Robert & Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms

Originally presented at the T.W. Wood Gallery and Arts Center – Montpelier, VT

The program relates the story of the Schumanns’ following Robert’s courtship of Clara despite the savage opposition of a father who had groomed his daughter to marry a count, and threatened to shoot Robert if he persisted in his suit.

It’s no secret that they marry, and Robert the composer seems ideally matched by Clara the performer. However, the happy early years are soon clouded by financial worries, Clara’s sacrifice of her career to her husband’s and her eight children and Robert’s multiple illnesses, culminating in his suicide attempt and subsequent incarceration in an insane asylum.

Brahms, a lad of 20, visits them just six months before Robert’s confinement and falls deeply in love with Clara . He is also deeply indebted to Robert for his support and admiration, going so far as to proclaim him the “messiah of music” before he had published a single work.

The conflict between these two powerful emotions manifests itself in psychological scars borne the rest of his life.