Who Is Robert Schumann?

Antonin Dvorak was a Czech composer during Romantic Era. He was born on September 8, 1841 in Nelahozeves, Czech which is now known as Czech Republic. On the other hand, William Grant Still was an African American composer. Unlike Dvorak, William’s father died when he was a baby. Dvorak was Baptized as a Roman catholic and he had strong love and faith for religion. He was a proud bohemian and interested in his heritage which was a huge inspiration towards music. Even Though his father wanted him to become a butcher juke like him, however, Dvorak decided to be in the music career. At the age of six Dvorak started going to village school to get some early education in music. In a small amount of time, he learned playing violin which led him playing in village and church bands. In 1853, he was send to Zlonice to continue his education in German as well as music. Dvorak also attended classes in violin, organ, voice, music theory and piano. He also studied music in Prague Organ School from 1857 to 1859, where he attended classes on counterpoint, improvisation, music theory and other important aspects of composition. When he became a music teacher he fell in love with his student Josefína Čermáková. He even he composed the song, ‘Cypress Trees’. Unfortunately, she married another man, then Dvorak married her younger sister, Anna with whom he had 9 children . His most productive years was In 1875 because it’s the year his first son was born and when he composed his 5th

Igor Stravinsky was third of a family of four boys. He grew up hearing his father practicing his opera and attending local ballets. He also started taking piano lessons when he was 9 years old and continued on with musical notation and composition instruction. All throughout his early life he studied music. However, although he had been brought

George Balanchine came to the United States in 1933, following an early career throughout Europe. He studied piano from a young age and graduated from the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg, where he first studied dance from the age of nine. He then enrolled in Russia’s Conservatory of Music and studied piano and musical theory, as well as musical theory, composition, harmony and counterpoint. He graduated after three years in 1924. His extensive training made it possible for him to work with composers held in high regard, such as Igor Stravinsky.

Clara Josephine Wieck was born on September 13, 1819 in Leipzig, Germany into a musical family. Her father, Friedrich Wieck, was “a first-rate piano teacher.” Her mother, Marianne Tromlitz, was a soprano and one of Wieck’s piano students. Clara Wieck’s parents divorced when she was five years old, leaving her and her four brothers in her father’s custody. Tromlitz married Adolf Bargiel and moved to Berlin, but she still kept in contact with Clara through letters.

Writer, composer, critic, and a man that tried his best. Born June 8th 1810 he was set in a time of expression and potential. Even at the early age of 6 he started his studies of music specifically the piano. About the same time as when he entered a private school. After four years there he was sent to Zwickau Gymnasium (a high school) in 1820 and spent the next 8 years there. “When he was 14, Schumann wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music. He also contributed to a volume titled “Portraits of Famous Men”, which was edited by his father. During his school days in Zwickau”. ("Robert Schumann Biography." - Childhood, Life

One of the greatest musical composers, pianist and conductor during the nineteenth century was Franz Liszt. Franz Liszt was born on October 22, 1811 in Raiding, Hungary. His parents were Adam and Anne Liszt. Franz father, Adam was an artist who played many instruments and had many ties with great composers like Beethoven. Franz mother, Anne was a homemaker who took care of Franz children.

German composer and pianist, Ludwig van Beethoven, was born December 1770 and spent most of his life in Vienna, Austria. His first teacher was his alcoholic father, who worked as a musician at the Court of Bonn. Teaching him day and night, Ludwig suffered from his father's harsh and erratic behavior. For a time, he and his father played at the Church. As his father's alcoholism increased, Ludwig became the main musician.

This talented composer was born in Leipzig on September 13, 1819 to her parents Friedrich and Marianne Wieck. Her mother was a very talented singer and pianist and her father, though he studied Theology in school, was also a great pianist and musical teacher. Friedrich was a very prideful man. He pushed his wife and daughter to succeed with the zealous attempt to receive musically inclined high stature from their work and to gain more attention towards his teaching abilities. This Dangerous desire for fame and recognition soon led to Marianne’s resentment towards him and progressed to a divorce when Clara was only five years old (Mitchell, 1). With Clara left to be raised by her father she was introduced to music rather early on. Friedrich, still striving for more recognition, made sure that Clara became well educated in the musical field. However, he neglected the other lessons in life like proper English and

Ludwig Van Beethoven was born on about December 16th, 1770 in Bonn, Germany and died on March 26th, 1827, In Vienna, Austria. The exact date of Beethoven’s birth is unknown he was baptised on December 17th. Beethoven lived between the Classical and Romantic eras. Some of Beethoven's most notable pieces of music are Symphony No. 5 , Fur Elise, and Missa Solemnis. Beethoven knew how to play The Piano, The Viola, and The Violin. When Beethoven composed some of his most famous and important music he was deaf and couldn’t listen to the music he wrote. When Beethoven was a child he was abused by his father when he made a mistake or hesitated while learning/playing music. Beethoven dropped out of school, at the age of 11 to help his family make money,

Richard Wagner of 1813-1883 born in Germany became one of the world’s most influential dramatic composers best known for his operas. Wilhelm Richard Wagner was born in Leipzig, Germany on May 22 1813, the ninth child born into a middle-class family. He attended school in Dresden, German, growing up, he showed very little interest in music he was only concerned with writing poetry.

Robert Schumann, composer throughout the early- to mid-nineteenth century, is probably best known for his songs and piano works. Before injuring his finger most likely through the use of a chiroplast (an instrument that guides the hands while playing; highly controversial), Schumann was an avid piano player, if not a proper concert pianist and virtuoso[1]. But due to this ailing finger, Schumann had to eventually find other means to support his life. Thankfully for us, he eventually turned to composition, and furthermore, to piano composition. His affinity for piano led to some of the best character pieces for piano ever created, including the piano cycles Papillon, Carnaval, and Kreisleriana. But these

Music, writing, and literature were all a consistent and integral part of Schumann’s upbringing and stayed in his life well into his adulthood. His skills as a pianist were growing and he also started to gain an interest in writing novels as he was getting older. Robert faced his first great hardship at the age of sixteen when his father and sister both died. His sister tragically ended up committing suicide. Before his father died he conditioned that in order for Schumann to receive his inheritance he would have to attend school at a university. He reluctantly accepted and ended up enrolling in the University of Leipzig to study law under his mother’s wishes. Then in 1827 he became influenced by the Austrian composer Franz Schubert along with the literary influence of the German poet Jean Paul Richter. He began to compose songs not long after that. Even though Robert was at Leipzig to study law most of his time was spent composing and thinking about music. Around this time he also began to take the piano more seriously and started studying with a celebrated and decorated teacher, Friedrich Wieck. This is when Robert was first introduced to Wieck’s nine-year-old daughter Clara, his future wife. Clara was an extraordinary pianist who had just recently begun a successful concert career under her father’s teachings. Ironically Robert Schumann always

One of the unique features of the 19th century composer Robert Schumann's output is the degree to which the verbal mediums of literature (such as poetry and drama) affected his musical output. While many operas have been inspired by great literature, Schumann's expression even in his piano compositions and non-verbally oriented musical works show a literary flair. "Many of his compositions allude to characters or scenes from poems, novels, and plays; others are like musical crossword puzzles with key signatures or musical themes that refer to people or places important to him" (Gifford 2012). Schumann worked as an editor and journalist for a popular musical magazine, the Neue Zeitsfchrift fur Musik, and had a great deal of literary self-consciousness about how he constructed his art (Gifford 2012). Ironically, Schumann's operas were not successful and it is his nonverbal piano works that have solidified his reputation for musical greatness.

Liszt was not only a principal figure in the Romantic Period but also a composer of enormous originality and arguably the greatest piano virtuoso of his time. As a composer, he radically extended the technique of piano writing, extended the harmonic language, and later developed chromatic harmony which led eventual breakdown of tonality, revolutionizing the music of the era. As a pianist, Liszt was the first to give complete solo recitals, and he did a great deal to encourage the performance of music by Bach, Beethoven, Schubert, Berlioz, Wagner, and Robert Schumann by transcribing their works for piano and playing them in his concerts at a time when they were insufficiently appreciated. He also helped younger composers, and he taught a number of pupils who themselves became famous virtuosos. Franz Liszt, one of the greatest pianist, was a living legend and admired by some of the most accomplished musicians in the world. His skills captivated his audience and impressed many musicians of his time.

Robert Schumann was in love with Clara Wieck, while he was engaged to Ernestine Von Fricken. Clara Wieck was the daughter of Schumann’s piano teacher. Schumann then broke off his engagement with Ernestine von Fricken because of his feelings for Clara. However, Clara’s father disapproved Schumann and Clara’s relationship. He forbade them from seeing each other and kicked Schumann who he considered “ Taugenichts” (good for nothing) out of their house. Schumann and Clara still continued on their forbidden romance despite Clara’s father’s disapproval. Clara’s father did everything to prevent her from marrying Schumann, he even took Schumann to court. The fight then resolved when Clara was one day away from 21. They married after six years of the