The composition of the phenomenal Wunderkind and the successful young piano virtuoso Clara Wieck, and of the mature, trend-setting artist Clara Schumann have long been thought to be little worthy of attention. Her creative activities are for the greater part unthinkable and not understandable if not seen in relation to her friend, fiancé and husband Robert Schumann. It would be very unjust, however, to see her relatively small oeuvre as merely an echo or seven as a lacklustre reflection of Schumann’s music. The fact os that Schumann already took her seriously as a composer in her own right when she was a 12-year-old girl, and much more so when she was his fiancée and wife. He has stimulated, inspired and supported her creative work to the best of his abilities. Clara Schumann is one of the few musicians of the Romantic era, considered to be the most remarkable pianist of her time. She is the first interpreter of her husband's works and composer of more than forty works. She also greatly influenced the piano repertoire and the musical sensibilities of her generation. Clara Schumann was introduced to music by her father at an early age. She took lessons in violin, piano, singing, theory, harmony, composition and counterpoint. At the age of nine, she was invited to play at the home of Dr. Ernst Carus. It was here that she met Robert Schumann, with whom she married. Noticed by Johann Wolfgang Goethe at his first concert in Leipzig, Clara Schumann subsequently met with remarkable success. In 1830, at the age of eleven, she began a musical tour of Europe, heading for Paris. At the age of 18, she gave numerous concerts in Vienna which aroused great enthusiasm, notably from Frédéric Chopin, who wrote several rave reviews of her in Parisian newspapers. She was particularly noted for her ease of playing from memory, acquired thanks to her father's musical training "by ear". She will be among the first musicians to inaugurate this tradition in the world of music. Not only a concert performer and composer, Clara Schumann was also a renowned pedagogue. During her musical career, Clara Schumann met composers such as Felix Mendelssohn, Frédéric Chopin, Franz Liszt and Johannes Brahms, who showed great admiration for her. END
