The Ballad of Clara Schumann
By NickLong on April 2, 2026 10:03 pm
This is quite a departure for me
The challenge this week was to create something using Hemiola. Music with ambiguity between the rhythm being grouped in 3 or 2.
I also wanted to explore Synthesizer V further and write a more conventional song.
I did this by having a harp playing an arpeggio in 3/4 and vibraphone playing the same chords in 4/4
The song is harmonically very simple with a basic line cliche progression with the bass note walking down over a static chord.
The Harp and Vibes are from a Roland XV-5080 which sounds quite good for a 90's rompler I think. The flute solo is from Arturia Augmented Woodwinds and the piano is the Kawaii model from the excellent pianoteq.
The ghostly noises are from Arturia Fragments.
The track was made in Bitwig.
Story
The lyrics tell the story of Clara Schumann
Clara was a virtuoso pianist and the wife of the composer Richard Schumann (A master of hemiola).
He was envious of her ability and attempted to stretch his hands using a machine leading him to paralyse his fingers and becoming reliant on her to promote his music.
He was introduced to the much younger Richard Strauss who he felt was the saviour of music and promoted as the "Favoured of the muse" unfortunately Strauss fell in love with Clara and the three of them ended up in a love triangle which drove Schumann mad leading to him throwing himself off a bridge and then checking himself into an asylum.
Strauss then moved into the Schumann home looking after his wife and children, but never acting on his love due to his great respect for his mentor Schumann.
When Schumann died Strauss moved out and finally died of grief when Clara died a few years later.
This song is their story.
Lyrics
Far away
Longing to hear you play
Notes I wrote for you
Turn the page
In every score I made
Lines in three and two
And if you were here I would hold you
In these broken hands
But I gave you to
The favoured of the muse
Flute solo!
In my ears
Demons and ghosts appear
Screaming out in A
On the bridge Clara I think of you
Lost in three and two
And if you were here I would tell you
I lived inside your hands
But I lost you to
The favoured of the muse
Audio works licensed by author under:
CC Attribution Noncommercial Share Alike (BY-NC-SA)
