Clara Schumann: The Artist and the Woman

by Nancy B. Reich

Book Overview

This absorbing and award-winning biography tells the story of the tragedies and triumphs of Clara Wieck Schumann (1819-1896), a musician of remarkable achievements. At once artist, composer, editor,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0801493889
• Release Date: January 1987
• Publisher: Cornell University Press
• Length: 352 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.9" x 10.0" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

The Artist and the Woman - a MUST READ For Many Reasons

Author Nancy Reich's scholarship is impeccable, her research, comprehensive, and her passion for accuracy, uncompromising. This is a completely thorough and compelling biography which reads as smoothly as an easy novel. It is powerful and sensitive; objective and personal. Dr. Reich's depth as a scholar and skill as a writer provide us with a rarely-, possibly never-seen view of this extraordinary woman, Clara Wieck Schumann. Clara's life was fraught with pain, sorrow, frustration, and self-doubt, and how her genius managed to prevail is nothing short of remarkable. I took pause many times while reading to catch my emotional breath. Dr. Reich also shares with us her enormous insight into the personalities of ill and troubled husband, Robert, dear friend and confidant, Johannes Brahms, and domineering father, Friedrich Wieck, making sense and coherence of the disjointed facts many of us know regarding these three very important men in, not only her life, but in the life of Nineteenth Century European music. Clara Schumann was a truly astonishing figure - both as an artist (prolific composer, formidable virtuosa - some say Liszt's equal or superior), and as a woman (dedicated wife, mother, daughter, loyal friend). This book takes a major step toward giving a just measure of recognition to this awesome woman. It contains wonderful photos, sketches, pastels, and paintings - some, particularly of Clara alone, are especially moving. Her expressions tell nearly as complete a story as the text. Though replete with musical discussion and analysis, one need not be a scholar or musician to comprehend and be totally struck by Nancy Reich's telling of Clara's story. If you care anything about wives, mothers, daughters, friends, or music, this book is a MUST READ. I discovered this marvelous book on the Clara Schumann Society website of Dr. David Kenneth Smith, Geneva College. I recommend doing a GOOGLE on "Clara '96" (the name of the site celebrating the anniversary of her death in 1996). You will get an abundance of hits, all of which are very worthwhile.

Tortured Virtuosa, Talented Writer

Nancy B. Reich certainly did her homework while writing the revised edition of Clara Schumann: The Artist and the Woman. Her resources include translations from primary texts in her native German, as well as other primary sources from the important friends in her life. She updated the 1985 version of the book in 2001 to include "a variety of significant documents-letters, medical reports, and music-that were in private hands and unavailable when [she] was working on the first edition". These texts include Robert Schumann's medical log, and Clara's correspondence with her husband's music publishers, the List family, and texts written by her granddaughter Julie. I felt this book was well laid out, and was able to include many thoughts and emotions from the people involved in Clara's life. By including information from the diaries and discerning when the passage was Wieck's writing or Clara's helped make clear whose feelings were really being expressed. One thing I found was that Reich draws many of her own conclusions based on the information presented. Due to the difficulty of not having Clara's uninfluenced, uncorrected thoughts from the first twenty years of her life, it is difficult to actually know her true mind. Wieck's influence on her caused many of these primary documents to be soiled with his own opinions. They do, however, provide an interesting look at her motivations behind many of her decisions. He never spared his thought, and so, there is not as much need for speculation of his beliefs. Reich also does not ponder what her conclusions mean, she simply presents the facts, her opinions based on them, and allows the reader to agree or form their own ideas. Her inclusion of a timeline of Clara's life in the beginning of the book is rather helpful. It allows the reader to follow her life and to find specific events within the book. Also, the division of chapters makes it easy to home in on specific parts of her life and to find the information easily. The second half of the book reemphasizes the themes in her life by forming separate sections with each grouping. These show her relationships with others and discuss the positions she held throughout her life. The second section might lose the reader's interest somewhat because of the recounting of many facts. She presents the information in greater depth, but she does so in a way that common themes are grouped together instead of emphasizing where they occurred in her life. Overall, it was a very enjoyable read. It was very informative, and easy to follow. The writing flowed easily and the beginning held my attention. Reich wrote a book successful of influencing my emotions and teaching me more than I had ever known about Clara Schumann. This was a very effective story of the woman and artist's life, and I would recommend it as a great account.

Truly fine biography

Reich's beautifully written, thoroughly researched and objective book is certainly the best biography on Clara Weick Schumann in English. It is also one of the finest biographies I have read of any subject by any author. From her childhood as a piano virtuoso through her 50 year performing career, Schumann was an international star of the concert stage, a composer and champion of the composers close to her, a woman who astounded and compelled those who knew her, a legend in her own time. She was, as we know, beset by personnal tragedies of the most anguishing kind, beginning with her complex relationship with her taskmaster father, who taught her, drove her mercilessly, and made her a star at the age of 12, then refused to allow her to marry the love of her life, She defied him at a dear price and married Robert Schumann anyway. The book explores at length her life as a beloved, then shunned daughter; as a lover, wife, mother, composer and performer. She suffered terribly Robert Schumann's early and probably syphilis-induced insanity and death, the deaths of most of her seven children at a young age, and extreme financial straits in which she found herself most of her life. Reich takes us step by step through all of the contingencies of her professional life: her lifelong celebration of Schumann's work; the 'Young Werther' relationship with her beloved Johannes Brahms, whose career she promoted tirelessly; her complex personality and deep involvement in her career and their effect on her maternal relationship with each of her children. Throughout, Reich draws a richly variegated picture of the world of classical music in Europe from the early 19th century onward -- its characters, creations, rivalries, performances, highs and lows. Schumann interacted with many of the centuries' finest composers and performers: Chopin, Joachim, Liszt, Schumann (of course), Brahms...the list goes on. Reich presents the incredible strength and courage for which Schumann is well-known, but does not flinch at exploring her more problematic qualities, for which friends, family, children and Schumann herself, paid a price. Clara's deep understanding of the music of Robert Schumann and others, and its profound physical and emotional effects on its her play throughout. Here is Clara Schuman, de-mythologized, de-romanticized, and still amazing. Intriguing, richly embued with testimony from original sources, a pleasure to read, Reich does not just tell the tale. She performs a symphony.

A gem of a biography--don't miss it!

This revised edition of Clara Schumann's biography by Nancy Reich is a gem. Not only is the scholarship impeccable and thorough, but the talented writing engages and fascinates the reader at every turn.Features of this wonderful new edition include the use of new medical reports that have come to light regarding Robert Schumann's illness; reference to recently discovered letters and diaries that further elucidate Clara's friendships with people like Emilie List, Frederic Chopin, and the Mendelssohns; and the expansion of the Catalogue of Works.The revised Catalogue alone makes this new edition compulsory for anyone-lay or professional-interested in Clara Schumann and her prodigious work and impact. The Catalogue records every known piece by Clara Schumann, reviews of her compositions, her own performances of her works, the location of autograph copies, and much more.The 1985 edition of Dr. Reich's outstandingly researched biography clearly had a major impact on Schumann studies. It was followed by a continuing, worldwide outpouring of performances and recordings of Clara Schumann's works, articles about Clara, and studies of her music. The biography is based on original research in German archives and first-hand consultation of letters, music autographs, diaries, and other primary sources. To this meticulous scholarship, Dr. Reich adds intelligent, compassionate analysis of Clara Schumann's life and music, the influences that shaped her, her inspirational marriage to Robert Schumann, and Clara's breathtaking, at times unbelievable strength and ongoing artistry amidst the sometimes horrific adversities in her life.Rarely is such a magnificent feat of scholarship accompanied by such gripping and graceful writing.This book is a must for anyone who professes interest in Schumann studies, nineteenth century music, and gender studies, or who wants to experience a true story of passionate, devoted love and the mutual pursuit of art that Clara and Robert Schumann inspired in each other.

A thoroughly researched, intimate glimpse into Clara's life

This is a unique biography that, while absolutely holding its own as an important scholarly work, remains lively and engaging enough to satisfy any reader. A brilliant performer (one of the first to play from memory), mother of seven, teacher, and devoted wife of a(nother) musical genius, Clara Schumann maintained an amazing sense of focus and personal identity throughout her life: navigating with aplomb her relationship with her overbearing father, and holding her own in a man's field. Ms. Reich brilliantly captures all of this in this book. Both her husband and Johannes Brahms claimed Clara as inspiration for some of their greatest works. And Ms. Reich devotes a thoughtful chapter to Clara's enigmatic relationship with Brahms. The insights offered in the last chapter on Clara's (and her father's) techniques as a performer and teacher would be invaluable for any piano student. If reading any book on Robert Schumann or Brahms, get this book as well because it will complete the pictures of those composers lives. While reading this book one quickly becomes aware that Clara deserves much more than to be a footnote in her husband's life as she has often been designated. In fact, this work should be required reading in Women's Studies Programs for an interesting (albeit minor) point seems to have been overlooked: Clara Schumann was a contemporary of the great suffragettes Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902) and Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906). And Clara, in her more private way, also lived a life filled with integrity and passion. She rightfully deserves a place in that same pantheon on trailblazers. This is a wonderful book about an incredible woman.