Robert Schumann was one of the most gifted composers of the early nineteenth century. He was a true Romantic, a free spirit who broke away from musical convention and who had a distinctive gift for lyrical melancholy. Yet apart from his songs, he received slow recognition in his lifetime, a fact that must have contributed to his mental breakdown and early death. He composed three Piano Trios, the Trio in G minor, a work of lyrical beauty, coming at the peak of his career in 1851. Fantasiestücke, compiled from four pieces he wrote in 1842, shows Schumann breaking away from traditional forms. With the demand for trios exceeding supply, a number of his works were transcribed for piano, violin and cello, including the charming Six Pieces in Canonic Form, Op. 56.