{"id":31684,"date":"2023-08-07T16:59:06","date_gmt":"2023-08-07T14:59:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.classical-music.com\/?p=187133"},"modified":"2023-08-07T17:40:06","modified_gmt":"2023-08-07T15:40:06","slug":"who-were-the-great-composers-wives-and-were-the-marriages-happy","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcmusicmagazine\/rss_feed\/who-were-the-great-composers-wives-and-were-the-marriages-happy\/","title":{"rendered":"Who were the great composers\u2019 wives? And were the marriages happy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

If composers\u2019 wives could be the ultimate muse, some were coerced into giving up their own careers to support their husbands\u2019, as David Nice finds out <\/p>

By David Nice\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Monday, 07 August 2023 at 14:59 PM<\/p>

\n\n

A <\/span>wife as nothing more than helpmate, comfort, cushioner: how long ago did that go out of fashion? Probably more recently in the world at large than it did in the sphere of the arts \u2013 composers, artists, writers generally moved in more liberated, more Bohemian circles than their contemporaries in the standard professions. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Schumann\u2019s Clara<\/a><\/strong> was a pianist of astonishing skill and sensitivity, all reports attest, a muse<\/a><\/strong> not only to Robert but also, extending after his death, to their friend-in-common Johannes Brahms<\/a><\/strong>. <\/span><\/p>\n

Carl Nielsen<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s Anne Marie enjoyed as high a reputation in the field of sculpture as he did in music, at least during their lifetimes. Yet there were still limits we wouldn\u2019t think acceptable today: \u2018There isn\u2019t room for two artists in this relationship\u2019; \u2018My career comes first\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n

No doubt it happens, but the woman will often think twice at such an ultimatum, or else make a decision to make the greater of the pair her life project to support and follow of her own free will (the same is true of gay marriages and relationships). A recipe for unhappiness in the first case was true for Alma Mahler<\/a><\/strong>; by all accounts, Pauline Strauss herself made the decision to give up a strong career as a fine soprano. <\/span><\/p>\n

Yet even Pauline still suffers from the male perspective, as Garsington Opera\u2019s 2015 production of Strauss<\/a><\/strong>\u2019s autobiographical marriage-opera Intermezzo<\/i> set me thinking. By coincidence, there were two other circumstances around the same couple of weeks last June which prompted the current train of thinking \u2013 the first involving an ideal but very human helpmate (Constanze Mozart), the second that aforementioned Danish sculptor.<\/span><\/p>\n

In David McVicar\u2019s tense and perceptive production of Mozart\u2019s Die Entf\u00fchrung aus dem Serail<\/i> (The Abduction from the Seraglio) at Glyndebourne, an offstage wind band played part of the ineffable Adagio<\/i> from the B flat major Serenade, K361. A quick checking of dates after the performance confirmed that the Serenade was composed only slightly earlier than Entf\u00fchrung<\/i>, the masterpiece of 1782. <\/span><\/p>\n

The previous December, Mozart<\/a><\/strong> announced to his father that he wanted to marry one of the three \u2018Weber women\u2019 \u2013 not the eldest, Josepha, who had driven him to distraction, but \u2018the Martyr of the family\u2019, Konstanze (the name of the opera\u2019s heroine). <\/span><\/p>\n

The letter of 15 December 1781 is typically perceptive and sensitive, one of many contradicting the image of the scatological numpty projected in Peter Shaffer\u2019s Amadeus<\/i>. Wolfgang tells Leopold that while he has the same sexual drive as any young man, he has been too religious and decent \u2018to seduce an innocent girl\u2019 and too concerned for his health \u2018to play around with whores\u2019: \u2018as my personal disposition is more inclined to a quiet and domestic life than towards noise and excitement\u2026 <\/span><\/p>\n

In my eyes, an unmarried man lives only half a life\u2019. Konstanze is \u2018the most kindhearted, the most skilled\u2019 of the sisters, he goes on, with \u2018no great wit but enough common sense to fulfil her duties as a wife and mother\u2019 and \u2018two little black eyes and a graceful figure\u2019 which are \u2018her whole beauty\u2026 I love her and she loves me with all her heart.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

As in most marital relationships of the 18th and 19th centuries, we\u2019d like to hear more from the woman\u2019s side, of course. But there is enough evidence to prove that Konstanze was a resourceful and spirited individual, who cared for her husband\u2019s legacy long after his death. The wedding took place on 4 August 1782 in Vienna\u2019s Stefansdom.<\/span><\/p>\n

$\"Constanze$ <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>