鋼琴家伉儷:羅伯特·舒曼和克拉拉·舒曼

Robert Schumann—Herald[使者] of a New Poetic Age

From the time he was little， Robert Schumann knew that he wanted to write. The only question was whether to write words or music.

Schumann’s father was an author and book dealer in the German town of Zwickau， which is where Robert Schumann was born in 1810. Schumann grew up surrounded by books， which he loved， but he also loved music. As a kid he took piano， flute[長(zhǎng)笛] and cello[大提琴] lessons， and he started composing.

When he was a teenager， Schumann put out his first book of poems and essays. Schumann still wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to be when he grew up， but clearly， lawyer was not at the top of the list. Even though he studied law at the University of Leipzig， he almost never went to class. But in Leipzig， he took piano lessons with a teacher named Friedrich Wieck， and that changed his life.

Schumann practiced very hard， maybe even too hard. He attached[系上] a mechanical contraption[精巧的裝置] to one of his fingers trying to stretch[伸展] it. Instead， Schumann did damage to his hand， which finished off his piano career for good[永久地].

It didn’t matter that much to Friedrich Wieck that Schumann wouldn’t have a great career as a pianist， because the only one of his students Wieck was really interested in was his daughter， Clara. Robert Schumann became pretty interested in Clara too， but in a different way. In spite of the fact that she was nine years younger than he was， Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck fell in love.

On her 18th birthday he proposed[求婚]， but Clara’s father refused to let them get married. It wasn’t until years later， after taking Clara’s father to court， that Robert and Clara Schumann’s wedding finally took place.

That was in 1840， which became Robert Schumann’s “year of song.” In that one year， he wrote well over a hundred of them. The German word for this kind of songs is “Lieder[民謠].” In English we sometimes call them “art songs.” They’re the ultimate[最根本的] combination of music and poetry， in other words， a perfect fit for Schumann. After the year of song， Schumann went off on a couple of other musical binges. The next year he worked on three out of his four numbered symphonies[交響曲].

The year after that was Schumann’s year for chamber[室內(nèi)樂] music， compositions for small groups of instruments[樂器]， meant to be played in private homes or small concert settings.

Schumann did become a writer as well as a composer. He was a well-known music journalist， who told everyone that Johannes Brahms and Frederic Chopin were great musical geniuses. And even though Robert Schumann didn’t become a concert pianist， there was still a famous pianist in the house， Clara Schumann.

She gave the first performance of all Robert’s keyboard music， including his piano concerto[協(xié)奏曲].

Out of the Shadows: Clara Schumann

You hear all the time about fathers who， from the time their daughters are very young， work hard to turn them into sports stars. But before Clara Wieck Schumann was even born， her father decided that his child was going to be a famous pianist.

Clara Wieck was born in 1819 in the German city of Leipzig， where her father， Friedrich Wieck， was a famous piano teacher. Clara’s mother was a musician too， a singer and pianist， who took lessons with and then married her piano teacher， namely Clara’s father. But the marriage didn’t last long. After the divorce， German law gave custody[監(jiān)護(hù)權(quán)] of Clara to her father， and Friedrich Wieck set about turning his daughter into a musical prodigy[神童].

In addition to studying piano with her father， Clara Wieck took violin， composition and lessons in all kinds of other musical subjects from all the best teachers in town. And she learned about running the business end[起作用的一頭] of a career. Clara first played in public when she was nine. At 11， she gave her first solo recital[獨(dú)奏會(huì)]， a concert all by herself.

As a teenager， Clara Wieck toured all over Europe. Back then， pianists mostly played flashy[浮華的] pieces that they had written specifically to show off. But Clara Wieck included music by other composers on her concerts: Bach， Beethoven， and Schubert， plus newcomers like Chopin. She was known as the “queen of the piano” and considered the equal of the best male performers. The Austrian emperor was so impressed with her playing that he made her the first female Royal and Imperial Chamber Virtuoso[演奏能手]， a high honor given only to the best musicians.

When Clara Wieck was 13， she started writing a piano concerto and got help with it from another one of her father’s students， Robert Schumann. Even though Friedrich Wieck had controlled every step of his daughter’s career up until then， he couldn’t control her love life， even though he tried. Clara and Robert Schumann fell in love， and when she was 18， they wanted to get married. Her father did everything he could to stop them， but eventually， love triumphed over all.

Robert and Clara Schumann had a wonderful musical partnership. They studied music and poetry together， and gave each other composing advice.

Clara Schumann played the first performance of everything Robert wrote for the piano. Through her concerts， she introduced his music all over Europe， everywhere from England to Russia.

And talk about a super-mom， Clara Schumann had eight children and ran a household while continuing to perform and compose.

During the course of their marriage， Robert Schumann got very sick. At first， Clara steered[駕駛，掌舵] him towards new jobs she thought might help him recover from his mental[精神的] illness， but eventually he needed expensive medical care， and Clara was the one who went out on tour to play concerts to support the family.

Right before Robert had to go into the hospital， a young composer turned up on the Schumann’s doorstep with a letter of introduction from a musical friend of theirs. Johannes Brahms became a good friend of the family and helped Clara out while Robert was sick. Brahms and Clara Schumann wound up[終止，結(jié)束] spending a lot of time together. No one is quite sure if they were in love with each other or not， but when Robert Schumann died， they didn’t get married.

Clara Schumann stopped composing then， but she continued to perform. Her remarkable concert career lasted 60 years.

羅伯特·舒曼——新詩(shī)意時(shí)代的使者

羅伯特·舒曼從小就知道自己喜歡寫作，唯一的問題在于：是訴諸文字，還是寫成音樂。

1810年，舒曼出生在德國(guó)城市茨維考，父親是當(dāng)?shù)匾晃蛔骷壹鏁獭Ｊ媛耐晔窃跁牙锒冗^的。他很喜歡書，也同樣喜愛音樂。他自小就學(xué)習(xí)鋼琴、長(zhǎng)笛和大提琴，并開始作曲。

青少年時(shí)代的舒曼出版了第一本詩(shī)歌散文集。雖然舒曼還不太確定自己將來想從事什么職業(yè)，但有一點(diǎn)很清楚，那就是律師并不在候選名單前列。他在萊比錫大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)法律，卻基本不去上課。但在萊比錫，他跟隨一位名叫弗里德里希·維克的老師學(xué)習(xí)鋼琴，這改變了他的一生。

舒曼刻苦練習(xí)，也許刻苦過度了。為了讓其中一根手指可以張開一點(diǎn)，他在這根手指上裝了一個(gè)機(jī)械裝置，結(jié)果卻把自己的手弄傷了，導(dǎo)致其鋼琴生涯從此終結(jié)。

舒曼當(dāng)不成鋼琴家對(duì)弗里德里希·維克來說無關(guān)緊要，因?yàn)樗嬲P(guān)心的學(xué)生只有一個(gè)，就是他的女兒克拉拉。羅伯特·舒曼也很關(guān)心克拉拉，只是方式有所不同。盡管克拉拉比舒曼小九歲，但他們還是墮入了愛河。

在克拉拉18歲生日那天，舒曼向她求婚，然而她父親拒絕讓他們結(jié)為夫妻。歷經(jīng)幾年，在把克拉拉的父親告上法庭之后，舒曼和克拉拉才終于如愿舉行了婚禮。

那是1840年，這一年是羅伯特·舒曼的“歌曲之年”。在這一年里，他譜寫了一百多首歌曲。德語(yǔ)把這類歌曲稱為“Lieder”（民謠歌曲），英語(yǔ)有時(shí)則稱之為“藝術(shù)歌曲”。這種歌曲是音樂與詩(shī)歌的完美結(jié)合，也是最適合舒曼發(fā)揮的音樂類型。在歌曲之年后，舒曼還經(jīng)歷過幾次音樂創(chuàng)作高峰。在接下來的一年，他創(chuàng)作了四首編號(hào)交響樂的其中三首。

1842年則是他的室內(nèi)樂豐收年。室內(nèi)樂是一種運(yùn)用一小組樂器、專門在家庭或小型音樂會(huì)上演奏的樂曲。

實(shí)際上，舒曼不單成了一位作曲家，也是一名作家。他是著名的音樂評(píng)論家，向人們推薦約翰內(nèi)斯·勃拉姆斯和弗雷德里克·肖邦這兩位偉大的音樂天才。雖然羅伯特·舒曼沒有成為音樂會(huì)鋼琴家，但這個(gè)家庭里還有一位著名的鋼琴家，那就是克拉拉·舒曼。舒曼的所有經(jīng)典曲目，包括他的鋼琴協(xié)奏曲，都由她進(jìn)行首次演繹。

巾幗不讓須眉——克拉拉·舒曼

有些父親從女兒很小的時(shí)候就一直努力把她們培養(yǎng)成體育明星，這樣的事情你可能屢見不鮮。但早在克拉拉·維克·舒曼出生之前，她父親就已經(jīng)決定要將自己的孩子培養(yǎng)成著名的鋼琴家。

1819年，克拉拉·維克出生于德國(guó)萊比錫市，她的父親弗里德里希·維克是當(dāng)?shù)赜忻匿撉倮蠋煛？死哪赣H也是一位音樂家，她是一名歌唱家和鋼琴家，曾經(jīng)師從弗里德里希·維克，后來嫁給了她的老師，也就是克拉拉的父親。但這場(chǎng)婚姻并不持久。離婚之后，依照德國(guó)法律，克拉拉的監(jiān)護(hù)權(quán)判歸其父，弗里德里希·維克開始著手栽培女兒，想讓她成為音樂神童。

除了跟父親學(xué)習(xí)鋼琴外，克拉拉·維克還跟隨當(dāng)?shù)刈詈玫睦蠋煂W(xué)習(xí)小提琴、作曲和其他各種音樂科目，同時(shí)也懂得了如何從事業(yè)中獲利。克拉拉9歲就進(jìn)行了首次公開表演。11歲時(shí)，她舉行了第一場(chǎng)個(gè)人獨(dú)奏音樂會(huì)。

年僅十多歲的克拉拉·維克的足跡踏遍了歐洲各地。當(dāng)時(shí)，鋼琴家通常會(huì)演奏一些自己創(chuàng)作的華麗片段以炫耀自己，但克拉拉·維克會(huì)彈奏其他作曲家的音樂，包括巴赫、貝多芬、舒伯特，還有像肖邦這樣的新人的作品。她被譽(yù)為“鋼琴皇后”，與最優(yōu)秀的男性鋼琴家平起平坐。奧地利皇帝也被她的演奏深深打動(dòng)，封她為首位女性皇家帝國(guó)室內(nèi)樂樂師，這是最出色的音樂家才能獲得的極高榮譽(yù)。

克拉拉13歲時(shí)開始創(chuàng)作鋼琴協(xié)奏曲，其間她從父親的學(xué)生——羅伯特·舒曼那里得到了幫助。雖然此前女兒在事業(yè)上的每一步都被弗里德里希·維克掌控，但他無法操控女兒的愛情生活——盡管他嘗試這么做。克拉拉和羅伯特·舒曼墜入了愛河。在她18歲時(shí)，他們想結(jié)婚，但她父親竭力阻止。然而最終，愛情戰(zhàn)勝了一切。

羅伯特和克拉拉·舒曼在音樂上琴瑟合鳴，合作融洽。他們一起學(xué)習(xí)音樂和詩(shī)歌，在作曲上互相提點(diǎn)。

羅伯特寫的所有鋼琴曲都由克拉拉進(jìn)行首次演繹。通過克拉拉的音樂會(huì)，羅伯特的音樂傳遍整個(gè)歐洲，影響遍及英國(guó)和俄國(guó)。

談到超級(jí)媽媽，克拉拉·舒曼生養(yǎng)了八個(gè)孩子;在表演和作曲之余，她還能兼顧家務(wù)。

婚后，羅伯特·舒曼患上重病。起初，克拉拉想讓他轉(zhuǎn)行，希望能幫他從精神疾病中康復(fù)過來，但最后他還是需要接受昂貴的藥物治療，克拉拉便出外舉辦巡回音樂會(huì)，以維持家庭開支。

就在羅伯特不得不住院治療時(shí)，一位年輕的作曲家來到舒曼家的門口，身上帶著他們的一位音樂界朋友寫的介紹信。約翰內(nèi)斯·勃拉姆斯成了這一家人的好朋友，在羅伯特生病期間常常幫助克拉拉。勃拉姆斯和克拉拉·舒曼經(jīng)常待在一起。沒有人確定他們是否相愛，但羅伯特·舒曼去世之后，他們并沒有結(jié)婚。

此后，克拉拉·舒曼不再創(chuàng)作音樂，但還是繼續(xù)進(jìn)行表演。她那令人驚嘆的音樂演奏生涯持續(xù)了六十年之久。