March is Women’s History Month, and that includes women in music. We’ll be featuring several pieces by women throughout the month, starting with a look at Clara Schumann‘s Scherzo No.2 in C Minor as performed by British piano virtuoso Isata Kanneh-Mason.
The pianist, who comes from a large family of musicians just like Schumann, celebrated the Romantic composer by dedicating her entire debut album to her works. “Romance – The Piano Music of Clara Schumann” was released in 2019, marking 200 years since her birth.
“This was the piece that drew me into Clara Schumann’s music,” Kanneh-Mason told Apple Music Classical. “I first heard the scherzo in 2018 and thought it sounded so exciting and passionate. The way she uses harmonic tension feels really agitated and I love that. It’s short, but there’s so much inside the music. This was probably the most difficult piece to record because you need so much energy and passion. When you’re doing it over and over again, it gets quite tiring!”
Watch the pianist bring that energy and passion to the entire piece, from the opening arpeggio to the final rolled chords:
Clara Schumann was born Clara Wieck on September 13th, 1819, in Leipzig, Germany. She also came from a musical family and received daily lessons in composition, piano, violin, singing, theory, and harmony and counterpoint, as explained by Illuminate Women’s Music. With such training, she grew into a child prodigy, performing in major cities across Europe during her teenage years. She also composed many incredible pieces, including the Scherzo, but her contributions to music were largely overshadowed in the history books by her husband, Robert Schumann.
“Composing gives me great pleasure,” she once wrote. “There is nothing that surpasses the joy of creation, if only because through it one wins hours of self-forgetfulness, when one lives in a world of sound.”
Schumann composed Scherzo No. 2 in C Minor in 1845. It is a prime example of the Romantic era’s revolutionary shift in piano writing alongside works by Chopin, demanding both stamina and precision from the performer. As you listen, notice how it begins with a thunderous, technical exposition that evokes swelling emotions as waves of notes are accented by roaring chords.
The piece follows a ternary, or three-part, ABA form. Its stormy opening theme is then complemented by a trio section that modulates from C minor to Ab major. This part of the piece mellows things out, focusing on chordal textures.
“This dance-like section shows her grasp on various genres, and how to express them in innovative ways. Her composition style is accessible, virtuosic and legendary still to this day,” Illuminate Women’s Music explains.
The song then returns to the rush of the opening idea to draw to an exciting conclusion.
Aside from her renowned playing and composing, Schumann’s legacy stands for her pioneering spirit in a time when women were not as encouraged in the music world.
“It’s fascinating that 200 years ago Clara could maintain such a long career as a pianist while having a large family and coping with the difficulties of her husband’s mental illness…” Kanneh-Mason points out. “She was a strong compositional voice that sounds like no one else. You can tell from it what a romantic person she was, but also how strong she was. These are two defining strands to her character.”
Celebrate Clara Schumann with the sheet music for her Scherzo No.2 in C Minor:
