The German composer Schumann (1810.6.8~1856.7.29) was born in Zwickau, a remote town in Germany. His father was a bookseller and loved literature, his mother was the daughter of a famous surgeon, and Schumann was his last son. At the age of 8, he studied music from the organist of Santa Maria Church. Started composing music at the age of 9. At the age of 14, he determined to be a pianist. But his father hoped that he could achieve something in literature. Schumann also liked to read literary works by Goethe, Byron, Hoffmann and others, and tried to write poetry. After his father's death in 1826, Schumann followed his mother's orders and entered the University of Leipzig to study law in 1828. While in college, he found the courses he studied very boring, but he devoted a lot of energy to learning piano from the famous piano teacher Friedrich Wieck in Leipzig after class, and published some piano works one after another. He also traveled to Switzerland, Italy and other places, listened to the performance of Paganini, the most famous violinist at the time, in Frankfurt, and determined to devote himself to the art of piano performance. In 1830, he returned to Leipzig and lived in Wik's house. While continuing to learn piano from Wik, he also studied composition theory with conductor Heinrich Donne. Wik came forward to persuade Schumann's mother, and finally got him. With his mother's approval, he gave up law and switched to music. In 1831, he submitted an article to the "Music Newspaper" run by Fink, and began his writing activities. In a review, he praised Chopin, who was still unknown at the time, and declared to people: "Gentlemen, please take off your hats! What is in front of you is a genius!" In 1832, in order to improve his piano skills, he strengthened his fingers. Due to his lack of flexibility, he used a mechanical method of his own design to practice the piano, resulting in a sprained index finger. Treatment failed, so he was forced to give up his ideal of becoming a pianist and turned to a composing career focusing on piano creation. In 1833, in order to maintain and promote the development of new art, Schumann and some young intellectuals founded the "New Music Newspaper" in Leipzig, with Schumann serving as editor-in-chief. In the name of Florestan and Eusebius, two members of the imaginary "David League", he personally wrote commentaries to explain his artistic thoughts. In 1837, Schumann had a lifelong private engagement with Clara, the daughter of his teacher Vic, but Vic firmly opposed it. When he went to Vienna in 1838 to expand the "New Music News", Schumann discovered the posthumous manuscript of Schubert's "Symphony No. 9 in C major" and brought it back to Leipzig, where it was premiered by Mendelssohn. After his marriage to Clara went to court, they finally got married in 1840. The joy of winning love made him immersed in happiness, and his creative enthusiasm was extremely high. In 1840 alone, he wrote the famous vocal suites "Poet's Love", "Women's Love and Life" and 138 songs. Schumann called this year his "Year of Song." In 1841, with Clara's encouragement, he turned to orchestral music creation and composed the First Symphony "Spring". In 1842, he studied the string quartets of Haydn and Mozart with Clara and devoted himself to the creation of chamber music. In 1843, he served as professor of composition and piano at the Leipzig Conservatoire founded by Mendelssohn. In 1844, his depression worsened, and convalescence in the Harz Mountains failed. In December of the same year, he moved to Dresden. After recovery, his creativity returned. In 1848, the European middle-class revolution broke out. Schumann responded enthusiastically and composed songs such as "Take Up Arms", "Song of Freedom", "Black, Red and Gold" and "Ode to Heroes". In 1849, Schumann composed the piano collection "Forest Scenes" and many other original and distinctive musical works. In 1850, he was hired as conductor by the Dusseldorf Symphony Orchestra. During this period, he composed works such as "Third Symphony". Later, due to mental illness, the band and chorus members were dissatisfied and had to resign midway. In 1853, when he and Clara traveled to the Netherlands to perform, they met Brahms through Joachim's introduction, and wrote a famous essay introducing Brahms, which is also the last work of his music criticism. However, his condition continued to worsen. In February 1854, he escaped from his family, ran away alone, and threw himself into the Rhine River. Fortunately, he was rescued by a fisherman. In March of the same year, he was admitted to a mental hospital in Endenich, a suburb of Bonn, for treatment. He died there two years later. He was 46 years old.

Schumann (1810～1856)

Klara when she was in love with Schumann