At the age of nineteen Klein was in Paris for a brief time when he received encouragement from Choron but little help from Cherubini. He was essentially a self-taught musician and upon his departure from Paris, returned to his home in Cologne and was allowed to conduct non-professional concerts in the cathedral. Klein was afforded the opportunity of traveling to Berlin to study the teaching techniques of Zelter. This came about because of the recognition of his talent by Thibaut who also became Klein's friend. He stayed in Berlin becoming acquanited with the Institute for Church Music and taught singing at the University. He spent a year in Rome where he met Santini and was able to study about earlier music. Klein was recognized for his sacred choral pieces and notably dubbed the "German Palestrina." Masses and oratorios composed by Klein were reminiscent of Handel. Though later criticized by Schumann, Klein set the words of his songs in a simple syllabic style. The number of lieder that Klein composed exceeded one hundred. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi