August Joseph Norbert Burgmüller (8 February 1810 – 7 May 1836) was a German composer, renowned for his contributions during the nascent stages of the

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 oeuvre, albeit cut tragically short due to his untimely drowning at the age of 26, continues to resonate in the annals of classical music.

Life

Burgmüller was born in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, the youngest son in a musical family. His father, August Burgmüller, was the director of a theatre. His mother, Therese von Zandt, was a singer and piano teacher. He had two brothers, Franz and

Friedrich Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' Other *Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...

. Friedrich was also a composer. After the death of their father, the family had financial troubles. They were given support from Count . Burgmüller studied with

Joseph Kreutzer Joseph Kreutzer (11 November 1790 – 16 June 1840) was a German composer, conductor, guitarist, and violinist. Kreutzer was born in Aachen, the son of a local music teacher. He lived in Düsseldorf from about 1805, where he established himself amo ...

in Düsseldorf, and

Louis Spohr Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, ...

and Spohr's pupil

Moritz Hauptmann Moritz Hauptmann (13 October 1792, Dresden – 3 January 1868, Leipzig), was a German music theorist, teacher and composer. His principal theoretical work is the 1853 ''Die Natur der Harmonie und der Metrik'' explores numerous topics, particu ...

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

. After his study he became their piano teacher. He became engaged to Sophia Roland, but in 1830 the relationship ended, to Norbert's distress. He became

epileptic Epilepsy is a group of non-communicable neurological disorders characterized by a tendency for recurrent, unprovoked seizures. A seizure is a sudden burst of abnormal electrical activity in the brain that can cause a variety of symptoms, rang ...

and began to drink excessively. In the same year he returned to Düsseldorf to live with his mother. There he befriended

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

. He became engaged to Josephine Collin, but this relationship ended too. After Mendelssohn left for

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 ...

in 1835, Burgmüller made plans to leave for Paris, where his brother Friedrich had gone. In 1836 he went to a

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

, where he drowned during an epileptic seizure.

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...

, who arranged for the posthumous publication of Burgmüller's two symphonies, and completed the orchestration of the

scherzo A scherzo (, , ; plural scherzos or scherzi), in western classical music, is a short composition – sometimes a movement from a larger work such as a symphony or a sonata. The precise definition has varied over the years, but scherzo often r ...

of the unfinished Symphony No. 2, wrote in a memorial notice that no death was more deplorable than that of Norbert Burgmüller since the early death of

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...

.Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed. 1954,

Eric Blom Eric Walter Blom (20 August 188811 April 1959) was a Swiss-born British-naturalised music lexicographer, music critic and writer. He is best known as the editor of the 5th edition of ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1954). Earl ...

, ed.

Works

The opus numbers do not correspond with the order of composition.

Orchestral works

* Piano Concerto in F-Sharp Minor, Op. 1 (1829) * Symphony No. 1 in C minor, Op. 2 (1831–33) * Symphony No. 2 in D major, Op. 11 (1834/35, unfinished - the third part of this symphony, Scherzo, was completed by Robert Schumann: the Finale exists in some sketches only). * Ouvertüre in F minor, Op. 5 (1825) * 4 Entr'actes, Op. 17 (1827/28)

Vocal works

* "Dionys", Opera after Schiller's Ballad "

Die Bürgschaft "The Pledge" (German: "Die Bürgschaft", ) is a ballad published by the German poet Friedrich Schiller in his 1799 ''Musen-Almanach''. He took the idea out of the ancient legend of Damon and Pythias issuing from the Latin ''Fabulae'' by Gaius Ju ...

" (1832/34, Fragment) * 6 Songs, Op. 3 (pub. 1838) * 5 Songs, Op. 6 (pub. 1839) * 5 Songs, Op. 10 (pub. 1840) * 5 Songs, Op. 12 (pub. 1864) * Frühlingslied in G major (pub. 1840) * Morgenlied in E flat major (1834, Fragment)

Chamber music

* String Quartet No. 1 in D minor, Op. 4 (1825) * String Quartet No. 2 in D minor, Op. 7 (1825/26) * String Quartet No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 9 (1826) * String Quartet No. 4 in A minor, Op. 14 (1835) * Ständchen in E flat major for clarinet (or cello), viola and guitar (1825) * Duo in E flat major for clarinet and piano, Op. 15 (1834)

Piano music

* Sonata in F minor, Op. 8 (1826) * Waltz in E flat major (1827) * Mazurka in E flat major * Polonaise in F major, Op. 16 (1832) * Rhapsody in B minor, Op. 13 (1834)

Lost works

* Instrumentation of Karl Blum's Quodlibet "Die Wiener in Berlin" (1827) * Psalm 117 (1828) * Song: In des Irrtisch weisse Fluten (1831) * Male chorus for the "Epilog to Goethe's funeral eulogy" (1832) * Incidental Music to "Albrecht Dürer's Dream" (1833) * Festival chorus for the All-Highest Birthday Celebration of His Majesty (1834) * Easter Cantata (1836)

Recordings

* Carus 83.226: Symphonies Nos. 1 & 2. Performers: Hofkapelle Stuttgart, conducted by Frieder Bernius (2010) * Carus 83.297: Piano Concerto Op. 1, Overture Op. 5 & Entr'actes Op. 17. Performers: Hofkapelle Stuttgart, conducted by Frieder Bernius (2013) * Genuin 86061: Complete Works for Piano (Op. 8, 13, 15, 16, Mazurka & Waltz). Performer: Tobias Koch. (2006) * MDG Gold 335 0817: Orchestral Works. Piano Concerto Op. 1, Symphony No. 2 & Overture Op. 5. Performers: Wuppertal Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Gernot Schmalfuss. (1998) * MDG Gold 336 0993: String Quartets Op. 7 & 14. Performers: Mannheimer Streichquartett. (2000) * MDG Gold 336 0994: String Quartets Op. 4 & 9. Performers: Mannheimer Streichquartett. (2003) * Querstand 0916: Songs & Chamber Music. Complete Songs Op. 3, 6, 10, 12 & Frühlingslied; Op. 13, 15 (version for violin) & Ständchen for clarinet, viola & guitar. Performers: Ulrike Fulde, soprano; Manja Raschka, mezzo-soprano; Andreas Fisher, tenor; Felix Plock, bass & Kristin Henneberg, piano. (2010)

References

External links

* * * http://www.classicalarchives.com/composer/10918.html#tvf=tracks&tv=music * http://www.brilliantclassics.com/release.aspx?id=FM00430953 * http://www.cduniverse.com/sresult.asp?HT_Search=XARTIST&HT_Search_Info=N.+Burgmuller {{DEFAULTSORT:Burgmuller, Norbert 1810 births 1836 deaths German Romantic composers 19th-century German classical composers 19th-century German male musicians German male classical composers Musicians from Düsseldorf People with epilepsy German string quartet composers Deaths by drowning in Germany