As a major star in the 19th century, pianist Clara Schumann toured Europe. As a married woman, she had to abandon her own composition practice, but she remained a highly respected musician and ambassador for her husband Robert Schumann’s music. They were considered the most exciting couple in music at the time.
Robert Schumann composed his String Quartet No. 3 during a few intense weeks of summer, when he and Clara had been married for two years. The quartet is rhythmic and full of long, romantic melodies.
American composer and pianist Amy Beach paints her Piano Quintet with dramatic brush strokes. She embarked upon her professional path as a pianist already as a teenager. Her concerts were put on hold when she was married, but she was famous in the US and Europe in her own lifetime. The Piano Quintet in F-Sharp Minor premiered in Boston with Beach herself on piano 118 years ago.
