Like Minds in Variations: Clara Schumann’s Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, op. 20

Abstract

Robert and Clara Schumann are known as an eminent musician couple in the nineteenth century. Beginning in 1853, the couple developed a close professional and personal friendship with Johannes Brahms. The author has been fascinated by the lives and works of the three magnificent musicians, and performed a recital including three sets of variations by the three composers: Clara Schumann’s Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, op. 20; Robert Schumann’s Theme and Variations in E-flat major, WoO 24; and Brahms’s Variations on a Theme by Robert Schumann, op. 9. All three sets were written in the period from 1853 to 1854; all reflect the beautiful relationships among the three musicians: mutual adoration of Robert and Clara Schumann, profound friendship between Clara and Brahms, Robert Schumann’s enthusiastic admiration of Brahms, and Brahms’s sincere respect for Robert Schumann. This article focuses on Clara’s Variations op. 20, a set of seven variations written in May and June 1853, dedicated to her husband for his 43^rd birthday. Discussions include the origin of the theme, Robert Schumann’s Bunte Blätter (Colored Leaves) op. 99; the implication of “Clara’s motives” in his theme; and an allusion to her earlier composition, Romance variée op. 3 into the final variation, which was inserted in Brahms’s Variations op. 9 first and then suggested to Clara to do the same for her own variations.