CONCEPT

• I. Composing gives me great pleasure (text: Clara Schumann)

  The first movement explores Clara’s internal conflict around the act of composing - as it both something she can ‘win hours of forgetfulness’ and yet also believes ‘ A woman must not desire to compose’. These contradictory statements are placed in a dialogue with one another to give an insight into Clara’s ambitions and the impact of gendered attitudes to female creativity.

• II. I played with a power (text: Clara Schumann and Eugenie Schumann)

  Drawing on Eugenie’s recollections (Clara’s daughter), the second movement highlights Clara’s extensive and hugely successful career as a travelling virtuoso pianist. This work also particularly focusses on the relationship between the German and English translation.

• III. Faithful Diary (text: Di de Woolfson)

  Faithful Diary is a poem written by one of Ex Urbe’s members, Di de Woolfson. The poem is a reflection on many aspects of Clara’s professional life, and also conveys the process Ex Urbe and the composer undertook in getting to know Clara.