Clara Schumann

By Monica Steegmann

Clara Schumann had her debut as a solo-pianist in 1828 at barely the age of nine, but withdrew into the shadow of her husband, Robert, whom she married against her father’s wishes. Her life, especially after his death, is also closely linked to that of Brahms. When Clara Schumann was just eighteen she realised that 'I would be unhappy if I were unable to practise my art forever'. She found after her husband Robert Schumann's death 'how necessary music is in my life - if I had to give it up I should soon perish'. Even when she was seventy, the thought that she might no longer be able to play was completely unbearable: 'How should I go on living if I had to give it up entirely!' Nothing shook her hold on life as strongly as the thought of giving up her music. It was something innate rather than acquired, a form of artistic expression, the language most familiar to her, 'the air in which I breathe. Only music and people could warm my heart - and in that order.'

‘Concise and well-written . . . [Steegmann] is particularly good on Clara as a pianist and sympathetic to her much-maligned father.’
Jessica Duchen, Classic FM

Monica Steegmann is a music producer and editor for the Süddeutsche Rundfunk.