Franz Liszt, 1858, by Franz Hanfstaeng, (left) and Felix Mendelssohn, 1830, by James Warren Childe (right)
Please Note: This program has a rescheduled date (originally April 24, 2020).
Born within four years of one another (1809–1813), Felix Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Frederic Chopin, Franz Liszt, and Richard Wagner were geniuses of Romantic music, and as intriguing for their personal interrelationships as they were for their creations. Friends who were often at odds, they were candid critics of one another’s work yet advocates of their individual musical languages. They entertained, argued, and concertized together—even sketched one another—as they critiqued one another’s music publicly. They were performers, conductors, correspondents, and teachers who had a profound cultural impact on their times, to say nothing of our own.
Popular speaker and concert pianist Rachel Franklin combines lecture and piano demonstrations to examine the lives and work of these five musical giants.
10–11:15 a.m. The Birth of the Romantics
As Europe emerged from the chaos of the Napoleonic wars, the world of the 19th-century professional musician was changing, and prodigiously talented youngsters were emerging.
11:15 a.m.–12:15 p.m. Fame, Glamour, and Grit
Liszt, Mendelssohn, and Chopin—three dashing young composer-pianists—took Paris by storm. Robert Schumann fell in love with his teacher’s brilliant young daughter, Clara Wieck, with consequences that would reverberate throughout the century.
12:15–1:15 p.m. Lunch (participants provide their own)
1:15–2:30 p.m. Working Careers
Composing, conducting, performing, writing, editing, networking, and creating some of the greatest music of the 1th century.
2:45–4 p.m. Early Deaths and Extraordinary Legacies
With the deaths of Mendelssohn, Schumann, and Chopin by 1856, it is left to Liszt, Wagner, and other great composers such as Verdi and Brahms to create the works that continue to inform musical life today.
