Love Across Decades: Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann

A lifelong bond between Johannes Brahms and Clara Schumann inspired music, letters, and enduring mystery.

(Left) Pianist and composer Clara Schumann in 1857 and (right) composer Johannes Brahms in 1853. Brahms formed a lifelong bond with Robert and Clara Schumann. Public Domain

The pictures are generally of a very old man with long, scruffy gray whiskers and a pronounced paunch, often chomping a cigar. This is the Johannes Brahms that usually accompanies stories about him or recordings of his music.

But in 1853, Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) was a handsome, slender, clean-shaven 20-year-old composer of dazzling gifts. In September of that year, he met the two people who would change his life forever, Robert and Clara Schumann.