At fourteen he wrote an essay on the aesthetics of music and also contributed to a volume, edited by his father, entitled "Portraits of Famous Men”.
In 1828 he left school, and after a tour, during which he met Heinrich Heine in Munich, he went to Leipzig to study law.
In 1829 he abandoned the pursuit, and instead, to use his own words, "Nature's pupil pure and simple" began composing songs.