Clara Schumann: The Artist and the Woman

415 Pages·2001·23.84 MB·English

by  Nancy B. Reich

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CLARA SCHUMANN
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Clara Schumann, age 38, Munich. Photograph by Franz Hanfstaengl,
1857. Robert-Schumann-Haus, Zwickau.
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C L A R A S C H UMA N N
The Artist and the Woman
Revised Edition
Nancy B. Reich
Cornell University Press
ithaca and london
Copyright © 1985 by Cornell University
Revised edition © 2001 by Nancy B. Reich
All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof,
must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher.
For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street,
Ithaca, New York 14850.
First edition published 1985 by Cornell University Press
First printing, Cornell Paperbacks, 1987
Revised edition published 2001
Printed in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Reich, Nancy B.
Clara Schumann : the artist and the woman / Nancy B. Reich.—Rev.
ed.
p. cm.
“Catalogue of Works”: p.
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978-0-8014-3740-3 (cloth:alk. paper) — ISBN 978-0-8014-8637-1 (pbk.:alk.
paper)
1. Schumann, Clara, 1819–1896. 2. Pianists—Germany—Biography. I.
Title.
ML417.S4 R4 2001
786.2'092—dc21
00-011932
Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and
materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials
include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and acid-free papers that are recycled,
chlorine-free, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our
website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.
Cloth printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Paperback printing 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3
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In memory of
Haskell A. Reich,
1926–1983
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Contents
List of Illustrations viii
Preface to the Revised Edition ix
Preface to the First Edition xii
Acknowledgments to the Revised Edition xvii
Acknowledgments to the First Edition xviii
Chronology xxi
Abbreviations xxv
Part I. The Life of Clara Schumann
1. Prelude: The Wiecks of Leipzig 3
2. Clara’s Career Begins 18
3. Robert Schumann and the Wiecks 37
4. The Break with Wieck 55
5. The Marriage 80
6. The Dresden Years 100
7. Düsseldorf and the Death of Robert Schumann 111
8. The Later Years 131
Part II. Themes from the Life of Clara Schumann
9. Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms 169
10. Other Friends and Contemporaries 190
11. Clara Schumann as Composer and Editor 211
12. The Concert Artist 249
13. Clara Schumann as Student and Teacher 279
Catalogue of Works 289
Notes 338
Bibliography 361
Index 375
vii]
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Illustrations
Clara Schumann, 1857 frontispiece
Marianne Tromlitz, June 7, 1816 10
Friedrich Wieck’s letter to Marianne Wieck, November 7, 1825 12
Cover of Clara’s diary 19
Clara Wieck, age 8 23
Clara Wieck’s piano, Gewandhaus concert, October 20, 1828 25
Program, Clara Wieck’s first Gewandhaus concert 26
Clara Wieck, 1832 30
Clara Wieck, 1835 36
Robert Schumann, 1839 70
Clara Wieck, 1840 74
Friedrich Wieck, ca. 1853 76
Clara and Robert Schumann, 1847 105
Six Schumann children, 1855 137
Clara Schumann with Marie 140
Marie Schumann 141
Elise Schumann 143
Julie Schumann 144
Ludwig Schumann 148
Ferdinand Schumann 151
Eugenie Schumann 154
Felix Schumann 156
Clara Schumann, 1878 165
Clara Schumann, 1854 171
Johannes Brahms, 1853 173
Concert program, March 12, 1891 252
Concert program, January 13, 1833 258
Autograph, “Volkslied” 320
[viii
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Preface to the Revised Edition
I
n the fifteen years since the first edition of this biography was published, in-
terest in Clara Schumann has exploded. Performances, editions, and recordings
of her music, films, dramas, radio and TV programs inspired by her life, piano
competitions in her name, dissertations, scholarly papers, articles in the schol-
arly and popular presses, program notes, publication of letters, biographies in
several languages and revisionist biographies, all attest to the significance of
and fascination with Clara Wieck Schumann as an artist and as a woman.
Some part of the fascination was generated by the feminist movement, which
stirred the demand for courses in women’s studies, women’s history, and gen-
der studies now found in universities around the globe. Clara Schumann—ca-
reer woman and single mother—was an ideal subject for students interested in
women, history, and music. Indeed, many of the lecture invitations I received
the first few years after the publication of the book were from groups more in-
terested in women’s issues than in music history. As awareness of her accom-
plishments grew, however, she increasingly came to be seen not only as a sym-
bol of women achievers but as an acknowledged composer of the new romantic
school of the early Romantic period and a towering influence on pianists in the
nineteenth century.
The need for a new edition has grown more pressing as a result of the publi-
cation of a variety of significant documents—letters, medical reports, and
music—that were in private hands and unavailable when I was working on the
first edition. The publication in 1994 of excerpts of the medical log kept by
Robert Schumann’s physicians in Endenich, Clara Schumann’s correspon-
dence with Dr. Härtel of the publishers Breitkopf & Härtel (published in 1997)
and with the List family (published in 1996), and the letters and diaries of her
granddaughter Julie (published in 1990) were among the documents that,
though they did not change my basic conceptions of the character and person-
ality of Clara Schumann, have informed this revised edition and enriched my
understanding and admiration of this remarkable woman.
ix]