Blåsarsymfonikerna

Clara Schumann 200 years

“I once believed that I possessed creative talent, but I have given up this idea. A woman must not desire to compose - there has never yet been one able to do it. Should I expect to be the only one?”

 – Clara Schumann (1819-1896)

To celebrate the 200th jubilee of the birth of composer Clara Schumann, Konstmusiksystrar commissioned a piece in collaboration with Blåsarsymfonikerna (The Nordic Wind Ensemble). The piece was titled “Är jag den enda? En korrespondens med Clara Schumann” (Am I the only one? A correspondence with Clara Schumann) and was written by Madeleine Jonsson Gille, Ylva Fred, Kajsa Magnarsson, Alexandra Nilsson and Catharina Backman. 

The composers took inspiration from Clara Schumann's Piano Concerto in A minor Opus 7, as well as from Clara's life and career. The quote about being the only woman who composes, which is also found in the work's title, was something that all the composers could relate to and functioned as a common thread through the various parts of the project. The composers each wrote approx. 2 minutes of music. In addition to their own part of the piece, they were also responsible for working out the transitions together with those who had written the parts that came before and after their own.

An important part of the project was creating the staging of the concert hall designed by Konstmusiksystrar in collaboration with designer Sera Cederberg. The audience was invited into a warm and welcoming room designed as a birthday celebration for Clara Schumann. The inspiration came from the era in which Clara herself lived and challenged the traditional image of the (male) composer by using feminine coded symbols like flowers and bows. 

Composer Kajsa Magnarsson and Konstmusiksystrar's project leader Anna Jakobsson hosted the concert. They told the story of Clara by reading quotes from Clara's letters and diaries interspersed with text about what it is like to be a woman and a composer today.

The piece was premiered by Blåsarsymfonikerna (The Nordic Wind Ensemble) led by the chief conductor Cathrine Winnes on the 21st of September 2019 at the concert hall Musikaliska in Stockholm and was well received by both audiences and critics. The additional concert programme consisted of music by Clara Schumann, including the piano concert in A minor Opus 7, performed by the pianist Terés Löf.

As part of the project, the comedian Moa Svan, was invited to make a live podcast at Musikaliska where she interviewed the composers Madeleine Jonsson Gille and Ylva Fred and the project leader Anna Jakobsson about the process of writing the piece and the conditions of women’s artistry from a contemporary and historical perspective. The pianist Terés Löf was also interviewed about her relationship to Clara Schumann's music and performed parts of the piano concerto. 

Photos: Hampus Andersson 

With Support from Kulturrådet.

https://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/konsertrecensioner/konsertrecension-elegant-samarbete-kring-jubilaren-clara-schumann/

Members involved: