Robert Schumann Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. His teacher, Friedrich Wieck, a German pianist, had assured Schumann that Robert could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury ended this dream. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing. In 1840, after a long and acrimonious legal battle with Wieck, who opposed the marriage, Schumann married Wieck's daughter
Clara Fisher States. She made her debut on the American stage at the Park Theatre to rave reviews. She was the "favorite Star" of every city where she performed. She "electrified" audiences with her portrayals of Ophelia, Viola, Cherubino and Susanna. She sparked a "Clara Fisher craze". Poems were written about her and her name was given to babies, hotels, stagecoaches, race horses, steamboats and almost anything else Americans could think of. Her plays were attended by the social and political elite of the time. In December 1834, Fisher married James Gaspard Maeder (1809–1876), a composer and vocal coach who wrote an