Lecture titled “Myrten, an Autobiographical Wedding Gift?” by Rixt van der Kooij

From November 11 through 15, young professional song duos will be working on Robert Schumann’s *Myrten*, Op. 25, at the Haagse Kunstkring. All master classes are open to the public. The audience can watch the singers and pianists as they work on the songs with their instructors.

Schumann wrote the cycle of 26 songs in 1840 as a wedding gift for Clara Wieck. He gave her the collection on the evening before their wedding on September 12, 1840. This had been preceded by a long struggle. Clara’s father opposed the marriage, and the couple was only able to wed after a judge granted permission. The title refers to the myrtle, whose white flowers were traditionally incorporated into the bride’s wreath and bouquet as a symbol of marital happiness and fertility.

Schumann chose the poems with care, including works by Goethe, Heine, and Byron. Many of the texts contain references to the lives of Robert and Clara. This background is explored in the master classes and in this lecture by Rixt van der Kooij.

Link to the ticket shop

Rixt van der Kooij has been a piano instructor at the Royal Conservatory in The Hague since 1991. She studied with Else Krijgsman at the Royal Conservatory and with Mila Baslawskaja at Codarts in Rotterdam.

Rixt van der Kooij took master classes with Konrad Richter, Detlef Kraus, Christian Zacharias, Roger Vignoles, and Graham Johnson, among others. She specialized in song accompaniment and took private lessons with Rudolf Jansen.

Her experience playing authentic instruments led her to earn a master’s degree in Classical Piano in 2018, with a thesis titled: “Schubert Songs Performed on a Historical Instrument and a Modern Piano—A Search for Expression Through Comparison.”

Since 2001, she has been organizing her own concert series, “Vocaal drieluik,” in Leeuwarden, and since 2016, the “JongVocaal” masterclasses in The Hague.

For more information: www.rixtvanderkooij.nl

Myrten masterclasses are made possible by:

The Gilles Hondius Foundation

The Georgine van den Boogert Foundation.

and the St. Nicholas Guest House