 Ladies and gentlemen, the Railroad Hour. Here comes our star-studded Joe Tray. The Association of American Railroads brings you the premiere of a new operetta, the Schumann Story, created especially for the Railroad Hour and starring Gordon MacRay and his charming guest, Dorothy Warren Shoes. Our choir is under the direction of Norman Luboff and our music is presented by Carmen Dragon. Yes, tonight another delightful musical play is brought to you by the American Railroad. The same railroads that bring you the food you eat, the clothes you wear, the fuel you burn and the multitude of other things you use in your daily life. And now here is our star, Gordon MacRay. And good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight, Dorothy Warren Shoes and I will tell you one of the enduring love stories in the world of music. The romance of Clara and Robert Schumann. Sometimes it's been a single note bringing in my head. But most often it was music that an angel might sing. How did our romance begin? When I was still a youth. It was the day I arrived in Leipzig. I rushed to the house of Meister V, even before I unpacked my traveling case. He was acclaimed the best piano teacher in all of Germany. I was determined to study with him. But I found her weak, a gaunt man with eyes like a hawk. Your name? Robert Schumann. You understand my young hair, Schumann. If you study with me, you will study. Music will be your whole life. Oh, it is already here, Professor. I... Who is that? My most celebrated future. How old are you? 18. She is nine. Brilliant, eh? And why shouldn't she be? She is my daughter. Yes, Clara. I have heard of the young priority, not prodigy. Genius. Pure genius. She is I who did it. I alone. She does play brilliantly here, Professor. You shall meet her. Come with me. Not an artist. And hardly the size of a piano stool. Glad you're here. Yes, Father. I would like to present Herr Schumann. Good afternoon, Freiland V. Hello, Herr Schumann. Hello. I became the pupil of Maestro V. And a boarder in the V. Household. The little girl on the piano stool played like an angel. And just as some lads bring little girls pebbles, or spring flowers, I brought a little song. Hello, Herr Schumann. Hello. A song for you, Cashion. And though Heinrich Heinrich wrote the words, the music is for you. And I was a... both just children. I studied, but my family felt I needed a more proper calling than music. And so I was whisked off to Heidelberg to study law. But there was a little girl on the piano stool I could not get out of my mind. It was some years before I not began in that forbidding door marked Herr Frederick V. I waited, holding my breath, waited for a little girl with large eyes to rush to the door and say... Hello, Herr Schumann. Hello. But when the door opened, I heard... Hello, Herr Schumann. Hello. It couldn't be. It couldn't be. Clara, how have you grown up? Bigger than the piano stool. Oh, Herr Schumann, happy to see you. Herr Schumann, I think you're also big enough to call me Robert. Robert? And do you know what I've been playing over and over? What? One of the songs you wrote for me when I was still a little girl. Come, I'll play it for you. A day in the little beach I wear and some all-lying feet I hurried downward to the street. The fondliness of a memory, dear Clara. I wish to kiss you. We do not play children's games in this household. Oh, Father. Herr Wieck. It is the lawyer from Heidelberg. I'm happy to see you, Herr Professor. I cannot return the compliment, Herr Schumann. Oh, Father. I always understood. I was welcome in the Wieck household, sir. When I was a professor and you were the student, yes. Not as a young romantic fool who dares to kiss this innocent girl. I kissed him too, Father. And I wished to kiss him. And when I did, I felt safe. He had a life as if it were something I'd been waiting for all my life. You're not in love with it. Nobody. In love with Robert? Oh, Father. I have been always. I forbid it. Clara could have any Duke or Prince in Germany if I choose that she should, but a half musician? It is laughable. This house is forbidden to you, Herr Schumann. Six years, Clara and I saw each other only for a moment. Across the concert hall, bowed to each other on the streets of Leipzig. Finally, I went off Vienna to work and to forget. To work and remember. Her fame was everywhere. Clara Wieck, the great concert artist. We began to correspond secretly. My Clara. I send you a song, picturing that you will touch the notes with your beautiful fingers just at evening time. And that you will listen with your heart to the words I sing to you. And if this is true, I'll not compare. Forever. Have you ever visited a railroad freight yard? It's a fascinating sight. And in a very real sense, the focal point of a stronger America. So, join me if you will, and let's take a look at one of the essential ingredients of a strong and prosperous nation. A busy railroad freight yard. Well, here we are. Big business. It sure is. I've never seen so many freight cars with so much track in my life. It is impressive. But remember, this is only one of many busy railroad terminals that linked America from coast to coast. And those freight cars are only a handful of the two millions that helped keep America on the go. What's that big tower over there? Well, that's what you might call the electronic brains of the operation. From there, almost all the activity you see is directed and controlled, and much of it is actually carried out. You mean all this switching and classifying of cars is almost entirely a push button affair? Amazing. Railroading certainly has progressed a long way since I was a boy. But the familiar old names are still there. Look at that group of cars rolling over the hump. There's one from Maine, Florida, Texas, California. Yes, I daresay you'll find not only every state represented down there, but just about every thing America produces, too. And you know, I think that site demonstrates as clearly as anything I know the essential part of the railroad's play in our standard of living. Thanks to the railroad, anything grown or produced anywhere in the country can be used and enjoyed everywhere in the country. In fact, without the railroads which haul more tons of freight more miles than all other forms of transportation combined, America could never have grown into the great and powerful nation it is. And here's another thing you can be sure of. The railroads will continue to improve their plant equipment and services using their own money, initiative and ingenuity to help build a stronger America for all of us. Now here is act two of the Lawrence and Lee dramatization of the Schumann story starring Gordon MacRae as Robert and Dorothy Warren-Schold as Clara. My Lord, I for you am waiting for the moment to leave. Dear Clara, I am close to you, for I am sending music across the miles. Every day I write, at my piano and at my writing table, songs to sing, words to live by. I have taken a pen name for my literary endeavors, Rauro, R-A-R-O. The last two letters of Clara, the first two letters of Robert. Listen to some of the words Rauro has written on. Always plays if a master were listening. An artist's vocation is to send light into the depths of the human heart. Respect the old highly, but bring a warm heart to the new. Yet nothing worthwhile is brought to pass. Remember above all there is no end to learning. I have written a new song. It is a fighting song, dear Clara, for I feel like a fighter, like a grenadier. Men came by marching to grenadiers, to re-clash through their homeland. The crans had been crushed by the forces of war, and the emperor, the emperor, was set to work, ready to gather the grenadiers back to the country telling men. And then once the moon dispersed. Over life I carry, but life, oh life, is valuable, without delay, I'm carrying. How can I carry beside me there? I've learned over the brave strong words you write. I feel in your heart, in my fingers as I play your music, put it a battle cry to me also my love. And tonight at my concert I flung out to the audience a cry of liberation. Ladies and gentlemen, I am happy to play now a new composition by the brilliant young composer, Robert Schumann. Robert, my father was aghast. And later when I was alone, in the silence of the moonlight I spoke to you across the miles, saying the words of your song. My Clara, she promised to marry me, but since she could not defy her father we took matters into our own hands. There is an old Saxon custom, a betrothed couple can rise above parental objections by appealing to a court of law. We stare at each other across the musty courtroom. Her father looked at me to the list. Evie, tell the court your objection to the marriage disease too. I have spent my life making her what she is. The greatest talent of our time. Would you turn her into a house flower? I should like to hear what the young lady says. Well, indeed. Thank you, Your Honor. My father is right. Clara. In saying that I am a talent, false modesty is not good. It is true, I have a talent for playing the piano, but it is Robert who is the genius. And those of us who are merely performers know that those who create are perhaps closest to God. You see how he has turned her head from beauty and sensibility and... That will be all. Now, head human, do you wish to proceed with plans for your marriage to Clara? Your Honor, my songs sing of her. The harmonies echo her name. We have already performed a marriage in music. Yes, human. Run and meet. You have the permission and the blessing of the study. May of September in the year of our Lord, 1840, Clara and I were married in the village of Schoenfeld. Schoenfeld. A field of loveliness. Oh, my beloved. The dream of my youth has come true. The little girl on the piano stool had the same dream, Robert. Look. A letter was just to write to my friend Liske. A lovely letter. Oh, what is he writing? Listen, Clara and Robert Schumann, we shall never utter their names apart. And the future will weave a golden shimmer about their heads and allow to shine over both brows, but one single star. We'll be back just a moment. And meanwhile, thanks to Jay Novello, to Polly Bear, Sharon Bell and our company. The Schumann story was written especially for the railroad hour by Lawrence and Lee. The railroad hour is brought to you each week at this same time by the American Railroads. Marvin, since 1950, one of America's major weapons in the Cold War of truth versus communist propaganda has been Radio Free Europe. Operating 21 powerful radio transmitters on the edge of the iron curtain, Radio Free Europe can do much to help prevent another world war by bolstering the urge for freedom and the determined spirit of resistance among the six captive countries that separate Russia from Europe. Your assistance is needed if Radio Free Europe is to continue to operate and grow. President Eisenhower has urged every American to support this independent, privately operated enterprise in order to further the cause of peace throughout the world and to help arm the spirit of captive people with hope and courage. Won't you do your part, send your contribution to crusade for freedom, care of your postmaster, do it safe. Thank you, Marvin. Now folks, here again is the incomparable Dorothy Warnschold. It was like old times, falling in love and marrying you all in one half hour. Well, Hildegard, you come do that any Monday night, you're free. We'll be back on the show today next week, Gordon. You just give a listen. Oh, I love that. Vincent Newman. Yes, Dorothy. The famous through the years for the very first time on the railroad hour. And Nadine Connell will be here to sing that wonderful music with us. And we'll all be listening. Good night, Gordon. Good night, Dorothy, and please come back real soon. All aboard. Well, dear friends, it looks as though we're ready to pull out. And so until next Monday night, and through the years, on behalf of the other members of the cast and of the American Railroads, this is your friend Gordon McRae saying, good night. Gordon McRae can be seen starring in three sailors and a girl in Technicolor. Our choir is under the direction of Norman Muboff and our music is prepared and conducted by Carmen Dragon. Good night for the American Railroads. Now, stay tuned for your Monday night of music on NBC. Tonight, the voice of Firestone features the Christmas bell on the NBC radio network.