Theodor Kirchner was well liked by many important composers of the 19th century, but he struggled to keep a steady career. This difficulty came from his disorderly lifestyle, which included spending too much money and having a gambling addiction. Born in Neukirchen near Chemnitz, he was already skilled at playing the organ and piano by the time he was eight years old. Between 1838 and 1842, he studied piano with J. Knorr and organ and theory with K. F. Becker in Leipzig. Kirchner also learned from J. Schneider in Dresden and briefly attended the Leipzig Conservatory. In 1843, thanks to a recommendation from Mendelssohn, Kirchner became the organist in Winterthur, Switzerland. He stayed there for nearly twenty years but traveled often around Germany, becoming friends with Robert and Clara Schumann and Brahms. Clara Schumann liked him a lot but noted that he lacked stability, and they seem to have had a quiet affair during the early 1860s. Kirchner moved to Zurich in 1862 to lead subscription concerts, although this job only lasted three years. From 1862 to 1872, Kirchner taught at a music school in Zurich. He married in 1868, but the marriage did not work well. After working as an organist in Zurich starting in 1870, he became a court pianist in Meiningen in 1872. The following year, he was named director of the Conservatory in Würzburg and stayed until 1875. Between 1876 and 1883, he lived in Leipzig, then taught score reading in Dresden until 1890. Later, Brahms and other famous musicians raised money for him to pay off large debts. In 1890, Kirchner left his wife and family and moved to Hamburg, where a former student took care of him. He suffered two strokes that left him paralyzed in 1894 and was completely blind in the later part of his life. Kirchner passed away in Hamburg on September 18, 1903. He was respected by many well-known composers, including Mendelssohn, Robert Schumann, Brahms, Liszt, Wagner, Dvořák, and Grieg.