In this musical biopic, Clara Wieck (Katharine Hepburn) is a budding concert pianist, but when she meets composer Robert Schumann (Paul Henreid), she forgets her dreams to marry him. Years later, after the birth of their seven children, Robert dies of illness in a mental institution. While Clara deals with her loss and her newly inherited debts, Johannes Brahms (Robert Walker) reveals that he loves her and offers her a new life as his wife. But Clara still has some unfinished business.