Clara
Schumann was a piano virtuoso of her time, performing publicly beginning at
age nine. Today, we also know Clara by her lovely compositions which,
unfortunately, were forgotten following her death and not re-discovered until
the twentieth century.
Nineteenth-century
Germany was not exactly supportive of its women composers and Clara once wrote
in her diary ‘I once thought that I possessed creative talent, but I have given
up this idea; a woman must not desire to compose—not one has been able to do
it, and why should I expect to?’
That
being said, Clara did write quite a few reputable works that she likely
performed during her career. Today, let’s look at her Piano Concerto in a
minor, Op. 7—a work composed when she was just 13 and premiered at age 16 at
the Leipzig Gewandhaus under the direction of Felix Mendelssohn. Robert
Schumann, who was studying with Clara’s father at the time, helped the young
girl with some of her orchestrations for this lyrical piece. You can listen
below:
Can
you believe this is the work of a child?
