A novella:

The Poor Musician.

by Franz Grillparzer

The poor, half-witted fiddler, shipwrecked in life, coddling his woe as the last sweet treasure it has left him, pouring it forth in the midnight solitude of his chamber in music that is music to none but the illusioned player — such is resignation.

"The Poor Musician" is an autobiographical novella by Austria's famous dramatist and poet Franz Grillparzer (1791-1872).
Rounded and compacted, and yet saturated with the sad tragedy of his own isolation — it is the most artistic work we have from his pen. For the student of Grillparzer-psychology it is a veritable treasure trove.
"The Poor Musician" was the one piece of his creative genius that unflinchingly grappled with the great problem of resignation; the one piece that pictured resignation; but also the one piece that made resignation itself tragic.

Authors and titles on this site: Bernhard Kellermann: "God's Beloved", E. T. A. Hoffmann: "The Sandman. The Elementary Spirit.", Franz Grillparzer: "The Poor Musician", Gottfried Keller: "A Village Romeo and Juliet", Gotthold Ephraim Lessing: "Minna von Barnhelm", Heinrich Heine: "The Rabbi of Bacharach", Heinrich von Kleist: "Michael Kohlhaas", Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach: "Krambambuli" and "The District Doctor", Theodor Fontane: "Trials and Tribulations. A Berlin Novel", Theodor Storm: "The Rider of the White Horse" ("The Dikegrave").