Clara

Clara Schumann was one of the great musicians of the 19th century. Acclaimed for her pianism by the crowned heads of Europe in her 20s, she went on to become one of the most respected performers and teachers of her age, in a life in which she was also a composer, wife and muse to Robert Schumann, mother to their eight children and, after Schumann’s death, mentor and muse to Brahms.

Her few compositions have a unique, poetic beauty, which will be celebrated in this concert to mark the 200th anniversary of her birth. This glorious program concludes with music Robert dedicated to—and was first performed by—Clara, and the first work ever composed for piano and string quartet. The joyous, passionate Piano Quintet is one of Robert Schumann’s masterpieces.