I once believed that I possessed creative talent, but I have given up this idea; a woman must not desire to compose — there has never yet been one able to do it. Should I expect to be the one?
Clara SchumannRead
I cannot give a single concert at which I do not play one piece after the other in an agony of terror because my memory threatens to fail me. This fear torments me for days beforehand.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Clara Schumann expresses the fear and anxiety that comes with performing music, highlighting the pressure to succeed.
This quote by Clara Schumann captures the intense emotional struggle that performers often face before taking the stage. Her mention of 'agony of terror' and the torment of fear emphasizes the mental toll that the pressure to remember and deliver the music can have on an artist, illustrating the vulnerability even the most skilled musicians feel in their craft.
Themes
PerformanceFearMusicAnxietyArtist
In practice
Example use cases
During a music workshop, to encourage young performers, I might say, 'Remember Clara Schumann's words about her own performance fears.'
More from Clara Schumann
All quotes →My health may be better preserved if I exert myself less, but in the end doesn't each person give his life for his calling?
Clara SchumannRead
There is nothing greater than the joy of composing something oneself and then listening to it.
Clara SchumannRead
Composing gives me great pleasure... there is nothing that surpasses the joy of creation, if only because through it one wins hours of self-forgetfulness, when one lives in a world of sound.
Clara SchumannRead
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