Celebrating the Schumanns
MONMOUTH, Ill. – A married Monmouth College faculty couple will celebrate “a love story for the ages” when they play the music of Clara and Robert Schumann on Oct. 5.
Pianist Solee Lee-Clark and baritone Thomas Clark will perform at 7 p.m. Oct. 5 in the Kasch Performance Hall of Dahl Chapel and Auditorium. Their special celebration of the life and music of the Schumanns is free and open to the public.
“No other musical couple exemplifies the excitement and drama of the Romantic era like Clara and Robert Schumann,” said Lee-Clark. “No other couple did as much to influence and shape the music of the time.”
The recital’s carefully selected program will showcase some of the Schumanns’ most famous piano works, as well as vocal pieces written by Robert as a wedding gift to Clara. The recital will be weaved together by narrators Sarah and John Henderson as they share excerpts from letters of love written by the couple. Sarah Henderson is director of the College’s Hewes Library.
“The Schumanns’ music speaks to us in a timeless, universal language,” said Lee-Clark. “Their romance is a love story for the ages, while Robert’s ongoing battle with depression, and eventual descent into insanity, makes their noble, life-affirming creations all the more remarkable.”