The Schumanns in love
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\u2019s father.
Clara and Robert kept in touch by letters, which were sometimes intercepted by Papa Wieck.
Early in 1840, Clara wrote, \u201cDear Robert, I love you so much it hurts my heart. Tell me what you\u2019re writing. I would so love to know, oh please, please. A quartet, an overture \u2014 even perhaps a symphony? Might it by any chance be \u2014 a wedding present?\u201d
The marriage finally took place on today\u2019s 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 R\xfcckert poem which contains this refrain: \u201cYou 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.\u201d
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