Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (5 June 1826) was a German composer, conductor,

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'', or ; Late Latin ''virtuosus''; Latin ''virtus''; 'virtue', 'excellence' or 'skill') is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as fine arts, ...

pianist, guitarist, and

critic A critic is a person who communicates an assessment and an opinion of various forms of creative works such as Art criticism, art, Literary criticism, literature, Music journalism, music, Film criticism, cinema, Theater criticism, theater, Fas ...

in the early

Romantic period 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 ...

. Best known for his operas, he was a crucial figure in the development of German ''

Romantische Oper (German for 'romantic opera') is a genre of early nineteenth-century German opera, developed not from the German Singspiel of the eighteenth-century but from the opéras comiques of the French Revolution. It offered opportunities for an increa ...

'' (German Romantic opera). Throughout his youth, his father, , relentlessly moved the family between

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Salzburg,

Freiberg Freiberg () is a university and former mining town in Saxony, Germany, with around 41,000 inhabitants. The city lies in the foreland of the Ore Mountains, in the Saxon urbanization axis, which runs along the northern edge of the Elster and ...

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

and

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. ...

. Consequently he studied with many teachers—his father,

Johann Peter Heuschkel Johann Peter Heuschkel (4 January 1773 – 5 December 1853) was a German oboist, organist, music teacher and composer. Heuschkel was born in Harras near Eisfeld. From 1792 he was oboist and later also organist in Hildburghausen. He is best rememb ...

Michael Haydn Johann Michael Haydn (; 14 September 1737 – 10 August 1806) was an Austrian composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period, the younger brother of Joseph Haydn. Life Michael Haydn was born in 1737 in the Austrian village of Rohra ...

, Giovanni Valesi,

Johann Nepomuk Kalcher Johann Nepomuk Kalcher (15 May 1764 – 2 February 1827) was a German organist and composer. He was a student of Joseph Graetz and an instructor of the young Carl Maria von Weber when the latter moved to Munich Munich is the capital a ...

, and

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 ...

—under whose supervision he composed four operas, none of which survive complete. He had a modest output of non-operatic music, which includes two symphonies, two concertos and a concertino for clarinet and orchestra, a

bassoon concerto A bassoon concerto is a concerto for bassoon accompanied by a musical ensemble, typically orchestra. Like bassoon sonatas, bassoon concerti were relatively uncommon until the twentieth century, although there are quite a few bassoon concerti fro ...

, a horn concertino, two concertos and a

Konzertstück A concert piece (; , also ) is a musical composition, in most cases in one movement, intended for performance in a concert. Usually it is written for one or more virtuoso instrumental soloists and orchestral or piano accompaniment.Invitation to the Dance''; and many pieces that featured the clarinet, usually written for the virtuoso

clarinetist The clarinet is a single-reed musical instrument in the woodwind family, with a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches. The clarinet family is the largest woodw ...

Heinrich Baermann Heinrich Joseph Baermann (also spelled Bärmann; 14 February 1784 – 11 June 1847) was a German clarinet virtuoso of the Classical and Romantic eras who is generally considered as being not only an outstanding performer of his time, but highly ...

. His mature operas—''

Silvana Silvana or Sylvana, meaning "one who lives in the forest" in Latin, is a female given name. Her name day is celebrated on November 4th. Notable people with the name include: * Silvana Arbia (born 1952), Italian judge and prosec ...

'' (1810), ''

Abu Hassan ''Abu Hassan'' ( J. 106) is a comic opera in one act by Carl Maria von Weber to a German libretto by , based on a story in ''One Thousand and One Nights''. It was composed between 11 August 1810 and 12 January 1811 and has set numbers with recita ...

'' (1811), ''

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), ''

Die drei Pintos ' ( Anh 5, ''The Three Pintos'') is a comic opera of which Carl Maria von Weber began composing the music, working on a libretto by Theodor Hell. The work was completed about 61 years after Weber's death by Gustav Mahler. It premiered on 20 Janua ...

'' ( 1820–21), ''

Euryanthe ''Euryanthe'' ( J. 291, Op. 81) is a German grand heroic-romantic opera by Carl Maria von Weber, first performed at the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna on 25 October 1823.Brown, p. 88 Though acknowledged as one of Weber's most important operas, ...

'' (1823), ''

Oberon Oberon () is a king of the fairy, fairies in Middle Ages, medieval and Renaissance literature. He is best known as a character in William Shakespeare's play ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'', in which he is King of the Fairies and spouse of Titania ...

'' (1826)—had a major impact on subsequent German composers including Marschner,

Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Meyer Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Mozart and Wagner". With his 1831 opera ''Ro ...

, and

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

; his compositions for piano influenced those of

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 period. Mendelssohn's compositions include symphonie ...

, Chopin and

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

. His best known work, ''Der Freischütz'', remains among the most significant German operas.

Life and career

Childhood

Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was born around 18 November 1786 in

Eutin Eutin () is the district capital of Ostholstein, Eastern Holstein county located in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein. As of December 2022, the town had some 17,000 inhabitants. History The name Eutin (originally Utin) is of Slavic ...

Bishopric of Lübeck In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associated ...

. He was the eldest of the three children of Franz Anton von Weber and his second wife, Genovefa Brenner, a Viennese singer. He was baptized

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

on 20 November 1786 with the name Carl Friedrich Ernst; the alternative second name Maria appeared only later. His brother and sister died in infancy. Both parents were Catholic and originally came from the far south of Germany. The "

von The term () is used in German surnames either as a nobiliary particle indicating a noble patrilineality, or as a simple preposition used by commoners that means or . Nobility directories like the often abbreviate the noble term to ''v.'' ...

" was an affectation of his father's, who was not an aristocrat and who claimed descent from a south German noble family which was already extinct at the time. In April 1779, Franz Anton had been appointed director of the prince-bishopric orchestra, Eutin, which, however, was dissolved in 1781 because of spending cuts. He then took the position of Eutin's municipal music director. Dissatisfied with this position, he resigned in 1787 and founded a theatre company in Hamburg. After a brief stay in Vienna, he joined the theatre company of Johann Friedrich Toscani (husband of Elisabeth Toscani) and Peter Carl Santorini, who performed in

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 ...

Marburg Marburg (; ) is a college town, university town in the States of Germany, German federal state () of Hesse, capital of the Marburg-Biedenkopf Districts of Germany, district (). The town area spreads along the valley of the river Lahn and has ...

, and

Hofgeismar Hofgeismar () is a town in the district of Kassel, in northern Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km north of Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Ge ...

. He tried repeatedly to establish a lasting company of his own but had only intermittent success. Franz Anton's half-brother, , married Cäcilia Stamm and had four daughters—

Josepha Josepha is a given name that works as the feminine variant of the name Joseph. People with the given name * Josepha Abiertas (1894–1929), Filipino lawyer and feminist, first woman to obtain a degree from the Philippine Law School * Josepha ...

Aloysia ''Aloysia'' is a genus of flowering plants in the verbena family, Verbenaceae. They are known generally as beebrushes.

, Constanze, and

Sophie Sophie is a feminine given name, another version of Sophia, from the Greek word for "wisdom". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Soph ...

—all of whom became notable singers.

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

attempted to woo Aloysia, composing several pieces for her. After she rejected his advances, Mozart went on to marry Constanze; thus Mozart's wife was a cousin of Carl Maria von Weber. A gifted violinist, Franz Anton had ambitions of turning Weber into a

child prodigy A child prodigy is, technically, a child under the age of 10 who produces meaningful work in some domain at the level of an adult expert. The term is also applied more broadly to describe young people who are extraordinarily talented in some f ...

like Mozart. Weber was born with a congenital hip disorder and did not begin to walk until he was four. But by then, he was already a capable singer and pianist.

Education

Franz Anton gave Weber a comprehensive education, which was frequently interrupted by the family's moves. In 1796, Weber continued his musical education in

Hildburghausen Hildburghausen () is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the Hildburghausen district. Geography It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra River. The town centre ...

Thuringia Thuringia (; officially the Free State of Thuringia, ) is one of Germany, Germany's 16 States of Germany, states. With 2.1 million people, it is 12th-largest by population, and with 16,171 square kilometers, it is 11th-largest in area. Er ...

, where he was instructed by the oboist

. After moving to Salzburg in autumn 1797, Weber studied from 1798 with

, younger brother of the better-known

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 ...

, who agreed to teach Weber free of charge. His time in Salzburg was overshadowed by the death of his mother Genovefa, who succumbed to

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

on 13 March 1798, and that of his one-year-old sister Antonetta on 29 December 1798 in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. After the death of Carl's mother, his paternal aunt Adelaide took over the care of him. A visit to Joseph Haydn in Vienna, presumably in hope of advanced teaching, was fruitless. In autumn 1798, Weber moved to Munich where he studied singing with Johann Evangelist Wallishauser and composing with Johann Nepomuk Kalcher, who supervised Weber's first opera, (''The Power of Love and Wine''). Like his other compositions of that period, this opera is lost. Six

fughetta In classical music, a fugue (, from Latin ''fuga'', meaning "flight" or "escape""Fugue, ''n''." ''The Concise Oxford English Dictionary'', eleventh edition, revised, ed. Catherine Soanes and Angus Stevenson (Oxford and New York: Oxford Universit ...

s for piano of the twelve-year-old Weber were published 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 ...

. Weber's musical education was extended by a mastering of

lithography Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the miscibility, immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by ...

which he learned in the workshop of

Alois Senefelder Johann Alois Senefelder (6 November 177126 February 1834) was a German actor and playwright who invented the printing technique of lithography in the 1790s.Meggs, Philip B. A History of Graphic Design. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 1998. p 146 Actor ...

(the inventor of the process) and

Franz Gleißner Franz Johannes Gleißner (1759 – 18 September 1818)p. 432 (1980) Duckles was a German lithographer and composer. In the late 18th century, he met Alois Senefelder, with whom he collaborated for approximately 30 years using lithography as a metho ...

(autumn 1799). A set of his ''Variations for the Pianoforte'' was lithographed by Weber himself. In 1800, the family moved to Freiberg in

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

, where Weber, then 14 years old, wrote an opera called ''Das stumme Waldmädchen'' (''The Silent Forest Maiden''). It was produced at the Freiberg and

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...

theatres and later in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

(1804), Vienna (1804/1805) and

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

(1806). The young Weber also began to publish articles as a music critic, for example in the ''Leipziger Neue Zeitung'' in 1801. In 1801, the family returned to Salzburg, where Weber resumed his studies with Michael Haydn. Weber composed his third opera '' Peter Schmoll und seine Nachbarn'' (''Peter Schmoll and His Neighbours'') of which his teacher approved. After a concert tour in 1802 the Webers returned to Augsburg where it is believed ''Peter Schmoll'' premiered. In mid 1803, Weber continued his studies in Vienna with Abbé Vogler, founder of important music schools in

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

, Stockholm, and

Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...

. Another famous pupil of Vogler in Darmstadt was Jakob Meyer Beer, later known as

Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer (born Jakob Liebmann Meyer Beer; 5 September 1791 – 2 May 1864) was a German opera composer, "the most frequently performed opera composer during the nineteenth century, linking Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Mozart and Richard Wa ...

, who became a close friend of Weber. In letters they addressed each other as "brother".

Early career 1804–1810

Carl Maria von Weber 1814 painting by Thomas Lawrence

Vogler recommended the 17-year-old Weber for the post of Director at the Breslau Opera in 1804; Weber was offered and accepted the post. He sought to reform the Opera by pensioning off older singers, expanding the orchestra, and tackling a more challenging repertoire. His ambitious and dedicated work as director of the orchestra was acknowledged, though his tempi were frequently criticized as too fast. As the daily routine did not leave sufficient time for his own creative work, Weber did not seek to extend his two-year appointment. After an interlude at the court of Duke Eugen of Württemberg, who resided in

Silesia Silesia (see names #Etymology, below) is a historical region of Central Europe that lies mostly within Poland, with small parts in the Czech Silesia, Czech Republic and Germany. Its area is approximately , and the population is estimated at 8, ...

, Weber served from 1807 to 1810 in

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

as private secretary to Duke Ludwig, brother of

King Frederick I of Württemberg King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by fi ...

. Weber's time in

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 ...

was plagued with troubles. He fell deeply into debt and became entangled in the financial manipulations of his employer, e.g. the sale of confirmations of ducal service which exempted the purchaser from military service. Weber was arrested and charged with

embezzlement Embezzlement (from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ''besillier'' ("to torment, etc."), of unknown origin) is a type of financial crime, usually involving theft of money from a business or employer. It often involves a trusted individual taking ...

and bribery. As he could disprove the allegations, the case was brought under civil law to avoid compromising the ''de facto'' manipulator, the brother of the king. Weber agreed to pay the costs (the last payment was made in 1816) and was banished from Württemberg together with his father. As a sobering side effect, Weber started to keep a diary to list his expenses and correspondence, and make occasional comments on special events. Weber remained prolific as a composer during this period, writing a quantity of

religious music Religious music (also sacred music) is a type of music that is performed or composed for Religion, religious use or through religious influence. It may overlap with ritual music, which is music, sacred or not, performed or composed for or as a ri ...

, mainly for the Catholic

mass Mass is an Intrinsic and extrinsic properties, intrinsic property of a physical body, body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the physical quantity, quantity of matter in a body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physi ...

. This, however, earned him the hostility of conservatives working for the re-establishment of traditional chant in

liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, remembra ...

. In his biography of Weber, Warrack notes that Weber was an accomplished guitarist. It was in this year that his first song with guitar accompaniment, "Liebeszauber", was printed. Some of his most original and innovative songs were written during the following years, including "Er an Sie" (1808) and "Was zieht zu deinem Zauberkreise" (1809).

Later career 1810–1826

In 1810, Weber visited several cities throughout Germany; 1811 was a pivotal year in his career when he met and worked with the Munich court clarinetist Heinrich Baermann and composed the Concertino in E Major, Op. 26, J. 109, and the two concerti J. 114 and J. 118 for him; from December 1811 through March 1812, Weber went on tour with Baermann playing the clarinet works, and it was some of the final concerts on this tour that changed public, critical, and royal opinions of Weber's work, and helped him to mount a successful performance of ''Silvana'' in Berlin later that year. Carlmariavonwebermuseum dresden2

From 1813 to 1816, he was director of the Opera in Prague; from 1816 to 1817 he worked in Berlin, and from 1817 onwards he was director of the prestigious Opera in Dresden, working hard to establish a

German opera Opera in German is that of the German-speaking countries, which include Germany, Austria, and the historic German states that pre-date those countries. German-language opera appeared remarkably quickly after the birth of opera itself in Italy. ...

, in reaction to the

Italian opera Italian opera is both the art of opera in Italy and opera in the Italian language. Opera was in Italy around the year 1600 and Italian opera has continued to play a dominant role in the history of the form until the present day. Many famous ope ...

which had dominated the European music scene since the 18th century. He was inspired in this endeavour by the ideals of the ''

Sturm und Drang (, ; usually translated as "storm and stress") was a proto-Romanticism, Romantic movement in German literature and Music of Germany, music that occurred between the late 1760s and early 1780s. Within the movement, individual subjectivity an ...

'' period, and also by the German folk song collection "

Des Knaben Wunderhorn ''Des Knaben Wunderhorn: Alte deutsche Lieder'' (German for "The boy's magic horn: old German songs") is a collection of German folk poems and songs edited by Achim von Arnim and Clemens Brentano. The book was published in three volumes, the ...

" by Arnim and

Brentano Brentano is an Italian surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Antonie Brentano, philanthropist * August Brentano, bookseller * Bernard von Brentano, novelist * Christian Brentano, German writer * Clemens Brentano, poet and novelist ...

. It was in 1816 that he wrote the Duet Op. 38 for guitar and piano, possibly inspired by similar works printed in Vienna by such composers as Hummel and

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 ...

. On 4 November 1817, he married , a singer who created the title role of ''Silvana''."Carl Maria Weber"
, yodelout.com In 1819, he wrote perhaps his most famous piano piece, '' Invitation to the Dance''. The successful premiere of ''

'' on 18 June 1821 in Berlin led to performances all over Europe. On the very morning of the premiere, Weber finished his '' Konzertstück in F minor for Piano and Orchestra'', and he premiered it a week later. In 1823, Weber composed his first (and only) full-length,

through-composed In the theory of musical form, through-composed music is a continuous, non- sectional, and non- repetitive piece of music. The term is typically used to describe songs, but can also apply to instrumental music. While most musical forms such as te ...

opera ''

'' to a

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 ...

Helmina von Chézy Helmina von Chézy (26 January 178328 January 1856), née Wilhelmine Christiane von Klencke, was a German journalist, poet and playwright. She is known for writing the libretto for Carl Maria von Weber's opera '' Euryanthe'' (1823) and the play ' ...

, several passages of which (notably the music for the villainous couple Lysiart and Eglantine) anticipate the early, romantic operas of

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

. In 1824, Weber received an invitation from

The Royal Opera The Royal Opera is a British opera company based in central London, resident at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden. Along with English National Opera, it is one of the two principal opera companies in London. Founded in 1946 as the Covent G ...

, London, to compose and produce ''

'', based on

Christoph Martin Wieland Christoph Martin Wieland (; ; 5 September 1733 – 20 January 1813) was a German poet and writer, representative of literary Rococo. He is best-remembered for having written the first ''Bildungsroman'' (''Geschichte des Agathon''), as well as the ...

's poem of the same name. Weber accepted the invitation, and in 1826 he travelled to England, to finish the work and conduct the premiere on 12 April. Weber was already suffering from tuberculosis when he visited London. He conducted the premiere and twelve sold-out performances of ''Oberon'' in London during April and in May, and despite his rapidly worsening health, he continued to fulfil commitments for private concerts and benefits. He died in his sleep during the night on 5 June 1826 at the home of his good friend and host

Sir George Smart Sir George Thomas Smart (10 May 1776 – 23 February 1867) was an English musician. Smart was born in London, his father being a music-seller. He was a choir-boy at the Chapel Royal, and was educated in music, becoming an expert violinist, orga ...

; he was 39 years old. He was buried in London in the vaults beneath the Catholic Chapel at

Moorfields Moorfields was an open space, partly in the City of London, lying adjacent to – and outside – its London Wall, northern wall, near the eponymous Moorgate. It was known for its marshy conditions, the result of the defensive wall acting a ...

, on 21 June 1826. Amongst the chief mourners were many notable musicians and theatre actors of the day including: Anton Furstenau who had accompanied Weber to London,

Ignaz Moscheles Isaac Ignaz Moscheles (; 23 May 179410 March 1870) was a Bohemian piano virtuoso and composer. He was based initially in London and later at Leipzig, where he joined his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as professor of piano in the Co ...

, Christian Kramer,

Charles Kemble Charles Kemble (25 November 1775 – 12 November 1854) was a British actor from the prominent Kemble family. Life Charles Kemble was one of 13 siblings and the youngest son of English Roman Catholic theatre manager/actor Roger Kemble, and Ir ...

, John Duruset, Johann Stumpff and

James Planché James Robinson Planché (27 February 1796 – 30 May 1880) was a British dramatist, antiquary and officer of arms. Over a period of approximately 60 years he wrote, adapted, or collaborated on 176 plays in a wide range of genres including ...

. Eighteen years later, in December 1844, his remains were transferred to the family burial plot in the Old Catholic Cemetery 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 ...

at the side of his youngest son Alexander, who at the age of 19 had died of measles seven weeks before. The simple gravestone, designed by

Gottfried Semper Gottfried Semper (; 29 November 1803 – 15 May 1879) was a German architect, art critic, and professor of architecture who designed and built the Semper Opera House in Dresden between 1838 and 1841. In 1849 he took part in the May Uprising in ...

, lies against the northern boundary wall. Wagner composed a eulogy "An Weber's Grabe" WWV 72 for the reburial. The piece for male choir

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

was premiered on 16 December 1844 in Dresden."An Weber's Grabe" WWV 72 For this occasion Wagner also composed Funeral Music for Winds after Themes from "Euryanthe" of Weber, WWV 73. Weber's unfinished

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

'' (''The Three Pintos'') was originally given by his widow to

for completion; it was eventually completed by

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

, who conducted the first performance in Leipzig on 20 January 1888.

Legacy

Weber's operas ''Der Freischütz'', ''Euryanthe'', and ''Oberon'' greatly influenced the development of the ''

'' (Romantic opera) in Germany. ''Der Freischütz'' came to be regarded as the first German opera, ''Euryanthe'' developed the ''

leitmotif A leitmotif or () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is a partial angliciz ...

'' technique to an unprecedented degree, while ''Oberon'' may have influenced Mendelssohn's music for ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

'' and, at the same time, revealed Weber's lifelong interest in the music of non-Western cultures. This interest was first manifested in Weber's

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 ...

for

Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (, short: ; 10 November 17599 May 1805) was a German playwright, poet, philosopher and historian. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright. He was born i ...

's translation of Gozzi's ''

Turandot ''Turandot'' ( ; see #Origin and pronunciation of the name, below) is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to a libretto in Italian by Giuseppe Adami and Renato Simoni. Puccini left the opera unfinished at the time of his death in 1924; it ...

'', for which he used a Chinese melody, making him the first Western composer to use an Asian tune that was not of the pseudo-Turkish kind popularized by Mozart and others. Weber's compositions for clarinet, bassoon, and

horn Horn may refer to: Common uses * Horn (acoustic), a tapered sound guide ** Horn antenna ** Horn loudspeaker ** Vehicle horn ** Train horn *Horn (anatomy), a pointed, bony projection on the head of various animals * Horn (instrument), a family ...

occupy an important place in the musical repertoire. His compositions for the clarinet, which include two concertos, a concertino, a

quintet A quintet is a group containing five members. It is commonly associated with musical groups, such as a string quintet, or a group of five singers, but can be applied to any situation where five similar or related objects are considered a single ...

, a duo concertante, and variations on a theme from his opera ''Silvana'', are regularly performed today. His Concertino for Horn and Orchestra requires the performer to simultaneously produce two notes by humming while playing—a technique known as "

multiphonic A multiphonic is an extended technique on a monophonic musical instrument (one that generally produces only one note at a time) in which several notes are produced at once. This includes wind, reed, and brass instruments, as well as the human ...

s". His

and the ''Andante e Rondo ungarese'' (a reworking of a piece originally for viola and orchestra) are also popular with bassoonists. Weber's contribution to

vocal The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound producti ...

and

choral music A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

is also significant. His body of Catholic religious music was highly popular in 19th-century Germany, and he composed one of the earliest

song cycle A song cycle () is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in sequence, as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice or an ensemble, or rarely a combinat ...

s, ''Die Temperamente beim Verluste der Geliebten'' (''

our Our or OUR may refer to: * The possessive form of " we" Places * Our (river), in Belgium, Luxembourg, and Germany * Our, Belgium, a village in Belgium * Our, Jura, a commune in France Other uses * Office of Utilities Regulation (OUR), a governm ...

Temperaments on the Loss of a Lover''). Weber was also notable as one of the first conductors to conduct without a piano or violin. Weber's orchestration has also been highly praised and emulated by later generations of composers—

Berlioz Louis-Hector Berlioz (11 December 1803 – 8 March 1869) was a French Romantic music, Romantic composer and conductor. His output includes orchestral works such as the ''Symphonie fantastique'' and ''Harold en Italie, Harold in Italy'' ...

referred to him several times in his ''

Treatise on Instrumentation ''Grand traité d’instrumentation et d’orchestration modernes'', abbreviated in English as the ''Treatise on Instrumentation'' (sometimes ''Treatise on Orchestration'') is a technical study of Western musical instruments written by Hector B ...

'' while

Debussy Achille Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionism in music, Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influe ...

remarked that the sound of the Weber orchestra was obtained through the scrutiny of the soul of each instrument. His operas influenced the work of later opera composers, especially in Germany, such as Marschner, Meyerbeer, and Wagner, as well as several

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

19th-century composers such as Glinka. Homage has been paid to Weber by many 20th-century composers, such as Debussy and

Stravinsky Igor Fyodorovich Stravinsky ( – 6 April 1971) was a Russian composer and conductor with French citizenship (from 1934) and American citizenship (from 1945). He is widely considered one of the most important and influential composers of ...

. Mahler completed Weber's unfinished comic opera ''Die drei Pintos'' and made revisions of ''Euryanthe'' and ''Oberon'' while

Hindemith Paul Hindemith ( ; ; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German and American composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major ad ...

composed the popular ''

Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber ''Symphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber'' is an orchestral work written by German composer Paul Hindemith in the United States in 1943. History The idea of composing a work based on Carl Maria von Weber's music was first pu ...

'', based on Weber's lesser-known keyboard works and the incidental music to ''Turandot''. Weber also wrote

music journalism Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary o ...

and was interested in

folksong Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has bee ...

, and learned lithography to engrave his own works. A virtuoso pianist himself, Weber composed four Piano sonata, sonatas, two concertos, and the ''Konzertstück in F minor'' (''Concert Piece''), which inspired composers such as Chopin, Liszt, and Mendelssohn. The ' provided a new model for the one-movement concerto in several contrasting sections (such as Liszt's, who often played the work), and was acknowledged by Stravinsky as the model for his ''Capriccio for Piano and Orchestra''. Weber's shorter piano pieces, such as the ''Invitation to the Dance'', were later Orchestration, orchestrated by Berlioz, while his ''Polacca Brillante'' was later set for piano and orchestra by Liszt. However, Weber's piano music all but disappeared from the repertoire. There are several recordings of the major works for the solo piano, including complete recordings of the piano sonatas and the shorter piano pieces, and there are recordings of the individual sonatas by Claudio Arrau (1st sonata), Alfred Cortot and Emil Gilels (2nd sonata), Sviatoslav Richter (3rd sonata), and Leon Fleisher (4th sonata). The ''Invitation to the Dance'', although better known in Berlioz's orchestration (as part of the ballet music for a Paris production of ''Der Freischütz''), has long been played and recorded by pianists (e.g., by Benno Moiseiwitsch [in Carl Tausig's arrangement]). ''Invitation to the Dance'' also served as the thematic basis for Benny Goodman's Swing music, swing theme song for the radio program ''Let's Dance (radio), Let's Dance''.

Works

Notes and references

Notes

References

Sources

Books

* * * Two volumes. *

Articles

* *

Web

External links

* Biography and catalogue of Weber's works at th
Weber Gesamtausgabe
* :Scores * * :Recordings
Carl Maria von Weber cylinder recordings
from the UCSB Cylinder Audio Archive at the University of California, Santa Barbara Library.
Carl Maria von Weber recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings. {{DEFAULTSORT:Weber, Carl Maria Von Carl Maria von Weber, 1786 births 1826 deaths Burials at Old Catholic Cemetery, Dresden 19th-century German classical composers 19th-century German classical pianists 19th-century deaths from tuberculosis 19th-century German male musicians Catholic liturgical composers German classical composers of church music German classical guitarists German male pianists German opera composers German Roman Catholics German Romantic composers Honorary members of the Royal Philharmonic Society Tuberculosis deaths in England German male classical pianists German male guitarists German male opera composers People from Eutin 19th-century guitarists Weber family, Carl Maria Chief conductors of the Staatskapelle Dresden Composers for piano Composers for clarinet Composers for bassoon

Life and career

Childhood

Education

Early career 1804–1810

Later career 1810–1826

Legacy

Works

Notes and references

Notes

References

Sources

Books

Articles

Web

Further reading

External links