Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was born around 18 November 1786 inEutin,Bishopric of Lübeck.[1][3] He was the eldest of the three children of Franz Anton von Weber and his second wife,Genovefa Brenner, a Viennese singer. He was baptizedCatholic 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.[4] Both parents were Catholic and originally came from the far south of Germany. The "von" 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 ofElisabeth Toscani) and Peter Carl Santorini, who performed inKassel,Marburg, andHofgeismar. He tried repeatedly to establish a lasting company of his own but had only intermittent success.[4]
Franz Anton's half-brother,Franz Fridolin Weber [de;fr], marriedCäcilia Stamm and had four daughters—Josepha,Aloysia,Constanze, andSophie—all of whom became notable singers.Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart 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 achild prodigy 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.
Franz Anton gave Weber a comprehensive education, which was frequently interrupted by the family's moves. In 1796, Weber continued his musical education inHildburghausen,Thuringia, where he was instructed by the oboistJohann Peter Heuschkel. After moving to Salzburg in autumn 1797, Weber studied from 1798 withMichael Haydn, younger brother of the better-knownJoseph Haydn, who agreed to teach Weber free of charge.
His time in Salzburg was overshadowed by the death of his mother Genovefa, who succumbed totuberculosis on 13 March 1798, and that of his one-year-old sister Antonetta on 29 December 1798 inMunich. 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 withJohann Evangelist Wallishauser and composing with Johann Nepomuk Kalcher, who supervised Weber's first opera,Die Macht der Liebe und des Weins [de] (The Power of Love and Wine). Like his other compositions of that period, this opera is lost. Sixfughettas for piano of the twelve-year-old Weber were published inLeipzig.
Weber's musical education was extended by a mastering oflithography which he learned in the workshop ofAlois Senefelder (the inventor of the process) andFranz Gleißner (autumn 1799). A set of hisVariations for the Pianoforte was lithographed by Weber himself.
In 1800, the family moved to Freiberg inSaxony, where Weber, then 14 years old, wrote an opera calledDas stumme Waldmädchen (The Silent Forest Maiden). It was produced at the Freiberg andChemnitz theatres and later inSaint Petersburg (1804), Vienna (1804/1805) andPrague (1806). The young Weber also began to publish articles as a music critic, for example in theLeipziger Neue Zeitung in 1801.
In 1801, the family returned to Salzburg, where Weber resumed his studies with Michael Haydn. Weber composed his third operaPeter 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 believedPeter Schmoll premiered.
In mid 1803, Weber continued his studies in Vienna with Abbé Vogler, founder of important music schools inMannheim, Stockholm, andDarmstadt. Another famous pupil of Vogler in Darmstadt was Jakob Meyer Beer, later known asGiacomo Meyerbeer, who became a close friend of Weber. In letters they addressed each other as "brother".[4]
Vogler recommended the 17-year-old Weber for the post of Director at theBreslau 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.[citation needed]
After an interlude at the court ofDuke Eugen of Württemberg, who resided inSilesia, Weber served from 1807 to 1810 inStuttgart as private secretary toDuke Ludwig, brother ofKing Frederick I of Württemberg. Weber's time inWürttemberg 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 withembezzlement and bribery. As he could disprove the allegations, the case was brought under civil law to avoid compromising thede 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.[4]
As a sobering side effect, Weber started to keep a diary to list his expenses and correspondence, and make occasional comments on special events.[citation needed]
Weber remained prolific as a composer during this period, writing a quantity ofreligious music, mainly for the Catholicmass. This, however, earned him the hostility of conservatives working for the re-establishment of traditional chant inliturgy. In his biography of Weber,Warrack notes that Weber was an accomplished guitarist.[5][6] 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).
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 theConcertino in E♭ Major, Op. 26, J. 109, and the two concertiJ. 114 andJ. 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 ofSilvana in Berlin later that year.[7][8]
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 prestigiousOpera in Dresden, working hard to establish aGerman opera, in reaction to theItalian opera which had dominated the European music scene since the 18th century. He was inspired in this endeavour by the ideals of theSturm und Drang period, and also by the German folk song collection "Des Knaben Wunderhorn" byArnim andBrentano. 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 asHummel andDiabelli. On 4 November 1817, he marriedCaroline Brandt [de], a singer who created the title role ofSilvana.[9] In 1819, he wrote perhaps his most famous piano piece,Invitation to the Dance.
Carl Maria von Weber (1825) Portrait byFerdinand Schimon [de], Dresden, Städtische Galerie
Weber was already suffering from tuberculosis when he visited London. He conducted the premiere and twelve sold-out performances ofOberon in London during April and in May, and despite his rapidly worsening health, he continued to fulfil commitments for private concerts and benefits.
Eighteen years later, in December 1844, his remains were transferred to the family burial plot in theOld Catholic Cemetery inDresden 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 byGottfried Semper, lies against the northern boundary wall. Wagner composed a eulogy "An Weber's Grabe" WWV 72 for the reburial.[13] The piece for male choira cappella was premiered on 16 December 1844 in Dresden.[14] For this occasion Wagner also composed Funeral Music for Winds after Themes from "Euryanthe" of Weber, WWV 73.
Weber's unfinishedcomic operaDie drei Pintos (The Three Pintos) was originally given by his widow toMeyerbeer for completion; it was eventually completed byGustav Mahler, who conducted the first performance in Leipzig on 20 January 1888.
Weber's operasDer Freischütz,Euryanthe, andOberon greatly influenced the development of theRomantische Oper (Romantic opera) in Germany.[1]Der Freischütz came to be regarded as the first German opera,[2]Euryanthe developed theleitmotif technique to an unprecedented degree, whileOberon may have influenced Mendelssohn's music forA Midsummer Night's Dream and, at the same time, revealed Weber's lifelong interest in the music of non-Western cultures. This interest was first manifested in Weber'sincidental music forSchiller's translation ofGozzi'sTurandot, for which he used a Chinese melody, making him the first Western composer to use an Asian tune that was not of thepseudo-Turkish kind popularized by Mozart and others.
Weber's compositions for clarinet, bassoon, andhorn occupy an important place in the musical repertoire. His compositions for the clarinet, which include two concertos, aconcertino, aquintet, a duo concertante, and variations on a theme from his operaSilvana, are regularly performed today. HisConcertino for Horn and Orchestra requires the performer to simultaneously produce two notes by humming while playing—a technique known as "multiphonics". Hisbassoon concerto and theAndante e Rondo ungarese (a reworking of a piece originally for viola and orchestra) are also popular with bassoonists.
Weber's contribution tovocal andchoral music is also significant. His body of Catholic religious music was highly popular in 19th-century Germany, and he composed one of the earliestsong cycles,Die Temperamente beim Verluste der Geliebten ([Four] 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 referred to him several times in hisTreatise on Instrumentation whileDebussy 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,[15] Meyerbeer, and Wagner,[16] as well as severalnationalist 19th-century composers such asGlinka. Homage has been paid to Weber by many 20th-century composers, such as Debussy andStravinsky. Mahler completed Weber's unfinished comic operaDie drei Pintos and made revisions ofEuryanthe andOberon whileHindemith composed the popularSymphonic Metamorphosis of Themes by Carl Maria von Weber, based on Weber's lesser-known keyboard works and the incidental music toTurandot.
Weber also wrotemusic journalism and was interested infolksong, and learned lithography to engrave his own works.
A virtuoso pianist himself,[n 1] Weber composed foursonatas, two concertos, and theKonzertstück in F minor (Concert Piece), which inspired composers such as Chopin, Liszt, and Mendelssohn.[17] TheKonzertstück 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 hisCapriccio for Piano and Orchestra. Weber's shorter piano pieces, such as theInvitation to the Dance, were laterorchestrated by Berlioz, while hisPolacca 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 byClaudio Arrau (1st sonata),Alfred Cortot andEmil Gilels (2nd sonata),Sviatoslav Richter (3rd sonata), andLeon Fleisher (4th sonata). TheInvitation to the Dance, although better known in Berlioz's orchestration (as part of the ballet music for a Paris production ofDer Freischütz), has long been played and recorded by pianists (e.g., byBenno Moiseiwitsch [inCarl Tausig's arrangement]).Invitation to the Dance also served as the thematic basis forBenny Goodman'sswing theme song for the radio programLet's Dance.
^Sources that note Weber's virtuosity as a pianist include: Brown 2002a: "Johann Peter Heuschkel... laid the foundations of Weber’s pianistic virtuosity" Morgan 2017, p. xiii: "he was also many other things, including... virtuoso pianist" Warrack 1976, p. 123: "a touring virtuoso..."
Friese-Greene, Anthony (1993) Weber, The Illustrated Lives of the Great Composers, new ed., London: Omnibus,ISBN978-0-7119-2081-1
Henderson, Donald G., and Alice H. Henderson (1990)Carl Maria von Weber: A Guide to Research, Garland Composer Resource Manuals 24, New York; London: Garland,ISBN978-0-8240-4118-2.
Meyer, Stephen C. (2003)Carl Maria Von Weber and the Search for a German Opera, Bloomington and London: Indiana University Press,ISBN978-0-253-34185-3.
Reynolds, David (ed.) (1976)Weber in London, 1826, London: Wolff,ISBN978-0-85496-403-1.
Warrack, John H., Hugh Macdonald, and Karl-Heinz Köhler (1985)The New Grove Early Romantic Masters 2: Weber, Berlioz, Mendelssohn, The Composer Biography Series, London: Macmillan,ISBN978-0-333-39014-6.
Weber, Carl M. von, posthumously edited by Winkler, Karl Gottfried Theodor (using pseud. "Theodor Hell") (published 1828–1850?). 'Hinterlassene Schriften atGoogle Books' in 3 volumes with worklist, chronology, work incipits, and correspondence.
