Robert Schumann's Scenes of Childhood op. 15 (1838), Album for the Young op. 68 (1848) and Forest Scenes op. 82 (1848/1849) play a major role when learning how to play the piano as they occupy an important place in the transition from piano methods to the great piano literature. At the same time, they provide a wonderful introduction to the world of Romanticism.

When Schumann composed the Scenes of Childhood, he was not yet married to Clara and was fighting her father's disapproval. When he wrote the Album for the Young, whose starting point was a small collection of his own pieces and arrangements of pieces by other composers for his eldest daughter's seventh birthday, Clara had already given birth to five children and lost one again. While in Scenes of Childhood a reflection on childhood takes place, Album for the Young actually consists of pieces for early piano lessons. Finally, the Forest Scenes, written almost in parallel, go down in history as prime examples of Romantic character pieces in their idealization of nature as well as an expression of escapism against the backdrop of the revolutionary events of 1848-49.