Clara Schumann Stamps

This post features Clara Schumann stamps. Composers are very popular themes on stamps from many countries. The very first composer stamps were by Austria in 1922. Many others followed, including the United States in 1940, Germany, France, Hungary, Poland, and many more.

However, almost universally, these composers have been men. For centuries, men such as Bach, Beethoven, Mozart, Brahms, and many, many others have been celebrated. These men have been declared as geniuses and their contributions have become considered as the canon of western art music.

I happen to think those composers listed above were geniuses and made enormous contributions to the world. However, “classical” music has become sclerotic over the course of the past century and a half. By focusing nearly exclusively on the music by a handful of “geniuses” we too often overlook the contributions of others. Some contemporary scholars and musicians, reacting to this trend, try to throw out the canon. I think that approach is equally wrong. I am more in favor of trying to flesh out the stories and contributions of many more composers. I’d like for the divisions between western “art” music and popular music and non-European styles to disappear. There is also very good music to be discovered in archives from lesser known composers, particularly contributions by women. Let’s expand the canon rather than throwing it out.

Famous German Women

In 1986, West Germany began a series of postage stamps that celebrated important German (and two Austrian) women across the arts, sciences, politics, and industry. The series of stamps were the design of Gerd and Oliver Aretz and feature the feel of free-hand drawings. The images are in a monochromatic color maroon with a dark black font color for the words and denominational demarcation.

This series ran continued through the reunification of Germany, and through the adoption of the euro, until 2003. Eventually, thirty-nine women were a part of this series. Among those featured were Christine Teusch, Nelly Sachs, and Marlene Dietrich.

Clara Schumann

The first two stamps in this series are from November 13, 1986. Included in those first two stamps was the pianist and composer Clara Schumann (1819-1896). Clara Wieck (later Schumann) first learned piano from her father and was regarded as a child prodigy. As with other child prodigies (most famously Mozart), she had an over-bearing father who controlled every facet of her life and attempted to monetize her talents. She toured Europe beginning at age 11, taking the musical capitals of Vienna and Paris by storm.

She toured Europe at the age of 11 and Robert Schumann who was eleven years her elder first her her play in her hometown of Leipzig. Supposedly, he was so moved by her playing that he stopped studying law and began to study piano with Clara’s father. She won great praise from music critiques and by many of the leading musicians and composers of her time.

In 1837, when Clara turned 18, Robert Schumann proposed to her and although her father was opposed, the two went ahead and got married when she turned twenty-one. The image on the stamp comes from soon thereafter. It appears to be a stylized version of a rather famous engraving made of Clara when she was 23 years old in 1842.

Clara and Robert shared a musical life. Playing and composing together and comparing and criticizing each others work. Clara would premiere many of Robert’s piano compositions, as she was a much more skilled pianist.

Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms

In 1853, the then twenty year old, and unknown pianist and composer Johannes Brahms was introduced to the Schumann’s. He played some of his unpublished piano music for them and they were both extremely impressed and they became very close friends. In 1854, when Robert Schumann entered a sanatorium where he would spend the last two years of his life, Brahms was among the musicians who surrounded Clara with support, making music for and with her. The two became good friends, and Brahms sought out her musical ideas and criticisms for many of his works, including his First Symphony.

After Robert Schumann died in 1856, Clara began to tour again playing both solo concerts and in collaboration with other artists including the renowned violinist, and close friend, Joseph Joachim. She maintained her friendship with Brahms and premiered many of his piano works, including his Variations and Fugue on a Theme by Handel in 1861.

She also became an important teacher and was the only woman faculty member at the conservatory in Frankfurt. Her fame was so great that she attracted students from as far away as the United States to study with her.

Bicentennial Stamp

Wonderfully, in 2019, another stamp featuring Clara Schumann was made by Germany. This stamp celebrates the bicentennial of her birth in 1819. The stamp once again features the image of Schumann from the engraved portrait by Em. Raerentzen. This time, however, the stamp is in color. I have a first day cover with the stamp and a special cancellation with piano keys in a circle.

Her Music

Listen to one of her piano works here (and check out some of her many other compositions):

**This post was originally published on August 7, 2020.