>> David Plylar: Good
evening, everybody.
So nice to see so many
of you here to kind
of really celebrate the
music of Clara Schumann.
We are so happy to be having
this series of three events.
We had a film last night that
featured Sting and his wife,
Trudie tr reading letters
between Robert and Clara
to each other interspersed
with some performances.
That was a very nice evening.
Tonight, we have a performance
featuring only Clara Schumann's
music and representing pretty
much every type of music
that she wrote with a
couple of exceptions
that I'll explain why
we're not doing that.
For instance, the piano concerto
is not represented here today
because we don't have
an orchestra here.
And, we'll be talking
mostly about --
tonight in this pre-concert
talk --
mostly about the
music that we're going
to be hearing tonight but
also a few other pieces just
to give you a little
bit of context
about the scope of Clara's work.
Tomorrow morning, my colleague,
Kate Miller of the Music
Division will be doing a
declassified presentation, which
is a term we use for these kind
of more informal but informative
events that will be in this room
where we'll have a lot
of the library's Clara Schumann
materials out on display.
And she'll speak about what
we have and then be able
to show you those things.
So, I won't be going too
much into the details
of what we actually
have at the library,
because she'll be
doing that tomorrow.
So, I hope you're
able to come to that
as well if you're interested.
So, I thought we'd start with --
ultimately, we're going
to be focusing on the --
primarily the piano
music of Clara Schumann,
because that's primarily
what she wrote.
She did write a number
of wonderful [inaudible],
several of which we're
going to get to hear tonight
and we will get to
those as well today.
But it makes sense that most
of her music was for piano
because she was one of the great
pianists of the 19th century,
as many of you I'm sure know.
She had something like a
60-year performance career
and had a huge impact
across Europe on programming
for recitals, instruction,
all kinds of things.
Editing -- she contributed
in lots of different ways.
But up until about 1839, a
lot of that, those details
of when she -- I think she --
that's when she went
to Paris alone.
A lot of those details
were managed
by her father, Friedrich Wieck.
Her father was a pedagogue,
and kind of a very strict
authoritarian kind of figure
in her life but also one whose
opinion she greatly respected
and worked with to try to please
and in some ways, you know,
helped to forge her into
the virtuoso that she was.
It's complicated, of
course, because the details
of her relationship with Robert
Schumann are very much tied
up with this relationship
with Friedrich Wieck
because Friedrich Wieck in the
end did not like Robert Schumann
and so there was
a very prolonged
and acrimonious time before they
could actually get together.
When Robert and Clara first
met it was around 1830.
She was 11.
They -- don't worry, things
didn't start right then.
But it took a little bit of
time for that to come about.
But I'm not going to focus on
that as much as well, either,
just because that biographical
component is extremely
complicated and interesting
but kind of beyond the scope
of what we're doing here.
However, that being said,
you can't really talk
about Clara Schumann's
music without talking
about Robert's as well.
I don't mean in the sense of
wanting to dive into analyses
of their music, but
rather to look at the types
of relationships that they
built into their music.
Some of it was very personal,
things that they didn't expect
necessarily others to know.
Things that would be references
that would be immediately
obvious to them
and not so much to us.
Back then, of course, they
didn't have, you know,
the benefit of being able
to go online and just listen
to all these little clips
and make these connections
that we have right now, so
there would be no expectation
that a listener would be able
to make some certain types
of obscure references.
So, I mean, this is a
bit speculative in terms
of how much they wanted this
to be for public consumption,
but you can kind of imagine
that a lot of these were kind
of private types of
intersections between them.
I do want to say that some
of the things I'm going
to be talking about
are quotation and some
of them are going to be just
more kind of general references.
What I'm not going to be
putting forward is the idea
that Robert wrote her music or
in any way had a greater role
than might be appropriate
for his role
as somebody whose
opinion she respected.
There are a couple of
cases where it appears
that he did have a greater role.
Like, for instance, in the piano
concerto and a few other things.
But mostly in terms of
orchestration in that case.
But there are one criticism
that happened contemporaneously
in the 19th century, especially
with the trio that you're going
to hear tonight was
that there's no way
that a woman could
have written this.
And so, this is something
that we push back
against very strongly
now, thankfully.
And so that's why I want to
make clear that any reference
to them making to Robert's role
in her music is very much a
referential one as opposed
to a interference type of role.
And there's also many instances
where it's not clear
whose idea is what
and who is actually
quoting whom.
So that's kind of one of
the fun things about getting
to know some of this music.
So, let's start with some of the
early music of Clara Schumann.
When she's coming up in the
1830s, it's in the world
of the Parisian virtuoso
where you have people
like [inaudible], Thalberg,
Hertz, all these other people
who were extremely
flashy pianists.
I personally have nothing
against their music.
I think it's interesting and
should be looked at again now,
but at the time it was seen
as a complete opposite in --
I mean, it's still seen as a
complete opposite thing from,
like, say a Beethoven sonata
or a Bach prelude and fugue.
This is not the kind of thing
that you would be
seriously studying.
But it was exactly
the kind of thing
that you would be performing
to bring in the crowds.
And so, it makes
perfect sense that some
of her earliest music would
fit into this mold of the type
of music that was
being done at the time.
One of the interesting things is
that from this very early stage,
you already have this
interesting relationship
between Robert and
Clara because both
of them were writing
their Opus Twos
at the same time while they
were living in the same house.
Because Robert was a
boarder with Friedrich Wieck.
And so, people might know the
Robert Schumann piece a bit
better than this "Caprices
in the Form of a Waltz"
that we have here, Clara.
Robert's Opus Two was
the "Pappilons" and just
as an example, I'd like you just
to hear the very opening of it.
And I think you'll
see what I mean,
that there was something
shared in the air.
So, here's the Clara Schumann.
[ Music Playing ]
Okay. And keep in mind this is
the work of a 12, 13-year-old.
And so, this is from Robert
Schumann's "Papillons."
This is the -- after
the introduction,
this is the first number.
>> How old was he at this time?
[ Music Playing ]
>> David Plylar: About 22.
So what I've done is
I've highlighted here
in red the kinds of things
that you're just seeing there
that are those upward
scales that are very similar
and very clear to the ear.
I'm not saying that there's
any greater relationship
between these things.
But it's kind of one of
those interesting confluences
that I think is not coincidental
that was happening there.
So, I said this is kind
of a, "Sharing Flowers"
with the butterflies
and whatnot.
So that's why.
I've got some hilarious
ones tonight.
You guys are going to.
But then we go from this -- so
her first, her Opus One is a set
of four polonaises that are, you
know, written by an 11-year-old
who is, you know,
getting started with this.
And they're actually, you know,
quite passable pieces
for a young composer.
I think she felt that they were
maybe published prematurely,
but this was also at the
urging of her father.
There's a strange --
at this early stage,
there's this strange push for
her to be composing as a pianist
and also improvising and
things like that to get --
because that's what one
did as a virtuoso pianist.
But that, of course, was pushed
back upon as she got older
because of her being a woman
and then starting a family
and all those types of things.
It was -- those pressures
kind of started to constrict
and disallow some
of the opportunities
that she would have I think
like to have had and like
to have continued having.
But what we notice is within
the space of two or three years,
there's this quite
a big -- sorry.
There's quite a big jump that
happens in terms of the --
I think -- in terms of just the
quality and the thoughtfulness
of the writing that she's doing.
She's still very
young, teenager.
You know, some of these are
written when she's between,
you know, 13 to 16 years old.
But she's suddenly
got this command.
And I think that this comes
through in a lot of her music
through her performance
practice.
There's something about --
if you're just a composer,
it takes a lot of
practice to write.
You have to write, write,
write, write, write.
And then eventually maybe you'll
get something that's okay.
But if you're a performer
and somebody who's actively
playing lots of different types
of music, there's
often this sense of --
or, in cases where you have
a very great musical mind
like in Clara's case, it --
almost like an osmotic
process thing that happens
where she's able to just jump
in and create more swiftly
than I think somebody who's
not a performer at that level.
That's speculative, but
that's just, you know,
a sense that I have from this.
So, one of the pieces
that you'll hear tonight.
There's a set of four
pieces, character pieces.
And we're going to hear --
there's a early version
that was, it was --
the version we're going
to hear was called
"Impromptu: Le Sabbat."
Like, the sabbath.
Which is sabbath.
And it was eventually
republished in 1838
as a hexentanz, so
witches dance.
And so, we're going to
hear that one tonight.
And it's one of -- there are
a bunch of people who are very
into this set of works by Clara,
including Mendelssohn and Spohr,
so it's kind of a food group of
people to have in your corner
in terms of appreciating what
you're doing as a teenager.
So we'll hear that, but then
there's this other set called
the "Soirees Musicales,"
which is a set
of six pieces unrelated except
for one big relationship
that comes through that becomes
kind of a musical entre of sorts
and a greater -- introduces a
greater relationship between her
and Robert in terms of their
sharing of musical ideas
across what it is
that they're doing.
So, this set, like I
said, it's six pieces.
What we're going to hear
tonight are three of them.
The "Toccatina," which
is, like, a little toccata
at the beginning
followed by a notturno
which is very much a musical
nocturne in the style of Chopin,
who became a friend
of Clara and Robert.
Depending on how much
time we have, I may --
well, I think I'll still
show you an example
of what this sounds like.
But one of the things that
you'll start to notice is
that she -- when I play
the, an example here,
there are certain
things that she does
that just show a great sense
of what can happen if you play
with the registers and little
tiny techniques that are not
so hard to play but make
a difference sonic wise
and they just sound like
much more sophisticated,
even in the context
of a toccata.
So, I'd like to play just to
give you an example a little bit
of the hexantanz followed by a
little bit of the "Toccatina."
[ Music Playing ]
With the hexantanz, we
know that that was already
on programs of hers by 1834.
So, even though it wasn't
published until later.
So, it's an early work.
[ Music Playing ]
So, these little things
that I boxed there are just
these little ideas that pop out
and just make for
a not just showier,
but also just sonically more
vivid type of impression
that I think happens
in the "Toccatina."
It's a great piece.
These are all great pieces that
you're going to hear tonight.
They could easily be
repertoired pieces
if people would just play them.
So, we're very pleased that
we have Anne-Marie McDermott
playing these tonight.
So interestingly, some
relationships start to come
in between Clara's pieces
and between Clara and Robert.
And, so, the first relationship
that I'm going to point out
but not necessarily be able to
show is that that top example
that you see here
where there's kind
of a descending scale followed
by an octave leap from F
to F. It's in that blue box.
This F sharp to F sharp -- that
is mirrored in the notturno
which is the second piece.
So, there's this theme
that's introduced in kind
of a more calm section of the
"Toccatina" that then comes
into play in the notturno.
I point this out because
that theme is then used
by Robert Schumann
in the "Novelletten,"
Opus 21 the 8th number
of that set.
And here it is.
He labels it.
In this version, it was
a [inaudible], so it was,
voice from afar would be
a good way to put that.
And you can see that I put it in
blue above the notturno setting.
That's Clara's notturno.
And you can see that he's very
clearly, I mean, hopefully,
it's clear -- that he's -- even
to the point of using the turn
at the bottom before the
octave leap presenting the same
basic material.
So, after he includes
this in that piano piece,
he actually continues to --
he doesn't just quote it.
He continues to develop
it in different ways,
and you can see how he does
this as just one example
where he keeps going with
that turn and uses it as a --
to further develop that
idea in that piece.
I'm just going to give
you a little sense
of these relationships now.
But before I do that --
and I'll try to remind you
of what I'm talking
about in a second.
Before I do that, I
just want to point
out that this is not just
your standard nocturne piece.
So, a lot of people
are aware that I, like,
John Field was kind
of a forerunner
of the nocturne genre.
And, of course, Chopin is
the best-known exponent
of that type of thing.
But, of course, within that
there's a whole range of types
of music that are there.
Some of it quite dramatic,
some of it lyrical,
sometimes just a melody
with accompaniments
as what most people think of.
But the idea spawned so many
copies during the 19th century
and beyond.
People still write nocturnes
that -- there's a sense of,
well, let's just say
that there's plenty
of them that are forgettable.
You know, it's easy to
write a bad nocturne.
This is not in that category.
It's very much a -- I find
it to be on par with some
of the great nocturnes
of the 19th century
for several reasons, but
one of the reasons it comes
through is the same thing that I
think I was referring to earlier
in terms of how her work
as a performer carries
through into her composition.
She would do certain things
that create textural effects
that are not just effects
but are actually things
that are moving and
sonically interesting.
So, one of those is
just something as simple
as using upper octave
grace notes as a way
to kind of inflect a melody.
And that's what I have in
that upper left red box.
Then there's this
gorgeous expansive type
of ornamentation that's in the
middle box that you'll hear.
I got to hear the
rehearsal earlier.
You're in for a real treat.
And then there's things that
are maybe not as obvious
on the page but,
like, the bottom box
where you have imbedded sort of
alto register, tenor register,
melodic ideas within the context
of a accompaniment that's
already pre-existing.
So, these things, you know,
they may -- obvious, right?
No, but these things sound --
the combination of a variety
of these types of
things in sequence makes
for something that's
always interesting,
always kind of keeping you aware
that something special
is happening.
One last thing about
this notturno is
that there's other things that,
again, are not a typical thing
for a composer to do
but for a pianist,
even for a pianist composer,
this is kind of unusual.
You have these tied
grace notes that you see
in the red box there with
the articulation coming
after the fact of
the middle voice.
It's quite a lovely and
interesting effect and one
that you don't find that often.
So, there's -- these
types of little details,
I won't go into a zillion
of them that I think help
to make these pieces special.
So, let me just give you
a little bit of an example
of this notturno and also
the novelette relationship.
Here's the beginning
of the notturno.
[ Music Playing ]
This is the pieces that
you can't really pause
anywhere good.
Here's Robert Schumann's
quotation
about the "Voice from Afar."
[ Music Playing ]
So, you can see with
that quotation
that the interesting parts
of what he's doing are
there in Clara's piece.
And so, he's taking that
and he's doing his own thing
with it, but it's very much
a reference to her music
that is meant for her.
This is the -- getting near
the courting phase here
where we're trying
to show, "Hey,
I'm aware of what you're doing
compositionally, you know,
know what I'm saying?"
You know, that's
the kind of thing
that they would do
back in those days.
And, so, this is, you know, I
think it's an interesting type
of thing when Robert
takes that stuff or, like,
is when Clara takes that
stuff or the other's music,
they transform it in a way
that makes it their own.
So, it's not just like,
a, you know, if you --
sometimes you might listen to
a piece it's like a variations
on a work by Mozart
or something like that
and you come away
thinking, "Wow.
That Mozart was great."
You know, and so you don't want
to have that sort of reaction
to the type of quotation.
So, where the quotation itself
is the thing that you wish
that the piece had been.
So, this is a case where they
really kind of incorporate it
into something new
and interesting.
The last piece from this set
that they're going to do --
I'm realizing I need
to move it here --
is the second mazurka
from Opus Six.
You might notice something
familiar in those opening lines.
And, instead of showing it to
you, I'll just have you listen
at home and also tonight
you'll hear the mazurka.
But the -- Robert, again,
he actually labeled this the
"motto" is from Clara Wieck.
And it's "Davidsbundlertanze
Opus Six."
He used that verbatim that
opening of this mazurka.
So, there's another case where
Clara's inspiring Robert.
And there's a more significant
one that I'm going to get
to in a little bit as well.
But this sort of thing, this is
the kind of thing that they're,
you know, how they're getting
to know each other musically.
I won't say much about the piano
concerto now, just because,
again, we're not
representing it here tonight.
But I will say that
it's the one larger work
that she completed
and had published.
There are other -- so
there's a single work,
single movement piano and
orchestra work I think
that was completed and recorded.
And there's some
other small things,
but pretty much this is
the orchestral offering
that we have.
Clara Schumann, she performed
it and it was well received.
But it's also an early work.
And as I mentioned, there was
some element of involvement
from Robert with that piece.
So, this has come to light.
I bring up the opus
eight variations
because I have really,
actually, and interesting piece.
This is basically an
operatic paraphrase
in this Parisian style that
I was mentioning earlier.
I won't play an example
of it just due to time,
but it's worth listening to.
It's about a 15, 16-minute piece
and it's very much in the style
of the thing that Robert
Schumann would hate and didn't
like very much at all.
But it's the genre that,
you know, made the careers
of a lot of these pianists.
And so, it's interesting
to see her engaging in it
and doing it so successfully.
It's a shame that
she didn't do more
because I think she was
really talented with it.
But that's another interesting
side to what she was doing.
She starts to shy away
from this sort of a thing.
Her opus nine is a souvenir
of Vienna that's kind
of a little bit in
the same vein.
But she starts to
move away from this
as Robert's influence
becomes greater.
And by that I don't mean,
again, musical influence
but rather a kind
of encouragement
to write more serious pieces.
We have a very interesting
pairing of pieces that come
up today which are
the second scherzo.
She wrote two.
The first one was quite
popular in its day
and she played it a lot.
The second one, they don't
know where the manuscript is.
I think it was composed
sometime between 1841 and 1845.
It matters because
-- at least to me --
because there's a relationship
here between this work and one
of the pieces that we're
going to hear tonight,
"Er ist Gekommen,"
one of the songs.
And so, this -- the
song cycle --
well, I'll get to
that in a minute.
But it's a little bit hard
to see, but there's --
the clear relationship to me
is between the things that are
in red and the things
that are in blue.
So, what you'll hear on
the first half is this,
is you'll hear the scherzo
happening first and it's kind
of an instrumental scherzo that
won't mean anything special
yet because it's not clear
what its relationship is.
But when you hear the song,
you might hear this sort
of compacted, contracted
version of it.
In a different key, but still
using similar materials.
You can see that ones using
-- it's going triple to duple,
so it's not exactly the same.
But you'll hear the melodies
and how they're related.
I might give you
an example of that.
[ Music Playing ]
So that's the piano scherzo.
And again, Chopin
had not published all
of his scherzo yet.
He had already started doing
them, but, so it's interesting
to think of them in light
of the Chopin scherzi also.
[ Music Playing ]
So, this -- I think you'll
hear those relationships
and that it's interesting
that she changed the way
that she dealt with the material
as one would imagine she would.
But it makes it unclear
which idea came first
and what order she
might have done it.
It might have been a
concurrent type of thing.
The other complicating factor is
that there's this
other relationship
between the center
-- there's a quote --
what I think is a
quotation in the center
of the scherzo that's related
to several different things.
And let me try to
explain this better.
A brief diversion to
"An Die Ferne Geliebte,"
Beethoven's song cycle.
And a note of caution as well.
But there's -- the sixth
song for the set is,
it's often considered that
Robert Schumann quoted this
at the end of the first movement
of his opus 17 with "Fantasie"
as a reference to his
distant beloved, Clara.
The reason I get a
little bit of caution is
that there's no contemporaneous
-- according to Larry Todd,
there's no contemporaneous
assessment of this
until after the turn
of the 20th century.
So, it's not -- it
may well be the case.
And, in fact, there's
enough evidence
that Schumann did
this multiple times.
That, it's -- probably
is correct,
but just a word of caution.
I've highlighted in blue
the things that are really.
So, the Beethoven song cycle
has that line up there.
And then the adagio
moment at the end
of the fantasie, unforgettable.
Everybody loves it.
But when it gets to the
scherzo, there's a relationship
that I hear here between that
center part of the scherzo
and his, and a new
version of the
"An Die Ferne Geliebte" quote.
So it's a different
setting of it and there,
I think people have mentioned
that there is this component of,
in the second symphony
in the fourth movement,
a Beethovenian type
of theme that comes
in that has this relationship
to Robert's quotation
of "An Die Ferne Geliebte."
So, it starts to
become, you know --
if you make enough copies
of something, it starts --
the difference from
the original becomes,
you know, amplified, right?
So, this is sort of
what's happening here.
But there's this moment
that I hear in this scherzo
that is a version of
that symphony version,
at least to my ear.
So, I'm just going to play
you an example of that
so you can hear what I hear,
and you can make your
own conclusions about it.
Here's the Beethoven
first, just so you get that.
[ Music Playing ]
Here's where it is
in the fantasie,
so you can hear that quote.
[ Music Playing ]
Now, here's the spot
in the scherzo.
And just bear with me,
see if it sounds similar.
[ Music Playing ]
And then that's it.
That's the only appearance
of that in the scherzo.
So that's the only
reference to it.
And here's the symphony.
[ Music Playing ]
And that's incorporated
throughout the symphony.
And that's, you know, I might --
because it might be
a quote of a quote,
it's hard to say he wrote
it at such and such time.
But the date of that,
the symphony itself,
comes a bit later in 1845-6.
So, there's this
interesting kind of sequence
of relationships there.
I encourage you to go listen
to her preludes and fugues.
So, she actually
wrote a number of them
that were also without
opus number.
But the opus 16 dated from
1845 at a time when she
and Robert joined in together
to do some counterpoint studies.
I love that they did these,
like, activities together
or just, you know, they're
just, I just love that.
So, they -- and she produced
these really wonderful preludes
and fugues.
And we're through time, were
not going to have time to listen
to them now, but
worth checking out.
And just, also, you
know, not that one needs
to demonstrate one's
chops in this sense,
but they demonstrate that.
Also, a piece that we're
not going to really get
into in detail, just
due to time,
is the trio that
you'll hear tonight.
The final movement of the trio
in particular shows a degree
of contrapuntal mastery
that, you know,
impressed Mendelssohn
and others.
One of the key works of
the evening and I think
of her output is the
variations on a theme
by Robert Schumann,
the opus 20 work.
This was based on the
first albumblatter
from the bunte blatter, which
is not the first of the set,
but it's the first of the
albumblatter from that set.
Opus 99 collection of kind
of colorful leaves of works.
So, it's a beautiful theme.
You'll enjoy it.
And then what you'll see is that
basically Clara takes a kind
of a classical approach
to dealing with the theme
but does it in her own way.
And that I mean by that is that
by the classical approach is
that there's this sort of
written-in rhythmic acceleration
that occurs over the
course of the variation.
So, you see -- I, like,
a triplet variation.
But you still hear the
theme very clearly here
in variation one.
Variation two, you start
to have a little bit
of rhythmic differentiation
in that theme.
But it's still very much
there, but she starts
to do some more interesting
virtuosic things.
I should mention that
this piece comes in 1853
when she was composing
the opus 21 romances just
about concurrently the opus 22
romances for violin and piano
that we're also going to hear.
We'll also hear opus 21 and
then also the opus 23 songs,
of which we'll hear two and
of which the library happens
to have one holograph manuscript
of that my colleague Kate will
be able to show you tomorrow.
And I think it's on
display tonight as well.
So, you can check
that out there.
But back to the variations.
She starts to do these really
just wonderful transformations
of turns of phrase that --
again, you keep hearing
the theme.
It's very much intact.
But it's dealt with in
a way that you're --
it's a mesmerizing
type of peace.
The third variation we get
to the major variation there.
And one of the things
that is interesting
about what Clara does is that
she's introducing these ideas,
including what you might
see in the second line there
with these sort of
oscillating ideas
that are going back and forth.
They're in the main theme,
but she starts to vary the way
that she varies it in her coda.
So, she asks you as a listener
to remember what
she's been doing
because that itself is
meaningful if that makes sense.
We get further acceleration
in the fourth variation.
We get a kind of a bravura
variation with the fifth one
with what I think are some
interesting octave kind
of interspersed octaves that are
similar to something like one
of the Chopin nocturns, opus
48 number one, the C minor,
where Chopin will
have a theme going
and then introduce these other
ideas in the midst of it.
It's kind of an effective
pianistic sort of thing to do,
but really well-done
in the variation set.
The sixth variation
introduces a sort of cannon.
We have it -- so it starts with
that C sharp and then it comes
in with the F sharp but then it
switches back to a unison cannon
in the central section.
And this is where that da da da
da, like, this thing going back
and forth becomes a lot
clearer in the coda --
clearly meaning [inaudible]
coda.
Then we get to, again, greater
acceleration, more flourish,
even greater examples
of stretching
out these central ideas.
And then when we
get to the coda,
there's something really
interesting that I didn't know
about until I read about this.
This is a quote that I did
not hear, but now I know it.
Basically, Clara decides to
take a look back at this piece
that she wrote in 1831 to
three, sometime in that time,
when she wrote a romance.
And here's this theme that
you see there at the top.
Just look at that top line.
She -- this theme is
important for her relationship
to Robert in several ways.
One of them is that Robert
wrote his opus five as a set
of impromptus on a theme by
Clara Wieck, and this was
that theme that was
referenced there.
So, Robert wrote
this very large set
of variations focused
on this one theme.
Then when you get to the
variation set at the very end,
you still have Robert's
theme happening.
But hers is so cleverly and
just perfectly interspersed
that it's there mixed in.
I kind of, I made a different
engraving of it underneath
so you can see it a
little bit clearer,
even though it's smaller.
So, it maybe defeats
the purpose.
But you can see that she's woven
it in in a way that's going
to be, this is going
to be extremely meaningful
to her and him.
I don't know that, you know,
somebody playing this set
when it was published.
I think it was, it might have
been published posthumously.
Or 1856 after Robert's
-- I can't remember.
But anyway, they, it might not
have been so obvious to them
but it was made clear to Brahms,
who also decided to include this
in his own set of variations
on the same theme that he did
in honor of the Schumann
family that he had just gotten
to know just before,
unfortunately, the tragic end
of Robert Schumann's life where
he tried to commit suicide
and ended up spending two and
a half years in a sanitorium.
In any case, it's sort
of a just a mesmerizing
and transformative work and it's
kind of just shows what she was
up to and where she was
going and unfortunately,
after the opus 23, she didn't
really compose much more.
There were a couple of
things here and there,
but she didn't really continue
composing after Robert's death.
Lots of different
reasons why that might be,
but unfortunately not.
So, you're going to
really enjoy this piece,
I believe, if you don't know it.
We won't really have time to
go over the three romances.
They will open the
concert tonight.
But it's a set of three works
that share a similar sort
of arch to the opus 22
romances for violin and piano
in that there's a, almost
like a bard strumming a harp
or something while accompanying
this music at least in my --
there's, some of the -
you know, this writing,
it's a little bit
awkward for the piano
in that these giant
leaps and whatnot.
So, it makes me feel like
it's meant to have a sort
of oracular component to it.
She does a lot of things
that are, you know,
your typical composer tricks,
but done in a clever way
where the inner themes
are related
to the primary theme
and that comes up.
And then she also has a
few tricky rhythms, like,
12 against five and
whatnot that come into play.
The second romance is
an interesting one.
It's a bit of a mystery
in some ways.
It's a much more
minimalist sort of piece.
And so, it's a kind of a --
I think of it as something
of a palate cleanser.
The third one is a much more
agitated agitato work that,
again, you'll enjoy.
I think it kind of creates this,
even though it's not, you know,
a sonata or something
like that it feels
like a natural grouping
of these works.
I'll say just a word about the
songs and the violin pieces
that we're going to
be hearing as well.
There's a selection of six
songs that we're going to hear,
and they sound amazing and I
got to hear them again earlier,
so I already know
what's in store for you.
The, one of the interesting
ones is the set --
that's, we think of as the
opus 12 of [inaudible],
which is a group of three songs
that were actually published
as part of -- it was actually
labelled "Opus 37/12," published
by Roberts as a gift given
to Clara on her birthday
after they had composed these
as a joint work of "Palms"
by Friedrich Ruckert on the
joys of married love, basically.
And so, they -- she contributed
three to the dozen songs.
In my opinion, they're
the strongest ones
and they're quite something.
She was no fan of Franz Liszt,
at least she originally was
but then had a falling
out with him.
But Liszt took one
of these songs
and did a transcription of it.
He did also two other
transcriptions,
including another one that
we're going to hear tonight.
They're just lovely works.
We already looked a
little bit at [inaudible]
but the other two are just --
I feel like they're gems, too,
and they should be
performed as well.
Then we get to the
opus 23 songs set
to poetry by Hermann Rollett.
And this was an interesting --
a lot of people don't think
very highly of him as an author
but I think Robert was
reading this novel, [inaudible]
and mentioned that these were
musically interesting pieces
and Clara took him
up on it and started
to write these excellent
songs based
on this maybe not great poetry.
But just like, you know, Brahms
would say, you know, it's not,
you know, sometimes it's
better just to have --
this is not quoting, but it's
better to have a subpar poet
that you can elevate
versus having a, you know,
trying to take the best
and then making it worse.
So, she does this really
wonderful work with these
and we'll hear two of
those songs as well.
Again, one of those the
Library of Congress has
as a holograph manuscript
in her hand.
Another one that we'll hear is
from 1843 that is her setting
of "Lorelei," the Heine poem
that everybody set
in the 19th century.
It's unclear why she
didn't publish this work.
I don't know why.
It's got echoes of
[inaudible] and other things,
so I think that you'll
enjoy the piece.
And it's really, it's kind of
a fascinating little piece,
but she didn't publish it, so
it was only recently published.
Another, the other
piece that we'll --
the pieces that will close
out the first half were the
violin and piano romances.
And these are one of two pieces
of chamber music that she wrote.
So, what's amazing is that
these works were dedicated
to Joseph Joachim.
He was a friend and, you know,
a new friend in 1853 and 1854
when Brahms and he were kind
of first becoming integrated
into the Schumann household.
And as Joachim would grow in
stature, of course, he became,
you know, this great violinist
who was looked to by Brahms
and others as somebody to
talk to about not only the,
how his music should
go, but what,
how the playability
of the writing.
So, it would be interesting
to ask Carrie McDermott,
who's performing tonight,
what she thinks of it.
But there's some
extremely effective --
at least from my view
sonically, things happening
with this writing that
-- it makes one wonder --
again, this is -- you think
a composer would need some
practice with us to write
something this good right off
the bat.
So those are a treat and
they're quite substantive works
that you'll hear.
And then we'll end the program
with the trio, which is one
of the more performed
works of hers
and it's a truly
substantial piece that I think
that you'll enjoy if you don't
know it and it's one that was,
of course, admired by luminaries
of the time and that one dates,
that's more from 1846.
And the story, one
story behind that is
that she actually wrote
this piece before Robert had
attempted to write a
piano trio himself.
And, so, I imagine that that
might have been one motivating
factor for just going
for it with this thing
where there wouldn't be this
sort of comparative sort of --
not that there was a
competition between them, but ,
so that there would
be something new.
Of course, unfortunately,
before the thing was published,
Robert started writing his first
piano trio and then it kind
of created this sense
of self-doubt.
And I think I'm going to end
on this note, which is that as
so often happened, she --
composers would have this
pressure from domestic
and societal pressure that
would basically prevent them
from doing all that they might
have done had they been a man
or been in different
circumstances.
And this affected
Clara, I think, deeply.
And there's letters and notes
in her diaries that show this.
She had eight children
and, in 13 years.
She was the primary
breadwinner of the house,
so she was concertizing
constantly
when she wasn't confined.
And she had circumstances
that were --
I don't know how she
managed it, because when --
you know, there's certain times
when she finally had her piano
of her own, but she
couldn't practice
when it would disturb
Robert's composition.
Things like that that seem
like maybe not such a big deal,
but if that's your daily life
and you're trying to, you know,
practice and make, you know,
help your family survive,
you start to -- you're not
able to do all the things
that you might have
wanted to do.
But what's fascinating
is that she did a lot
of this amazing compositional
work
in the thick of all of this.
So, you know, by the time we're
in 1853 it's really astounding
that she was able to
accomplish all this on top
of everything else
that she was doing.
After Robert died, like I said,
she didn't really
continue with composition.
But that was partly because
her -- she was dealing with,
you know, still providing
for the family
and other subsets of her family.
But also dealing
with his legacy,
which was a voluminous amount
of music to edit and to work
with Brahms and others to
put together for publication.
So that became another
part of her sort
of life work after that.
I wish that she had written
more music, but I am so pleased
that we're able to hear
what we have to hear today,
and I think that you are going
to enjoy it if you
don't know it.
And I encourage you to
listen to the things
that aren't represented on this
particular program and help
to kind of bring this
stuff back into play.
So, thank you again, for coming
and I hope you enjoy
the concert.