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Topic: Are there any SCHUMANN fans?  (Read 1998 times)

Offline Jay_Matt

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Are there any SCHUMANN fans?
on: May 10, 2005, 07:41:19 AM
hey,
i was just wondering...do any of you have any piece of information regarding Schumann's 'Romanze in F' (the third movement in particular)

another thing, who exactly was Clara Schumann? was she his wife or sumthin...

thanx

Offline Siberian Husky

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Re: Are there any SCHUMANN fans?
Reply #1 on: May 10, 2005, 09:05:43 AM
i love schumann but couldnt tell you anything that romance piece..unelss your talking about clara weick schumann's romance piece with piano and violin..

yeah clara was his wife..she was a great touring pianist with little to no recognition..she composed small portions of music..but ended up just a house wife and amateur pianist entertaining only family/friends..dont know if she gave up the limelight in order for robert to shine through..or she just was needed more as a wife/mother...i know her father dissaproved of the marriage..and robert developed a handicap in his fingers and tried building a device to strengthen his crippling fingers but ended up making them worse
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Offline pianonut

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Re: Are there any SCHUMANN fans?
Reply #2 on: May 10, 2005, 09:59:03 AM
although i believe it is true that toward the end of her career (life) she played with the notes...she was not an amateur in ANY sense.  her father, Friedrich Wieck was a pianist of the 'old school,' and "trained her very carefully, and with ferocious discipline."  she may have had lots of children, but that did not deter her from working very hard most of her life.  at the age of eight she was playing concertos by mozart and hummel.  by 1830 (11 years) she had developed to where she was making concert appearances through germany.  one of the things she was playing then was chopin's "variations on la ci darem la mano" (since robert had 'discovered it') and she was the first (outside of chopin) to play it in public. 

she went on (age 14) to play bach and schumann in public.  and, she introduced quite a bit of chopin's music to germany.  "although liszt was the first to give unaided solo recitals, it was clara who even more than liszt brok the eighteenth-century format.  up to about 1835 the artist generally had to engage an orchestra, was expected to play his own music with it, had to arrange for guest artists to share the program, had to vary his program with short pieces, had to end with an improvisation.  but, by 1835 clara was playing with just a few assisting artists, and moreover presenting nothing but the best."

she presented the complete appasionata in berlin in 1837 for the first time (as far as anyone can ascertain).  lechetitsky maintained that she was the first pianist in history to play it from memory in public.  she may not have had the technique of liszt, thalberg or mendelssohn, but she was exceptional in other ways.  after her husband's mental breakdown (1854) she had to resume her career.  she did this with formidable programs (hammerklavier).  she was then 35.  "to the end of her days, in his memory, she played every concert dressed in black, bent over, head almost touching the keys."

by 1860 she conquered europe.  (four years after robert's death).  she was a touring pianist and had a heavy schedule.  she played the music of brahms, schumann, and generally disliked the extreme romanticism of liszt/wagner.  in 1878 she took up a teaching position at the frankfort conservatory and remained there until 1892.  she went deaf and her last public appearance took place in 1890.  she died one year before brahms in 1896.  she was not an excessive physically moving pianist.  her fingers were kept close to the keys and the keys were squeezed rather than struck.  "chords were played from the wrist, not from the arm and elbow."  she could play 10ths easily, and she was able to draw a full, colorful tone."  george bernard shaw: "nobly beautiful and poetic player. an artist of that sort is the grail of the critic's quest."  she tried to subordinated herself to the intentions of the composer as she saw them.

she detested speed and empty passage work.  "keine passagen!" she would say "why hurry over beautiful things? why not linger and enjoy them?" 
do you know why benches fall apart?  it is because they have lids with little tiny hinges so you can store music inside them.  hint:  buy a bench that does not hinge.  buy it for sturdiness.

Offline pianonut

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Re: Are there any SCHUMANN fans?
Reply #3 on: May 10, 2005, 10:18:31 AM
ps.  in 1878, concerts were arranged at the gewandhaus in leipzig to celebrate the 50th jubilee of clara's performing career.  it was a program that featured only robert schumann's music.  on her deathbed, she asked her grandson (ferdinand) to play her husband's F-sharp romance for her.  it was the last thing she heard played. 

princeton library suggests this book as good summer reading:

'clara' by janice galloway.
do you know why benches fall apart?  it is because they have lids with little tiny hinges so you can store music inside them.  hint:  buy a bench that does not hinge.  buy it for sturdiness.

Offline pianonut

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Re: Are there any SCHUMANN fans?
Reply #4 on: May 10, 2005, 10:19:46 AM
pss.

robert had complete paralysis of two fingers due to mercurial treatment for syphillis.  he never had the performing career that clara did, but was such a great composer.  his rheinish symphony is hard to beat (imo).
do you know why benches fall apart?  it is because they have lids with little tiny hinges so you can store music inside them.  hint:  buy a bench that does not hinge.  buy it for sturdiness.

Offline Antnee

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Re: Are there any SCHUMANN fans?
Reply #5 on: May 10, 2005, 01:23:17 PM
"The trouble with music appreciation in general is that people are taught to have too much respect for music they should be taught to love it instead." -  Stravinsky

Offline pianonut

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Re: Are there any SCHUMANN fans?
Reply #6 on: May 10, 2005, 05:46:08 PM
thank you.  it's great to read that.  they both complimented one another.  it's too bad he went insane. 
do you know why benches fall apart?  it is because they have lids with little tiny hinges so you can store music inside them.  hint:  buy a bench that does not hinge.  buy it for sturdiness.

Offline Glyptodont

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Re: Are there any SCHUMANN fans?
Reply #7 on: May 12, 2005, 02:36:42 PM
Schumann wrote quite a few rather slight pieces -- short in length, and not very difficult.  He is a great source of pieces you can learn (and enjoy) in a single afternoon.

Some of his collections of compositions, such as "Album for the Young," suggest that he was trying to write material that was accessible to young or intermediate-skill pianists.

But ironically, many pieces in the "Album for the Young" are NOT easy.  But there are many short works of his that ARE quite easy and learn fast.

Lest the wrong impression be given, he also wrote more extensive and more demanding piano works that are suited to professionals. 

Anyone ever heard Richter's performance of "The Carnival of Venice"? 

Schumann, like Chopin or Liszt, is remembered as a composer who left a legacy of piano music.
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