Finally, his mother gave up her control over his life, and he was free to return to Leipzig to study music with Friedrich Wieck. Schumann practised continually to make up for his late start, but he had problems with the fingers of his right hand. His hopes of becoming a pianist ended, but he was able to turn his creativeness towards composing.
During the same time period (the 1830's), his literary abilities produced The New Journal for Music. This music journal became one of the most important works in Europe.
Through his studying with Friedrich Wieck, Schumann met Clara Wieck. She was only eleven years old and a prodigy. Robert Schumann realized that he was in love with her after studying with her father for several years. Yet, her father refused to allow Clara to marry him. No doubt, a controlling father who saw Clara as the greatest achievement of his life. The couple appealed to the courts as Clara wasn't of legal age, and their marriage finally took place when she was twenty-one and Robert thirty. This was in 1840. It also was the "year of song" for Robert Schumann. He produced over a hundred lieder during this year.
Clara and Robert worked side by side in their careers, and she became one of the greatest interpreters of Robert's music. During the next ten years, she contributed greatly to the spread of his fame by performing his piano works.
In spite of his fame, his love for Clara and her love for him, plus their seven children, he began to withdraw from the world. And in 1844, he suffered a severe mental breakdown. After a move to Dresden, he seemed to recover, but depression continued to haunt him.
In 1850, Schumann was appointed as a music director, but he was ill-suited for public life due to his increasing periods of intense depression. After giving up his post, he traveled with Clara and his music was well received, but his mental health continued to deteriorate. He began to experience auditory hallucinations. His last melody was a theme, which he felt had been brought to him by the spirits of Schubert and Mendelssohn. Soon afterwards, in a deep depression, he threw himself into the Rhine River. He was rescued, but Clara had to place him in a private asylum. He died two years later.
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