demusic1-4, Exercise 2: A career and the repertoire

Model answer (one possible choice: Clara Schumann; check the details):

Clara Schumann was a leading concert pianist for most of the nineteenth century, touring across Europe, including Britain. She played works by her husband Robert and by Brahms, and she helped to establish them in the repertoire at a time when audiences often wanted showy pieces. After Robert's death in 1856 she edited and promoted his music.

Her influence: what audiences know of Robert Schumann and the young Brahms owes much to her playing and her choices. She also composed, though she stopped publishing late in life, and her own music was long neglected (check).

The point: a repertoire is made by performers and editors as well as by composers, and a figure like Clara Schumann shows how.