Since the 1980s, when she re-emerged from the peripheries into a more central position in music studies, Clara Schumann (1819-1896) has exerted an enduring fascination over the scholarly and popular imagination. Revisionist biographies, the uncovering of primary sources (diaries, letters, memorabilia), and filmic and literary depictions of Schumann have all brought into sharper focus the details and reception of her life, while simultaneously drawing attention to how much there is still to learn about her creativity. This book brings together a team of leading scholars to reappraise Clara Schumann in three particular respects: first, by delving deeper into her social and musical contexts; secondly, by offering fresh analytical perspectives on her songs and instrumental music; and thirdly, by reconsidering her legacy as a pianist and teacher. In doing so, the volume not only contributes to a rounded picture of Schumann's creative vision, but also opens up new pathways in the wider study of women in music.

Develops a holistic and gender-aware understanding of Clara Schumann as pianist, composer and teacher in nineteenth-century Germany.

About the Author
Joe Davies is Marie Sklodowska-Curie Global Fellow at the University of California, Irvine and Maynooth University. His research focuses on nineteenth-century music, its interaction with other art forms, and its relationship with notions of authorship, gender and self-fashioning. He is co-editor of Drama in the Music of Franz Schubert (with James Sobaskie, 2019).

Reviews
'... what the individual essays exemplify is a sense of academic diversity that underpins current ways of thinking about Schumann-Wieck and his world. In doing so, they break ground not only in relation to Clara Schumann, but in relation to women in music in general.' Juan Carlos Tellechea, Bibliographic Reviews
'[The book] calls us to reflect on how we tell (and retell) the stories of celebrated figures and how we can rely upon them to introduce new historical questions.' April L. Prince, Notes: the Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association
'The essays in Clara Schumann Studies will appeal to those most interested in the oeuvre of Clara the composer. Yet readers should not overlook the essays that consider her political beliefs, her performances, her public persona, and her lasting musical and cultural influence. ... the contents of Clara Schumann Studies extend and deepen the established scholarship about its subject, providing additional insights into a continually fascinating figure.' Marian Wilson Kimber, Journal of the American Musicological Society



Book Information
ISBN 9781108489843
Author Joe Davies
Format Hardback
Page Count 320
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Weight(grams) 750g
Dimensions(mm) 250mm * 175mm * 20mm