Carl Wilhelm August Blum (1786 – 2 July 1844) was a German singer, librettist, stage actor, director, guitarist and opera and song composer.

Philip J. Bone Philip James Bone (29 January 1873 – 17 June 1964) was an English mandolinist and guitar player in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Life Bone was born and died in Luton. He studied guitar and mandolin with G. B. Marchiso at Trinity Col ...

wrote that Blum was "a universal genius, uniting in one person the poet, the dramatist, composer, singer and performer."Philip J. Bone: ''The Guitar and Mandolin. Biographies of Celebrated Players and Composers for these Instruments'' (London: Schott and Co., 1914), p. 42–45
/ref> He was composer to the Court of the King of Prussia. He has been confused with or named incorrectly in literature as Karl Ludwig Blum.Der Name Karl Ludwig Blum findet sich z. B. in

Meyers Konversations-Lexikon ' or ' was a major encyclopedia in the German language that existed in various editions, and by several titles, from 1839 to 1984, when it merged with the '. Joseph Meyer (1796–1856), who had founded the publishing house in 1826, intended ...

in der Auflage von 1888 (), im Tonkünstlerlexikon von Frank-Altmann (Paul Frank und

Wilhelm Altmann Wilhelm Altmann (4 April 1862 – 25 March 1951) was a German historian and musicologist. Altmann was born in Adelnau (Odolanów), Province of Posen, and died in Hildesheim Hildesheim (; nds, Hilmessen, Hilmssen; la, Hildesia) is a city in ...

: ''Kurzgefaßtes Tonkünstler-Lexikon. Für Musiker und Freunde der Musik'' (Regensburg, 1936), 15th ed. 1983, p. 61) und in der ADB (), dort ist allerdings im modernen Index der Online-Version die falsche Zuschreibung vermerkt. Gelegentlich nannte er sich wohl auch selbst so. Dies führt, auch in den Bibliothekskatalogen, zu wiederholten Verwechslungen mit dem Historiker

Karl Ludwig Blum Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austr ...

History and career

Blum studied guitar from age 15. He joined a group of traveling comedians in 1805, directed by Quandt, working as a singer and guitarist. After leaving the group for more musical study, he joined the Königsberger Theater in Berlin in 1810, working with C. von Weber. He became guitar instructor to the royal princesses and produced his first opera, ''Claudine de Villa Bella''. In 1817, he went to Vienna and became a student to Antionio Salieri. Here he composed the opera ''Das Rosen-Hütchen'' (''The Little Hat of Roses''), which was performed 39 times. In 1820, the

King of Prussia The monarchs of Prussia were members of the House of Hohenzollern who were the hereditary rulers of the former German state of Prussia from its founding in 1525 as the Duchy of Prussia. The Duchy had evolved out of the Teutonic Order, a Roman C ...

appointed him composer to the court, after his success in Vienna. There he taught guitar to German princesses. He visited Paris to study the styles of Boieldieu, Cherubini and Auber. After visiting London, he returned to Berlin in 1822, working there as the director of the royal theatre. In 1827, he directed the Königsstadt Theater. That same year he went to Italy and did no more theater work, but concentrated on composing. His opera ''The Orphan of Russia'' was performed in 1829. He introduced comic operas or vaudevilles to Germany, and his were preferred by Germans. Among his successful songs were compositions for the Austrian soprano Pauline Anna Milder-Hauptmann. The Harmonicon 1825, p. 162: "The concert of the greatest attraction has been that of the celebrated Madame Milder, on which occasion she sung, with great effect, the Troubadour, a new song, composed expressly for her by Carl Blum, accompanied by him on the guitar."

Books

* ''Jucunde: Dramatisches Taschenbuch für 1836'' (Berlin: Verlag von Theod. Chr. Fr. Enslin, 1835) * ''Die Musik: Anleitung, sich die nöthigen Kenntnisse zu verschaffen, um über alle Gegenstände der Musik richtige Urtheile fällen zu können; Handbuch für Freunde und Liebhaber dieser Kunst; nach dem französischen Werke des Herrn Fetis "La musique mise à la portée de tout le monde"'' (Berlin: Schlesinger, 1830)

Stage works

Original works

(mostly to his own libretto) * ''Karl der Zweite – Die Flucht nach Frankreich'' (f.p. Königsberg, 19 January 1812) * arias and songs to ''Zoraide, oder Die Mauren in Granada''. Lyric drama in 3 acts op. 65 (f.p. Berlin, 7 May 1817) * ''Der Schiffskapitän, oder Die Unbefangenen'' (f.p. Berlin, 8 June 1817) * ''Fortunata'' (f.p. Berlin, 5 June 1818) * arias and songs to the comic magic opera ''Das Rosenhütchen'', in 3 acts (f.p. Vienna, 28 June 1819) * ''Der Eremit von St. Avella'' (f.p. Berlin 24 April 1822) * ''Gänserich und Gänschen''. Vaudeville in 1 Act (f.p. Berlin, 25 October 1822) * arias and songs to the vaudeville ''Ein Stündchen vor dem Potsdammer Thore'', in 1 act (Berlin, c.1825) * ''Der Fischer und der Vogelsteller'' (f.p. Berlin, 27 February 1825) * ''Der Bramin(e)'', magic opera in 1 act (after Charles-Gaspard Delestre-Poirson) (f.p. Berlin, 22 December 1826) * ''Aladin die Wunderlampe'' (f.p. Berlin, 26 July 1828) * ''Doctor Johannes Faust, der wundertätige Magus der Nordens'' (libretto: Karl von Holtei) (f.p. Berlin, 10 January 1829) * ''Die Liebe in der Mädchenschule'' (f.p. Potsdam, 12 April 1830) * ''Friedrich August in Madrid'', drama in 5 acts (Leipzig: Leo, 1832) * ''Mary, Max und Michel'', comic opera in 1 act op. 133 (Berlin: M. Westphal.; E. Bote & G. Bock, 1836) * arias and songs to the opera buffa ''Bergamo'', in 2 acts (Berlin: Bloch, 1837) * ''Der Ball zu Ellerbrunn'' (after "La Fiera" by Alberto Nota) (Berlin: Bloch, n.d. 835. * ''Die Herrin von der Else'', drama in 5 acts (after James Sheridan Knowles)'s " The Hunchback") (Berlin: Bloch, 1837) * words to the vocal numbers in ''Der Spiegel des Tausendschön'', burlesque in 1 act (Hamburg: Wörmer junr's. Nachf., 1842) * ''Schwärmerei nach der Mode'', in: ''Theater'', vol. 3 (1844) * ''Erziehungs-Resultate, oder Guter und schlechter Ton'', comic play (Berlin: Schlesinger, 1844) * ''Tempora mutantur, oder: Die gestrengen Herren'' (after Jean Bayard) (Berlin: Schlesinger, 1844) * ''Die Mäntel, oder Der Schneider in Lissabon'', comic play in 1 act (Berlin: Bloch, 1864) * ''Ein Herr und eine Dame'', comic play in 1 act (Leipzig: Reclam, 1876) * ''Ich bleibe ledig'', comic play in 3 acts (Leipzig: Reclam, 1875) * ''Lisette, oder Borgen macht glücklich'', comic play in 1 act (Berlin: Bloch, n.d.)

Edited and translated

* arias and songs to the vaudeville ''Canonikus Ignaz Schuster'', in 1 act (after

Florent Carton Dancourt Florent Carton aka Dancourt (1 November 16617 December 1725), French dramatist and actor, was born at Fontainebleau. He belonged to a family of rank, and his parents entrusted his education to Pere de la Rue, a Jesuit, who made earnest efforts ...

) (f.p. Berlin, 5 June 1818) * arias and songs to the vaudeville-burlesque ''Der Bär und der Bassa'', in 1 act (after

Eugène Scribe Augustin Eugène Scribe (; 24 December 179120 February 1861) was a French dramatist and librettist. He is known for writing " well-made plays" ("pièces bien faites"), a mainstay of popular theatre for over 100 years, and as the librettist of m ...

) (f.p. Berlin, 15 December 1821) * arias and songs to the opera ''Die Pagen des Herzogs von Vendôme'', in 2 acts (libretto after Michel Dieulafoy) by Georg von Hofmann) (f.p. ;Vienna, 12 January 1820) * ''Die Nachtwandlerin'', singspiel in 2 acts (after Scribe) (f.p. Berlin, 24 June 1822) * some marches and choral numbers to the romantic opera ''Libussa'', in 3 acts by

Joseph Carl Bernard Joseph Karl Bernard (forenames also spelled Joseph Carl, Josef Karl and Josef Carl; 26 January 1780 – 31 March 1850) was an Austrian journalist and librettist, and friend of Ludwig van Beethoven. Life Bernard was born in Horatitz (present-day Ho� ...

, music by

Conradin Kreutzer Conradin Kreutzer or Kreuzer (22 November 1780 – 14 December 1849) was a German composer and conductor. His works include the operas ''Das Nachtlager in Granada'' and incidental music to ''Der Verschwender'', both produced in 1834 in Vienna. ...

(Berlin, 1823) * arias and songs to the singspiel ''Die Heirath im zwölften Jahre'', in 1 act (after Scribe) (f.p. Berlin, 7 April 1823) * ''Aline, Königin von Golconda'', grand ballet in 3 acts by

Jean Pierre Aumer Jean may refer to: People * Jean (female given name) * Jean (male given name) * Jean (surname) Fictional characters * Jean Grey, a Marvel Comics character * Jean Valjean, fictional character in novel ''Les Misérables'' and its adaptations * Jean ...

(Berlin, c.1825) * arias and songs to the singspiel in 2 scenes ''Der schönste Tag des Lebens'' (after Scribe's ''Le Plus beau jour de la vie'' (Berlin, 1826) * ''Herr von Ich'', comic play in 1 act (after

Pierre de Longchamps Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

) (Berlin, 1828) * ''Die Nachtwandlerin'', singspiel in 2 acts (after Scribe) (Berlin: Enslin, 1830) * ''Riquet der Haarbüschel'', fairy opera in 2 acts (after Nicolas Brazier's ''Riquet à la houpe'' and a fairy tale from 1001 nights (Berlin: Enslin, 1830) * vocal numbers to ''Fra Diavolo, oder Das Gasthaus in Terracina'', comic opera in 3 acts (music by Auber, text by Scribe) (Weimar, 1832) * ''Das laute Geheimniß'', romantic comic play in 5 acts (after Carlo Gozzi); in: ''Theater'', vol. 1 (1839) * ''Vicomte von Létorières'', comic play in 3 acts (after Jean-François Bayard) (Berlin: Schlesinger, 1844)

Works for guitar

* ''Exercises pour la guitare'', three volumes (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel) * ''Marche, danse et marmotte des Savoyards''. Divertissement pour la guitare (Copenhagen: C.C. Lose) * ''Divertissements progressifs pour la guitare'', vol. 1 op. 16; vol. 2 op. 17 (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, c.1817) * ''Studien für die Gitarre'' op. 44 (Berlin: Schlesinger) * ''Le Bouquet''. Trois Nocturnes for flute, violin and guitar op. 64. Contains: 1. ''La Rose''; 2. ''La Fleur de Lys''; 3. ''La Violette'' (Mainz: B. Schott's Söhne) * ''Grand potpourri brillant pour la guitare seule de l'opera 'La Muette' de Portici'' op. 98 (Berlin: Schlesinger) * ''Die Tänzerinnen''. 3 Rondoletten for violin and flute with an accompaniment of the piano or the guitar op. 122. Also published as ''Le Ballerine''. Contains: 1. ''La Villanella''; 2. ''La Cittadina''; 3. ''La Straniera'' (Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, c.1832) * ''Sérénade pour flute et guitare'' (Vienna: Pietro Mechetti) * Der Freischütz' von Carl Maria von Weber'', mit Begleitung der Guitarre eingerichtet von Carl Blum (Berlin: Schlesinger) * ''Der Schiffskapitän, oder Die Unbefangenen''. Vaudeville von Carl Blum, arranged as a trio for flute, violin and guitar by I.H.C. Bornhardt (Braunschweig: Musikalisches Magazine auf der Höhe)

Other compositions

* ''Gesaenge ernsten und launigen Inhalts für 2 Tenor und 2 Bassstimmen'' op. 22 (Leipzig: Breitkopf und Härtel, c.1818)

External links

Public domain sheet music for Carl Blum.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blum, Carl 1786 births 1844 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century German musicians Composers for the classical guitar German classical musicians Male classical composers 19th-century male musicians 19th-century musicians