I think I must have missed something re: Clara. Like most performers
before recordings her reputation survived if at all as a footnote or
in the line of descent of students (her students teaching their
students, etc.). But in her lifetime she was something of a rock
star, before, during and after her marriage, and was at least as
famous as Robert. When I started listening to classical music
seriously around 1960 this was well-remembered among music lovers.
From childhood to old age she composed, and in her lifetime her
music was reasonably popular. But she was clear that Robert was the
better composer, and she presented herself as his widow and the
guardian of his oeuvre from the time he died until her own death
something like 40 years later. There's been a small flurry of
performance and recording of her work in recent years. Worthy of
revival, but she's not about to join Robert or their friend Brahms in
the canon. But given that she was married to one of the greats of her
era and that she marketed herself as an adjunct to her husband, it's
not surprising that she tends to be remembered as such.
Mark
At 10:27 AM 8/20/2007, you wrote:
>Of course, yes. You go from copying what's actually there to trying
>to do it yourself -- best possible training. There's the old tale of
>JSB as child, getting up at night to copy out some treasured music
>his elder brother owned, and getting caught, and having his
>nearly-complete copy taken away. But by that time he must have
>learned quite a lot from it.
>
>How far do we reckon this sort of thing helps with becoming a poet,
>then? I mean copying leading to imitation, and then on to using the
>skills learned.
>
>And yes, I know and own the Galloway book. The Schumann/Wieck story
>seems to have sparked quite a few artistic spin-offs. There's a song
>cycle by two women, poet and composer, about Clara -- I don't
>actually know it but heard the two of them talking on the radio
>about the process of working on it. I hope Peter at least knows
>what I'm talking about, because it's irritating the hell out of me
>that I can't remember their names! I'm glad to see though that Clara
>is at last receiving acknowledgement as a musician, and indeed a
>composer, in her own right rather than just as an adjunct to her husband.
>
>joanna
>
>----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Cudmore"
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: <[log in to unmask]>
>Sent: Monday, August 20, 2007 2:42 PM
>Subject: Re: Bach
>
>
>>Do you know Janice Galloway's novel _Clara_, which is about Clara
>>Wieck/Schumann? It is very much about that question of domestic
>>circumstances, and personal/professional conflicts.
>>
>>I guess helping with the deadlines will have been part of the children's
>>education -- copying was one of the things JS did to learn. I was copying a
>>couple of poems yesterday, which prompts the thought that while learning
>>from copying isn't automatic, it naturally focuses your attention on the
>>material you're working with.
>>
>>P
>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: Poetryetc: poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
>>>Behalf Of Joanna Boulter
>>>Sent: 20 August 2007 12:38
>>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>>Subject: Re: Bach
>>>
>>>
>>>It hadn't actually occurred to me, but yes, I should be surprised if Anna
>>>Magdalena hadn't had some sort of skivvy or scullery-maid. But she would
>>>still have had a considerable weight of domestic duties, including
>>probably
>>>teaching the little ones, and it must have been a nuisance sometimes,
>>having
>>>to drop everything to copy parts and help her husband meet his deadlines.
>>I
>>>can substitute the phrase "domestic duties", unspecified, if you think
>>that
>>>would be more accurate and scholarly. But what I was really wondering was
>>>whether the thing worked as a poem. This business of writing about other
>>art
>>>forms and media can be a bit fraught.
>>>
>>>joanna
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