Deryk Barker wrote:

>What I've herad has been good but not great, although Clara piano
>concerto (written at 17 or so) shows great promise but nufortunately
>she decided to sacrifice her career for his.

Sorry, Deryk, not quite.  She was a workaholic from childhood right to
the end of her life.  Pregnancy and childbirth annoyed her because it
made her take time off work.  It was she who managed a lot of the couple's
business dealings and was much tougher than R.  When they fled Dresden
in 1848 (leaving the kids without proper attention) it was she who went
back to get stuff he left behind.  She was after all the tough cookie
who stood up to her father and helped R sue the old man in order to marry
her.  R died when she was quite young so she might have written more,
but she couldn't stop touring and playing.  She claimed they needed the
money, true, but they weren't exactly poor either.

Anne
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