Sarah Fritz was in college when she first heard music written by Clara Schumann Wieck, the wife of Robert Schumann. A piano prodigy and composer in her own right from an early age, Clara, has been recognized as a rare example of a 19th-century woman who was able to publicly pursue her musical ambitions. However, over time her compositions, which included songs and works for piano, have generally been deemed second rate at best when compared with the men whose work have come to define the classical music canon. Much of the attention she has received relates to either the musical love story between her and Robert – made even more dramatic by her father’s court battle to keep the two apart – and speculation over relationship with the younger Johannes Brahms.
Fritz has become a champion of Clara, researching, giving presentations, writing articles and managing the Clara Schumann Channel website. Her new biography of Clara provides insight into Clara's personal musical life and examines the influence she had on her husband’s musical development and on that of the other composers of the time. A Tempo host Rachel Katz chats with Fritz about the book and Clara's place in music history.
