When Friedrich Wieck decided to abandon theology, which he had studied at the University of Wittenberg in the early years of the nineteenth century, he took the post of private tutor in the household of one Baron von Seckendorf. There he met and made friends with Adolf Bargiel, the piano teacher. Wieck himself was a self-taught musician and before long began to consider making some sort of career in music. He moved to Leipzig and, with the help of some influential friends, managed to find a few pupils. He had also started to compose and even had the temerity to dedicate some songs to Weber, to whom he sent them asking for candid criticism in return. By 1818 he had acquired a music-lending library and a small piano-hire business and had married Marianne Tromlitz, an accomplished singer and pianist. In September 1819 their daughter Clara was born.