Johann Friedrich Kind (4 March 1768, in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

– 24 June 1843 in

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

) was a German dramatist, most famous for writing the

libretto A libretto (From the Italian word , ) is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to th ...

for

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 ...

opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...

Der Freischütz ' (Friedrich Wilhelm Jähns, J. 277, Opus number, Op. 77 ''The Marksman'' or ''The Freeshooter'') is a German List of operas by Carl Maria von Weber, opera with spoken dialogue in three acts by Carl Maria von Weber with a libretto by Johann Fried ...

'' (1821).

Biography

He studied law, and began his law practice in

in 1793. In 1814, he abandoned his law practice to devote himself exclusively to literary work. He was a very industrious writer in many fields of literature, in all of which he was popular in his day with a large class of readers. With Winkler, he edited the ''Abendzeitung'' from 1817 to 1826. Though he published five volumes of sentimental and popular poetry, his poetry is the weakest of his literary efforts; the 1894 edition of the reputed Brockhaus encyclopedia critiqued it as being "smooth in form but without the least bit of originality."Brockhaus' Konversations-Lexikon. 14th ed., Leipzig, Berlin and Vienna 1894; Vol. 10, p. 339. His popular tales have somewhat more merit than his poems; but it is in the line of operatic plays that he is best and most generally known.

Libretti and plays

Besides ''

'', he wrote the play ''Das Nachtlager von Granada'' (1818), which later became the model for Karl Johann Braun von Braunthal's libretto for

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. ...

's opera '' Das Nachtlager in Granada'' (1833). He also wrote ''Der Holzdieb'' (set to music by

Heinrich Marschner Heinrich August Marschner (16 August 1795 – 14 December 1861) was a German composer best known for his operas. He is considered to be the most important composer of German opera between Weber and Wagner.1768 births 1843 deaths 18th-century German dramatists and playwrights German opera librettists German poets German male poets German male dramatists and playwrights 19th-century German dramatists and playwrights 19th-century German male writers {{Opera-bio-stub