In 1855 Johannes Brahms wrote a poignant letter to the brilliant pianist and composer Clara Schumann in which he says "I can do nothing but think of you... What have you done to me? Can't you remove the spell you have cast over me?" Poor Brahms loved Clara Schumann, who, as luck would have it, was also the wife of brilliant pianist and composer Robert Schumann. She was 35 and he was 21. She and Robert had 7 children, and her husband was currently in an asylum. As Kurt Vonnegut would say, so it goes. As an old man, I hear his bittersweet wistfulness when I obsess about this beautiful piece.
