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 ''Das Nachtlager in Granada'' (''The Night Camp in Granada'') is a romantic opera in two acts by Conradin Kreutzer. The libretto is by based on Johann Friedrich Kind's 1818 drama of the same name. Performance history The premiere of a first vers ...

'' and

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as th ...

to ''Der Verschwender'', both produced in 1834 in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

Biography

Born in

Meßkirch Meßkirch (; Swabian: ''Mässkirch'') is a town in the district of Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. The town was the residence of the counts of Zimmern, widely known through Count Froben Christoph's '' Zimmern Chronicle'' (1559� ...

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

, Kreutzer abandoned his studies in the law (

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

) and went to Vienna about 1804, where he met

Ludwig van Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...

Joseph Haydn Franz Joseph Haydn ( ; ; 31 March 173231 May 1809) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. He was instrumental in the development of chamber music such as the string quartet and piano trio. His contributions ...

and may have studied with

Johann Georg Albrechtsberger Johann Georg Albrechtsberger (3 February 1736 – 7 March 1809) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist, widely regarded as one of the leading figures in counterpoint and composition theory during the Classical period. He was a prol ...

, while he tried his hand unsuccessfully at

singspiel A Singspiel (; plural: ; ) is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, which is alternated with ensembles, songs, ballads, and arias which were often strophic, or folk- ...

e. He spent 1811–12 in Stuttgart, where at least three of his operas were staged and he was awarded the post of Hofkapellmeister. He was from 1812 to 1816 Kapellmeister to the king of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

. Once he was successful, he became a prolific composer, and wrote a number of operas for the

Theater am Kärntnertor or (Duchy of Carinthia, Carinthian Gate Theatre) was a prestigious theatre in Vienna during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Its official title was (Imperial and Royal Court Theatre of Vienna). History The theatre was built in 170 ...

Theater in der Josefstadt The Theater in der Josefstadt is a theater in Vienna in the eighth district of Josefstadt. It was founded in 1788 and is the oldest still performing theater in Vienna. It is often referred to colloquially as simply ''Die Josefstadt''. Following ...

and

Theater an der Wien The is a historic theatre in Vienna located on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district. Completed in 1801, the theatre has hosted the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music. Since 2006, it has served prim ...

, which have disappeared from the stage. In 1840, he became conductor of the opera at

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

. His daughters, Cecilia and Marie Kreutzer, were sopranos of some renown. Kreutzer owes his fame almost exclusively to ''Das Nachtlager in Granada'' (1834), which kept the stage for half a century in spite of changes in musical taste. It was written in the style of

Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (5 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor, virtuoso pianist, guitarist, and Music criticism, critic in the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Best known for List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber, h ...

. The same qualities are found in Kreutzer's part-songs for men's voices, which at one time were extremely popular in Germany. Among these "Das ist der Tag des Herrn" ("The Lord's Day"). His Septet for wind and strings, Op. 62, remains in the

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of Musical instrument, instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a Great chamber, palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music ...

repertory. He was one of the 50 composers who wrote a variation on a waltz of

Anton Diabelli Anton (or Antonio) Diabelli (5 September 17818 April 1858) was an Austrian music publisher, editor and composer. Best known in his time as a publisher, he is most familiar today as the composer of the waltz on which Ludwig van Beethoven wrote ...

for Part II of the "

Vaterländischer Künstlerverein ''Vaterländischer Künstlerverein'' was a collaborative musical publication or anthology, incorporating 83 variations for piano on a theme by Anton Diabelli, written by 51 composers living in or associated with Austria. It was published in tw ...

" (published 1824). He died in

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

Selected works

Operas * ''Die Alpenhütte'', Oper (

August von Kotzebue August Friedrich Ferdinand von Kotzebue (, ; – ) was a German playwright, who had also worked as a Russian diplomat. In 1817, one of Kotzebue's books was burned during the Wartburg festival. He was murdered in 1819 by Karl Ludwig Sand, a ...

), 1 March 1815, Stuttgart * ''Libussa'', romantische Oper (

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 ...

) 4 December 1822, Vienna,

* ''Melusina'', romantische Oper (

Franz Grillparzer Franz Seraphicus Grillparzer (15 January 1791 – 21 January 1872) was an Austrian writer who was considered to be the leading Austrian dramatist of the 19th century. His plays were and are frequently performed at the Burgtheater in Vienna. He ...

) 27 February 1833, Berlin, Königstädtisches Theater * ''

'', romantische Oper (Karl Johann Braun von Braunthal) 13 January 1834, Vienna,

* ''Der Taucher'' (The Diver) Chamber works * Septet in E-flat, Op. 62 for clarinet, horn, bassoon, string trio, double bass (c.1816) * Clarinet Trio in E-flat major, Op. 43 * Duo in C major * Fantasia for Bassoon in F major * Variations in G for the Chromatic Trumpet * Variations in B-flat major for Bassoon and Piano Orchestral works * Piano Concerto No. 1 in B-flat major, Op. 42 (1818) * Piano Concerto No. 2 in C-minor, Op. 50 (1822) * Piano Concerto No. 3 in E-flat major, Op. 65 Choral works * Te Deum in D major, KWV 3301 * ''Abendlied'' Vocal works * ''Das Mühlrad'' song for Soprano, Clarinet and Pianoforte * ''Die Lüfte weh'n so lind'' (text by

Elise Schlick Maria Elisabeth, Countess of Schlick (, ; c. 1790 – 14 December 1855) was a Bohemia-born composer and poet. She composed music for lieder and also wrote poetry that other composers set to music. She published under the name Countess Elise Schlic ...

) * ''Frühlingsglaube'' Piano work * ''Romanza'' for piano

References

External links

* *
Conradin Kreutzer: Briefe – Gesamtausgabe
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kreutzer, Conradin 1780 births 1849 deaths 19th-century German classical composers 19th-century German conductors (music) 18th-century German composers German male conductors (music) German opera composers German Romantic composers German male opera composers People from Meßkirch University of Freiburg alumni Kapellmeisters of the Gürzenich Orchestra Cologne