It’s Valentine’s Day, and love is in the air! As this blog has revealed to us over the last 14 months, the Music Division holds a plethora of materials in its collections including manuscript scores, correspondence, business papers, iconography, and yes – even love letters. There’s not a romance in the history of classical composers that has received more attention than that between the Romantic composer and critic Robert Schumann and piano virtuoso and composer Clara Wieck. The two met in 1828 when Robert sought the tutelage of Clara’s father, Friedrich Wieck. When Robert moved into the Wieck household in 1830, he was 20 and Clara was only 11. It’s difficult to know exactly when their friendship blossomed into romance, though Robert does indicate that they shared their first kiss in 1835 just months after Clara’s 16th birthday.
Robert and Clara’s relationship was not well received by Friedrich who had provided and enforced Clara’s strict piano study so that she might fulfill the future career he envisioned for her. As a result, Robert and Clara’s courtship was forced to endure distance, uncertainty, and even court proceedings. Before they were married, the romance was sustained via secret meetings and love letters, one of which we hold in the Heineman Collection (call numb