"Clara Wieck Schumman (1819-1896), a leading nineteenth-century pianist premiered many works of her husband Robert and her close friend Johannes Brahms. She was born in Leipizg, Germany, and was an acclaimed child prodigy, taught by her father, the well-known piano pedagogue Friedrich Wieck.
"She married Robert Schumman despite her father's opposition and continued to concertize and compose while caring for him and their seven children. In 1853 the twenty-year old composer Johannes Brahms came to play his works for the Schumanns, beginning a friendship with Clara that lasted until her death; that same year, she met the violinist Joseph Joachim, with whom she would often perform. After her husband's death, she also became renowned as a teacher and edited his collected works. She helped refine the tastes of audiences by presenting works of earlier composers like Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven as well as works by Robert Schumann and Brahms.
Clara Wieck Schumman's Music
"Clara Schumman considered herself primarily a performing artist ('I feel I have a mission to perform beautiful works. Robert's above all,' she once wrote) and stopped composing when she was thirty-six. Her doubts about composing were perhaps influenced by the negative attitude toward woman composers that predominated during her lifetime, and by her relationship with overwhelming geniuses like her husband and Brahms. Until recently, she was known primarily as a famous pianist who had been the wife of one great composer and the close friend of another. But her compositions are now being increasingly performed and recorded. They include songs; piano pieces; a piano concerto; a trio for piano, violin, and cello; and three Romances for violin and piano."
The above is from Music an Appreciation by Roger Kamien, Third Brief Edition, McGraw Hill Companies, Inc. Pages 226-227.
Romantic Era Music Links This is a great page which is part of a large site on classical music. I have this site bookmarked.
