author
Robert Schumann
1810–1856
A leading voice of the Romantic era, this German composer brought unusual intimacy and imagination to piano music, songs, symphonies, and chamber works. He was also an influential music critic whose writing helped shape 19th-century musical taste.
1 Audiobook
Advice to Young Musicians. Musikalische Haus- und Lebens-Regeln
by Robert Schumann
About the author
Born in Zwickau on June 8, 1810, Robert Schumann first studied law before turning fully to music. He became known not only as a composer and pianist, but also as a sharp and thoughtful critic, helping to found the journal Neue Zeitschrift für Musik.
Many listeners know him for his piano cycles and songs, especially works shaped by his deep literary interests and his gift for vivid musical character. His marriage to the pianist and composer Clara Wieck Schumann was central to his life and art, and some of his best-loved music was written during and around those years.
In later years he also composed major orchestral, chamber, and choral works, while struggling with severe mental illness. He died on July 29, 1856, in Endenich near Bonn, but his music remains one of the most personal and expressive bodies of work from the Romantic period.