Consider: What music would someone want to hear when they knew they were dying?
It’s especially fascinating to consider when that someone had devoted their entire life to music. She met and collaborated with some of the 19th Century’s greatest composers: Married and lived with one of those Great composers.
That was Clara Schumann – Robert’s wife – a musical heroine if there ever was one! (Google her to find out why she was such a Heroine, raising 8 children, touring Europe and taking care of her husband – it’s a great story)
She asked to hear this piece on her deathbed.
In March 1896, Clara Schumann suffered a stroke. Her friend Johannes Brahms canceled plans for an Italian vacation to wait for news of her improvement. On her deathbed, she asked her grandson Ferdinand to play her husband’s F-sharp major romance for her. That was the last music Clara Schumann heard. She died May 20, 1896. Brahms attended the funeral. He died eleven months later.
Robert Schumann: Romance in F# Op.28
Robert Schumann: Romance, Op.28 in F sharp