Customer Reviews (5)

The Artist and the Woman - a MUST READ For Many Reasons
Author Nancy Reich's scholarship is impeccable, her research, comprehensive, and her passion for accuracy, uncompromising.

This is a completely thorough and compelling biography which reads as smoothly as an easy novel. It is powerful and sensitive; objective and personal. Dr. Reich's depth as a scholar and skill as a writer provide us with a rarely-, possibly never-seen view of this extraordinary woman, Clara Wieck Schumann.

Clara's life was fraught with pain, sorrow, frustration, and self-doubt, and how her genius managed to prevail is nothing short of remarkable.I took pause many times while reading to catch my emotional breath.

Dr. Reich also shares with us her enormous insight into the personalities of ill and troubled husband, Robert, dear friend and confidant, Johannes Brahms, and domineering father, Friedrich Wieck, making sense and coherence of the disjointed facts many of us know regarding these three very important men in, not only her life, but in the life of Nineteenth Century European music.

Clara Schumann was a truly astonishing figure - both as an artist (prolific composer, formidable virtuosa - some say Liszt's equal or superior), and as a woman (dedicated wife, mother, daughter, loyal friend). This book takes a major step toward giving a just measure of recognition to this awesome woman.It contains wonderful photos, sketches, pastels, and paintings - some, particularly of Clara alone, are especially moving.Her expressions tell nearly as complete a story as the text.

Though replete with musical discussion and analysis, one need not be a scholar or musician to comprehend and be totally struck by Nancy Reich's telling of Clara's story. If you care anything about wives, mothers, daughters, friends, or music, this book is a MUST READ.

I discovered this marvelous book on the Clara Schumann Society website of Dr. David Kenneth Smith, Geneva College.I recommend doing a GOOGLE on "Clara '96" (the name of the site celebrating the anniversary of her death in 1996).You will get an abundance of hits, all of which are very worthwhile.

Tortured Virtuosa, Talented Writer
Nancy B. Reich certainly did her homework while writing the revised edition of Clara Schumann: The Artist and the Woman.Her resources include translations from primary texts in her native German, as well as other primary sources from the important friends in her life.She updated the 1985 version of the book in 2001 to include "a variety of significant documents-letters, medical reports, and music-that were in private hands and unavailable when [she] was working on the first edition". These texts include Robert Schumann's medical log, and Clara's correspondence with her husband's music publishers, the List family, and texts written by her granddaughter Julie.I felt this book was well laid out, and was able to include many thoughts and emotions from the people involved in Clara's life.By including information from the diaries and discerning when the passage was Wieck's writing or Clara's helped make clear whose feelings were really being expressed.
One thing I found was that Reich draws many of her own conclusions based on the information presented.Due to the difficulty of not having Clara's uninfluenced, uncorrected thoughts from the first twenty years of her life, it is difficult to actually know her true mind.Wieck's influence on her caused many of these primary documents to be soiled with his own opinions.They do, however, provide an interesting look at her motivations behind many of her decisions.He never spared his thought, and so, there is not as much need for speculation of his beliefs.Reich also does not ponder what her conclusions mean, she simply presents the facts, her opinions based on them, and allows the reader to agree or form their own ideas.
Her inclusion of a timeline of Clara's life in the beginning of the book is rather helpful.It allows the reader to follow her life and to find specific events within the book.Also, the division of chapters makes it easy to home in on specific parts of her life and to find the information easily.The second half of the book reemphasizes the themes in her life by forming separate sections with each grouping.These show her relationships with others and discuss the positions she held throughout her life.The second section might lose the reader's interest somewhat because of the recounting of many facts.She presents the information in greater depth, but she does so in a way that common themes are grouped together instead of emphasizing where they occurred in her life.
Overall, it was a very enjoyable read.It was very informative, and easy to follow.The writing flowed easily and the beginning held my attention.Reich wrote a book successful of influencing my emotions and teaching me more than I had ever known about Clara Schumann.This was a very effective story of the woman and artist's life, and I would recommend it as a great account.

Truly fine biography
Reich's beautifully written, thoroughly researched and objective book is certainly the best biography on Clara Weick Schumann in English. It is also one of the finest biographies I have read of any subject by any author.

From her childhood as a piano virtuoso through her 50 year performing career, Schumann was an international star of the concert stage, a composer and champion of the composers close to her, a woman who astounded and compelled those who knew her, a legend in her own time.

She was, as we know, beset by personnal tragedies of the most anguishing kind, beginning with her complex relationship with her taskmaster father, who taught her, drove her mercilessly, and made her a star at the age of 12, then refused to allow her to marry the love of her life,

She defied him at a dear price and married Robert Schumann anyway. The book explores at length her life as a beloved, then shunned daughter; as a lover, wife, mother, composer and performer.

She suffered terribly Robert Schumann's early and probably syphilis-induced insanity and death, the deaths of most of her seven children at a young age, and extreme financial straits in which she found herself most of her life.

Reich takes us step by step through all of the contingencies ofher professional life: her lifelong celebration of Schumann's work; the 'Young Werther' relationship with her beloved Johannes Brahms, whose career she promoted tirelessly; her complex personality and deep involvement in her career and their effect on her maternal relationship with each of her children.

Throughout, Reich draws a richly variegated picture of the world of classical music in Europe from the early 19th century onward -- its characters, creations, rivalries, performances, highs and lows. Schumann interacted with many of the centuries' finest composers and performers: Chopin, Joachim, Liszt, Schumann (of course), Brahms...the list goes on.

Reich presents the incredible strength and courage for which Schumann is well-known, but does not flinch at exploring her more problematic qualities, for which friends, family, children and Schumann herself, paid a price.

Clara's deep understanding of the music of Robert Schumann and others, and its profound physical and emotional effects on its her play throughout. Here is Clara Schuman, de-mythologized, de-romanticized, and still amazing.

Intriguing, richly embued with testimony from original sources, a pleasure to read, Reich does not just tell the tale. She performs a symphony.

A gem of a biography--don't miss it!
This revised edition of Clara Schumann's biography by Nancy Reich is a gem. Not only is the scholarship impeccable and thorough, but the talented writing engages and fascinates the reader at every turn.

Features of this wonderful new edition include the use of new medical reports that have come to light regarding Robert Schumann's illness; reference to recently discovered letters and diaries that further elucidate Clara's friendships with people like Emilie List, Frederic Chopin, and the Mendelssohns; and the expansion of the Catalogue of Works.

The revised Catalogue alone makes this new edition compulsory for anyone-lay or professional-interested in Clara Schumann and her prodigious work and impact.The Catalogue records every known piece by Clara Schumann, reviews of her compositions, her own performances of her works, the location of autograph copies, and much more.

The 1985 edition of Dr. Reich's outstandingly researched biography clearly had a major impact on Schumann studies.It was followed by a continuing, worldwide outpouring of performances and recordings of Clara Schumann's works, articles about Clara, and studies of her music.

The biography is based on original research in German archives and first-hand consultation of letters, music autographs, diaries, and other primary sources.To this meticulous scholarship, Dr. Reich adds intelligent, compassionate analysis of Clara Schumann's life and music, the influences that shaped her, her inspirational marriage to Robert Schumann, and Clara's breathtaking,at times unbelievable strength and ongoing artistry amidst the sometimes horrific adversities in her life.

Rarely is such a magnificent feat of scholarship accompanied by such gripping and graceful writing.

This book is a must for anyone who professes interest in Schumann studies, nineteenth century music, and gender studies, or who wants to experience a true story of passionate, devoted love and the mutual pursuit of art that Clara and Robert Schumann inspired in each other.

A thoroughly researched, intimate glimpse into Clara's life
This is a unique biography that, while absolutely holding its own as an important scholarly work, remains lively and engaging enough to satisfy any reader.A brilliant performer (one of the first to play from memory),mother of seven, teacher, and devoted wife of a(nother) musical genius,Clara Schumann maintained an amazing sense of focus and personal identitythroughout her life: navigating with aplomb her relationship with heroverbearing father, and holding her own in a man's field.Ms. Reichbrilliantly captures all of this in this book.Both her husband andJohannes Brahms claimed Clara as inspiration for some of their greatestworks. And Ms. Reich devotes a thoughtful chapter to Clara's enigmaticrelationship with Brahms.The insights offered in the last chapter onClara's (and her father's) techniques as a performer and teacher would beinvaluable for any piano student.

If reading any book on RobertSchumann or Brahms, get this book as well because it will complete thepictures of those composers lives.While reading this book one quicklybecomes aware that Clara deserves much more than to be a footnote in herhusband's life as she has often been designated. In fact, this work shouldbe required reading in Women's Studies Programs for an interesting (albeitminor) point seems to have been overlooked: Clara Schumann was acontemporary of the great suffragettes Elizabeth Cady Stanton (1815-1902)and Susan B. Anthony (1820-1906). And Clara, in her more private way, alsolived a life filled with integrity and passion. She rightfully deserves aplace in that same pantheon on trailblazers. This is a wonderful book aboutan incredible woman. ... Read more

Book Description
A piano prodigy, Clara Schumann made her professional debut at the age of nine and had embarked on her first European concert tour by the time she was twelve. Clara charmed audiences with her soulful playing throughout her life. Music was a constant source of inspiration and support for this strong and resilient woman. After the death of her husband, Robert Schumann, Clara continued her brilliant career and supported their eight children. Clara Schumann's extraordinary story is supplemented with her letters and diary entries, some of which have never before been published in English. Gorgeous portraits and photographs show the members of Clara's famous musical community and Clara herself from age eight to seventy-six. Index, chronology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Virtuoso of the 19th Century
(...) That reason is because this book provides all the necessary information needed to fill your brain with a river of knowledge about this musical genius. A few templates of information I had read from the book were:
* At age 5, Clara Schumann (her name was Clara Wieck, up until she married) had amazing talent for the average child in the world at the time. As it says, as soon as she layed her fingers on the keys of the piano for the first time, she already yielded her amazing skill at music.
* Amazing for a child in her pre-teens, her first concert was conducted at age 12, at the Gewandhaus Theatre in her birthplace and what was one of her many hometowns of Leipzig, Saxony, in Germany. One of the many guests she played for were the King and Queen of Prussia.
* Not suprising for a 16-year-old, she fell deeply in love with Robert Schumann, which, like all superstars, affected her music by how emotional her music sounded to her audience, although this aspect did not affect the quality of her music, as her emotions leaked into her music and it either told her audience whether she felt gloomy or joyful. A way it affected her personal life was by angering her father, Frederick Wieck, because he did not want anything to do with Robert Schumann. He threatened Clara that if she didn't break up with Robert, he would launch her career into mass jeopardy. So that didn't stop her from communicating with Robert. She wrote letters secretly to Robert, and all the letters she wrote to Robert up unto his death in the 1850s would fill severalbookshelves.
* She had seven children total, of which a few suffered terrible fates. Her son Ferdinand served in the military and he died of morphine addiction.
* Some of her friends were Felix Mendelsohnn and Johannes Brahms.

In my opinion, I feel the author of this book, Sussana Reich, should be renowned the world over because of all the thought, effort, and precision she put into this biographical journey. She gives you every little detail you need to know about this genius. While some biographies just have the basic texts of a book, she included a timeline which I found especially helpful when I was writing a biographical report about her. This author is truely an individual who stands out from the rest of the crowd. In fact she has "convinced" me so much about her that I feel she will convince you the same way!

A Heroine for All Ages!
Clara Schumann (nee Wieck) lived a heroic life that would inspire anyone in any age.She lived a life of amazing contrasts:unable to speak with other people when she was young; a piano virtuoso at age 6; the student ofa domineering father; the oldest child in a broken home at a young age; themajor source of income for her family all her life; a young woman who hadto defy her father to marry the man of her dreams; mother of 8 children;young widow; wife of one of the world's most famous composers; constantlyon tour while raising her children; friend of the most prodigious muscialtalents of her day; and the dominant piano performer of her time.

Thisbook is written at a level that will appeal to all but the most seriousmusical fans and students.The book is full of interesting illustrationsand exhibits.I enjoyed the discussion of the sources in the back of thebook.The author's mother has also written about Clara Schumann, so theywere able to share data.Ms. Schumann's diary was started by her father,so it contains information from both of them.She also loved to write toher friends, and spent several hours a day doing that.As a result, thereare a lot of quotes in her own words.

Amazingly modern, yet little knownto many modern people, Clara Schumann faced many of the conflicts andcontradictions that today's young women and mothers face.Her brave andextraordinary life can provide inspiration and guidance for today . . . andtomorrow.

I especially encourage you to share this book with youngpeople who have extraordinary talent or a calling at a young age, to helpthem understand what some of the issues are that they will face over therest of their lives.

Overcome your misconceptions about what it meansto be a career woman in the 21st century by examining one from the 19thcentury!

... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Essential!
This is a wonderful edition, including all of Schumann's chamber music (excluding duo sonatas) in one book (no-one else does this!) for a very low price. It is a great study-score; as a performance score, the only downside is the lack of parts (which can be photocopied).
The famous Piano Quintet, the Quartet, the three trios and three string quartets cover a vast range of moods; the melancholy D minor trio is my favourite, especially the scherzo movement. This score is a must-have.

Sonatas are the best
The Schumann Chamber music is appeasingly romantic, while not going over board.These pieces are extremely fun to play, as well as listen to! ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

perfect
My friend had given me a site to order books from, but I wasn't able to find the score.The title is a little vague, so all these random pieces came up.Amazon.com found what I wanted, and it was affordable.They mailed it in a package that kept my book safe.

If for nothing else, buy this for Opus 68
Opus #68 is Schumann's 'Piano Pieces For Children'.It's good to have the entire set.Most students have played pieces from this set in their studies.The Wild Rider, The Happy Farmer, Knight Rupert, etc.There are some real gems in these small pieces, perfect for student recital or for sight reading practice.

The rest of the pieces in this volume vary in quality and difficulty, but for the money you can't find the same collection anywhere but Dover publishing. Recommended ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent price for so much fine music.
If this book had only existed when I was a music performance major, it would have made my life complete.

The music is printed in an easy to read format, not harsh or glaring on the eyes, and features some of Robert Schumann's most treasured, ingenious works."Carnaval," "Davidsbundler," and more...those two alone are worth the price paid for the entire volume.

I highly recommend classical pianists of all ages and abilities to purchase this and get to know Schumann's music.

great value again
A very comprehensive edition(of 3 total), as always with dover, very good printing and binding, opaque paper, and edited by clara schumann.This is a VERY good value on an entire repertoire of music.Probably one of Dover's best printings. ... Read more

Book Description

Book Description
Text extracted from opening pages of book: CLARA SCHUMANN AN ARTIST'S LIFE BASED ON MATERIAL FOUND UN DIARIES AND LETTERS BY BERTHOLD LITZMANN TRANSLATED AND ABRIDGED FBOM THE FOURTH EDITION BY GRACE E. HADOW WITH A PBEFACE BY W. H. HADOW TOL. II ILLUSTRATED MAOMILLAN & 00., LIMITED ST. MAETm'S STREET, LONDON AND BEEITKOPF & HARTEL, LEIPZIG 1913 CLARA SCHUMANN AN ARTIST'S LIFE BASED ON MATERIAL FOUND UN DIARIES AND LETTERS BY BERTHOLD LITZMANN TRANSLATED AND ABRIDGED FBOM THE FOURTH EDITION BY GRACE E. HADOW WITH A PBEFACE BY W. H. HADOW TOL. II ILLUSTRATED MAOMILLAN & 00., LIMITED ST. MAETm'S STREET, LONDON AND BEEITKOPF & HARTEL, LEIPZIG 1913 AUTHOR'S PREFACE TO YOL. H That the second volume has been so long delayed is ac counted for, and I hope excused by, the fact that it was im possible to find any time for the work except during the leisure of my spring and autumn holidays. These have been devoted to it, almost without a pause, and by this means alone has it been possible for the continuation to appear even now: the continuation, not the conclusion for the latter a third volume will be necessary. The over-abundance of material, the full mass of which revealed itself only as I worked through the preceding volume which grew into a dual biography of Robert and Clara Schumann has necessitated this deviation from the original plan. Those to whom the former volume appealed will find the continuation a surprise and possibly a disappointment, since in the second volume the actual letters of Robert and Clara, which gave the first a peculiar character, have far less pro minence, and in their place the biographer speaks, if not ex clusively, yet to far greater extent The critical reader will, however, realise that this was necessitated not only by the difference in the material available for this period of their lives, but also by the peculiar artistic problems of these years. In conclusion it is scarcely necessary to state that in the third volume which is to come which includes a period of IV Author 1 ! Preface to VoL HI. 40 years the present system of following the heroine step by step through her life will have to give way to a method of grouping events in larger masses. The portrait of Robert Schumann is from a drawing by Eduard Bendemann made in 1859 from the Hamburg Daguerreo type of March 1850; tho frontispiece is from Sohn's painting, with which Clara surprised her husband at Christmas 1868. Dated the 65* wedding-day of Robert and Clara Schumann, Sept 12* 1905. Rlnggenberg on the Lake of Brien*. Berthold LiUmann, AUTHOR'S PliEFAOK TO VOL. HI. The third volume has also been delayed longer than all those concerned in it author, publisher, and readers could have wished, and for the same reason as that which made the production of the two former volumes BO difficult This time, in addition, my holidays in Interlaken where alone the material was at my disposal were thrice interrupted by ill-health. The subject itself, and the material for this third volume, wsre not without their influence on the pace of the work. In one place in her diary, Clara writes: In an artist's life, as in every other, things repeat themselves more or lass, so that there if much on which 1 barely touch. 19 If she herself ia her diary feels a certain monotony in the externals of a life which goes on in the same groove year after year, naturally the Author's Preface to Vol. III. biographer, who has to represent forty such years, is still more conscious of it. But though it was plain from the first that on no account was each one of Clara's tours to be followed in her diary from place to place; yet, on the other hand, the positive side of the work was by no means so clearly defined. For in these isolated, constantly recurring episodes lay the chief meaning of her life. The reader, then, must be made to see and feel this without its being unduly pressed upon him, with out more space and attention being devoted to its consider ation than is absolutely necessa ... Read more

Amazon.com
Clara's grappling with the rigidities of historical character and its conjuring of a totally alien milieu--the German music scene of the mid-19th century--are all the more impressive given that Janice Galloway's previous prize-winning novels, The Trick Is to Keep Breathing and Foreign Parts, were much less ambitious in scope, dealing with contemporary lives.

Reaching her prime before the dawn of recorded sound, Clara Schumann, an acclaimed virtuoso pianist who had her own international career in European concert halls in the latter half of the 19th century, is now, sadly, only known by report as the perfect champion of her husband Robert's music. However, the bare bones of her biography hint at hidden depths: the mother, Marianne Tromlitz, who left her husband and daughter for another man; the father, Friedrich Wieck, who nurtured her career single-mindedly; the marriage, violently opposed by her father, to Robert Schumann, who soon fell into depression and whose short life ended in an asylum. Janice Galloway has taken full advantage of the raw materials of the first half of this extraordinary saga to produce a rich and compelling fictional life.

There's also a deep understanding of the social politics of Clara's background, most impressively done through her father's social climbing, hidden behind an apparently classless artistry. Galloway renders all this in an indulgent, exquisitely limpid prose: the end result is an outstanding novel, the most ambitious and most impressive of her career to date. --Alan Stewart, Amazon.co.uk Book Description

With "humanism, generosity, and a passionate, beating heart" (The Times, London), Janice Galloway's Clara reignites, from between the lines of history, the great love of Robert and Clara Schumann. In her lifetime, Clara was a celebrated concert pianist and composer, editor and teacher, friend of Brahms -- as well as mother of the eight Schumann children and caretaker of her husband through a series of crippling mental illnesses. In its luminous integrity the novel brings Clara Schumann to life as a woman of genius.

Galloway is at once a meticulous researcher of her subjects' remarkable and highly dramatic artistic careers and a virtuoso storyteller whose imagination and empathy lead her to that place off limits to history and biography -- inside the human mind. Distilling the memories, poetry, and musical notes therein, she examines the ways artists divine patterns out of life's chaos. "Passion," writes Galloway of Clara's performance philosophy, "one might take for granted -- its control is the mechanism through which all else flows." Though music may have bent to Clara's will, love served her far more tragically.

Dismissing the clichés of Great Art and rejecting the romantic conflation of Madness and Creativity, Clara boldly ventures that in a life marred by alienation and isolation, "Work alone endures." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

Lovely and Amazing
This is quite a gorgeous book -- but difficult! It takes a particular kind of reader to enjoy the stream of consciousness and perception that constructs this book. The narrative takes the form of images and perceptions of the main characters, rather than straightforward facts and dialogue. Taken on their own, particular sentences can be quite confusing, but interwoven as they are with each other, the finished manuscript is quite an effective symphony!

There has been wonderful fiction from the UK of late, I also recommend Never Let Me Go and Cloud Atlas: A Novel

A wonderful book
This is, quite simply, a wonderful book.Janice Galloway has written a masterwork.Galloway has struck a very difficult balance between historical fact -- which much of the book details -- and its interpretation through the mind of one of the most remarkable women of the nineteenth century.For those interested in the subject, I recommend also another fine novel about the Schumanns, "Longing" by J.D. Landis; but Galloway's book towers above it in its depth of feeling and understanding of -- to quote the title of Schumann's song cycle which Galloway has used as a template for her book -- a woman's life and love.Highly recommended.

Appreciate the book
I appreciated this well-structured novel but did not prefer it to another novel with the same subject, Longing by J.D. Landis.The author makes some interesting choices, such as writing in an impressionistic matter. However, I definitely feel that although the book is alive with detail of 19th century musical life, the book loses some appeal b/c it completely seems to characterize Clara as a victim of both her father and Robert.Both men are presented as villians in most points of the book.Even though you could argue that the book is balanced (b/c we are shown how life is like through Robert's eyes) there seems to clear agenda of showing how Clara was forced to give up her musical career, when in fact she did not completely give it up in real life.

But that is just one flaw in the book that I found, whcih does not diminsh the book's strengths, especially its detailed portrait of an era and what it is like to be a musical genius. I actually preferred the portion of the book devoted to Clara'schildhood-Fascinating stuff!

Wish the book has gone on to describw what Clara's life was like after Robert's death. But if you enjoymusic and love stories this is a good novel.

Devotion
Unlike some other reviewers, I found the idiosyncratic style of this book rather tiresome, and it is possibly a little on the long side. But there is no doubt that at the end one is left by the unforgettable image of a terrible situation. Bullied by her monstrous father in childhood and young womanhood into becoming a great musician in her own right, Clara Wieck does at last escapes him into marriage with Robert Schumann. He adores her and she is devoted to him. As Robert's mental condition deteriorates to the point where he has to go into an asylum, Clara's devotion never falters. If he says the most terrible things about her, she is convinced that he does not mean them (and in a way that is true, since Robert is in desperate need of her love and support), while at the same time she refuses to accept the severity of his mental illness. Though others can visit Robert in the asylum, doctors refuse Clara access to her husband until he is at the point of death. There is of course much more to the story, including a brilliant career as a pianist and seven children. But the painful story of her childhood and marriage holds centre stage

A Novel of Clara Schumann
Clara Schumann's (1819-1896)life continues to fascinate and inspire.I recently saw the world-premiere of an opera, also titled "Clara" at the University of Maryland by the American composer Robert Convery.Clara Schumann is the subject of an excellent website and of recent biographies, including "Clara Schumann: the Artist and the Woman" by Nancy Reich. Clara Schumann's compositional output consists of only about 60 works, but it continues to be recorded and performed.

Janice Galloway's novel, "Clara" (2002), introduces the reader to a remarkable woman and to her times.Clara was the daughter of Frederick Wieck, a notable piano teacher, and of a woman who left Wieck to marry another man when Clara was young.Clara Wieck was a child prodigy with virtuosic ability at the piano.At the time, the role of piano virtuoso was just coming into its own.

Clara fell in love with the great romantic composer Robert Schumann (1810-1856), ten years her senior, when Schumann was a student of Wieck.Her father bitterly opposed the marriage, but the couple persevered and were married with permission from the German courts.The marriage was difficult, as Robert needed absolute quiet in order to compose and was moody and tempramental to say the least.The couple had eight children, and Clara proved determined to pursue her calling as a concert artist.Schumann's instability gradually lead to insanity and he was institutionalized for the last years of his life following a failed suicide attempt.The novel covers Clara's life up through the death of Robert Schumann with only brief allusions to her life as a concert pianist following his death.Clara outlived Robert by 40 years.

This book presents a complelling picture of lives filed with the love of music. Robert was a highly gifted composer while Clara devoted her great talents to the art of interpretation. Ms. Galloway shows well the vicissitudes of the creative life, both for the composer and the interpreter.The book is love story, rarer than might be supposed in today's world, presenting a picture of a gifted couple's devotion to each other. In particular, it presents a compelling portrait of Clara Schumann with her devotion to a difficult individual through his descent into psychosis.

Ms. Galloway stays close to the facts of her story, gets inside her characters, and avoids the temptation to judge or to editorialize based upon the values of another age.She presents balanced portraits of the characters in her story and allows the reader to see the nuances and ambiguities inherent in all human conduct.For example, Ms. Galloway lets the reader see that Wieck had a point, after all, in his doubts about the marriage and about Robert's mental instability which was surely visible over the years. Ms. Galloway also points out Clara's growing devotion to what she was born to do -- play the piano -- and how her independence sometimes rested uneasily with her love and commitment to Robert.Her love for Robert was surely the most important force in her life.

The novel moves slowly at times, but it builds as it progresses in both writing style and in depth of understanding. The novel does an outstanding job in linking the events of Clara and Robert's lives into their music.I enjoyed the treatment of Robert Schumann's "Carnaval", a great work for the solo piano and a favorite of mine, his song cycles, piano concerto, symphonies, and other compositions which receive thoughtful attention in the book.

The paperback edition of this book includes some good questions suitable for book groups together with a revealing interview with Ms. Galloway. The book shows how music and creativity enable people to reach the best of what is in them and to transcend the pain of sorrow and suffering and the banalities of the everyday. I found this book a moving presentation of the love of a woman and a man for each other and of the love of both for music. I was both inspired by the story of Clara's life and also moved to revisit Clara's music and the music of her tormented but gifted husband. ... Read more

Book Description
Text extracted from opening pages of book: CLARA SCHUMANN AN ARTIST'S LIFE BASED ON MATERIAL FOUND IN DIAEIES AND LETTERS BY TRANSLATED AND ABRIDGED FROM THE FOURTH EDITION BY GEACE E. HADOW WITH A PBBFACE BY W. H. HADOW YOL. I ILLUSTRATED MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON AND BREITKOPF & HARTEL, LEIPZIG 1013 TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE. The task of translation can never be a light one, since every language has not only its own peculiar shades of meaning, but also its own peculiar charm a fragrance which evaporates as soon as the national frontier is crossed. This is especially true of the German of Robert Schumann. His delicate, poetic imagination found perfect expression in the language of his hero, Jean Paul, and the endeavour to render his love letters, and still more his poems, in another tongue is foredoomed to failure; the original words alone fitly express the poet's thought In the following pages an attempt has been made to give as far as possible the spirit of the German, but only a poet could hope for success in such an enterprise, and I am conscious of many shortcomings. It is with great pleasure and the warmest gratitude that I acknowledge my indebtedness to Miss BL C. Deneke and to Miss Eugenie Schumann,, both of whom read through the manuscript and gave me much valuable advice and criticism. Miss Schumann went through the translation word by word, and to her never wearying patience and consideration is due whatever in it there may be of good. It was unfortunately found necessary to turn the original three volumes into two in the English edition, and by so doing the balance of the whole had necessarily to be re adjusted. Prof. Litzmann in his prefaces explains the principle which underlies the whole work. I have endeavoured to interfere as little as possible with his method, though some Translator's Preface. slight changes were necessary in order to avoid any abrupt break between the volumes, vol. ii of the German edition being divided between the two volumes of the English edition. It is with sincere apologies and deep regret that I have ventured to make what omissions were called for by reason of space, and I have to tender my thanks to Prof. Litzmann for his courtesy in permitting such changes. Cirencester 1912. Grace E. Hadow, PREFACE. The reproach is commonly brought against musical bio graphies that they are monotonous : and indeed the life of the musician has not often afforded much scope for incident or variety. If he be a composer he treads the accustomed course of early struggles, hard-earned victories and posthumous fame: if he be a virtuoso his career is one triumphal progress which leaves little to record except the successive trophies that he has planted and the successive laurels that he has won. The concentration required by his art removes him in some degree from the stir and stress of public events: for the most part he dwells in an ideal city of his own and breathes the more freely when he has shut its gates upon the world. To this it may be added that the biographers of our great musicians have too often tended to merge the historian in the advocate. They are full of a generous enthusiasm for their subject; they are anxious above all things to present it in an attractive light; but they sometimes neglect Cromwell's advice to Sir Peter Lely and spoil their portrait by giving it a classic regularity of feature. No doubt every biographer is something of a partisan ; it is no use writing a man's life unless you think well of him: but the worst of all ways to arouse interest in your hero is to represent him on a faultless pala din and to treat as a paynim and a miscreant everyone who ever offered him the least opposition. No man can build the monument of departed greatness if he is using up all the stones to pelt his adversaries. VI Preface. It may be said that the interpretation of character is less important in music than in any other arts or pursuits because music is more detached th ... Read more

Book Description
For the first four years of their marriage, from 1840 to1844, Robert and Clara Wieck Schumann kept a detailed account of theirlives together.Now available in English for the first time, thisedition of the complete marriage diaries reveals the strains as well asthe happiness of the union of the two renowned musicians. ... Read more

Product Description
Composer, performer, concert organizer and teacher, Clara Schumann (1819-1896) was one of the most famous women of her age. In 1828, at the age of nine, she had her debut as a soloist at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. She traveled widely and was celebrated in England as the greatest pianist of her time. But Clara voluntarily withdrew into the shadow of her husband, Robert Schumann, the genius composer of German Romanticism, whom she married against her father’s wishes. He was the love of her life, yet she survived him by four decades, during which she became the muse of Johannes Brahms. ... Read more