Jean Paul

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Lives of Poor Boys Who Became Famous by Sarah Knowles Bolton Jean-Paul Richter Vasari, who wrote the lives of the Italian painters, truly said, It is not by sleeping, but by working, waking, and laboring continually that proficiency is attained and reputation acquired.

This was emphatically true of Richter, as it is of every man or woman who wins a place in the memory of men.

The majority die after a commonplace life and are never heard of.

He got them back.

At seventeen he became acquainted with the writings of Jean-Paul Richter, then at the peak of his romantic fame.

Perhaps none of Robert's youthful encounters influenced him so profoundly.

Jean-Paul colored in one fashion or another everything he was to write or compose for years to come.

They were kindred souls, both the poet of lyric sentimentalisms, fantastic humors, moonlight raptures, dawns, twilights, tender ecstasies, and other stage settings and properties of romanticism, and his ardent and sensitive young worshiper.

But if more than any other Jean-Paul fired Robert's literary impulses, it was Franz Schubert who lent wings to his musical fancy.

His experience of Schubert began at the home of Dr. Ernst August Carus and his wife Agnes, exceptionally cultured musical amateurs.

Schubert was one of their particular enthusiasms, and Robert, whom the couple quickly took to their hearts, they nicknamed him Friedelen after a gentle page boy in one of Schiller's ballads, played four-hand compositions with Mrs. Carus, heard her sing Schubert's songs, and became familiar with a good deal of other music, including that of Spohr.

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For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Lives of Poor Boys Who Became Famous by Sarah Knowles Bolton Jean-Paul Richter Vasari, who wrote the lives of the Italian painters, truly said, It is not by sleeping, but by working, waking, and laboring continually that proficiency is attained and reputation acquired.

This was emphatically true of Richter, as it is of every man or woman who wins a place in the memory of men.

The majority die after a commonplace life and are never heard of.

Nothing came of it, but the youth preserved the program of that recital like a sacred relic.

zwickau duly woke up to the accomplishments of the wunder child in its midst the more prominent citizens invited him to play at their homes at the evening musicales of the gymnasium he performed things like moscheles variations on the alexander march and showpieces by herz much in vogue at the time auguste who had no use for half-baked artists thought of placing his boy under karl maria von weber but just about this time weber embarked on the journey to london from which he was never to return alive one person who was more pleased than grieved by the mischance was mother schumann who harbored an insurmountable dread of the breadless profession for her idolized boy never did she tire of describing its miseries the better to scare him off why not adopt a lucrative profession the law for instance and so for the time being robert remained at zwickau obtaining as he used to say later an ordinary high-school training studying music on the side and out of the fulness of his devotion but alone in the broadest sense he was to grow up like his father self-taught adolescence subdued the wildness which had so often characterized the schoolboy more and more robert became a dreamer he grew selective too in his choice of friends of whom he had relatively few one who stood closest to him was his sister-in-law teresa the wife of his brother auguste schumann who had always hoped that this youngest son might inherit his own literary and poetic tastes lived long enough to see the boy's talents developing along these lines robert kept diaries notebooks memoranda for verse and similar jottings he was scrupulously honest with himself in one scrap-book for instance he made this entry after some rhymed lines it was my dear mother who composed this lovely and simple poem in another case he wrote by my father and elsewhere not by me once he made a timid effort to break into print and sent some of his effusions to theodore hell otherwise karl winkler of the dresden abenseitung he got them back at seventeen he became acquainted with the writings of jean paul richter then at the peak of his romantic fame perhaps none of robert's youthful encounters influenced him so profoundly jean paul coloured in one fashion or another everything he was to write or compose for years to come they were kindred souls both the poet of lyric sentimentalisms fantastic humours moonlight raptures dawns twilights tender ecstasies and other stage settings and properties of romanticism and his ardent and sensitive young worshipper but if more than any other jean paul fired robert's literary impulses it was fran schubert who lent wings to his musical fancy his experience of schubert began at the home of dr ernst august carus and his wife agnes exceptionally cultured musical amateurs schubert was one of their particular enthusiasms and robert whom the couple quickly took to their hearts they nicknamed him friedelin after a gentle page-boy in one of schiller's ballads played four-hand compositions with mrs carus heard her sing schubert's songs and became familiar with a good deal of other music including that of spoor robert would not have been himself had he not come to look upon the worthy lady with a kind of exalted devotion soon we find him expressing the state of his feelings in his best or worst jean paul manner i feel now for the first time the pure the highest love which does not for ever sip from the intoxicating cup of sensual pleasures but finds its happiness only in tender contemplation and in reverence were i a smile i would hover round her eyes were i joy i would skip softly through her pulses were i a tear i would weep with her and if she then smiled again i would gladly die on her eyelash and gladly, yes, gladly, be no more.

Shortly after his father's death, he had suffered two cases of calf love, one for a person called Liddy, the other for a certain Nanny.

First he found them glorious maidens whom he longed to adore like the Madonnas he felt sure they were.

No wonder Christiane Schumann was frightened by the idea that her Robert might, for all her efforts, land in the breadless profession.

Successful barristers might easily indulge their champagne tastes, but certainly not musicians lacking even beer pocketbooks.

in schneeberg a town near zwickau robert played publicly and with immense success a concerto movement by karl brenner alone among his enthusiastic listeners his mother remained cool soon her wishes prevailed and though both she and rudel were aware of the youth's eternal soul struggle between music and the law robert made a promise of a sort to embrace jurisprudence and so at easter eighteen twenty eight we find him enrolled at the university of leipsic as a scarcely arrived in leipsic he struck up a warm friendship with another law student gisbert rosen who shared robert's poetic enthusiasms particularly his devotion to jean paul rosen was on the point of removing to heidelberg to continue his legal studies and schumann quickly formed a plan to accompany his friend on his journey with a few stopovers on the way after a short visit to zwickau the two made a pilgrimage to bayreuth where jean paul's widow still lived and where the young men visited every spot which had been sanctified by the presence of their idol they continued to munich by way of nuremberg and augsburg where robert obtained from a friend of his father a letter of introduction to heinrich heine then in munich he had a lovely conversation with the poet possibly if the latter had been able to foresee that the youth before him would become some years later one of the greatest musical interpreters of his lyrics he might have treated him with more warmth than he did the law was quite as chilling and distasteful as he had foreseen in a few weeks he wrote to his mother telling among other things that cold jurisprudence which crushes one with its icy cold definitions at the very beginning cannot please me medicine i will not and theology i cannot study yet there is no other way i must tackle jurisprudence however cold however dry it may be All will go well, and I won't look with anxious eyes into the future, which can still be so happy if I do not falter.

Actually, Robert's mind was made up from the start.