Carl Maria von Weber (1786-1826); DEU

Weber, Carl Maria (Friedrich Ernst) von (b Eutin in Oldenburg, 1786; d London, 1826). Ger. composer, conductor, and pianist. Son of town musician and theatrical impresario and his 2nd wife, a singer and actress. Taught as boy by Michael Haydn in Salzburg, then by court organist, Kalcher, in Munich 1798-1800. By 1800 had already composed opera, mass, and pf. works. Went to Vienna in 1803 as pupil of Vogler, through whose influence became Kapellmeister at Breslau municipal th. 1804-6. Worked in Karlsruhe 1806-7, where he wrote 2 syms. Court secretarial post Stuttgart 1807-10, where he was encouraged by Kapellmeister, Danzi. While there wrote incidental mus. to Turandot, opera Silvana, and other works. Banished from Stuttgart because of false suspicion of embezzlement, went to Mannheim, where he was befriended by Gottfried Weber (no relation), then to Darmstadt, where he met Vogler again and took lessons from him in company with Meyerbeer. At this time wrote comic opera Abu Hassan, pf. conc., and vn. sonatas. Travelled to Munich 1811, where he wrote bn. conc. for court wind-player, and to Prague, where his pf. improvisations were acclaimed. Appointed dir., Prague Opera, 1813-16. Court Kapellmeister, Dresden, 1817, with commission to est. Ger. opera alongside It. variety. Wrote Mass in Eb 1818 and worked on opera Der Freischütz. Work continually frustrated by opposition from It. opera dir., Morlacchi. Weber rehearsed operas exhaustively, making himself responsible for every aspect of prods., and, in his operatic theories, anticipating those of his disciple Wagner. Der Freischütz was prod. in Berlin, to tumultuous acclaim, in 1821 and was taken up throughout Ger., making Weber the most popular composer of the day. At the same time, he was at work on a comic opera Die drei Pintos, which he never finished and which was subsequently prepared for perf. by Mahler. He interrupted work on it to compose an opera commissioned by the Vienna Kärntnerthor Th. for 1822-3 season. This was Euryanthe, prod. Vienna, Oct. 1823. While in Vienna, Weber met Beethoven, with whom he had been in correspondence. By now, Weber's health was seriously undermined by tuberculosis. In 1824, the manager of CG, Kemble, commissioned an opera from Weber, who agreed to set Planché's Eng. lib. Oberon. Went to London 1826, staying with Sir George Smart in Great Portland St., supervising rehearsals at CG and conducting several concerts. After Oberon première, became increasingly ill and died 7 weeks later in Smart's house. Body taken to Moorfields Chapel. In 1844, on instigation of the Dresden Kapellmeister Richard Wagner, coffin was shipped back to Ger. and buried in Dresden Catholic cemetery on 15 Dec. after funeral oration by Wagner and the perf. of Wagner's Hebt an den Sang (An Webers Grabe) for unacc. male ch.

Weber's place in history of Ger. mus. is that of a liberator, setting it free from It. influences and showing how the shape of folk tunes could be adapted for operatic and other purposes. Marschner and Lortzing were his immediate successors, Wagner his culmination. In his instr. and vocal works, his virtuosity, startling effects achieved without use of unusual instrs., and formal and technical innovations stimulated Chopin, Liszt, Berlioz, and in due course Mahler. According to Debussy, the sound of the Weber orch. was achieved by ‘scrutiny of the soul of each instrument’. Though handicapped by the weakest of libs. (by the eccentric poetess Helmina von Chézy), Euryanthe contains mus. of outstanding subtlety and strength; while the powerful atmospheric spell of the ‘nature’ mus. in Freischütz is created by the poetic establishment of a mood. For some time Weber was regarded as more important as an influence on others than for his own achievement. Today his rightful place as a master is acknowledged. Prin. works:

OPERAS: Das Waldmädchen (1800); Peter Schmoll und seine Nachbarn (1801-2); Rübezahl (1804-5); Silvana (1808-10); Abu Hassan (1810-11); Der Freischütz (1817-21); Euryanthe (1822-3); Die drei Pintos (begun 1820); Oberon (1825-6).

THEATRE MUSIC: Ov. and 6 nos. for Turandot (1809); Ov. and 11 nos. for Preciosa (1820); and many other items for plays.

CHURCH MUSIC: Mass in Eb (Grosse Jugendmesse) (1802); Mass in Eb (1818); Mass in G (1819).

CHORAL: Der erste Ton, reciter, ch., orch. (1808); Kampf und Sieg, SATB soloists, ch., orch. (1815); Jubel-Kantate, SATB soloists, ch., orch. (1818).

ORCH.: syms: No.1 in C (1807), No.2 in C (1807); ov., The Ruler of the Spirits (Der Beherrscher der Geister) (1811); Jubel-Ouvertüre (Jubilee Overture) (1818); Andante und Rondo Ungarese, va., orch. (1809, rev. for bn. 1813); pf. concs: No.1 in C (1810), No.2 in Eb (1812); Konzertstück in F minor, pf. (1821); cl. concertino (1811); cl. concs.: No.1 in F minor (1811), No.2 in Eb (1811); bn. conc. in F (1811, rev. 1822); hn. concertino (1815); Romanza Siciliana, fl., orch. (1805); Grand Potpourri, vc., orch. (1808).

CHAMBER MUSIC: pf. qt. (1809); cl. quintet (1815); trio, fl., vc., pf. (1819); 6 Progressive Sonatas, vn., pf. (1810); Grand Duo Concertant in Eb, pf., cl. (1816); Divertimento, gui., pf. (1816).

PIANO: 6 Variations on Original Theme (1800); 12 Allemandes (1801); Écossaises (1802); 7 Variations on Original Theme (1808); Momento capriccioso (1808); Grande Polonaise (1808); sonatas: No.1 in C (1812), No.2 in Ab (1816), No.3 in D minor (1816), No.4 in E minor (1822); 7 Variations on a Theme from Méhul's Joseph (1812); 7 Variations on a Gipsy Song (1817); Rondo brillante (1819); Invitation to the Dance (Aufforderung zum Tanz) (1819); Polacca brillante (1819).

PIANO DUETS: 6 Petites pièces faciles (1801); 6 Pieces (1809); 8 Pieces (1818-19).

SONGS (a selection of Weber's many songs): Wiedersehn (1804); Serenade (1809); Trinklied (1809); Wiegenlied (1810); Leyer und Schwerdt (Lyre and Sword) Vol. I, 4 songs (1814), Vol. II, 6 songs for 4 male vv. (1814), Vol. III (1816); Die Temperamente beim Verluste der Geliebten (1816); Elfenlied (1819); Das Licht im Thale (1822); also many canons and part-songs.

ARRS.: God Save the King, 3 versions, for male vv. (?1818), male vv. (?1818), and SATB and wind (1819); 10 Scottish National Songs, v. with fl., vn., vc., pf.

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