Carpe Diem #1094 Trio for Violin, Cello and Piano Op. 17 Allegro Moderato by Clara Schumann

Dear Haijin, visitors and travelers,

Welcome at a new episode of Carpe Diem Haiku Kai in which I hope to inspire you through the music of female composers from all times and from all over the globe. Today I have a beautiful composition for you composed by Clara Schumann (1819-1896).

Let me tell you a little bit about her:

Clara Schumann (1819 – 1896) was a German musician and composer, considered one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era. She exerted her influence over a 61-year concert career, changing the format and repertoire of the piano recital and the tastes of the listening public. Her husband was the composer Robert Schumann. Together they encouraged Johannes Brahms. She was the first to perform publicly any work by Brahms. She later premiered some other pieces by Brahms, notably the Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel.

Clara Schumann

In 1830, at the age of eleven, Clara left on a concert tour to Paris via other European cities, accompanied by her father. She gave her first solo concert at the Leipzig Gewandhaus. In Weimar, she performed a bravura piece by Henri Herz for Goethe, who presented her with a medal with his portrait and a written note saying: "For the gifted artist Clara Wieck". During that tour, Niccolò Paganini was in Paris, and he offered to appear with her. However, her Paris recital was poorly attended, as many people had fled the city due to an outbreak of cholera.

“The appearance of this artist can be regarded as epoch-making.... In her creative hands, the most ordinary passage, the most routine motive acquires a significant meaning, a colour, which only those with the most consummate artistry can give.” An anonymous music critic, writing of Clara Wieck's 1837–1838 Vienna recitals.

From December 1837 to April 1838, Clara Wieck performed a series of recitals in Vienna when she was 18. Franz Grillparzer, Austria's leading dramatic poet, wrote a poem entitled "Clara Wieck and Beethoven" after hearing Wieck perform the Appassionata sonata during one of these recitals. Wieck performed to sell-out crowds and laudatory critical reviews; Benedict Randhartinger, a friend of Franz Schubert (1797–1828), gave Wieck an autographed copy of Schubert's Erlkönig, inscribing it "To the celebrated artist, Clara Wieck." Frédéric Chopin described her playing to Franz Liszt, who came to hear one of Wieck's concerts and subsequently "praised her extravagantly in a letter that was published in the Parisian Revue et Gazette Musicale and later, in translation, in the Leipzig journal Neue Zeitschrift für Musik."  On 15 March, Wieck was named a Königliche und Kaiserliche Kammervirtuosin ("Royal and Imperial Chamber Virtuoso"), Austria's highest musical honor.

Well I hope you did like this episode and the music. 

fragile beauty
young cherry blossoms
in the spring wind

© Chèvrefeuille

Maybe a fragile haiku which not really fits the "strong" music, but I thought to bring the fragile side of this beautiful composition into the haiku. The fragile sound of the violin and cello inspired me to do so.

This episode is open for your submissions tonight at 7.00 PM (CET) and will remain open until December 17th at noon (CET). I will try to publish our new episode, Six Japanese Gardens by Kaija Saariaho, later on.