| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立高雄師範大學 === 音樂學系 === 100 === A Study of Clara Schumann’s Romances
Abstract
Clara Josephine Schumann (1819-1896) was considered to be a distinguished pianist in nineteenth century Europe. Under the instruction of her father, she received a solid music education that eventually led her into composition as well. Because of her multiple identities as wife, mother, pianist, composer, teacher and editor, however, Clara’s compositional output is small. Interestingly, though, compositions with the title "Romance" represent the highest percentage of music in her piano output.
The romance was originally a literary genre developed from the french ballade of the twelfth century. As adopted into music, the vocal romance is generally a folklike song similar to a ballade, whereas the instrumental romance first appeared as a short lyrical piece that served as the slow movement of a large-scale composition. The single movement romance for a solo instrument or for an ensemble came later. Using Clara Schumann's Romances for various instrumentations, the author explores the free and unbound features of the Romance as it evolved during the nineteenth century. Though the romance is not a single genre or style, its characteristic variety of form and high degree of emotional expression lead it to be one of the most commonly used titles for compositions of the Romantic era. With this analysis of Clara Schumann’s Romances, the author attempts to evaluate her as a composer and discover salient characteristics of her piano writing.
Key words: Clara Schumann, Romance, piano music.
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