Clara Schumann, née Wieck, was a pianist and composer. She went on a number of concert tours and was considered to be one of the top European pianists at the age of only sixteen. Around this time she was composing virtuoso works for piano. She married Robert Schumann in 1840.

Stations in life:
Leipzig, Frankfurt am Main, Baden-Baden, Berlin

Wagner, whose life was no less impressive than his operas, is undoubtedly one of the greatest figures of the 19th century. He is the only composer in history to have created his own "temple" - at Bayreuth.

Stations in life:
Leipzig, Weimar, Munich, Bayreuth

Georg Philipp Telemann was born in Magdeburg in 1881. He was an exceptionally successful musician and held posts in Poland before moving to Frankfurt am Main. He later became director of music at Hamburg's five principal churches, a role that he accepted in preference to a post at St. Thomas' Church, Leipzig... for which J.S. Bach was to be grateful...

Stations in life:
Magdeburg, Leipzig, Frankfurt, Hamburg

Robert Schumann was born in Zwickau in 1810. He was profoundly influenced by E.T.A. Hoffmann, writer of Die Elixiere des Teufels (The Devil's Elixir), whose passionate visions were played out with a bitter twist when insanity struck and ended Schumann's life. His genius burnt itself out, as if his body was unable to withstand the fire of his creative enthusiasm. His wife, Clara, could only look on helplessly. In his 46 years of life, however, Robert Schumann composed some of the most inspired, passionate music of the 19th century.

Stations in life:
Zwickau, Leipzig, Heidelberg, Bonn

Max Reger, one of the most prolific of late-Romantic German composers, was an enormously energetic and creative artist. He was born in 1873 in the small village of Brand in the Upper Palatinate. Reger is best known for his works for organ, which his friend Karl Straube, cantor of St. Thomas' Church, Leipzig, championed and performed all his life. Even at a young age, Reger was told by his teacher Hugo Riemann, "You can be a second Bach, if you wish". When the tireless Reger died in Leipzig in 1916, he left behind a wealth of distinguished compositions.

Stations in life:
Brand, Leipzig

Felix Mendelssohn was born in 1809 in Hamburg. Despite his untimely death at the age of 38, his legacy of works is vast. Born into a wealthy banking family, young Felix had a sheltered upbringing, shielded from the trials and tribulations of life. His piano works, his symphonies and the famous overture to A Midsummer Night's Dream all share the same carefree and unburdened feel.

Stations in life:
Hamburg, Berlin, Leipzig: Conductor at the Gewandhaus

Born in Eisenach, J.S. Bach was one of the greatest musical geniuses the world has ever known. Ludwig van Beethoven remarked that, rather than Bach (brook), he ought to have been called Meer (sea). J.S. Bach's cantatas, passions, concertos and works for organ and piano are some of mankind's most precious cultural heritage. The last major post Bach held before his death was at St. Thomas' Church in Leipzig.

Stations in life:
Eisenach, Leipzig