This impassioned novel gives voice to Clara Wieck Schumann, one of the most celebrated pianists of the nineteenth century, who today is best remembered not for her music but for her marriage. "How often you must purchase my songs with invisibility and silence, little Clara," says Robert, and, for Clara, the price of his love is dear. Shrouded in alternate layers of music and silence, the Schumann union was anything but a lullaby, marked by her valiant struggle for self-expression and his tortuous descent into madness.
With Clara, a deeply moving fugue of love, solitude, and artistic creation, Janice Galloway "has taken a melodic line and scored it for an orchestra" (The New York Times Book Review).
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Reaching her prime before the dawn of recorded sound, Clara Schumann, an acclaimed virtuoso pianist who had her own international career in European concert halls in the latter half of the 19th century, is now, sadly, only known by report as the perfect champion of her husband Robert's music. However, the bare bones of her biography hint at hidden depths: the mother, Marianne Tromlitz, who left her husband and daughter for another man; the father, Friedrich Wieck, who nurtured her career single-mindedly; the marriage, violently opposed by her father, to Robert Schumann, who soon fell into depression and whose short life ended in an asylum. Janice Galloway has taken full advantage of the raw materials of the first half of this extraordinary saga to produce a rich and compelling fictional life.
There's also a deep understanding of the social politics of Clara's background, most impressively done through her father's social climbing, hidden behind an apparently classless artistry. Galloway renders all this in an indulgent, exquisitely limpid prose: the end result is an outstanding novel, the most ambitious and most impressive of her career to date. --Alan Stewart, Amazon.co.uk
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Book Description paperback. Condition: New. Language: ENG. Seller Inventory # 9780099750512
Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. 'A gripping narrative - a deeply moving study of love, loss and solitude' Independent on Sunday'A gripping narrative - a deeply moving study of love, loss and solitude' Independent on SundayCelebrated nineteenth-century concert pianist and composer, editor and teacher, friend of Brahms - Clara Schumann was also the wife of Robert Schumann, the mother of his eight children, and the woman who cared for him through a series of crippling mental illnesses.A lyrical and vibrant account of two remarkable and highly dramatic musical careers, Clara is a novel about timeless, common things- about the inescapable influences of childhood, about creativity and marital life, about communication and silence, about how art is made and how art, in turn, may erode or save the life that nourishes it.'Some of the greatest words ever written on thwarted love since Romeo and Juliet' The Times Based on the life of Clara Schumann, this novel considers the place of love in a life of increasing isolation and alienation. Clara, herself a celebrated pianist, composer and teacher, was the wife of Robert Schumann, and cared for him through a series of crippling mental illnesses. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780099750512
Book Description Soft Cover. Condition: new. Seller Inventory # 9780099750512
Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. Janice Galloway's new novel is based on the life of Clara Schumann: celebrated nineteenth-century concert pianist and composer, editor and teacher, friend of Brahms - who was also the wife of Robert Schumann, the mother of his eight children, and the woman who cared for him through a series of crippling mental illnesses. Seller Inventory # B9780099750512
Book Description Paperback. Condition: New. BRAND NEW ** SUPER FAST SHIPPING FROM UK WAREHOUSE ** 30 DAY MONEY BACK GUARANTEE. Seller Inventory # 9780099750512-GDR
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 432 pages. 7.76x5.04x0.98 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __0099750511
Book Description Condition: New. 2003. Paperback. Based on the life of Clara Schumann, this novel considers the place of love in a life of increasing isolation and alienation. Clara, herself a celebrated pianist, composer and teacher, was the wife of Robert Schumann, and cared for him through a series of crippling mental illnesses. Num Pages: 432 pages. BIC Classification: FA; FV. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 197 x 131 x 28. Weight in Grams: 354. . . . . . Seller Inventory # V9780099750512
Book Description Condition: New. 2003. Paperback. Based on the life of Clara Schumann, this novel considers the place of love in a life of increasing isolation and alienation. Clara, herself a celebrated pianist, composer and teacher, was the wife of Robert Schumann, and cared for him through a series of crippling mental illnesses. Num Pages: 432 pages. BIC Classification: FA; FV. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 197 x 131 x 28. Weight in Grams: 354. . . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # V9780099750512