Tragic, Brilliant Romantic!
A German composer, pianist and conductor of the early Romantic period, Felix Mendelssohn was born in Hamburg on February 3, 1809 to a Jewish family. One of the most gifted composers the world has ever known, he left an extraordinary body of work including symphonies, concerti, oratorios, piano and chamber music.

Among Mendelssohn's most memorable early works are the overture to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream, written in 1826 during his teenage years, and of course later the Wedding March (1842) still used in most wedding ceremonies even today!

Celebrate the 200th anniversary of Mendelssohn's birth with this new silver proof, the first in the new series of Great Composers to be released by the Perth Mint.

Poland's Fragile Hero!
Frederic Francois Chopin was a Polish pianist and composer who began as a child prodigy in Poland, his birthplace. At the age of 20 he left for Paris and made a career as a teacher and performer, and as a composer.

Chopin's compositions, which are mainly for the piano, include his Funeral March (part of his second piano sonata but composed long before the other parts) and the twenty-four études and are widely considered to be among the pinnacles of the piano repertoire. Always in fragile health, he succumbed to pulmonary tuberculosis at a young age, like his contemporary Mendelssohn. He was only 39 when he passed away in 1849.

Celebrate the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth with this new silver proof, the second in the series of Great Composers to be released by the Perth Mint.

200 Years of Musical Genius!
Robert Schumann was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is one of the most famous and important Romantic composers of the 19th century.

Schumann's personal life was as tumultuous as one would expect from a Romantic composer who was a contemporary of Mendelssohn and Chopin. He became engaged to the 16-year-old, illegitimate daughter of a Czech-born noble, then had to break things off to pursue his relationship with the 15-year-old daughter of his own piano master! This girl, Clara Wieck (a concert pianist in her own right) would become his wife a few years later, and work her entire widowhood to promote her late husband's legacy. Like his other famous, Romantic contemporaries, Schumann would die at a relatively young age. After attempting suicide, he was confined to a mental institution for the final two years of his life, at his own request.

Celebrate the 200th anniversary of Schumann's birth with this new silver proof, the third in the series of Great Composers to be released by the Perth Mint.