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 Mathilda Faisst Clara Mathilda Faisst Clara Mathilda Faisst (22 June 1872 – 22 November 1948) was a German pianist, composer and writer. Faisst was born in Karlsruhe, Baden. She studied music at the Karlsruhe Conservatory and later traveled to Berlin, then in Prussia, to study under the noted pianist Max Bruch (1838 – 1920). After completing her studies, she worked as a pianist, music teacher and composer. During World War II, Faisst conducted house concerts. She was a prolific composer, producing over a hundred separate works, including ballads, choral pieces and sonatas for violin and piano. She corresponded with Albert Schweitzer and