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Image:clara_s.jpg|right|thumb|Clara Schumann

Clara Josephine Wieck Schumann (September 13, 1819
– May 20,  1896), wife of composer Robert
Schumann, was one of the leading pianists of the
Romantic music|Romantic era as well as a composer.

== Biography ==

Clara trained from an early age with her father,
the well-known piano pedagogue Friedrich Wieck.
She had a brilliant career as a pianist from the
age of thirteen up to her marriage; the union
between Clara and Robert was initially opposed by
her father.  She continued to perform and compose
after the marriage even as she bore and raised
seven children.  In the various tours on which she
accompanied her husband, she extended her own
reputation farther than the outskirts of Germany,
and it was thanks to her efforts that his
compositions became generally known in Europe.  
Johannes Brahms, at age twenty, met the couple in
1853 and his friendship with Clara lasted until
her death.  Later that year, she also met
violinist Joseph Joachim who became one of her
frequent performance partners.  Schumann is
credited with refining the tastes of audiences
through her presentation of works by earlier
composers including those of Bach, Mozart, and
Beethoven as well as those of Robert Schumann and
Brahms.

From the time of her husband's death she devoted
herself principally to the interpretation of her
husband's works. But, when she first visited
Englandin 1856, the critics received Schumann's
music with a chorus of disapprobation.  She
returned to London in 1865 and continued her
visits annually, with the exception of four
seasons, until 1882. She also appeared there each
year from 1885 to 1888. In 1878 she was appointed
teacher of the piano at the Hoch Conservatorium at
Frankfurt am Main, a post she held until 1892, and
in which she contributed greatly to the 
improvement of modern piano playing technique. 

As an artist she will be remembered, together with
Joachim, as one of the first executants who really
played like composers.  Besides being remembered
for her eminence as a performer of nearly all
kinds of piano | pianoforte music, at a time when
such technical ability was considerably rarer than
in the present day, she was herself the composer
of a few songs as well as some charming music
written mainly for the piano. Additionally, she
was the authoritative editor of her husband's
works for the publishing firm of Breitkopf and
HÃĪrtel.

== Music of Clara Schumann ==

Clara considered herself a performing artist
rather than a composer and no longer composed
after age thirty-six.  It is suggested that
negative attitudes toward women's ability to
compose influenced this as well the intimidating
genius of Brahms and her husband.  However, her
compositions are increasingly performed and
recorded.  Her works include songs, piano pieces,
a piano concerto, a piano trio with violin and
cello, and three Romances for violin and piano.
Inspired by her husband's birthday, the three
Romances were composed in 1853 and dedicated to
Joseph Joachim who performed them for George V of
Hanover|King George V of Hanover, Germany. He
declared them a "marvelous, heavenly pleasure."

== References ==

* Kamien, Roger. Music : An Appreciation. 
Mcgraw-Hill College; 3rd edition (August 1, 1997)
ISBN 0070365210