The Complete Correspondence of Clara and Robert Schumann, v. 3 (Hardcover, Critical edition)

The third volume of The Complete Correspondence of Clara and Robert Schumann contains letters written by Robert Schumann (1810-1856) and Clara Wieck Schumann (1819-1896) between January 1840 and March 1851. The letters preceding the couple's wedding in September 1840 document the last phase of Robert's lawsuit against Friedrich Wieck aimed at obtaining permission to marry. They also include comments on Robert's fondness for lieder and his close friendship with Felix Mendelssohn and Franz Liszt. The letters written when Clara went on tour without her husband, for instance to Copenhangen in 1842, revolve around news about her concerts and her reactions to such famous men as Hans Christian Andersen and Niels Gade. The better part of the letters was written by Clara, while Robert is so occupied with his work that his letters are frequently quite brief. The letters in this volume offer a fresh look at a marriage which earlier biographers have described as problematic. Such a view is not borne out by the correspondence in this volume. The Editor: Eva Weissweiler received her Ph.D. in music and German literature in 1974. Her publications include Women Composers over the Past Five Centuries (Komponistinnen aus 500 Jahren), 1981; Fanny Mendelssohn: Italian Diary (Fanny Mendelssohn: Italienisches Tagebuch), 1982; Fanny Mendelssohn: A Portrait in Letters (Fanny Mendelssohn: Ein Portrat in Briefen), 1985; Clara Schumann: A Biography, 1990; The Son of the Cellist (Der Sohn des Cellisten) 1998; and Eradicated (Ausgemerzt), 1999. Dr. Weissweiler is the editor of the original German edition of The Complete Correspondence of Clara and Robert Schumann (Clara/Robert Schumann: Briefwechsel, KritischeGesamtausgabe), (1984 and 1987, volumes I and II respectively). She lives and works in Cologne, Germany. The Translators: Hildegard Fritsch is Emeritus Professor of Modern and Classical Language Studies at Kent State University, Ohio. She received her Ph.D. in German from Case Western Reserve University, Ohio. Her publications include a book and articles on twentieth-century German literature. Ronald L. Crawford is Associate Professor of German at Kent State University, Ohio. He received his Ph.D. in German from Rutgers University, New Jersey, and has published a variety of literary and pedagogical studies. Fritsch and Crawford translated volume I and II of the Schumann correspondence.