Advice To Young Musicians

"No musician, no amateur, no beginner ought to be without this book, for it contains on thirty pages more golden words of wisdom and truth with regard to musical matters than can be found in many of the most compendious works on music we have been obliged to peruse." -The Musical Review and Musical World, Vol. 11, 1860

The short treasure on the mastery of music and living.

Presented here in English and the original German, here is the timeless, charming, crucial little book of wisdom, wonderful quotes and advice on what it really means to be a musician. The great Romantic composer Robert Schumann wrote this book as an inspiration to his own young children. The precepts in this book will inform, amuse, and inspire musicians of all ages.

Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, (8 June 1810 - 29 July 1856) was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law to return to music, intending to pursue a career as a virtuoso pianist. He had been assured by his teacher Friedrich Wieck that he could become the finest pianist in Europe, but a hand injury caused by a device he created to develop the strength and independence of his fingers ended this dream. One of the most promising careers as a pianist had thus come to an end. Schumann then focused his musical energies on composing.

Schumann's published compositions were written exclusively for the piano until 1840; he later composed works for piano and orchestra; many lieder (songs for voice and piano); four symphonies; an opera; and other orchestral, choral, and chamber works. His writings about music appeared mostly in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik (New Journal for Music), a Leipzig-based publication which he jointly founded.

In 1840, Schumann married pianist Clara Wieck, daughter of his former teacher, when she legally came of age at 21. They no longer needed her father's consent, which had been the subject of a long and acrimonious legal battle. Clara also composed music and had a considerable concert career.

(cover photograph courtesy of Alessandra Lobo)