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By the time Clara Schumann died in 1896, she had had eight children, was one of the most famous pianists of the century, and had produced a significant body of original work. She is still best known as the wife of fellow composer Robert (who died in 1854, half a century before her), but she was admired by Liszt and Chopin and bewitched a young Brahms.
In 2019, the 200th anniversary of her birth, she is being celebrated for more than her associations with male musical greats. Her home city, Leipzig, has held a series of concerts in her honour this year, while 2019’s Schumannfest in Bonn was dedicated to her. In the UK next month, the pianist Lucy Parham will perform “I, Clara” – a “composer portrait” blending music and narration – at the London Piano Festival, while Reiko Fujisawa will perform “Clara Schumann: Prodigy, Muse, Virtuoso” as part of the Southbank Centre’s Women in Music series.