NOSPR / Equilbey / Çakmur / The end of hegemony - NOSPR

Female composers are finally leaving the shadow of patriarchal hegemony, and therefore the history of music will eventually need to be rewritten. Clara Schumann is probably the most famous of all, with Loise Farrenc being 15 years her senior. Both were exquisite pianists, as well as renowned teachers and composers. Louise’s oeuvre, particularly in the symphonic domain, is truly impressive. Her two overtures and three symphonies, being fruits of a period of creative maturity, although unpublished, have been performed in Paris, Copenhagen, Brussels, and Geneva.

It was not so long ago that we would emphasise that Clara Schumann was first and foremost Robert’s wife. Fortunately, these days are already gone, and Clara’s works are finding the place they deserve. Her ambitious music fits into the avant-garde trends of Romanticism. And why should we dismiss her works for the sake of there being fewer of them than Robert’s ones? After all, she also needed to care for him and their children. The 1847 Konzertsatz (work without opus number)was to be her second piano concerto, a birthday present for her husband. Beauty and strength enchanted within sounds.

Marcin Majchrowski