Carl Maria von Weber summary

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see Carl Maria von Weber.

Carl Maria von Weber, (born Nov. 18, 1786, Eutin, Holstein—died June 5, 1826, London, Eng.), German composer. Son of a musician and a theatre manager, and first cousin to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s wife, he was born with a deformed hip and was never strong. He took composition lessons with Michael Haydn (1737–1806) and with Abbé Vogler (1749–1814), who recommended him for a post in Breslau (1804–06). His operas began to have success, and he took over direction of the Prague Opera (1813–16), which he saved from ruin, but finding little time for composition, he resigned. Showing signs of the tuberculosis that would kill him, he began to compose more prolifically. Appointed kapellmeister for life in Dresden, he began work on his masterpiece, the opera The Freeshooter (1821), the premiere of which made him an international star. The libretto for his next opera, Euryanthe (1823), was so clumsy that its admirable music never succeeded, and his final opera, Oberon (1826), composed for London, was a success there but not elsewhere.

Eugène Delacroix: Liberty Leading the People

Romanticism Summary

Romanticism, attitude or intellectual orientation that characterized many works of literature, painting, music, architecture, criticism, and historiography in Western civilization over a period from the late 18th to the mid-19th century. Romanticism can be seen as a rejection of the precepts of

lied Summary

Lied, any of a number of particular types of German song, as they are referred to in English and French writings. The earliest so-called lieder date from the 12th and 13th centuries and are the works of minnesingers, poets and singers of courtly love (Minne). Many surviving Minnelieder reflect

Square piano by Johann Christoph Zumpe, 1767; in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London

piano Summary

Piano, a keyboard musical instrument having wire strings that sound when struck by felt-covered hammers operated from a keyboard. The standard modern piano contains 88 keys and has a compass of seven full octaves plus a few keys. The vibration of the strings is transmitted to a soundboard by means

clarinet Summary

Clarinet, single-reed woodwind instrument used orchestrally and in military and brass bands and possessing a distinguished solo repertory. It is usually made of African blackwood and has a cylindrical bore of about 0.6 inch (1.5 cm) terminating in a flared bell. All-metal instruments are made but