Born September 13, 1819, Clara Wieck was one of the greatest pianists of her era, as well as a highly accomplished composer in a time when strict gender roles still deemed that the exclusive domain of men—helping advance the cause of women composers with works like her Piano Concerto, which will be featured on this week's Sunday on Blue Lake with Foley Schuler honor of her birthday. In one of the great love stories in classical music, she would of course marry Robert Schumann, who would subsequently write his Symphony No. 4 (also part of this week's show) as a birthday gift for Clara the year following their wedding.
Rounding out the program will be music of another musical trailblazer born on September 13 (in this case in 1874), who who would revolutionize music in the 20th Century—Arnold Schoenberg. In honor of the composer's birthday we'll hear his early masterpiece, the remarkable String Sextet, Verklärte Nacht ("Transfigured Night"), Op. 4—described by one early listener as sounding "as if someone had taken the score of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde while it was still wet and smudged it all over"—as well as his brilliant orchestrations of favorite works of Bach and Brahms.
You can hear Sunday on Blue Lake With Foley Schuler every Sunday afternoon from 1 until 4 on Blue Lake Public Radio.
