Carl Maria von Weber
German Romantic Composer, Conductor and Producer, Master in Opera
Carl Maria von Weber's brief biography - his life and major works. He is best known for founding the Romantic school of opera after producing his famous Der Freischütz.
Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1844), German composer of the Romantic era, is best remembered for establishing the Romantic school of opera, and for Der Freischütz, his opera produced in Berlin. He was instrumental in helping found a German national opera style, only challenged earlier by some predecessors including Mozart.
Carl Maria (Friedrich Ernst) von Weber, born on 18 November 1786, was a son of a musician. His was cousin of Constanze Weber, wife of Wolgfang Amdaeus Mozart. From childhood, he received a strong musical education from his family-operated traveling Weber Theatre Company, his own mother performing so that by age 13, he successfully produced his opera Das Waldmadchen (The Forest Maiden.)
He studied music in Salzburg, Munich and Vienna. In Salzburg, his teacher was Joseph Haydn's younger brother, Michael Haydn. He became a court composer at Breslau. His brilliant works for clarinet and orchestra, with two concerti and a concertina, date from 1811. He was also one of the finest pianist in his time.
With support and intellectual stimulation from his musical friends and contemporaries, including Giacomo Meyerbeer and Gottfried Weber, and the encouragement of concert and operatic successes in Munich, Prague and Berlin, he settled down for three years as opera director in Prague.
Weber was appointed conductor of the Dresden Court Opera in 1816, where he did much to establish German opera. It was also during this time that he married the singer Caroline Brandt.
After his successful Der Freischütz (The Marksman or The Free-Shooter)in Berlin, Euryanthe followed in Vienna, marking a major development with the way in which spoken dialogue, traditional in German opera, was replaced by continuously composed classical music. Weber, including Louis Spohr, paved way for German Romantic opera.
In 1824 Covent Garden commissioned an English opera from him, the successful Oberon. Two years later, at 40, he died in London and was buried there. Wagner, some years later, arranged for his remains to be re-buried in Dresden, Germany.
Carl Maria von Weber's Major Works
- Symphony No.1 1807
- Symphony No.2 1809
- Incidental music to the play, Turandot 1809
- Piano Concerto No.1 1810
- Opera Abu Hassan 1811
- Clarinet Concerto No.1 1811
- Clarinet Concerto No.2 1811
- Piano Concerto No.2 1812
- Clarinet Quintet 1815
- Invitation to the Dance for Piano 1819
- Opera Der Freischütz 1821
- Opera Euryanthe 1923
- Opera Oberon 1826
Weber represents an important foundation of 19th-century classical music German Romanticism in spite his early death. He lived at the same time with Ludwig van Beethoven in the early part of the 19th century. He foreshadowed Richard Wagner and Gustav Mahler.
Interesting Link:
Cark Maria von Weber: The Pied Piper of the Romantic Movement
Sources:
Classical Music, Helicon Publishing (2000)
Great Composers by Golden Press (1989)
The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie (2000)
