Today is the birthday of… He Who Must Not Be Named.
Oh, wait a minute. Sorry. Case of mistaken identity. It’s actually the birthday of WOLDEMAR BARGIEL. Bargiel, who lived from 1828 to 1897, was the half-brother of Clara Schumann.
Bargiel’s mother had been married to Clara’s father, Friedrich Wieck – unhappily, I might add – which should come as little surprise, considering Wieck was the man who threatened to shoot Robert Schumann for courting his daughter. He faced the would-be couple down in court, violated Clara’s privacy, spread vicious rumors about her, and even promoted a rival pianist in her place in the hopes that she would supplant his own daughter. Wieck was so unruly in his determination to see “justice” done that he himself was ordered to pay the lovers a hefty sum and sentenced to jail for 18 days. Amazingly, everyone eventually reconciled, once Wieck became a grandfather, though he never completely abandoned his slippery-yet-inflexible ways.
It was he who drove Bargiel’s future mother, Mariane, into the arms of one of his friends, a fellow music teacher, who would soon become her second husband.
Despite the turbulence that rocked their parents’ world, Woldemar and Clara – who was nine years his senior – enjoyed a warm relationship. Thanks to her advocacy, Bargiel was welcomed by both Robert Schumann and Felix Mendelssohn, and was admitted to the Leipzig Conservatory, where he studied with Ignaz Moscheles, Niels Gade and Julius Rietz. Later, Clara and Robert arranged for the publication of some of his early works.
Bargiel would one day repay the favor by coediting with Johannes Brahms a complete edition of Robert Schumann’s scores.
Avada Kedavra! Happy birthday, Woldemar Bargiel!
Bargiel’s Adagio for Cello and Orchestra:
His Piano Trio No. 1:
