Clara Schumann : the artist and the woman
by Nancy B. Reich
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Description
This absorbing and award-winning biography tells the story of the tragedies and triumphs of Clara Wieck Schumann (1819-1896), a musician of remarkable achievements. At once artist, composer, editor, teacher, wife, and mother of eight children, she was an important force in the musical world of her time. To show how Schumann surmounted the obstacles facing female artists in the nineteenth century, Nancy B. Reich has drawn on previously unexplored primary sources: unpublished diaries, letters, show more and family papers, as well as concert programs. Going beyond the familiar legends of the Schumann literature, she applies the tools of musicological scholarship and the insights of psychology to provide a new, full-scale portrait.The book is divided into two parts. In Part One, Reich follows Clara Schumann's life from her early years as a child prodigy through her marriage to Robert Schumann and into the forty years after his death, when she established and maintained an extraordinary European career while supporting and supervising a household and seven children. Part Two covers four major themes in Schumann's life: her relationship with Johannes Brahms and other friends and contemporaries; her creative work; her life on the concert stage; and her success as a teacher.Throughout, excerpts from diaries and letters in Reich's own translations clear up misconceptions about her life and achievements and her partnership with Robert Schumann. Highlighting aspects of Clara Schumann's personality and character that have been neglected by earlier biographers, this candid and eminently readable account adds appreciably to our understanding of a fascinating artist and woman.For this revised edition, Reich has added several photographs and updated the text to include recent discoveries. She has also prepared a Catalogue of Works that includes all of Clara Schumann's known published and unpublished compositions and works she edited, as well as descriptions of the autographs, the first editions, the modern editions, and recent literature on each piece. The Catalogue also notes Schumann's performances of her own music and provides pertinent "ations from letters, diaries, and contemporary reviews. show lessTags
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1+ Work 106 Members
Nancy B. Reich was born Nancy Bassen in the Bronx, New York on July 3, 1924. She played violin and viola. She received a bachelor's degree in music from Queens College in 1945, a master's degree from Columbia University's Teachers College in 1947, and a Ph.D. from New York University in 1972. She taught at New York University, Queens College, and show more Manhattanville College. Her book, Clara Schumann: The Artist and the Woman, was published in 1985. She died on January 31, 2019 at the age of 94. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Clara Schumann : the artist and the woman
- Original publication date
- 1985; 2001 (revised edition) (revised edition)
- People/Characters
- Clara Schumann; Robert Schumann
Classifications
- Genres
- Music, Biography & Memoir, Nonfiction, General Nonfiction
- DDC/MDS
- 786.2 — Arts & recreation Music Keyboard, mechanical, electrophonic, percussion instruments Pianos [formerly: keyboard string instuments]
- LCC
- ML417 .S4 .R4 — Music Literature on music Literature on music History and criticism Biography
- BISAC
Statistics
- Members
- 106
- Popularity
- 303,230
- Rating
- (4.00)
- Languages
- English, French, German, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 12
- ASINs
- 2
