Robert Schumann (1810-1856)
The World's Greatest Composer

Schumann's piano music has always had a place in the concert hall.  His wife, Clara, was an accomplished pianist, as was he. For many people, it's the only Schumann they know.
Although I enjoy listening to it, and have included excerpts of a couple of his most famous solo piano works here, his piano music is not why I rate Schumann as the world's greatest composer, and so this section is much shorter than you might otherwise think.

Carnaval Op.9 (1834-1835)
Carnaval is a festival before Lent, and this is a series of 22 short piano pieces representing masked revellers at the festival.

Estrella    
Marche des Davidbundler conte les Philistins  

Kinderszenen (Scenes from Childhood) Op.15 (1838)
This is a set of 13 solo piano pieces, includes Traumerei (Dreaming), possibly the most famous Schumann piece of them all.  They represent the adult Schumann recalling nostalgically his childhood

A strange Story   
Dreaming