Formal Relationships in Clara Wieck's Piano Concerto Op. 7

Abstract

Clara Wieck Schumann’s 1836 Piano Concerto Op. 7 represents an era of radical formal experimentation in the early nineteenth century. As such, critics including Robert Schumann questioned its unity, thus prompting late twentieth-century scholars to reassess both its departures from tradition and its cohesive mechanisms. I propose that the concerto’s formal innovations are a result of Wieck’s decision to construct a tripartite work from her autonomous Concertsatz, which became the Finale after the addition of a first and second movement. This study uses William Caplin’s theory of formal functions and Steven Vande Moortele’s theory of two-dimensional sonata form to examine how Wieck complemented the independent Finale with a formally divergent first movement, which facilitates the projection of an overarching sonata form spanning the entire work. In doing so, this study produces a model to assess the concerto’s internal logic.