Born in Bregenz, Vorarlberg, Austria, Schneider was adopted at age two by a couple of peasants and grew up in the village of Meschach near Götzis, where he still lives as a freelance writer.

[1][3] The book, telling the fictional story of the musician Johannes Elias Alder, became an international success, was translated into many languages, and was made part of school canons.

A film version was made in 1995, directed by Joseph Vilsmaier, which became the basis for a ballet at the Pfalztheater in Kaiserslautern, an opera by Herbert Willi, and several plays.

[1][3] Schneider's second novel, Die Luftgängerin [de], appeared in 1998, dealing with the rise and fall of the fictional town of Jakobsroth in the Rhine valley.

Schneider's 2007 novel Die Offenbarung [de] (The Revelation) deals with the finding of a score by Bach, which ruins the life of the lucky musicologist from Naumburg.