author
Robert Schumann
1810–1856
A central voice of the Romantic era, this German composer brought unusual intimacy and imagination to piano music, songs, and symphonies. His works often feel both literary and deeply personal, shaped by a vivid inner world and a lifelong love of poetry.
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 grew up in a book-loving household and was drawn to both literature and music from an early age. He first studied law, but music won out, and he became one of the defining composers of the early Romantic period.
Schumann is especially known for piano cycles, songs, chamber music, and orchestral works that blend strong emotion with a finely detailed sense of character. He also worked as an influential music critic and helped champion other composers. Many listeners first meet him through pieces such as Carnaval, Kinderszenen, Dichterliebe, and the "Rhenish" Symphony.
His marriage to the brilliant pianist and composer Clara Schumann was one of the most important artistic partnerships of the 19th century, and several of his best-known works were written around that shared musical life. Schumann died on July 29, 1856, in Endenich, near Bonn, but his music still speaks with remarkable warmth, restlessness, and imagination.