By the next year Schumann had suffered a deep sorrow in the loss of his mother, and also his love for Ernestine began to cool, until the partial bond was amicably dissolved.  Meanwhile his affection for Clara Wieck, who was just budding into womanhood, began to ripen into devoted love.  This, too, was the beginning of the long struggle for the possession of his beloved, since the father had opposed such a connection from beginning to end.  Schumann wrote a friend in 1839:  “Truly from the struggle Clara has cost me, much music has been caused and created; the Concerto, Sonatas, Davidsbuendler Dances, Kreisleriana and Novellettes are the result.”  Beyond the compositions just mentioned, he relieved his oppressed heart by a composition rich in meaning—­nothing less than the great Fantaisie, Op. 17.  He meant to contribute the profits from its sale to the fund for the erection of a monument to Beethoven.  The titles to the three movements were “Ruins,” “Triumphal Arch,” “Starry Crown.”  He afterwards gave up the whole idea, and dedicated the work to Franz Liszt.

Schumann lived a quiet, busy life, and if he could have gained the consent of Clara’s father for their union, he would have been supremely happy.  He feared the principal reason of Wieck’s refusal was that the young man should earn more money first, before thinking of settling down with a wife.  Robert therefore reverted more seriously to a plan he had thought of, to go to Vienna, and move his paper to that city, hoping to better his fortunes.  He felt, too, that he ought to travel, as he had remained in Leipsic for eight years without change.

Thus, by the end of September, 1838, Schumann started for Vienna with many high hopes.  A friend invited him to remain at his house, which was of much advantage.  He made many calls and visits, saw musicians and publishers, and really learned to know the city for itself.  He found it would not be profitable for him to publish the Journal there, also that the Austrian capital was a no more propitious place to make one’s fortune than the smaller town of Leipsic.  However he was able to compose a number of works which have become among the best known and beloved of all, including the “Arabesque,” “Faschingsschwank,” or “Carnival Strains from Vienna,” the “Night Pieces,” Op. 24, and other short compositions.

When Robert discovered Vienna was not the city to prosper in, he thought of a return to Leipsic, to win his bride.  He came back in April, and succeeded, with the help of legal proceedings, in securing Clara’s hand in marriage.  This was in 1840.  From now on Schumann began to write songs.  In this one year he composed as many as a hundred and thirty-eight songs, both large and small.  He writes at this time:  “The best way to cultivate a taste for melody, is to write a great deal for the voice and for independent chorus.”

He now began to express himself not only in song but in orchestral music.  His first effort was the beautiful B flat major Symphony, which, with the songs of that time seems to embody all the happiness he enjoyed in winning his Clara.  She proved a most admirable helpmate, trying to shield him from interruptions and annoyance of every sort, so he should have his time undisturbed for his work.  Thus many of his best compositions came into being in the early years of wedded happiness.