(b. Leipzig, 13 Sept 1819; d. Frankfurt, 20 May 1896).
German pianist and composer. Developed by her father, Friedrich, into a musician of consummate artistry, she won dazzling success as a touring piano virtuoso both before and after she married Robert Schumann (1840), being praised not only for her mastery of a progressive repertory (Chopin, Schumann and Brahms) but also for her thoughtful interpretations and singing tone. She taught privately in Dresden and Dusseldorf and at the conservatories in Leipzig and Frankfurt. As a composer she showed imagination and control, notably in the Piano Trio op.17 and the songs op.23, but her attitude towards composition was ambivalent and she wrote primarily for her own concerts; she ceased composing in 1854, the year of Robert's collapse. She prepared a complete edition of his music, attended to family duties and maintained a close relationship with Brahms to the end of her life.
|
|
