CLARA SCHUMANN

Clara was born on September 13, 1819 in Leipzig, Germany. Her parents were Marianne and Frederick Wieck. Marianne was a former piano student of Frederick, however, as his wife she was under a great deal of pressure from him to practice, teach and perform. When Clara was five, her mother left and divorced her controlling husband. Clara and her two younger brothers had to stay with their father as German law required. Clara didn't talk until she was five years old when her father began giving her piano lessons with two other little girls. Soon her father realized she had talent and wasn't deaf or delayed as had been thought. Clara began having an hour piano lesson with her father every day. She enjoyed playing the piano and pleasing her father. Frederick was amazed at her ability to memorize a short piece after hearing it once. He decided that he could turn Clara into a piano virtuoso and become the most famous piano teacher in Germany. When Clara was eleven her father began taking her on concert tours where she performed her own compositions along with pieces by Bach, Beethoven, and Mendelssohn. She was the first to play the music of Chopin.Clara's outstanding piano performances brought many new students to her father. Robert Schumann was so impressed with Clara's ability, he began piano lessons with her father, Robert was nine years older than Clara and said that she played the piano far better than he did. Clara even composed a concerto when only thirteen that Robert helped her orchestrate. Mendelssohn conducted the premier performance when she was sixteen. Long story short, as time went on, Robert and Clara fell in love. When her father realized they were in love, he became extremely angry. Frederick planned a long concert tour to keep her away from Robert. Clara gave concerts in Vienna and she became so famous that the restaurants there made a dessert named after her, "Torte a la Wieck." Clara played so fantastic that the Austrian emperor conferred the title, "Royal and Imperial