven" after hearing her perform Beethoven's ''[[Piano Sonata No. 23 (Beethoven)|Appassionata]]'' sonata during one of these recitals.{{sfn|Reich Article|1986|p=249}} She performed to sell-out crowds and laudatory critical reviews; Benedict Randhartinger, a friend of [[Franz Schubert]], gave her an autographed copy of Schubert's ''Erlkönig'', inscribing it "To the celebrated artist, Clara Wieck."{{sfn|Reich Article|1986|p=249}} Chopin described her playing to [[Franz Liszt]], who came to hear one of Wieck's concerts and subsequently praised her extravagantly in a letter that was published in the Parisian ''Revue et Gazette Musicale'' and later, in translation, in the Leipzig journal ''[[Neue Zeitschrift für Musik]]''.{{sfn|Reich Article|1986|p=250}} On 15 March, she was named a ''Königliche und Kaiserliche Österreichische Kammer-virtuosin'' ("Royal and Imperial Austrian Chamber Virtuoso"),{{sfn|Nauhaus Images|2019}} Austria's highest musical honor.{{sfn|Reich Article|1986|p=250}}

An anonymous music critic, describing her Vienna recitals, said: "The appearance of this artist can be regarded as epoch-making... In her creative hands, the most ordinary passage, the most routine motive acquires a significant meaning, a colour, which only those with the most consummate artistry can give."{{sfn|Burton-Hill|2017}}

=== Lasting relationships ===
==== Robert Schumann ====
[[File:Gedächtniskirche Leipzig-Schönefeld.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Gedächtniskirche Schönefeld|Schönefeld church]], where the Schumanns married on 12 September 1840]]
Robert Schumann was a little more than nine years older than Wieck. In 1837, when she was 18, he proposed to her and she accepted. Robert then asked her father for her hand in marriage.{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=v. 1 p. xi}} Friedrich was strongly opposed to the marriage, and refused his permission. Robert and Clara decided to go to court and sue him. The judge allowed the marriage, which took place in [[Gedächtniskirche Schönefeld|Schönefeld church]] on 13 September 1840, the day before Clara's 21st birthday, when she attained [[age of majority|majority status]].{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=v. 1 pp. xii, xvi}}{{sfn|Worl|1997}} From then on, the couple maintained a joint musical and personal diary of their life together.{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=v. 1 pp. 301–03}}

In February 1854, Robert Schumann had a mental collapse, attempted suicide, and was admitted, at his request, to a [[sanatorium]] in the village of [[Endenich]] near Bonn, where he stayed for the last two years of his life. In March 1854, Brahms, Joachim, [[Albert Dietrich]], and [[Julius Otto Grimm]] spent time with Clara Schumann, playing music for her and with her to divert her mind from the tragedy.{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Yit8CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT61 v. 2 pp. 61–62, 69, 71]}} Brahms composed some private piano pieces for her to console her: four piano pieces and a set of [[Variation (music)|variations]] on a [[Theme (music)|theme]] by Robert Schumann that she had also written variations on a year earlier, as her [[Opus number|Op.]] 20. The music by Brahms was not intended to be published, but for her alone. Brahms later thought to publish them anonymously, but eventually they were issued as his four [[Ballades, Op. 10 (Brahms)|Ballades, Op. 10]], and ''[[Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann]]'', Op. 9. Brahms dedicated the variations to both Schumanns, hoping that Robert would be released soon and rejoined with his family.{{sfn|Horne|1997|pp=98–115}}

For the entire two years of Robert Schumann's stay at the institution, his wife was not permitted to visit him, while Brahms visited him regularly. When it was apparent that Robert was near death, she was finally admitted to see him. He appeared to recognize her, but could only speak a few words.{{sfn|Daverio Grove|2001|p=20}} Robert Schumann died two days later, on 29 July 1856.{{sfn|Abraham|1998}}

==== Joseph Joachim ====
The Schumanns first met violinist [[Joseph Joachim]] in November 1844, when he was 14 years old.{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=v. 1 p. 366}} A year later, Clara Schumann wrote in her diary that in a concert on 11 November 1845, "little Joachim was very much liked. He played a new violin concerto by [[Felix Mendelssohn]], which is said to be wonderful."{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Yit8CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT388 v. 2 p. 388]}} In May 1853, they heard Joachim play the solo part in Beethoven's [[Violin Concerto (Beethoven)|Violin Concerto]]. She wrote that he played "with a finish, a depth of poetic feeling, his whole soul in every note, so ideally, that I have never heard violin-playing like it, and I can truly say that I have never received so indelible an impression from any virtuoso." A lasting friendship developed between Clara and Joseph, which for more than forty years never failed her in things great or small, never wavered in its loyalty.{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Yit8CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT41 v. 2 p. 41]}}

Over her career, Schumann gave over 238 concerts with Joachim in Germany and Britain, more than with any other artist.{{sfn|Reich Book|2001|p=206}} The two were particularly noted for their playing of [[Beethoven's violin sonatas]].{{sfn|Reich Book|2001|p=207}}

==== Johannes Brahms ====
[[File:Clara Schumann 1853.jpg|thumb|upright|alt=Black-and-white photograph of a woman sitting, looking pensively, with her left hand resting in her lap, while her head leans on her right hand, dressed in a solid-black jacket and lighter skirt|Schumann in 1853]]

In early 1853, the then-unknown 20-year-old [[Johannes Brahms]] met Joachim and made a very favorable impression. Brahms received from him a [[letter of introduction]] to Robert Schumann, and thus presented himself at the Schumanns' home in Düsseldorf. Brahms played some of his piano solo compositions for the Schumanns, and they were deeply impressed.{{sfn|Litzmann Letters|1927}} Robert published an article highly lauding Brahms, and Clara wrote in the diary that Brahms "seemed as if sent straight from God".{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Yit8CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT42 v. 2 p. 42]}}

During Robert Schumann's last years, confined to an asylum, Brahms was a strong presence for the Schumann family.{{sfn|Reich Book|2001}} His letters indicate his strong feelings for Clara.{{sfn|Swafford Article|2003}} Their relationship has been interpreted as somewhere between friendship and love,{{sfn|Popova|2017}} and Brahms always maintained the utmost respect for her, as a woman and a talented musician.{{sfn|Swafford Article|2003}}

Brahms played his [[Symphony No. 1 (Brahms)|First Symphony]] for her before its premiere. She gave some advice about the Adagio, which he took to heart. She expressed her appreciation of the Symphony as a whole, but mentioned her dissatisfaction with the endings of the third and fourth movements.{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=v. 1 pp. 322–23}} She was the first to perform many of his works in public, including the ''[[Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel]]'', a solo piano work written by Brahms in 1861.{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Yit8CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT201 v. 2 p. 201]}}

=== Concert tours ===
Clara Schumann first toured England in April 1856, while her husband was still living but unable to travel. She was invited to play in a [[Royal Philharmonic Society|London Philharmonic Society]]{{efn|The ''Philharmonic Society of London'' had been formed in 1813. In 1912, it became the ''Royal Philharmonic Society''.}} concert by conductor [[William Sterndale Bennett]], a good friend of Robert's.{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Yit8CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT131 v. 2 p. 131]}} She was displeased with the little time spent on rehearsals: "They call it a rehearsal here if a piece is played through once." She wrote that musical "artists" in England "allow themselves to be treated as inferiors."{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Yit8CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT133 v. 2 p. 133]}} She was happy, though, to hear the cellist [[Carlo Alfredo Piatti|Alfredo Piatti]] play with "a tone, a bravura, a certainty, such as I never heard before". In May 1856, she played Robert Schumann's [[Piano Concerto (Schumann)|Piano Concerto in A minor]] with the [[New Philharmonic Society]]{{efn|The New Philharmonic Society began operating in 1852 with Dr. Wylde as co-founder: ''A Dictionary of Music and Musicians'', Ed. George Grove, vol. 2, 1900, MacMillan, London, in Wikisource; article ''New Philharmonic Society, The'' by George Grove. The New Philharmonic ceased giving concerts in June 1879.}} conducted by Dr Wylde, who as she said had "led a dreadful rehearsal" and "could not grasp the rhythm of the last movement".{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Yit8CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT133 v. 2 p. 133]}} Still, she returned to London the following year and continued to perform in Britain for the next 15 years.{{sfn|Reich Book|2001|p=267}}

[[File:Adolph von Menzel - Joseph Joachim + Clara Schumann (Zeichnung 1854).jpg|thumb|alt=A violinist and a pianist playing, with her sitting at the piano partly shown on the right, while he plays towards the left, more in the foreground|Joseph Joachim and Schumann, after a lost 1854 drawing by [[Adolph Menzel]]]]

In October–November 1857, Schumann and Joachim went on a recital tour to Dresden and Leipzig.{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Yit8CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT3152 v. 2 p. 152]}} [[St. James's Hall]] in London, which opened in 1858, hosted a series of "[[Popular Concerts]]" of chamber music.{{efn|Some printed programs have been preserved in Arts & Humanities Research Council ''Concert Programmes'', St. James's Hall Concerts (1867–1904)}} Joachim visited London annually beginning in 1866.{{sfn|Avins Article|2002|p=637}} Schumann also spent many years in London participating in the Popular Concerts with Joachim and the celebrated Italian cellist [[Carlo Alfredo Piatti]]. Second violinist [[Louis Ries]] (nephew of composer Ferdinand Ries) and violist [[J. B. Zerbini]] usually played on the same concert programs. [[George Bernard Shaw]], the leading playwright and also a music critic, wrote that the Popular Concerts helped greatly to spread and enlighten musical taste in England.{{sfn|Shaw|1937|p=297}}

In January 1867, Schumann toured [[Edinburgh]] and [[Glasgow]], Scotland, along with Joachim, Piatti, Ries, and Zerbini. Two sisters, [[Louisa Pyne|Louisa and Susanna Pyne]], singers and managers of an opera company in England, and a man named Saunders, made all the arrangements. She was accompanied by her oldest daughter Marie, who wrote from Manchester to her friend Rosalie Leser that in Edinburgh the pianist "was received with tempestuous applause and had to give an encore, so had Joachim. Piatti, too, is always tremendously liked."{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Yit8CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT249 v. 2 pp. 249–50]}} Marie also wrote: "For the longer journeys we had a saloon [car], comfortably furnished with arm-chairs and sofas... the journey ... was very comfortable." On this occasion, the musicians were not "treated as inferiors".{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=JbY0AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA250 v. 2 p. 250]}}

=== Later life ===
==== Concerts ====
Schumann still performed actively in the 1870s and 1880s. She performed extensively and regularly throughout Germany during these decades, and had engagements in Austria, Hungary, Belgium, Holland, and Switzerland. When in Basel, Switzerland, she often stayed with the [[Von der Mühll]] family.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title=Basel 1857 – 1887 – Schumann-Portal|url=https://www.schumann-portal.de/basel-1857-1887.html|access-date=28 August 2020|website=schumann-portal.de}}</ref> She continued her annual winter-spring concert tours of England, giving 16 of them between 1865 and 1888, often with violinist Joachim.{{sfn|Schumann Portal|2019}}

She took a break from concert performances, beginning in January 1874, cancelling her usual England tour due to an arm injury. In July, she consulted a doctor, who having massaged the arm, advised her to practice for only one hour a day.{{sfn|Altenmüller|Kopiez|2010|pp=101–18}} She rested for the remainder of the year before returning to the concert stage in March 1875.{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=v. 1 pp. 322–23}} She had not fully recovered, and experienced more [[neuralgia]] in her arm again in May, reporting that she "could not write on account of my arm".{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=v. 1 pp. 322–23}} By October 1875, she had recovered enough to begin another tour in Germany.

In addition to solo piano recitals, chamber music, and accompanying singers, she continued to perform frequently with orchestras. In 1877, she performed Beethoven's [[Piano Concerto No. 5 (Beethoven)|Fifth Piano Concerto]] in Berlin, with [[Woldemar Bargiel]] conducting, her half-brother by her mother's second marriage, and had tremendous success.{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Yit8CgAAQBAJ&pg=PT42 v. 2 p. 42]}}{{sfn|Litzmann Bio|1913|loc=v. 1 pp. 322–23}} In 1883, she performed Beethoven's ''[[Choral Fantasy (Beethoven)|Choral Fantasy]]'' with the newly-formed [[Berlin Philharmonic]], and was enthusiastically celebrated, although she was playing with an injured hand in great pain, having fallen on a staircase the previous day.{{sfn|Berliner Philharmoniker|2019}} Later that year she played Beethoven's [[Piano Concerto No. 4 (Beethoven)|Fourth Piano Concerto]] (with her own cadenzas) with Joachim conducting the same orchestra, again to great acclaim.

In 1885, Schumann once again joined Joachim conducting Mozart's [[Piano Concerto No. 20 (Mozart)|Piano Concerto in D minor]], again playing her own cadenzas. The following day, she played her husband's Piano Concerto with Bargiel conducting. "I think I played fresher than ever", she wrote to Brahms, "What I liked very much about the concert was that I was able to give Woldemar the direction of it, who had longed for such an opportunity for years."{{sfn|Berliner Philharmoniker|2019}}

She played her last public concert in Frankfurt on 12 March 1891. The last work she played was Brahms's ''[[Variations on a Theme by Haydn]]'', in a version for two pianos, with [[James Kwast]].{{sfn|Clive|2006|p=403}}

==== Teaching ====
[[File:Frankfurt Saalhof um 1900.jpg|thumb|alt=Black-and-white photograph of a large city building on the corner of a block, with conical towers on that corner|Saalhof, the first location of [[Hoch Conservatory|Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium]]]]

In 1878, Schumann was appointed the first piano teacher of the new [[Hoch Conservatory|Dr. Hoch's Konservatorium]] in Frankfurt.{{sfn|Riebsamen|2019}}{{sfn|Negwer|2002}} She had chosen Frankfurt among offers from Stuttgart, Hannover, and Berlin, because the director, [[Joachim Raff]], had accepted her conditions: she could not teach more than 1-1/2 hours per day, was free to teach at her home, and had four months of vacation and time off for short tours in winter. She demanded two assistants, with her daughters Marie and Eugenie in mind.{{sfn|Klassen|2011}}{{sfn|Riebsamen|2019}}{{sfn|Allihn|2019}}

She was the only woman on the faculty.{{sfn|Riebsamen|2019}} Her fame attracted students from abroad, including Britain and the United States.{{sfn|Reich Book|2001}} She trained only advanced pupils, mostly young women, while her two daughters gave lessons to beginners. Among her 68 known students who made a musical career were [[Leonard Borwick]], [[Fanny Davies]], [[John Arthur St. Oswald Dykes]], [[Ilona Eibenschütz]], Nanette Falk (1835-1928), [[Carl Friedberg]], [[Amina Goodwin]], [[Natalia Janotha]], [[Adelina de Lara]], Marie Olson (1867-1916), [[Jane Roeckel]], [[Franklin Taylor]] and [[Mary Wurm]].{{sfn|Klassen|2011}}{{sfn|Riebsamen|2019}}{{sfn|Allihn|2019}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Cohen |first=Aaron I. |title=International encyclopedia of women composers |date=1987 |publisher=Books & Music USA |isbn=978-0-9617485-2-4 |edition=2nd ed., rev and enl |location=New York |page=593}}</ref><ref name=":0" /> The Konservatorium held events to celebrate her 50th year on stage in 1878 and her 60th career anniversary ten years later.{{sfn|Klassen|2011}}{{sfn|Allihn|2019}} She held the teaching post until 1892 and contributed greatly to the improvement of modern piano playing technique.{{sfn|Klassen|2011}}{{sfn|Riebsamen|2019}}

=== Death ===
Clara Schumann suffered a stroke on 26 March 1896, and died on 20 May at age 76.{{sfn|Reich Book|2001|p=23}} She was buried in Bonn at [[Alter Friedhof, Bonn|Alter Friedhof]] next to her husband, according to her own wish.{{sfn|Allihn|2019}}