Many love stories have withstood the test of time: Romeo and Juliet, Jack and Rose, Cleopatra and Mark Antony. Hopeless romantics long to mirror the commitment, admiration and sheer romance of these famous couples.
However, there are other, less-acclaimed love affairs that share the same amorous themes – and these aren’t fiction. In honor of Valentine’s Day, here are some of our favorite love stories of beloved classical musicians:
Edvard and Nina Grieg: Edvard and Nina were cousins and a married couple for 40 years – and happily so. Nina was a Danish-Norwegian lyric soprano while Edvard accompanied her in song. He exquisitely wrote: “I loved a young girl with a wonderful voice and an equally wonderful delivery. This girl became my wife and has remained my lifelong companion to this very day. For me she has become – and I venture to say this – the only true interpreter of my songs.”
Felix Mendelssohn and Cecile Jeanrenaud: This romance is documented as one of the most charming love stories in history. In a letter to a friend, Mendelssohn described his future wife as “a woman with the most bewitching deep blue eyes.” He fell “dreadfully in love” with her, leading to a blissful marriage. Jeanrenaud, a painter, supported her husband’s musical aspirations, including his hugely popular Violin Concerto.
Franz Liszt and Marie d’Agoult: While married to another man, d’Agoult fell in love with the famous composer and virtuoso pianist. She described Liszt as “a tall figure…with great sea-green eyes in which glistened swift flashes of light like waves catching the sunlight.” Though the pair had a passionate 10-year love affair, it was Frederic Chopin who dedicated his 12 Etudes, Op. 25 to her.
Igor and Vera de Bosset Stravinsky: The Russian-born dancer and artist became the mistress, and ultimately the second wife, of composer Igor Stravinsky. The duo married 15 years after his first marriage, but many accused him of leading a double-life between his first wife and Vera.
Louis-Hector Berlioz and Harriet Constance Smithson: Smithson was an actress portraying Ophelia in Hamlet and Juliet in Romeo and Juliet when Berlioz first laid eyes on her. She was invited to a performance of his symphony, Symphonie Fantastique. Realizing that it was written for her, she congratulated the composer, and the two quickly became enamored with one another. They married shortly after and had one son, Louis.
Ludwig Van Beethoven and Therese Malfatti: According to anecdotal accounts, Beethoven wrote a composition to play before proposing to his pupil, Malfatti. At the soiree where he was to play his piece, Beethoven drank too much, leaving him unable to perform. Instead, Malfatti asked him to write a dedication to her at the top of the composition. He (almost illegibly) wrote Fur Therese, and when her documents were published posthumously, Beethoven’s scrawl was read as Fur Elise, one of his most famous works.
Robert Schumann and Clara Wieck: Wieck is known as one of the most gifted pianists of the Romantic era. When she was only 11 years old, her father invited ambitious 20-year-old Schumann to live with them. The musical geniuses fell in love and eventually married despite the objections of her father. The star-crossed love affair strongly influenced Schumann’s first symphony, Spring.
These classical love affairs are in the ranks with some of the most timeless fairytales of all time, and we hope your love story is (or will be) just as romantic.
From everyone at the Frederick Symphony Orchestra, we hope you have a wonderful Valentine’s Day. For more fun information like this, subscribe to our weekly blog: