Music and Life of Clara Schumann - Research Paper Example

 MUSIC AND LIFE OF CLARA SCHUMANN Clara Schumann occupies a unique place among nineteenth-century composers and pianists. She received significant popularity as a touring concert pianist between years 1830 and 1856. Being a truly leading pianist of the nineteenth century, Clara Schumann was a pioneer. She was among first pianists to perform from memory without the score, and to give solo concerts without assisting artists. She revived and publicized the piano works of Bach and Beethoven, although their music was generally new to the musical public who mostly preferred opera transcriptions and flash variations. Clara Schumann had astonishing impact on her audience, including traditional concert amateurs and members of music circles in Paris, Germany and England. From the critical perspective, although there were composers and pianists in the Romantic era who can be compared to Clara Schumann in terms of technical skills, her interpretive powers drastically distinguished her from the rest of the musical beau-monde. Clara Schumann was born Clara Josephine Wieck in 1819 in Leipzig in the family closely affiliated with music (Reich, 1985). From the very beginning, music was a crucial factor that shaped young Clara Wieck’s childhood. First, through the unique artistic partnership she shared with her father, Friedrich Wieck, she developed into a phenomenal young concert pianist. Secondly, music provided her a source of strength and comfort when her parents were divorced and she was separated from her mother. Thirdly, it was a core to the close relationships she formed with various professional musicians, who became her intimate friends as well as frequent music collaborators. Lastly, she obtained a prominent status in public and economic power through her musical accomplishments as a young concert pianist. Clara commenced her artistic journey with the full support and guidance of her father, who was her sole teacher and concert manager. Although he was controlling and dictatorial in his ways of educating her, he was progressive and optimistic in his outlook regarding her future. He was not hesitant to educate and prepare her for a future concert career even though she did not show any signs of exceptional musical talent or ability as an infant. Moreover, he did not consider her gender as the obstacle to her future: although he had two sons, he dismissed them as musically incompetent and considered Clara as the only child with the potential talent and aptitude to achieve success (Reich, 1985). Wieck’s full dedication to the nurturing and development of her artistry enabled Clara to carry out her musical pursuit with confidence and focus. She prioritized music study and career advancement above other aspects of her life under her father’s guidance, although most young women in her time were taught to devote themselves to domestic obligations and duties (Hadow, 1972). Wieck’s endeavors and sacrifice were greatly acknowledged by Clara, and she attributed her rapid music progress to his ingenious teaching and disciplinary training. She also found her close relationship with her father to be a source of power as she pursued her musical aspirations in the highly male-dominated field (Chissell, 1996). Despite Clara’s acknowledgement of her father’s significance in her artistic life, Wieck was regarded to be a self-seeking, despotic, and obsessive parent, who was mostly concerned with his own ambition. Although there are conflicting views on the true nature of Wieck’s commitment to Clara’s artistic development, his musical instruction was highly influential on Clara’s musical growth. She began her piano lessons with him at age 5, and by age 9 she had developed into an impressive pianist (Keeffe, 1996). Wieck stimulated her to work harder by preventing a prolonged, meaningless practice, which he believed to cause a mechanical playing rather than an efficient progress that encourages music making. Her comprehensive and thorough music education was comprised of three components: scholarly, practical, and artistic (Reich, 1985). The first, scholarly learning, included theory and harmony, composition, counterpoint and orchestration, and score reading; she also took voice and violin lessons with various renowned teachers to learn the significance of tone production, especially the production of the singing tone and its effect on piano playing. Until the age of 6, she played the piano without written notes, which facilitated the development of her musical ear and thinking. The second, practical education helped her to manage her earnings efficiently and sensibly. It eventually helped her to achieve her independence from her father at age 19 under difficult and challenging circumstances (Reich, 1985). The last category of education, artistic development, mostly took place at her home, where composers and virtuosos frequently gathered for important musical events. As an active participant and collaborator, she played old and new works, sang, and performed chamber music with various professional musicians. Although she gave her first formal concert at age 11, she had been an active member of the most elite circle of Leipzig musical life, and was already a part of a group that met regularly at her home at age 9 (Reich, 1985). As an adolescent she was honored with the friendship and respect of highly prominent figures such as Mendelssohn, Liszt, Chopin, and Schumann, and began to introduce Schumann’s works in Leipzig, Dresden, Vienna, and Paris from age 12. An unexpected separation took place between Clara and her father and in 1839, when Clara chose to marry Robert Schumann against Wieck’s will, and traveled to Paris and London for six months of concert tours on her own (Hadow, 1972). Although he threatened to disown her unless she breaks her ties with Robert, Clara could not comply with his demand. Perhaps his stand on the marriage of Clara and Robert reflects a father who is possessive and dictatorial; however, there were legitimate reasons to his unyielding opposition. Although Wieck acknowledged Robert’s exceptional talent as a composer, he did not consider him as an ideal husband for Clara. He saw him as an unreliable individual, who was a habitual drunkard and womanizer - he flirted with Clara when she was only 15 years old, but got engaged to 17 year old Ernestine von Fricken, daughter of a Bohemian nobleman, which broke young Clara's heart (Keeffe, 1996). Moreover, he squandered his inheritance and had little prospect of earning enough as a professional composer to establish a successful marriage, because his music was obscure and difficult for the general music public to embrace. Nevertheless, Clara rejected her father’s objection and remained faithful to Robert, who had been her long-time friend and confidant. Her marriage to Robert marked a complete new beginning for her. At age 20, she entered a new chapter of her life with optimism and passion as a married woman. Being the inspirer and major promoter of Robert Schumann’s works, Clara was content to put his work before hers at times. She managed the household and kept her practice time to a minimum in order to provide him an ideal home environment where he could write music without any interruption. However, it probably was unnatural for Clara to neglect her artistic work, which had become a significant part of her life; as her music study and practice began to stall behind she began to experience depression and anxiety: My piano playing again falls completely by the wayside, as is always the case when Robert composes. Not a single little hour can be found for me the entire day! If only I don’t regress too much! The score reading has also stopped again for now, but I hope not for too long! (Clara Schumann, as cited in Nauhaus, 1993, p. 84) In comparison to Clara’s seemingly unproductive artistic life as a married woman, Robert's career as a composer progressed with Clara’s faithful support and devotion. She premiered most of his piano compositions, and chamber and orchestral works that had a piano part. In addition, she promoted his works by inspiring others to perform them in public - Anton Rubinstein and Peter Tchaikovsky became great adherents of Schumann’s works (Reich, 1985). Moreover, many of Robert’s major piano compositions, such as Variations on the Name Abegg, Op. 1, Sonata in F-sharp minor, Op. 11, Sonata in F minor, Op. 14, and Fantasia in C major, Op. 17 among others, were inspired by Clara, and his works were publicized by her, who zealously promoted them. In the era where women were expected to promote their careers by accentuating their feminine image by attiring themselves in beautiful fancy dresses, acting playful, coy, or flirtatious, and by playing music that had pleasing and simple melodies, Clara Schumann have been known to bravely reject such ways and cultivate her own path as a respectable artist (Macleod, 2001). In contrast to the typical musical thinking of the nineteenth century, her artistic goal was to be true to the composer’s text and musical intentions, and her view brought uniqueness to her performance, in which public attention was focused on the composer rather than the virtuoso performer. Clara Schumann was one of the most independent and strong-minded female artists of the Romantic era. Still, she also needed the various supports that were essential to the development of her artistry and career in adulthood. Her unique bond with Robert, and her close friendships and artistic partnerships with many influential artists, especially Brahms and Joachim, all enabled her to sustain her art under difficult personal circumstances. Her achievement of successful and extensive concert career was a result of her remarkable artistry, commitment, and resilience, as well as the love and care of many others. Without the aid of those who loved her, her career probably could not have the kind of success or longevity she attained in her professional life as an artist. REFERENCES Chissell, J. (1996). Composer of the month: Clara Schumann. (May, 1996). BBC Music Magazine. 38-40. Hadow, G. E. (1972). Clara Schumann: An artist’s life based on material found in diaries and letters by Berthold Litzmann. (Vol. 1 & 2). New York: Vienna House. Keeffe, B. (1996). Composer of the month: Fruits of a father’s ambition. (May, 1996). BBC Music Magazine, 43-44 Macleod, B. A. (2001). Women performing music: The emergence of American women as instrumentalists and conductors. North Carolina: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers Nauhaus, G. (1993). The marriage diaries of Robert and Clara Schumann: From their wedding day through the Russian trip. Boston: Northeastern University Press Reich, N. B. (1985). Clara Schumann: The artist and the woman. Ithaca and London: Cornell University Press. . Read More