Joseph Joachim Raff (May 27, 1822 - June 24 or June 25, 1882)was a composer, teacher and pianist. Raff was born in Lachen in Switzerland. He was largely self-taught in music, studying the subject while working as a schoolmaster. He sent some of his piano compositions to Felix Mendelssohn who recommended them to Breitkopf and Härtel for publication. They were published in 1844 and received a favourable review in Robert Schumann's journal, the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, which prompted Raff to go to Zürich and take up composition full time. Read more on Last.fm