As one of the driving forces of the young Romantic movement, Robert Schumann influenced the development of a new style. And although he did not seem to be destined to become a composer, music soon became very important to him, displaying multiple talents in performance and composition.
ROBERT SCHUMANN.
~~* HIS LIFE *~~.
In Zwickau, Germany on June 8, 1810 Robert Alexander Schumann was to bookseller father, Friedrich August Schumann, and mother, Johanna (Christiane Schnabel). By being an author, publisher, and lover of books, Friedrich Schumann influenced his child's younger years; Robert spent much of his time reading books such as the Greek classics, the imaginary Romantic tales of Byron and Sir Walkter Scott, as well as other Romantic literature and poetry. Literature interested Robert so much that when he was fifteen he created a small society among his friends to interpret readings. He wished to become a poet saying, "I possess imagination, but I am not a profound thinker."" He later added, "The strange thing is that where my feelings make themselves most strongly felt I am forced to cease being a poet; at such times I can never arrive at adequate ideas."".
Robert not only had a passion for literature, but also developed an interest for the organ and piano. Beginning piano study with Johann Gottfried Kuntzsch at the young age of six, Robert almost immediately started writing music; with his father's encouragement, he began composing small pieces at the age of seven. Friedrich made attempts to get Karl Maria von Weber as a composition teacher for his talented son, but unfortunately Robert's father died at this point, leaving Schumann to live under the rule of his mother: a stubborn, strong-willed, and dull woman.
Following his father's death in 1826, Schumann decided to choose music rather than poetry as his future; however, Schumann's mother had her heart set on his becoming a lawyer and she rejected his musical and literary interests as the "indiscretion of youth.