Clara Schumann and Her 200 Year Impact on Music

The 200th Birthday of Clara Schumann takes place in September, celebrating the legacy of music this wonderful woman left behind.

With her birthday approaching on Sept. 13, The New York Times published an article showcasing how underlooked she was in her time. Often when the name Schumann is discussed, her husband Robert is first to mind, but with her, "the name should remind us most of the frustrating lack of recognition still accorded female composers."

Schumann "was a celebrity pianist in her own time; the music she wrote is a recognized part of the narrative of 19th-century musical Romanticism." Her music going often unnoticed is telling. The "references to Clara are routinely centered on considerations of Robert's life and music - not to mention gossipy speculation about her relationship with Brahms, a close friend of the couple - to the detriment of her own creative achievements."

She began composing from an early age, proving to be a child prodigy. "Overall, Clara Schumann was a highly intelligent Renaissance woman who could do many things" Roe-Min Kok, a musicologist at McGill University in Montreal, told the Times.

"Ms. Kok added, Clara was a highly efficient "micromanager of the household," raising and financially supporting seven children; an eighth died as an infant." She did this all after her husband passed and maintaining his legacy.

"There's a sense of sadness that Clara didn't end up composing as much as she could have," the fortepianist and scholar Gili Loftus said "But not as deep as regret. She had so many other things she was devoted to and believed in."

A playlist of her music was compiled by The New York Times and can be found here.

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