Composers Datebook®

The Schumanns in love

Composers Datebook - Sept. 12, 2024
DOWNLOAD

Synopsis

In 1840, immensely talented German pianist Clara Wieck was eagerly awaiting the eve of her 21st birthday, when she would be free to legally marry the 30-year-old composer and music critic Robert Schumann. The couple had hoped to wed years earlier, but the match was bitterly opposed by Clara’s father.

Clara and Robert kept in touch by letters, which were sometimes intercepted by Papa Wieck.

Early in 1840, Clara wrote, “Dear Robert, I love you so much it hurts my heart. Tell me what you’re writing. I would so love to know, oh please, please. A quartet, an overture — even perhaps a symphony? Might it by any chance be — a wedding present?”

The marriage finally took place on today’s date in 1840. As she had guessed, Robert presented Clara with a musical wedding present: not a quartet, overture, or symphony, but a set of 26 songs, published as his Opus 25.

The opening song, Dedication, is a Rückert poem which contains this refrain: “You are my heart and soul, my bliss and pain, you are the world I live in and the heaven I aspire to, my good angel, my better self.”

Music Played in Today's Program

Robert Schumann (1810-1856): (transcribed by Franz Liszt) Widmung; Michael Ponti, piano; Marco Polo 223.127

Robert Schumann (1810-1856): Widmung; Sophie Daneman, soprano; Julius Drake, piano; EMI 72828

On This Day

Births

  • 1825 - Austrian flautist and conductor Karl Doppler, in Lwow

  • 1901 - German composer Ernst Pepping, in Duisburg

  • 1906 - Soviet composer Dimitri Shostakovich, in St. Petersburg (Gregorian date: Sept. 25)

  • 1939 - American composer Phillip Ramey, in Chicago

Deaths

  • 1764 - French composer Jean Philippe Rameau, 80, in Paris

Premieres

  • 1910 - Mahler: Symphony No. 8 (Symphony of a Thousand) in Munich, with the composer conducting

  • 1932 - Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasilieras No. 1, in Rio de Janerio

  • 1937 - Milhaud: Suite Provençale in Venice, conducted by the composer

  • 1954 - Bernstein: Serenade (after Plato’s Symposium) at Teatro La Fenice in Venice, with composer conducting and Isaac Stern the violin soloist

  • 1967 - Kokonen: Symphony No. 3, in Helsinki

  • 1969 - Henri Lazarof: Cello Concerto, in Oslo, Norway

Others

  • 1840 - Marriage of Robert Schumann, age 30, to Clara Wieck, on the day before her 21st birthday.

Love the music?

Donate by phone
1-800-562-8440

Show your support by making a gift to YourClassical.

Each day, we’re here for you with thoughtful streams that set the tone for your day – not to mention the stories and programs that inspire you to new discovery and help you explore the music you love.

YourClassical is available for free, because we are listener-supported public media. Take a moment to make your gift today.

More Ways to Give

Your Donation

$5/month
$10/month
$15/month
$20/month
$

Latest Composers Datebook® Episodes

VIEW ALL EPISODES

Latest Composers Datebook® Episodes

YourClassical

Henry Brant's 'Northern Lights'

Henry Brant (1913-2008): ‘Northern Lights Over the Twin Cities’; Combined musical forces of Macalester College; with six conductors, including Henry Brant; Innova CD 408

2:00
Get Composers Datebook in your inbox
YourClassical

New 'Variations on a Theme by Purcell'

Colin Matthews (b. 1946): ‘Bright Cecilia: Variations on a Theme by Purcell’; (BBC Philharmonic; Gianandrea Noseda, conductor; BBC Music Vol. 11, no. 3

2:00
YourClassical

Bernstein meets Wharton

Elmer Bernstein (1922-2004): ‘Farewell Dinner’ from ‘The Age of Innocence’; Studio Orchestra; Elmer Bernstein, conductor; EMI Classics 57451

2:00
YourClassical

Reisenberg and Mozart

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756-1791): Piano Concerto No. 26 (‘Coronation’); Nadia Reisenberg; WOR studio orchestra; Alfred Wallenstein, conductor; (recorded March 19, 1940); IPA of Maryland Reisenberg Mozart Piano Concertos CD 13

2:00
YourClassical

Leroy Anderson in the studio

Leroy Anderson (1908–1975): ‘Jazz Pizzicato’ and ‘The Waltzing Cat’; Decca studio orchestra; Leroy Anderson, conductor; MCA 9815

2:00
YourClassical

Berlioz and the Parisian prudes

Hector Berlioz (1803-1869): ‘Benvenuto Cellini’ and ‘Roman Carnival Overtures’; Staatskapelle Dresden; Sir Colin Davis, conductor; BMG/RCA 68790

2:00
YourClassical

Edward Burlingame Hill

Edward Burlingame Hill (1872-1960): ‘Prelude for Orchestra’; Columbia Symphony; Leonard Bernstein, conductor; CBS/Sony 61849

2:00
YourClassical

Bernstein's 'Mass'

Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990): ‘Sanctus,’ from ‘Mass’; Empire Brass; Telarc 80159 Leonard Bernstein (1918-1990): ‘Simple Song,’ from ‘Mass’; Boston Pops; John Williams, conductor; Philips 416 360

2:00
YourClassical

Hymnus Paradisi by Herbert Howells

Herbert Howells (1892-1983): ‘Hymnus Paradisi’; Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir and Orchestra; Vernon Handley, conductor; Hyperion 66448

2:00
VIEW ALL EPISODES

About Composers Datebook®

Host John Birge presents a daily snapshot of composers past and present, with timely information, intriguing musical events and appropriate, accessible music related to each.

He has been hosting, producing and performing classical music for more than 25 years. Since 1997, he has been hosting on Minnesota Public Radio's Classical Music Service. He played French horn for the Cincinnati Symphony and Pops Orchestra and performed with them on their centennial tour of Europe in 1995. He was trained at the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, Eastman School of Music and Interlochen Arts Academy.

About Composers Datebook®
YourClassical Radio
0:00
0:00