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Clara Schumann Performance Program Notes


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Program Notes for March 24, 1996 Performance

Copyright © 1996, David Kenneth Smith.

Sämtliche Lieder: The Complete Songs of 
CLARA SCHUMANN (1819-1896)


The Clara Schumann Society presents an historic centenary concert of the complete songs of the most influential 19th century female musician. Clara Schumann was one of the best pianists of her time, the primary champion of the music of Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms, and a significant composer in her own right.

Clara was the daughter of piano teacher Friedrich Wieck, who quickly recognized her prodigious talent and trained her as a piano virtuosa. Her first public appearance was in 1828, and her first recital was two years later. To promote her career, Wieck encouraged her to write and perform her own music. Most of Clara's works are for piano, the first written in 1827. They include a piano concerto, a piano trio, solo piano pieces, and 28 songs. Of the songs extant today, Der Wanderer was the first to be performed in an 1831 concert. This song and Der Wanderer in der Sägemühle may have been written with the help of her father. The extent of his influence is unclear, but both songs seem quite original and imaginative.

In 1830, a melancholy musician with a literary bent began piano studies with Wieck. It was Robert Schumann. For the next several years, Clara and Robert were friendly competitors in their studies, until Robert turned from pursuing a piano career to one of composing. Christmas 1835 confirmed their growing love for each other, and the beginning of a painful break from her father. After a brutal court battle with Wieck, Robert and Clara won the right to marry on September 12, 1840, the day before her birthday. This was Robert's great year of song, during which several song cycles, including Dichterliebe and Frauenliebe und Leben, appeared. He was eager for Clara to compose songs too, though she was initially hesitant about a woman being a composer. As a Christmas present to Robert, she wrote Am Strande on a translation of a Burns poem, and set two Heine texts, Volkslied and Ihr Bildnis. The latter was revised in a smoother rendition printed as Op. 13 No. 1, Ich stand in dunklen Träumen. The contrast between the two versions is so piquant that we have chosen to perform both.

Like the wedding diary whose entries they alternated writing, Robert and Clara composed an intermingled group of songs, on poems chosen from Love's Springtime by Friedrich Rückert. Clara's were written in June 1841, while she was pregnant with their first child, Marie. Robert secretly printed the collection of three songs of hers and nine of his, and gave them to Clara on their first anniversary. This was his Op. 37 and her Op. 12, which included Er ist gekommen, Liebst du um Schönheit, and Warum willst du and're fragen.

Clara enjoyed writing songs as presents to Robert for his June 8 birthday. Liebeszauber, Sie liebten sich beide (the first version is performed tonight), and Ich hab' in deinem Auge were birthday presents in 1842 and 43. A revision of Sie liebten, together with three others, were printed as Clara's Op. 13. Other birthday songs Lorelei and Oh weh des Scheidens, only recently appeared in the 1992 Breitkopf edition.

After moving from Leipzig to Dresden, Robert and Clara vacationed with Friedrich Serre, who owned a castle in nearby Maxen. Grateful for their generosity and support over the years, in 1846 Clara wrote two songs on poems by Serre's wife Friederike, Beim Abschied and Mein Stern. It was to Maxen that Clara evacuated Robert and Marie, during the 1849 revolution. Clara then returned across battle lines to retrieve her other three children - while she was seven months pregnant.

Seven years passed before Clara returned to song composing. In a flurry of inspiration, she wrote six songs on poems from Hermann Rollett's Jucunde. Her last was Das Veilchen, on the Goethe poem also set by Mozart. Though she claimed ignorance of Mozart's song, there are remarkable parallels between the two. Clara's life was near a fateful juncture. In September of 1853, young Johannes Brahms would visit them in their Düsseldorf home, and only five months later, Robert's chronic mental instability would lead to a suicide attempt and an asylum. Brahms became a close friend to Clara through Robert's illness and death in 1856. Clara composed only a little in the following years, devoting herself instead to editing Robert's works and concertizing widely to support the family. By her influence on the composition and performance of Romantic music, and her own contribution of 70- some works, ranging in style from brilliant virtuosity to heartfelt candor, Clara Schumann is remembered today as an extraordinary woman and gifted artist.

We wish to express special appreciation to Leonard Hokanson, for his coaching, and to voice teachers Giorgio Tozzi, Gary Arvin, Patricia Havranek, and Carol Smith. We want to thank Henry Upper and Roger Havranek for their support of this project. Thanks also to Byron Stayskal for assistance with the translation.


Clara Schumann Society c/o David Kenneth Smith Department of Music University of Alabama Huntsville, AL 35899
WWW URL: http://www.uah.edu/clara/schumann.html
EMAIL: 
Available for interviews and further inquiry.

Clara'96


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Program Notes for June 19, 1996 Performance

Music of CLARA SCHUMANN (1819-1896)
Songs, Romances, Piano Trio


The Clara Schumann Society presents an historic centenary concert featuring the most influential 19th century female musician. Clara Schumann was one of the most gifted pianists of her time, the primary champion of the music of Robert Schumann and Johannes Brahms, and a significant composer in her own right.

Clara was the daughter of piano teacher Friedrich Wieck, who trained her as a piano virtuosa. Her first public appearance was in 1828. To promote her career, Wieck encouraged her to write and perform her own music, as early as 1827. Her works include a piano concerto, a piano trio, solo piano pieces, and 28 songs.

In 1830, the melancholy musician Robert Schumann began piano studies with Wieck. For several years, Clara and Robert were friendly competitors, until Robert turned to composing. Christmas 1835 confirmed their growing love for each other, and began a painful break from her father. After a brutal court battle with Wieck, Robert and Clara won the right to marry on September 12, 1840, the day before her birthday. This was Robert's great year of song, in which he wrote Dichterliebe and Frauenliebe und Leben. He was eager for Clara to compose songs too, though she was initially hesitant about a woman being a composer. As a Christmas present to Robert, she wrote Am Strande on a Burns poem, and set the Heine text, Ihr Bildnis. The latter was revised in a smoother rendition printed in Op. 13, a collection written in the early 1840s, including Der Mond kommt still gegangen.

Like the wedding diary whose entries they alternated writing, Robert and Clara composed an intermingled group of songs, on poems chosen from Love's Springtime by Friedrich Rückert. Clara's were written in June 1841, while pregnant with their first child, Marie. Robert secretly printed the mixed collection, and gave them to Clara on their first anniversary. This was his Op. 37 and her Op. 12, which included Er ist gekommen, Liebst du um Schönheit, and Warum willst du and're fragen. Clara enjoyed writing songs as presents to Robert for his June 8 birthday. Among those was the 1843 birthday song Lorelei, which only recently was published in the 1992 Breitkopf edition.

Upon moving from Leipzig to Dresden, the Schumanns began counterpoint studies. From May through their wedding anniversary in 1846, Clara worked on her contrapuntal Piano Trio; Robert wrote his first trio the following year. During this time, Robert and Clara often vacationed with Friedrich Serre, who owned a castle in nearby Maxen. Grateful for their generosity and support over the years, Clara wrote Mein Stern, to a poem by Serre's wife Friederike. It was to Maxen that Clara evacuated Robert and Marie, during the 1849 revolution. Clara then returned across battle lines to retrieve her other children - while seven months pregnant.

Seven years passed with little composing, but in a flurry of inspiration during June of 1853, she wrote the three Romanzen for piano, and the six songs of Op. 23 to poems from Hermann Rollett's Jucunde. Her last song was Goethe's Das Veilchen, which shares a remarkable and coincidental resemblance to Mozart's version. Clara's life was near a fateful juncture. In September of 1853, young Johannes Brahms would visit them in their Düsseldorf home, and only five months later, Robert's chronic instability would lead to a suicide attempt and an asylum. Brahms became a close friend to Clara through Robert's illness and death in 1856. Clara composed little in the following years, devoting herself instead to editing Robert's works and concertizing widely to support the family. By her influence on the composition and performance of Romantic music, and her own contribution of 70-some works, ranging in style from brilliant virtuosity to heartfelt candor, Clara Schumann is remembered today as an extraordinary woman and gifted artist.

Tonight's concert takes the form of many programs heard during the first half of the 19th century, with its diverse genres creating a "musical variety show." Though Clara Schumann was a pioneer in developing the modern, more unified program, she was even known to sit onstage with colleagues throughout a concert.

We wish to express special appreciation to Leonard Hokanson, for his coaching, and to voice teachers Giorgio Tozzi, Gary Arvin, and Carol Smith. We want to thank Henry Upper and Roger Havranek for their support of this project. Thanks also to Byron Stayskal for assistance with the translation. This translation is called "lyric" in its intent to be singable, in the German meter, while keeping line-by-line integrity. There is general preservation of word-to-note correspondence, when especially pertinent. Given these limitations, some license was taken.


Clara Schumann Society
c/o David Kenneth Smith
Department of Music
University of Alabama
Huntsville, AL 35899

WWW URL: http://www.uah.edu/clara/schumann.html
EMAIL: smithdk@email.uah.edu
Available for interviews and further inquiry.

Clara'96


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