Wieck F
FRIEDRICH WIECK
Field & Wieck: Friedrich Wieck*** greatly inspired by teaching methods of John
Field - in fact, in 1831 he wrote to Louis Spohr that "I have trained her
[Clara], as far as music is concerned, in the magnificent school of Field"
and shortly afterwards wrote, "I am well acquainted with Field's method and
have trained my daughter and my other pupils by this principle alone."
Johann Gottlob Friedrich Wieck (1785-1873) was youngest of five sons of a
merchant in Saxon town of Pretzsch, a small town about 45 km from Leipzig -
was born in 1785 into family with declining fortunes and very little
interest in music. From an early age, however, FW was passionately fond of
music, and studied where he could. At age of 13, he was sent to the
Thomas-Schule in Leipzig, but was forced to return home after 6 weeks
because of illness, and - generally a sickly youth - he remained in Pretzsch
until 1800 (aged 15), when he enrolled at the Torgau Gymnasium to prepare
for university and his eventual goal, the Lutheran ministry. In Torgau - and
later at the University of Wittenberg (1803-06), where he studied theololgy
- FW received only haphazard musical education: managed to acquire an old
table keyboard, and impressed the local organist sufficiently to be allowed
to practice on church organ, and receive some instruction from organist. His
only formal piano lessons were some six hours with the eminent pianist and
teacher (although now semi-paralysed) Johann Peter Milchmeyer, who was in
Torgau for a short time in 1801 to give lessons to the wife and children of
a well-to-do townsman, the Oberforster Herr von Loewen.
In 1806, FW left University of Wittenberg and preached his first sermon, at
St. Sophia's Church in Dresden. However, first sermon was also his last -
knew that he had no true vocation, and so left theology and turned to
traditional occupation of German university graduate with neither money nor
connections, and became a 'Hauslehrer' - ie private tutor in home of a
wealthy family. Over the next 9 yrs (1806-15) he worked for several
aristocratic families in Thuringia: first position was with a Baron von
Seckendorff in Querfurth, where Adolph Bargiel - music teacher of the
Seckendorff children - became a close friend. During these yrs, FW proved
himself a perceptive and conscientious teacher - understood the latest
thought in educational psychology (dominated then by Rousseau's 'Emile' and
such educators as Johann Basedow and Pestalozzi) and applied it successfully
to his students. During this period FW developed ideas that would have big
influence on musical education of his daughter (from 1824) - concepts of
individualized learning and critical role of motivation in teaching, plus
placed great emphasis on regular physical exercise in open air.
Meanwhile, FW still not able to indulge his passion for music - during yrs
as tutor, he had little exposure to events in the musical world, and his
experience was limited to small-town musicians and church choirs, plus did
not attend a large-scale public concert until well into his 20s. This was
the second German Musikfest, held in 1811, which was a 2-day music festival
in which musicians from a number of Thuringian towns joined to play large
works - this probably for first time in his life, FW heard orchestral works
by Beethoven, Louis Spohr, and Mozart, and the Haydn oratorio 'The
Creation'.
Thus, where and when FW learned enough theory to compose and enough about
piano technique to set himself up as a piano teacher are still not clear.
Yet, by early 1815 he was confident enough to dedicate and send a collection
of Eight Songs to composer Carl Maria von Weber - plus, to FW's delight,
Weber then took the time to write a detailed criticism of the works. After
publication soon afterwards, the songs were reviewed in a Leipzig journal,
the 'Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung', and - despite some shortcomings being
noted (eg. FW was advised to study voice, because his vocal lines were
"unnatural" and hard to sing) - critic noted that the songs showed "some
indications of talent".
As a result of this encouragement, FW left his tutorial post in early 1815,
and - applying his keen intelligence, native talent, great energy, and
soaring amibition - undertook a new career at age of 30. By April 1815 he
was established in Leipzig - with financial help of an old university
friend, Streubel - as a piano teacher and owner of a piano store and music
shop - did well from the first: in 19 April 1815 issue of 'Allgemeine
musikalische Zeitung' he is already referred to as "the popular Leipzig
music teacher". FW's business - which he kept going until 1840, when moved
to Dresden - was called a 'Piano-Fabrik', usually translated as a "piano
factory"; however, this misleading, as was in fact a store in which he
rented and sold pianos, plus also tuned and repaired them, and sold and lent
music, music books, and periodicals. Leipzig a commercial city with large,
prosperous middle-class - this meant large group of musical amateurs, who
wanted pianos, piano music and musical instruction.
With characteristic confidence and optimism, FW also married shortly after
changing career, on 23 June 1816 - to one of his students, Marianne Tromlitz
(1797-1872), who was herself an unusually talented pianist and soprano (her
grandfather was Johann George Tromlitz, a leading flutist, composer,
teacher, and flutemaker). Thus marriage must have seemed like v. wise move
by FW: within a yr of marriage, Madame Wieck was singing solos by Mozart and
Beethoven at the weekly concerts in the Leipzig Gewandhaus, and FW's
prestige as a businessman and piano teacher rose with each performance she
gave. While performing during early 1820s, Marianne also continued to study
the piano (with Adolph Bargiel, piano teacher who had been FW's colleague in
his first tutorial position), and assisted FW by taking on students in voice
and piano, teaching the advanced students (as she the most skilled pianist
in family), while also keeping house and over next few yrs giving birth to 5
children - Adelheid (1817-18), Clara (1819-96), Alwin (b. 1821), Gustav (b.
1823) and Victor (1824-26). Pressures on Marianne clearly huge, plus found
FW v. domineering and controlling, with cruel temper - this, combined with
growing relationhship with Bargiel, resulted, on 12 May 1824 (3 months after
birth of last child) in departure of Marianne Tromlitz Wieck from FW's house
to her father's house in Plauen, taking infant son Victor with her plus
oldest child Clara, then not quite 5 yrs old. Saxon law assigned the three
older children to the custody of the father, however, since they were
legally his property; FW agreed to let Marianne keep Clara til 5th birthday,
and then 4 days after - on 17 September 1824 - child was returned to FW in
Leipzig.
Marianne and FW were then granted a divorce on 22 January 1825, and within a
few months Marianne had married much gentler, affectionate Adolph Bargiel -
pair had apparently been in close contact throughout yrs of marriage.
Bargiels spent yr following their marriage (1825-26) near Leipzig, and
Marianne was permitted to see her children, but in early 1826 Bargiels moved
to Berlin, where Adolph took over the Logier Institute, a piano school
established by Johann Bernhard Logier, a brilliant piano pedagogue who had a
short-lived career in Berlin. In Berlin, Marianne's last born, Victor, died,
and she became further alienated from her three surviving children left in
Leipzig, although she continued to correspond with them - esp Clara - and
paid short visits when passing through Leipzig on way to Plauen. Life
difficult for Marianne after divorce: great stigma attached to woman who
left husband and children for another man, plus less ambitious Bargiel not
so good with money as FW - suffered series of blows in Berlin, ending in
forced closure of Logier Institute in 1830 owing to cholera epidemic, and
soon after that Bargiel had a stroke from which he never fully recovred. He
died in 1841, leaving Marianne with their 4 children: she maintained family
by giving piano lessons in Berin after his death and enlisting aid of
friends (eg Robert Schumann). Intimacy with Clara was resumed only when she
broke with her father, in 1839, aged 20.
FW so determined to have Clara back in 1824 as from her birth in 1819, he
had fully expected her (chose name, meaning light, brilliance) to be a great
virtuosa, trained by him. Was strange child - did not speak, not even single
words, until she was over 4 yrs old, plus appeared to understand very
little; even when started to speak, parents assumed she was partially deaf,
because she was so self-absorbed - this may have been response to unhappy
family situation, as FW both verbally and physically abusive to his family,
plus v. unhappy mother. FW began to teach her piano when she was 4, and
serious instruction began aged 5 - left without a wife, FW now turned to
daughter as instrument of his musical ambition. Meanwhile, FW did not
remarry for some time: for 4 yrs Clara and 2 brothers lived under care of
father and servants, and during this time she studied with her father and
rapidly became recognized as a child prodigy. Brothers had neither aptitude
nor compliant personality, and appears were largely ignored in household
dominated by FW and Clara.
By the mid-1820s, FW was travelling to Vienna regularly to buy pianos, and
became friendly with the piano manufacturers Conrad Graf and Andreas Stein,
corresponded with the pianist Carl Czerny, and met Beethoven. From spring
1825 he began teaching Clara, with goal of creating a virtuoso: had
developed his pedagogical theories during his years as a tutor, and his
approach to C.'s instruction was carefully considered - was a planned
programme that included supervision of her every waking hour. FW's method
based loosely on approach of Logier, major elements of which consisted of i)
use of a "chiroplast", device placed over keyboard to enforce development of
correct finger, hand and wrist positions (not used by FW); ii) group
instruction of pupils of various levels of proficiency simultaneously - e.g.
he arranged works so that beginners could play a basic theme while at the
same time more advanced students played variations on it; and iii)
incorporation of music theory and harmony in basic piano instruction, with
aim of fostering knowledgeable musicianship. FW was teaching piano before
Logier's method was well known in Germany, but he admitted that he learned a
great deal from him.
Clara not taught by FW to read music during her first year of instruction
(though she learned to write notes), and he wrote small pieces expressly for
her, to encourage her to concentrate on position, musical phrasing, and a
"singing" tone - gave her a familiarity with the keyboard which accorded her
a facility and ease she kept to end of her life. At the age of 7 she was at
the piano for three hours each day - one hour for lesson, and two for
practice; meagre education - with emphasis on French and English (for
touring) - was then squeezed into the hours between the piano and the
lengthy daily walks. From age of 7 she also received private lessons in
theory and harmony from Christian Theodore Weinlig, cantor of St. Thomas
Church, and composition from Heinrich Dorn, director of the Leipzig Opera.
In 1828, aged 9, Clara made her first public appearance - at the Gewandhaus
- and also had become a member of the music circle that met at the Wiecks,
which included Friedrich Hofmeister and Heinrich Probst, music publishers;
Heinrich Marschner, composer; Dr. Ernst August Carus, physician and music
lover; and Gottfried Fink, editor of the 'Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung'.
To this group was then added in 1830 the young Robert Schumann, who arrived
in Leipzig for a permanent stay that year, and saw the family almost every
day - then, in October 1830, Schumann was taken on as a pupil-boarder by FW
and moved into Wieck household.
Meanwhile, in 1828, FW had at last decided to remarry, and on 3 July married
non-musician Clementine Fechner, 23 yr-old daughter of pastor Samuel
Traugott Fechner. By this time, FW had firmly established business and
considerable reputation as piano teacher, and Clementine was basically there
to look after business, home and 2 boys while from 1830 step-daughter Clara,
the star, toured with FW. However, despite rivalry with Clara (who disliked
idea of father remarrying) marriage v. successful - lasted 45 yrs
(Clementine apparently obedient and patient) and produced 3 children of her
own with FW - Marie (b. 1832), who was groomed by her father to emulate
Clara and had fairly successful career as a pianist (eventually became Court
Pianist to the Prince of Hohenzollern, wrote book after Clara's death, 'From
the Wieck-Schumann Circle'), and 2 others who died in childhood.
Clara gave first solo concert at the Gewandhaus on 8 November 1830 - 11 yrs
old, and press acclaimed both her and her teacher, FW. Result as that FW
determined to take her on tour to Paris, and pair departed - after much
intensive work - in September 1831, for tour lasting til May 1832. Played at
Weimar for Goethe (who greatly impressed), and made great impression
everywhere. During 1832 FW organized several solo concerts in Leipzig for
Clara in July and September, and also organized local concert tours in
autumn 1832 and 1833. Tours increased in capacity and publicity during
1830s, with Clara an international star - meanwhile, in 1835 Schumann had
started courtship of Clara, and although they were banned from seeing each
other by FW in 1836, in August 1837 they became secretly engaged. On 13
September 1837 Schumann asked FW for Clara's hand, but FW furious and
Schumann utterly rejected. (Reasons not known - though probably combination
of pecuniary interest, belief that domesticity of marriage would ruin
Clara's career, and distrust of Schumann's past, irresponsibility with
money, instability, and indifferent health). Although Clara and FW then went
on highly successful concert tour to Vienna October 1837-May 1838 (during
which Clara feted everywhere), following this, psychological rift now
gradually opening up between them. In 1839, Clara left for Paris without FW,
where she stayed for next 6 months and petitioned the Court of Appeals for
permission to marry without her father's consent, and from September 1839
Clara stayed with her mother, Marianne, in Berlin until (after Court of
Appeals granted consent on 1 Aug 1840) her marriage with Schumann on 12
September 1840.
Clara's Marriage, 1840: FW not a man given to self-control, characterizing
himself as caustic and blunt and occasionally glorying in his
"unceremonious" behaviour. Relationship with Clara fine while she was
compliant, but when she defied him, his bitter anger was never modulated.
When in 1840 she refused to give up her plan to marry Robert Schumann
against FW's wishes, he took revenge by defaming Schumann in court and by
libellous letters, while also sending defamatory letters about Clara to
Berlin and Hamburg, where she was about to perform. The letters, which
circulated among influential musicians and music lovers, described Clara as
a "demoralized, shameless girl who has opposed her father in the most
unnatural and shocking manner", and warned that other girls should be
guarded lest they be "poisoned" by her. Plus his efforts to blacken the name
of Schumann continued even after Clara had become his wife. However, father
and daughter reconciled in Feb 1843 when FW invited her to Dresden, where he
had moved in 1840 with family to set himself up as a teacher of singing and
piano, and then FW and Schumann in Dec 1843, after overtures again from FW.
Subsequently, FW turned attention to his teenage daughter Marie - esp as he
wanted to keep his name before the public as a teacher - but she never
showed the promise of Clara.
So, FW not all bad: had sense of humour - albeit rather earthy - and this,
his vivacity and practical common sense, combined with his self-confidence
and talent as a teacher, explain how such a formidable man could charm and
gain respect of the musical circles in Leipzig. His pedagogical principles,
published in 1853 in 130-page treatise 'Clavier und Gesang' ('Piano and
Song') - in which most chapters are written as dialogues in which FW appears
as "DAS" ('Der alte Schulmeister'), while others are in form of letters or
lectures - were successfully applied to his docile and willing pupil Clara,
and gained him worldwide fame. Title of the book indicates FW's concern with
the art of singing - believed this was the basis of beautiful, refined piano
playing. Is now considered to be a progressive teacher - approach was
inherently musical and demonstrates the kind of understanding of the
learning process outlined by many C20th music psychologists - did not
believe in overpracticing, believed in regular rests, long walks, and short
bursts of intense practice. Despite his personal insensitivity and even
cruelty, he brought great deal of humour and common sense to his teaching.
Wrote in 1853 book: "As a psychologist, thinker, man and teacher, I have
striven to work for all-around musical development, never making excess
demands and always attempting to maintain the student's interest. I never
stood still, learned daily as I taught, and always sought to improve. When
possible, my direction was determined by the mood of the students at the
time. WIth each child and each lesson, I was always new and different and in
a cheerful and happy state of mind. Moreover, I was never one to follow
patterns; I never behaved like a pedant, sticking to fixed ideas and
opinions." He remained at Dresden as music teacher until his death, on 6
October 1873, aged 88 - was close to Clara (esp after death of Schumann in
1856) until his death: through great frugality throughout his life, he left
substantial fortune, much of which he left to Clara.