The love for music grew with each day.  With a boy of his own age, as devoted as himself to music, four-hand works of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, as well as pieces by Weber, Hummel and Czerny, were played almost daily.  The greatest ecstasy was caused by the arrival of a Steck piano at the Schumann home, which showed that father Schumann endeavored to further his boy’s taste for music.  About this time Robert found by chance, the orchestral score of an old Italian overture.  He conceived the bold idea of performing it.  So a bit of an orchestra was gathered among the boys he knew, who could play an instrument.  There were two violins, two flutes, a clarinet and two horns.  Robert, who conducted with great fervor, supplied as best he could the other parts on the piano.

This effort was a great incentive to the boys, principally to Robert, who began to arrange things for his little band and composed music for the one hundred fiftieth Psalm.  This was in his twelfth year.

August Schumann was more and more convinced that Providence had intended his son to become a musician, and though the mother struggled against it, he resolved to see that Robert had a musical education.  Carl Maria von Weber, then living in Dresden, was written to, and answered he was willing to accept the boy as a student.  The plan never came to anything however, for what reason is not known.  The boy was left now to direct his own musical studies, just when he needed an expert guiding hand.  He had no rivals in his native town, where he sometimes appeared as a pianist.  It was no wonder he thought he was on the right road, and that he tried more than ever to win his mother’s consent to his following music as a life work.

And now a great change took place in the lively, fun-loving boy.  He seemed to lose his gay spirits and become reflective, silent and reserved.  This condition of mind never left him, but grew into a deeper reserve as the years passed.

Two events deeply stirred Robert’s nature with great force—­the death of his father in 1826, and his acquaintance with the works of Jean Paul.  The Jean Paul fever attacked him in all its transcendentalism, and this influence remained through life, with more or less intensity.

After his father left him, Robert found he must make a choice of a profession.  His mother had set her heart on his making a study of law, while his heart was set on music.  Yielding to her wishes for a time he went to Leipsic in March 1828 to prepare to enter the University as a student of law.  He also gained consent to study piano at the same time, and began lessons with Frederick Wieck.  The desire to study with Wieck was inspired by the piano playing of his little daughter, Clara, then nine years old, who had already gained a considerable degree of musical culture and promised to make her mark as a pianist.

Under his new teacher, Robert for the first time was obliged to study a rational system of technic and tone production.  He was also expected to learn harmony correctly, but strangely enough he seemed to take no interest in it, even saying he thought such knowledge useless.  He held to this foolish idea for some time, not giving it up till forced to by realizing his total ignorance of this branch of the art.