ShmoopTube

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Here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Although... he

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was pretty peeved when he found out the passage wasn't about him.

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According to the passage, why was Schumann an exception to the other musicians of his time?

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By this point, we've read and skimmed through the passage a couple times, so we're prepared

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to face these answer choices without any... crutches.

00:51

We know choice (C) is wrong for sure because the passage barely mentions Mozart at all.

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Brahms is mentioned, but only in that Shumann was totally star-struck when he met him.

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No doubt about it, answer (C) is off the table. Choice (D) isn't looking so great either.

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The passage doesn't say whether or not touring was expected of European musicians, while

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it does say that Schumann accompanied his wife, Clara, on tour throughout Europe.

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So, (D) is just plain wrong.

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What about choice (A)?

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Nope, we can get rid of this one too. The passage tells us that Schumann composed his

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first little dances when he was seven or eight and was taking piano lessons at the time.

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Wonder what kind of dances those were?

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Choice (B) is mentioned in the first paragraph of the passage, making it the right answer.

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According to the passage, Schumann wasn't exposed to music at a young age like a bunch

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of other famous composers.

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Wow, and we thought 7 was a pretty impressive age to start one's musical career...

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