Schumann

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family at Leipzig. There, Schumann developed his piano technique to a virtuoso level through intensive study and vigorous practicing. In 1831 Schumann began to study counterpoint with Heinrich Dorn, conductor of the Leipzig Opera, along with his multiple other studies.
Schumann soon began composing some incredible piano works such as the Papillons, the Paganini Etudes, Six Intermezzi, and the Toccata, yet not so long afterwards he had trouble with his hands. Because of a devise to strengthen his fingers, but more likely due to remedies for a syphilitic sore, performing on the piano became an increasingly difficult task and eventually impossible, since his right hand had become crippled. Suddenly, Schumann had to accept that his virtuoso career had finished before it even began. In a letter to his mother of November 1832 he wrote, “for my part, I’m completely resigned [to my lame finger], and deem it incurable.”
Although, his performing career had ended, he was not at a dead-end, so Schumann’s view of himself shifted from compos...