Gottfried Weber
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Jacob Gottfried Weber (1 March 1779 – 21 September 1839) was a German writer on music (especially on
music theory Music theory is the study of theoretical frameworks for understanding the practices and possibilities of music. ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' describes three interrelated uses of the term "music theory": The first is the "Elements of music, ...
), composer, and jurist.


Biography

Weber was born at
Freinsheim Freinsheim (; Palatine German: Fränsem) is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With about 5,000 inhabitants, it is among the state's smaller towns. It is also the seat of the like-named ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a ...
. From 1824 to 1839, he was the editor of ''Cäcilia'', a musical periodical published in
Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
, which influenced musical thought in Germany during the early
Romantic era Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
. His most important work is his ''Versuch einer geordneten Theorie der Tonsetzkunst'' ("Theory of Musical Composition") (Mainz: B. Schott, 1817–21), which introduced several concepts that have since become important in the study of music theory. In this work, Weber develops the idea of "Mehrdeutigkeit" (that is, "multiple meaning"), a term initially introduced by
Georg Joseph Vogler Georg Joseph Vogler, also known as Abbé Vogler (15 June 1749 – 6 May 1814), was a German composer, organist, teacher and theorist. In a long and colorful career extending over many more nations and decades than was usual at the time, Vogler e ...
. Weber's "multiple meaning" refers to individual tones and harmonies, based on their context in a piece of music. For example, a C major triad may serve as I in C major, IV in G major, V in F major, etc. "To analyze a chord, a theorist must ask not only 'What notes are in it?' but also 'How is it behaving in the harmonic progression?'" (Thompson); see
diatonic function In music, function (also referred to as harmonic function) is a term used to denote the relationship of a chord"Function", unsigned article, ''Grove Music Online'', . or a scale degree to a tonal centre. Two main theories of tonal functions exist ...
. In the same work, Weber also further develops Vogler's idea of Roman numeral designations applied to chords. Unlike Vogler, Weber implements upper and lower case symbols to show not only the position of each chord related to the scale degree upon which it is built, but also the quality of each chord, i.e. major, minor, diminished, etc. Weber's Roman numeral system of analysis is in wide use in universities all over the world today to varying degrees, albeit with some modifications. Weber's ''Theory of Musical Composition'' was the first work on music theory to be translated into English for publication in the United States (transl. by James F. Warner, Boston: Oliver Ditson, 1846). He died in
Bad Kreuznach Bad Kreuznach () is a town in the Bad Kreuznach (district), Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a spa town, known for its medieval bridge dating from around 1300, the Alte Nahebrücke (Bad Kreuznach), Alte Nahebrücke, ...
.


See also

* Difficile lectu (Mozart)#First performance—a tale Weber told about Mozart in the pages of ''Caecilia''.


References

* Jairo Moreno: ''Musical Representations, Subjects, and Objects'' (Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press, 2004), . * * David M. Thompson: ''A History of Harmonic Theory in the United States'' (Kent, OH: Kent State University Press, 1980), . * Gottfried Weber
''Versuch einer geordneten Theorie der Tonsetzkunst'', Volume 1
(Mainz: B. Schott's Söhne, 1832). *
Volume 2
(Mainz: B. Schott's Söhne, 1832). * Gottfried Weber
''Theory of Musical Composition'', trans. James F. Warner
(Boston: Wilkins, Carter and Co., 1846).


External links

* 1779 births 1839 deaths 19th-century German classical composers 19th-century German male musicians German male classical composers German Romantic composers German music theorists {{Germany-musician-stub