(in-person only, 6 sessions)

Instructor: Michael Roeder, Professor Emeritus Musicology, University of Alberta

We will explore music of three of the 19th century’s most important and interesting musical figures and discover how their lives were interconnected. Robert Schumann (1810-56) combined his dual interests in music and literature to create not only some of the most important music of the first half of the century, but to found an important musical journal and to write fascinating articles for it. He married Clara Wieck (1819-96) in 1840 after a lengthy legal battle to gain permission to do so against the wishes of Clara’s father, Schumann’s piano teacher. Clara grew from child prodigy to become one of the century’s greatest pianists and made contributions as a composer as well. Brahms (1833-97) met the Schumanns when he was twenty and played his newest piano works for them. R. Schumann, overwhelmed by the young composer’s talent, wrote an article for his journal calling the musical world’s attention to the young composer as “a man of destiny.” Schumann was right; Brahms went on to become one of the greatest composers of the second half of the century. However, tragedy struck soon after their meeting and this intriguing story and accompanying music will unfold over our six sessions.