Carl Maria von Weber is the founder of German romantic opera. Carl Maria von Weber Carl Maria von Weber

1786 - 1826

Creative path

German composer, conductor, excellent pianist. He was also music critic. Posted by critical articles: “Musical and dramatic notes”, autobiographical novel (unfinished) “The Life of a Musician”, reviews. The significance of Weber's work in Western European music is the founder of the national German opera (romantic). Despite Mozart's operas (singspiel) and Beethoven's Fidelio, Germany, in fact, did not have a national opera school, Italian opera dominated. Weber opposed it in reviews. The first German romantic opera was written by Hoffmann - Ondine.

Main works: 10 operas, music for the plays “Turandot” and “Prociosa”, 2 symphonies, overtures, 2 piano concertos, “Konzertstück” for piano and orchestra, concerts for clarinet, bassoon, horns, chamber ensembles, 4 piano sonatas, “Invitation to Dance”, variations, romances, plays, songs, choral works.

Life path

From childhood, Weber was in the atmosphere of the theater, because his father was an unprinter (organizer and conductor) in the troupe. Due to constant moving, there was no permanent education, but at the end of the 90s he began studying with Michael Haydn (younger brother of Joseph Haydn) and wrote his first works and operas: the opera “The Forest Girl”, the singspiel “Peter Schmoll and His Neighbors” .

At the age of 14 he performed as a pianist, and at 17 as a conductor. In 1803 he studied with Abbe Vogler, who instilled in Weber an interest in folk music.

1804-1817 – the formation of operatic creativity. Weber works at various courts and theaters (kapellmeister at the Breslau Opera House, served for several years as the personal secretary of the Duke of Württemberg in Stuttgart, directed the opera house in Prague (1813-1816). In Darmstadt he met with other composers, and the “Harmonic Society” was formed ”, among whose composers was Meyerbeer. Weber is interested in German literature and German music (song). He began to write critical articles. The operas “Rübetzal”, “Silvana”, “Abu Hassan” appeared.

1817-1826 – mature Dresden period. At this time, Weber worked as a conductor and director of the opera house. There is a struggle for the national opera (German) against the Italian one. This is a period of creative flourishing. During this period, Weber created his best works: sonatas, “Invitation to Dance” (raises the everyday genre to artistic heights). Anticipates Chopin's waltzes, wrote “Konzertstück” for piano and orchestra - program music, a virtuoso concert work.

1821 – opera “The Magic Shooter”. It was staged with great success in Berlin. This is the birth of the German national opera. Genre: romantic singspiel.

1823 – opera “Euryanthe”. Written for Vienna. New type operas - a large romantic chivalric opera without spoken dialogue. The plot is based on a medieval legend (13th century). This opera did not receive much recognition. It anticipates Wagner's operas (“Lohengrin”).

1826 – opera “Oberon”. Staged in London. Fairytale opera. The genre is Singspiel. Combines fantasy with reality.

“Magic Shooter”

The opera was held in Berlin with enormous success. This is the first German romantic opera. Genre: romantic singspiel. Libretto – Kinda. According to a folk tale about a black hunter (from Apel’s book “The Book of Scary Stories”).

The structure of the opera: 3 acts: 1st act – the beginning of the drama; 2nd action – development; Act 3 – climax and denouement. There are crowd scenes in acts 1 and 3. Act 2 is fantastic. It (2nd act) contrasts with 1st and 3rd acts. In dramaturgy, 3 plans are visible:

1 plan – folk-everyday crowd scenes. For them, Weber uses everyday genres, dances, marches, substitute Bohemian themes, and the intonations of the “golden move” of horns. Clear and simple instrumentation, very simple harmonies, simple melodies that are close to folk themes. He remade the local Bohemian flavor and poeticized it.

Act 1 – choirs and landler, march of peasants, song of the people.

Act 3 – choir of girlfriends, choir of hunters.

2nd plan – connected with fantasy – the finale of the 2nd act. The music contrasts sharply with acts 1 and 3. This is horror fiction. The orchestra plays a huge role. Weber uses completely different means of expression than in the first plan. The finale of Act 2 is the scene in “Wolf Valley”. Each bullet is accompanied by a new fantastic vision: a storm, a wild hunt (barking dogs), a wild whirlwind, a battle, etc. Uses minor. Tonal plan: c-moll, fis-moll, c-moll. Barking dogs - chords for horns and bassoons. Whirlwind – bassoon and low strings with an awkward theme in the bass. Weber uses wooden wind instruments in uncharacteristic registers: clarinets - low, flutes - either very low, or very high, piercing. He also uses trombones, horns and timpani. Weber's orchestral discoveries influenced the work of other composers - Berlioz, Mussorgsky (“Night on Bald Mountain”).

3 plan – associated with individual characters:

Characteristics of Max – typical romantic hero. Aria (Act I) – weak-willed character. Agatha is a more purposeful person. A large aria is dedicated to her - a portrait in Act II of several sections: a recitative introduction, the 1st section - of a sublime prayerful nature. The last section is fast, active, very optimistic music; this is Agatha’s leitmotif, which sounds in the overture and completes the entire opera. There are other leitmotifs. One of them is the leitmotif of Samiel - the leitmotif of evil forces. There are also latent timbres. Agata has a clarinet, Samiel has a flute in a low register. The leitmotifs anticipate the work of Wagner.

In February 1815, Count Karl von Brühl, director of the Royal Theater of Berlin, introducing Karl Maria von Weber to the Prussian Chancellor Karl August Prince of Hardenburg as conductor of the Berlin Opera, gave him the following recommendation: this man stands out not only as a brilliant “passionate composer, he has full of extensive knowledge in the field of art, poetry and literature, and this sets him apart from most musicians.” There is no better way to describe Weber's many gifts.

Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was born on November 18, 1786 in Eutin. He was the ninth child of ten children from his father's two marriages. Father - Franz Anton von Weber, without a doubt, had musical abilities. He began his career as a lieutenant, but even on the battlefield he carried a violin with him.

From an early age, Karl got used to a constant nomadic life. From childhood he grew up as a sickly, weak boy. He started walking only at the age of four. Due to his physical disabilities, he was more thoughtful and withdrawn than his peers. He learned, in his words, “to live in his own world, a world of fantasy, and find occupation and happiness in it.”

His father had long cherished the dream of making at least one of his children an outstanding musician. Mozart's example haunted him. Thus, from an early age, Karl began to study music with his father and with his half-brother Fridolin. The irony of fate is that one day Fridolin exclaimed in despair: “Karl, it seems you can become anything you want, but you will never become a musician.”

Karl Maria was apprenticed to the young bandmaster and composer Johann Peter Heischkel. From then on, training progressed rapidly. A year later, the family went to Salzburg, and Karl became a student of Michael Haydn. At the same time he composed his first work, which his father published, and received positive feedback in one of the newspapers.

In 1798, his mother died. Father's sister Adelaide took care of Karl. From Austria the Webers moved to Munich. Here the young man began taking singing lessons from Johann Evangelist Wallishausz and studying composition from the local organist Johann Nepomuk Kalcher.

Here in Munich, Karl wrote his first comic opera, The Power of Love and Wine. Unfortunately, it was subsequently lost.

However, the restless nature of the father did not allow the Weber family to stay in one place for a long time. In 1799 they come to the Saxon city of Freiburg. A year later, in November, the first youth opera “The Forest Girl” premiered here. In November 1801, father and son arrived in Salzburg. Karl began studying with Michael Haydn again. Soon Weber wrote his third opera - “Peter Schmoll and His Neighbors”. However, the premiere of the opera in Augsburg did not take place, and Karl Maria went on a concert tour with his father. Even then, thanks to his thin and long fingers, the young man achieved a technique that was available to only a few at that time.

An attempt to send Karl to study with Joseph Haydn nevertheless failed due to the maestro’s refusal. Therefore, the young man continued his studies with Georg Joseph Vogler. Abbot Vogler supported young talent interest in folk song and music, primarily to oriental motifs popular at that time, which was later reflected in Weber’s work “Abu Hasan”.

More important, however, was learning to conduct. This allowed Karl to lead the orchestra in the theater of Breslau in 1804. Having not yet reached the age of eighteen, the conductor seated the orchestra members in a new way, intervened in the productions, and introduced separate ensemble rehearsals, as well as dress rehearsals, for learning new parts. Weber's reforms were received ambiguously even by the public.

Here Karl had many affairs in the theater, among other things, with the prima donna Dietzel. A beautiful life required more and more money, and the young man fell into debt.

His son's debts prompted his father to search for a source of food, and he began to try his hand at copper engraving. Unfortunately, this has become a source of unhappiness. One evening, feeling cold, Karl took a sip from a wine bottle, not suspecting that his father kept nitric acid there. He was saved by his friend Wilhelm Berner, who urgently called a doctor. A fatal outcome was avoided, but the young man lost his beautiful voice. His absence was taken advantage of by opponents who quickly eliminated all his reforms. Without money, pursued by creditors, the young pianist went on tour. He was lucky here. The maid of honor Brelonde, lady-in-waiting of the Duchess of Württemberg, facilitated his introduction to Eugen Friedrich von Württemberg-Els. Karl Maria took the place of music director at Karlsruhe Castle, built in the forests of upper Silesia. Now he has a lot of time to write. During the autumn of 1806 and winter of 1807, the twenty-year-old composer wrote a concertina for trumpet, as well as two symphonies. But the offensive of Napoleonic army confused all the cards. Soon Karl was to take the place of private secretary of Duke Ludwig, one of Eugene's three sons. This service turned out to be difficult for Weber from the very beginning. The Duke, experiencing financial difficulties, more than once made Charles a scapegoat. Three years of wild life, when Karl Maria often took part in his master’s revels, ended quite unexpectedly. In 1810, Karl's father arrived in Stuttgart and brought with him new and considerable debts. It all ended with the fact that, trying to get out of both his own and his father’s debts, the composer ended up behind bars, though only for sixteen days. On February 26, 1810, Karl and his father were expelled from Württemberg, but they made him promise to repay his debts.

This event had great value for Karl. In his diary he will write: “Born again.”

For short time Weber first visited Mannheim, then Heidelberg and finally moved to Darmdstadt. Here Karl became interested in writing. His greatest achievement was the novel A Musician's Life, in which he hilariously and brilliantly described the composer's spiritual life while composing music. The book was largely autobiographical in nature.

On September 16, 1810, the premiere of his opera Silvana took place in Frankfurt. The composer was prevented from enjoying his triumph by a sensational flight on hot air balloon Madame Blanchard over Frankfurt, eclipsing all other events. The title role in the opera was sung by the young singer Caroline Brandt, who later became his wife. Inspired by success and recognition, Karl Maria began the composition “Abu Hasan” in late autumn. He completed his largest instrumental work at that time, C-Dur, opus 11.

In February 1811, the composer went on a concert tour. On March 14 it ended in Munich. Karl stayed there; he liked the cultural environment of the Bavarian city. Already on April 5, Heinrich Joseph Berman performed a hastily composed concertino for clarinet especially for him. “The whole orchestra has gone crazy and wants concerts from me,” wrote Weber. Even King Max Joseph of Bavaria commissioned two concertos for clarinet and concerto.

Unfortunately, the matter did not come to other works, because Weber was occupied with other hobbies, and mainly love ones.

In January 1812, while in the city of Gotha, Karl Maria felt severe chest pain. From that time on, Weber's battle with a fatal disease began.

In April, in Berlin, Weber received sad news - his father died at the age of 78. Now he was left completely alone. However, his stay in Berlin did him good. Along with classes with male choirs, correction and reworking of the opera Silvana, he also wrote keyboard music. With the Grand Sonata in C-Dur he stepped onto new ground. Was born new way virtuoso playing, which influenced musical art throughout the 19th century. The same applies to his second keyboard concerto.

Going on a new tour early next year, Karl recalled with sadness: “Everything seems like a dream to me: that I left Berlin and left everything that had become dear and close to me.”

But Weber's tour was unexpectedly interrupted as soon as it began. As soon as Karl arrived in Prague, he was dumbfounded by the offer to head the local theater. After some hesitation, Weber agreed. He had a rare opportunity to realize his musical ideas, since he received unlimited authority from the director of the Liebig Theater to form an orchestra. On the other hand, he now has a real chance to get rid of his debts.

Unfortunately, Karl soon became seriously ill, so much so that for a long time didn't leave the apartment. Having recovered a little, he plunged into work. His working day lasted from six in the morning until midnight.

But the Prague crisis was not limited to illness and hard work. The composer could not resist attempts to bring flirtatious theater ladies together. “It’s my misfortune that an eternally young heart beats in my chest,” he sometimes complained.

After new attacks of illness, Weber left for spa treatment and from Bad Liebwerdn often wrote to Caroline Brandt, who became his guardian angel. After numerous quarrels, the lovers finally found mutual agreement.

The liberation of Berlin after Napoleon's defeat in Leipzig unexpectedly awakened patriotic feelings in the composer. He composes music for “Lützow’s Wild Hunt” and “Sword Song” from Theodor Kerner’s collection of poems “Lyre and Sword”.

However, he soon fell into depression, caused not only by new attacks of illness, but also by serious disagreements with Brandt. Weber was inclined to leave Prague, and only the serious illness of the theater director Liebig kept him in the Czech Republic.

On November 19, 1816, a big event occurred in the composer’s life - he announced his engagement to Caroline Brandt. Inspired, in a short time he writes two sonatas for piano, a large concert duet for claret and piano, and several songs.

At the end of 1817, Weber took up the post of musical director of the German opera in Dresden. He finally settled down and not only began to lead a sedentary life, but also ended forever with his increasingly debilitating love affairs. On November 4, 1817, he married Caroline Brandt.

In Dresden Weber wrote his best work- opera "Free Shooter". He first mentioned this opera in a letter to his then-fiancée Caroline: “The plot is appropriate, creepy and interesting.” However, the year 1818 was already ending, and work on the “Free Shooter” almost did not begin, which is not surprising, because he had 19 orders from his employer, the king.

Caroline was expecting a baby and was on last month pregnancy is not entirely healthy. After much suffering, she gave birth to a girl, and Karl barely had time to fulfill orders. He had barely finished the mass for the day of honoring the royal couple when a new order arrived - an opera on the theme of the Arabian Nights fairy tales.

In mid-March, Weber fell ill, and a month later his daughter died. Caroline tried to hide her misfortune from her husband.

Soon she herself became seriously ill. Nevertheless, Caroline recovered much faster than her husband, who fell into such a deep depression that he could not write music. Surprisingly, the summer turned out to be productive. Weber composed a lot in July and August. But work on “Free Shooter” was not moving forward at all. The New Year 1820 began again with misfortune - Caroline had a miscarriage. Thanks to his friends, the composer managed to overcome the crisis and on February 22 began completing “Free Shooter.” On May 3, Weber was able to proudly declare: “The Overture of The Hunter's Bride is completed, and with it the entire opera. Honor and praise be to the Lord."

The opera premiered on June 18, 1821 in Berlin. A triumphant success awaited her. Beethoven said with admiration about the composer: “In general, a gentle person, I never expected this from him! Now Weber must write operas, only operas, one after another.” Meanwhile, Weber's health deteriorated. For the first time his throat began to bleed.

In 1823, the composer completed work on a new opera, Euryanta. He was worried about the low level of the libretto. Nevertheless, the premiere of the opera was generally successful. The hall enthusiastically accepted new job Weber. But the success of “Free Shooter” could not be repeated. The disease is rapidly progressing. The composer is plagued by an incessant, debilitating cough. In unbearable conditions, he finds the strength to work on the opera Oberon.

On April 1, the premiere of Oberon took place in London's Covent Garden. It was an unprecedented triumph for Carl Maria von Weber. The audience even forced him to go on stage - an event that had never happened before in the English capital. He died in London on June 5, 1826. The death mask accurately conveys Weber's facial features in some kind of unearthly enlightenment, as if he saw heaven with his last breath.

1. heavenly sign

At the age of twelve, Weber composed his first comic opera, The Power of Love and Wine. The opera score was kept in a closet. Soon, in the most incomprehensible way, this cabinet burned down with all its contents. Moreover, except for the closet, nothing in the room was damaged. Weber took this incident as a “sign from above” and decided to abandon music forever, devoting himself to lithography.
However, despite the heavenly warning, his passion for music did not pass and at the age of fourteen Weber wrote a new opera, “The Dumb Forest Girl.” The opera was first staged in 1800. Then it was staged quite often in Vienna, Prague and even St. Petersburg. After such a very successful start musical career Weber stopped believing in omens and various “signs from above.”

2. envious person No. 1

Weber's dislike for other people's fame was truly boundless. He was especially uncompromising towards Rossini: Weber constantly told everyone that Rossini was completely mediocre, that his music was just a fashion that would be forgotten in a couple of years...
- This upstart Rossini doesn’t even deserve to be talked about! - Weber once said.
“Tell him that this would suit me very much,” Rossinni responded to this.

3. motto

The motto of Weber’s work was the famous words that the composer asked to place as his own autograph on the published engraving with his portrait: “Weber expresses the will of God, Beethoven the will of Beethoven, and Rossini ... the will of the Viennese.”

4. Salieri himself

In Breslau, Weber had a tragic incident that almost cost him his life. Weber invited a friend to dinner and sat down to work while waiting for him. Having frozen while working, he decided to warm up with a sip of wine, but in the semi-darkness he took a sip from the wine flask in which Weber's father kept sulfuric acid for engraving work. The composer fell lifeless. Weber's friend, meanwhile, was late and arrived only after nightfall. The composer's window was lit, but no one answered the knock. The friend pushed open the unlocked door and saw Weber's body lying lifeless on the floor. A broken flask lay nearby, giving off a pungent smell. Weber’s father ran out of the next room in response to cries for help, and together they took the composer to the hospital. Weber was brought back to life, but his mouth and throat were terribly burned, and his vocal cords were ineffective. Thus Weber lost his beautiful voice. For the rest of his life he was forced to speak in a whisper.
He once said in a whisper to one of his friends:
- They say that Mozart was ruined by Salieri, but I managed without him...

5. Unfortunately, birthdays only come once a year...

Weber loved animals very much. His house resembled a zoo: the hunting dog Ali, the gray cat Maune, the capuchin monkey Shnouf and many birds surrounded the musician’s family. The big Indian raven was a favorite - every morning he said solemnly to the composer: “Good evening.”
One day, his wife Caroline gave him a truly wonderful gift. Costumes for the animals were made especially for Weber's birthday, and the next morning a funny procession went to the birthday boy's room to congratulate him!.. Ali was turned into an elephant with a long trunk and large ears, his nopon was replaced by silk handkerchiefs. Behind him was a cat dressed as a donkey, with a pair of slippers instead of bags on its back. Next came a monkey in a fluffy dress, a hat with a huge feather bouncing coquettishly on her head...
Weber jumped for joy like a child, and then something unimaginable began: he forgot about his illnesses, failures, and even about his competing composers... The animals and happy Weber rushed around the chairs and tables, and the serious raven said to everyone an infinite number of times:
- Good evening!
It's a pity that Rossini didn't see this...

6. ugly angel

When The Magic Shooter was staged in Prague, the lead female role was sung by Henrietta Sontag, a very small, charming and extremely timid singer. She was a girl of angelic beauty, but Weber did not like her too much because of her timidity and uncertainty.
“She’s a pretty girl, but still quite thin,” the composer shrugged.

7. subtleties of criticism

From time to time, enthusiastic praise of the greatest of the greatest maestros of all times, Weber, appeared in Parisian newspapers. Moreover, laudatory articles unknown author were written with knowledge of all the subtleties of the composer’s music. And it is not surprising, since these praises of Weber were sung... by Weber himself.

8. maestro and his children

Weber was so in love with himself that, with the consent of his wife, three of his four children were named after their father-composer: Carl Maria, Maria Carolina and Caroline Maria.

Carl Maria von Weber went down in music history as the founder of romantic German opera. As such, his memory is immortalized even in space: the asteroids Euryantha, Retia, Preciosa, Fatme and Zubaida are named after the characters in his operas. Opera genre really takes central place in his work, which, however, is not limited to operas. Weber was not only a composer - he acted as a conductor and pianist, and proved himself as a writer.

Weber came from a family that was by no means the most respected (it was no coincidence that Leopold Mozart was dissatisfied with his son’s marriage to a representative of this family) - and the future composer’s father was a completely “worthy” representative of his family: gifted, but prone to adventure, he managed to be both an artist and a speculator, and a soldier, and an official, and a musician in a traveling troupe. Karl was the sixth of his surviving children, and his father, seeing the abilities of his offspring, set out to make artists out of them. Karl had poor health since childhood, but this did not stop him from traveling with his family’s musical and dramatic traveling troupe. His childhood passed behind the scenes of various theaters, his toys were theatrical props.

Weber Sr., who was haunted by the laurels of the Mozart family, noticed his son’s musical talent and wanted to make him a child prodigy. Karl's first piano teacher was his older brother Fritz, who constantly shouted at him and even beat the boy; his father was not much more patient, so his studies were not successful. But at the age of ten, Karl had a real mentor - Peter Heuschkel, and later he studied with Michael Haydn (brother of the great composer). Karl showed his talent as a composer, creating six fuguettes, which his father hastened to publish.

At the age of twelve, Weber almost gave up the idea of becoming a composer: at the insistence of his father, he began to write the opera “The Power of Love and Wine,” but the closet where the unfinished score was kept burned down in the most mysterious way (not a single piece of furniture in the room was damaged) . Seeing this as a sign from above, Karl abandoned composition and took up lithography, but his love for music still prevailed, and two years later his opera “The Silent Forest Girl” was staged for the first time, and a year later a new work was completed - “Peter Schmoll and his neighbor”, staged in 1802 in Ausburg.

In subsequent years, Weber studied with Franz Lauski and also with Georg Joseph Vogler. On the recommendation of the latter, in 1804 he became conductor of the opera house in Breslau. He tried to improve the work of the theater: he seated the orchestra in a new way, achieving greater unity of sound, streamlined the rehearsal system, and insisted on including only highly artistic works in the repertoire. Weber's innovations did not evoke understanding among either the artists, the management, or the public, accustomed to light entertainment performances.

The conductor's activities did not interfere with composing music. Weber created songs and numerous pieces for viola, horn, violin and other instruments, but the most significant work of those years was the opera "Rübetzal", based on German fairy tale(only four numbers of it have survived).

In 1806, Weber left Breslau and became the head of the court orchestra of Prince Eugene of Württemberg, and during his service he managed to create two symphonies. The orchestra was soon disbanded due to the outbreak of war, and Weber, on the recommendation of the prince, became the personal secretary of his brother Ludwig. The composer had to keep accounts, negotiate with merchants and moneylenders, and do other things that were completely out of character for him. “Get away from here... Into the open space... The artist’s field of activity is the whole world,” says the novel “The Life of an Artist,” on which he began working in 1809. At the same time, he began composing two operas – “Silvana” and “Abu Hasan."

Service at the court of Ludwig of Württemberg ended with arrest on unjust charges. Weber spent only sixteen days in prison, but it was after that that he felt like a truly mature person. As a pianist, he successfully gave concerts in Mannheim, Frankfurt am Main and other cities, created concert pieces for various instruments (he had a special love for the bassoon and clarinet), wrote articles and reviews. He made many concert trips in 1811-1812, but in 1813 the war forced him to stay in Prague, where he worked for several years as a conductor at the opera house. He launched a vigorous activity - the number of premieres carried out in one year amounted to dozens, leaving little time for composing music. And yet, some works were written precisely in those years - for example, a collection of songs based on poems by Theodor Körner “The Sword and the Lyre”.

From 1817 Weber lived and worked in Dresden. Here, at the Royal Drama, Italian operas and German dramas were staged - the question was not even raised for years, so Weber had at his disposal not singers, but singing actors, while the Italians German operas They performed reluctantly, and the language barrier created difficulties. But even under such conditions, Weber managed to stage operas by German composers. Two belong to the Dresden period best operas composer: “” was written in 1821, and “Euryanthe” in 1822. The greatest success fell to the lot of “Free Shooter”.

In 1825, Weber began working on the opera Oberon, commissioned by the Covent Garden Theater. Work on it was repeatedly interrupted due to worsening lung disease, and yet in 1826 the opera was completed. Along with the creation of the opera, Weber, under the terms of the contract, had to conduct several performances and concerts. He understood that given his state of health, a trip to London would be sheer suicide, but he thought about the interests of his family: “Whether I go or not, I will die this year,” he said. “However, if I go, my children will have food when their father dies.”

The premiere of Oberon in London was a great success. The composer did not have time to return to his homeland - he died and was buried in England. In 1844, through the efforts of Richard Wagner, the composer’s ashes were transported to Dresden, and at the burial ceremony a funeral march was played, which Wagner composed based on motifs from the opera “Euryanthe.”

Carl Maria von Weber

Famous German composer, conductor, pianist and public figure who contributed to raising the level of musical life in Germany and the growth of authority and importance national art, Carl Maria von Weber was born on December 18, 1786 in the Holstein town of Eytin in the family of a provincial entrepreneur who loved music and theater.

Coming from craft circles by origin, the composer’s father loved to flaunt his non-existent creations in front of the public. title of nobility, family coat of arms and the prefix “von” to the name Weber.

Karl Maria's mother, who came from a family of wood carvers, inherited excellent vocal abilities from her parents; for some time she even worked in the theater as a professional singer.

Together with traveling artists, the Weber family moved from place to place, so even in early childhood Karl Maria got used to the atmosphere of the theater and became acquainted with the customs of the nomadic troupes. The result of such a life was the necessary knowledge of the theater and the laws of the stage for an opera composer, as well as rich musical experience.

Little Karl Maria had two hobbies - music and painting. The boy painted in oils, drew miniatures, he was also good at engraving compositions, and in addition, he knew how to play some musical instruments, including the piano.

In 1798, twelve-year-old Weber was lucky enough to become a student of Michael Haydn, the younger brother of the famous Joseph Haydn, in Salzburg. Lessons in theory and composition ended with the writing, under the guidance of the teacher, of six fuguettes, which, thanks to the efforts of his father, were published in the Universal Musical Newspaper.

The departure of the Weber family from Salzburg caused the change music teachers. Disorganization and diversity music education compensated by the versatile talent of young Karl Maria. By the age of 14, he had written quite a lot of works, including several sonatas and variations for piano, a number of chamber works, a mass, and the opera “The Power of Love and Hate,” which became Weber’s first such work.

Nevertheless, in those years the talented young man gained great fame as a performer and writer. popular songs. Moving from one city to another, he performed his own and other people's works to the accompaniment of a piano or guitar. Like his mother, Carl Maria Weber had with a unique voice, significantly weakened as a result of acid poisoning.

Neither the difficult financial situation nor constant travel could seriously affect the creative productivity of the gifted composer. The opera "The Maiden of the Forest" and the Singschpiel "Peter Schmoll and His Neighbors", written in 1800, received favorable reviews former teacher Weber, Michael Haydn. This was followed by numerous waltzes, ecosaises, four-hand piano pieces and songs.

Already in Weber's early, immature operatic works, a certain creative line can be traced - an appeal to the national democratic genre theatrical arts(all operas are written in the form of a singspiel - an everyday performance in which musical episodes and spoken dialogue coexist) and a tendency towards fantasy.

Among Weber's many teachers, the collector of folk melodies, Abbot Vogler, the most popular scientific theorist and composer of his time, deserves special attention. Throughout 1803, the young man, under the guidance of Vogler, studied the work of outstanding composers, made a detailed analysis of their works and gained experience to write his great works. In addition, Vogler's school contributed to the growth of Weber's interest in folk art.

In 1804, the young composer moved to Breslavl, where he received a position as conductor and began updating the opera repertoire of the local theater. His active work in this direction met resistance from singers and orchestral players, and Weber resigned.

However, a difficult financial situation forced him to agree to any offers: for several years he was a bandmaster in Karlsruhe, then - the personal secretary of the Duke of Württemberg in Stuttgart. But Weber could not say goodbye to music: he continued to compose instrumental works, experimented in the genre of opera (“Silvana”).

In 1810, the young man was arrested on suspicion of participation in court scams and expelled from Stuttgart. Weber again became a traveling musician, traveling with concerts to numerous German and Swiss cities.

It was this talented composer who initiated the creation of the “Harmonious Society” in Darmstadt, designed to support and promote the works of its members through propaganda and criticism in the press. The society's charter was drawn up, and the creation of a “musical topography of Germany” was also planned, allowing artists to correctly navigate in a particular city.

During this period, Weber's passion for folk music intensified. In his free time, the composer went to the surrounding villages to “collect melodies.” Sometimes, impressed by what he heard, he immediately composed songs and performed them to the accompaniment of a guitar, causing exclamations of approval from the listeners.

During the same period creative activity The composer's literary talent developed. Numerous articles, reviews and letters characterized Weber as an intelligent, thoughtful person, an opponent of routine, and at the forefront.

Being a champion of national music, Weber also paid tribute to foreign art. He especially highly valued the work of such French composers of the revolutionary period as Cherubini, Megul, Grétry and others. Special articles and essays were dedicated to them, and their works were performed. Of particular interest in literary heritage Carl Maria von Weber is inspired by the autobiographical novel “The Life of a Musician,” which tells the story of the difficult fate of a vagabond composer.

The composer did not forget about music. His works of 1810 – 1812 are distinguished by greater independence and skill. An important step towards creative maturity became comic opera“Abu Ghassan”, which traces the images of the master’s most significant works.

Weber spent the period from 1813 to 1816 in Prague as the head of the opera house, the following years he worked in Dresden, and everywhere his reform plans met stubborn resistance among theater bureaucrats.

The growth of patriotic sentiment in Germany in the early 1820s proved to be a saving grace for the work of Carl Maria von Weber. Writing music for the romantic-patriotic poems of Theodor Kerner, who participated in the 1813 war of liberation against Napoleon, brought the composer the laurels of a national artist.

Another patriotic work by Weber was the cantata “Battle and Victory,” written and performed in 1815 in Prague. Attached to it summary content that contributes to a better understanding of the work by the public. Subsequently, similar explanations were compiled for larger works.

The Prague period marked the beginning of the creative maturity of the talented German composer. The works he wrote at this time deserve special attention. piano music, into which new elements of musical speech and style texture were introduced.

Weber's move to Dresden in 1817 marked the beginning of sedentary family life(by that time the composer had already married the woman he loved - former singer Prague Opera Caroline Brandt). The active work of the advanced composer here, too, found few like-minded people among influential persons of the state.

In those years, preference was given to traditional Italian opera in the Saxon capital. Created at the Beginning XIX century the German national opera was deprived of the support of the royal court and aristocratic patrons.

Weber had to do a lot to establish the priority of national art over Italian. He managed to assemble a good team, achieve its artistic coherence and stage production of Mozart’s opera “Fidelio”, as well as works by French composers Megul (“Joseph in Egypt”), Cherubini (“Lodoisku”) and others.

The Dresden period became the pinnacle of Carl Maria Weber's creative activity and the final decade of his life. During this time, the best piano and opera works were written: numerous sonatas for piano, “Invitation to the Dance”, “Concerto-Stück” for piano and orchestra, as well as the operas “Freischütz”, “The Magic Shooter”, “Euryanthe” and “Oberon” ", indicating the path and directions for further development opera art Germany.

The production of The Magic Shooter brought Weber worldwide fame and fame. The idea of writing an opera based on the folk tale about the “black hunter” originated with the composer back in 1810, but the social activities prevented the implementation of this plan. Only in Dresden did Weber again turn to the somewhat fabulous plot of The Magic Marksman; at his request, the poet F. Kind wrote a libretto for the opera.

Events take place in the Czech region of Bohemia. Main actors The works are the hunter Max, the daughter of the count's forester Agatha, the reveler and gambler Kaspar, Agatha's father, Kuno, and Prince Ottokar.

The first act begins with the joyful greetings of the winner of the shooting competition, Kilian, and the sad lamentations of the young hunter who was defeated in the preliminary tournament. A similar fate at the end of the competition disrupts all of Max’s plans: according to an ancient hunting custom, his marriage to the beautiful Agatha will become impossible. The girl's father and several hunters console the unfortunate man.

Soon the fun stops, everyone leaves, and Max is left alone. His solitude is violated by the reveler Kaspar, who sold his soul to the devil. Pretending to be a friend, he promises to help the young hunter and tells him about magic bullets that should be cast at night in the Wolf Valley - a cursed place visited by evil spirits.

Max doubts, however, cleverly playing on feelings young man to Agatha, Kaspar persuades him to go to the valley. Max leaves the stage, and the clever gambler triumphs in advance of his deliverance from the approaching hour of reckoning.

The second act takes place in the forester's house and in the gloomy Wolf Valley. Agatha is sad in her room; even the cheerful chatter of her carefree, flirtatious friend Ankhen cannot distract her from her sad thoughts.

Agatha is waiting for Max. Seized with gloomy forebodings, she goes out onto the balcony and calls on the heavens to dispel her worries. Max enters, trying not to scare his beloved, and tells her the reason for his sadness. Agata and Ankhen persuade him not to go to scary place, but Max, who made a promise to Kaspar, leaves.

At the end of the second act, a gloomy valley opens to the eyes of the audience, the silence of which is interrupted by the ominous cries of invisible spirits. At midnight, the black hunter Samiel, the messenger of death, appears in front of Kaspar, who is preparing to cast witchcraft spells. Kaspar's soul must go to hell, but he asks for a reprieve, sacrificing Max instead of himself to the devil, who tomorrow will kill Agatha with a magic bullet. Samiel agrees to this sacrifice and disappears with a clap of thunder.

Soon Max comes down from the top of the cliff into the valley. The forces of good are trying to save him by sending images of his mother and Agatha, but it’s too late - Max sells his soul to the devil. The finale of the second act is the scene of casting the magic bullets.

The third and final act of the opera is dedicated to last day competition, which should end with the wedding of Max and Agatha. The girl who saw at night prophetic dream, again in sadness. Ankhen’s efforts to cheer up her friend are in vain; her concern for her beloved does not go away. The girls soon appear and present Agatha with flowers. She opens the box and instead of a wedding wreath, she finds a funeral dress.

There is a change of scenery, marking the finale of the third act and the entire opera. In front of Prince Ottokar, his courtiers and the forester Kuno, the hunters demonstrate their skills, among them Max. The young man must make the last shot; the target becomes a dove flying from bush to bush. Max takes aim, and at that moment Agatha appears behind the bushes. Magic power moves the muzzle of the gun to the side, and the bullet hits Kaspar, who was hiding in a tree. Mortally wounded, he falls to the ground, his soul going to hell, accompanied by Samiel.

Prince Ottokar demands an explanation for what happened. Max talks about the events of the past night, the angry prince sentences him to exile, the young hunter must forever forget about his marriage to Agatha. The intercession of those present cannot mitigate the punishment.

Only the appearance of a bearer of wisdom and justice changes the situation. The hermit pronounces his verdict: to postpone the wedding of Max and Agatha for a year. Such a magnanimous decision becomes the cause of general joy and rejoicing, all those gathered praise God and his mercy.

The successful conclusion of the opera corresponds to the moral idea, presented in the form of a struggle between good and evil and the victory of good forces. There is a certain amount of abstraction and idealization of real life, but at the same time there are moments in the work that meet the requirements of progressive art: display folk life and the uniqueness of its way of life, appealing to the characters of the peasant-burgher environment. Fiction, conditioned by adherence to folk beliefs and traditions, is devoid of any mysticism; in addition, the poetic depiction of nature brings a fresh spirit to the composition.

The dramatic line in “The Magic Shooter” develops sequentially: Act I is the beginning of the drama, the desire of evil forces to take possession of the wavering soul; Act II - the struggle between light and darkness; Act III is the climax, ending with the triumph of virtue.

Dramatic action here it unfolds on musical material, moving in large layers. For disclosure ideological meaning work and combining it with the help of musical and thematic connections, Weber uses the principle of leitmotif: a short leitmotif, constantly accompanying the character, concretizes one or another image (for example, the image of Samiel, personifying dark, mysterious forces).

A new, purely romantic means of expression is the mood common to the entire opera, subordinated to the “sound of the forest” with which all the events taking place are connected.

The life of nature in The Magic Shooter has two sides: one of them, associated with the idyllically depicted patriarchal life of hunters, is revealed in folk songs and melodies, as well as in the sound of horns; the second side, associated with ideas about the demonic, dark forces of the forest, manifests itself in a unique combination of orchestral timbres and an alarming syncopated rhythm.

The Overture to The Magic Shooter, written in sonata form, reveals ideological plan the entire work, its content and course of events. Here, in contrasting comparison, the main themes of the opera appear, which are at the same time musical characteristics main characters who are developed in portrait arias.

The orchestra is rightfully considered the strongest source of romantic expressiveness in The Magic Shooter. Weber managed to identify and use certain features and expressive properties of individual instruments. In some scenes the orchestra plays an independent role and is the main means musical development operas (scene in Wolf Valley, etc.).

The success of The Magic Shooter was stunning: the opera was staged in many cities, and arias from this work were sung on city streets. Thus, Weber was rewarded handsomely for all the humiliations and trials that befell him in Dresden.

In 1822, the entrepreneur of the Viennese court opera house F. Barbaia invited Weber to compose a grand opera. A few months later, Evritana, written in the genre of a knightly romantic opera, was sent to the Austrian capital.

A legendary plot with some mystical mystery, a desire for heroism and special attention to the psychological characteristics of the characters, the predominance of feelings and reflections on the development of action - these features, outlined by the composer in this work, become later characteristic features German romantic opera.

In the autumn of 1823, the premiere of “Eurytana” took place in Vienna, which was attended by Weber himself. Although it caused a storm of delight among adherents of the national art, the opera did not receive as wide recognition as The Magic Shooter.

This circumstance had a rather depressing effect on the composer; in addition, the severe lung disease inherited from his mother made itself felt. The increasingly frequent attacks caused long breaks in Weber's work. So, between the writing of “Eurytana” and the start of work on “Oberon”, about 18 months passed.

The last opera was written by Weber at the request of Covent Garden, one of the largest opera houses London. Realizing the proximity of death, the composer strove to finish his life as soon as possible. last piece, so that after his death the family would not be left without a livelihood. The same reason forced him to go to London to direct the production of the fairy tale opera Oberon.

In this work, consisting of several separate paintings, fantastic events and real life, everyday German music coexists with “oriental exoticism”.

When writing Oberon, the composer did not set himself any special dramatic goals; he wanted to write a cheerful extravaganza opera filled with a relaxed, fresh melody. The colorfulness and lightness of the orchestral color used in the writing of this work had a significant influence on the improvement of romantic orchestral writing and left a special imprint on the scores of such romantic composers as Berlioz, Mendelssohn and others.

The musical merits of Weber's last operas found their most vivid expression in the overtures, which also received recognition as independent program symphonic works. At the same time, certain shortcomings of the libretto and dramaturgy limited the number of productions of Eurytana and Oberon on the stages of opera houses.

Stressful work in London, coupled with frequent overloads, completely undermined his health famous composer, July 5, 1826 was the last day of his life: Carl Maria von Weber died of consumption before reaching the age of forty.

In 1841, on the initiative of leading public figures in Germany, the issue of transferring ashes was raised talented composer to his homeland, and three years later his remains returned to Dresden.

From the book Encyclopedic Dictionary(IN) author Brockhaus F.A.

Weber Weber (Karl-Maria-Friedrich-August Weber) - baron, famous German composer, belongs to a powerful galaxy musical figures beginning of the 19th century. Weber is rightly considered a purely German composer, who deeply understood the structure of national music and

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WEBER, Max (Weber, Max, 1864–1920), German sociologist 35 Protestant ethics and the spirit of capitalism. Cap. articles (“Die protestantische Ethik und der Geist des Kapitalismus”,

The famous German composer, conductor, pianist and public figure who contributed to raising the level of musical life in Germany and the growth of the authority and importance of national art, Carl Maria von Weber was born on December 18, 1786 in the Holstein town of Eytin in the family of a provincial entrepreneur who loved music and theater.

Coming from craft circles by origin, the composer’s father loved to flaunt to the public a non-existent title of nobility, a family coat of arms and the prefix “von” to the name Weber.

Karl Maria's mother, who came from a family of wood carvers, inherited excellent vocal abilities from her parents; for some time she even worked in the theater as a professional singer.

Together with the traveling artists, the Weber family moved from place to place, so even in early childhood, Karl Maria got used to the atmosphere of the theater and became acquainted with the customs of the nomadic troupes. The result of such a life was the necessary knowledge of the theater and the laws of the stage for an opera composer, as well as rich musical experience.

Little Karl Maria had two hobbies - music and painting. The boy painted in oils, painted miniatures, he was also good at engraving compositions, and in addition, he knew how to play some musical instruments, including the piano.

The departure of the Weber family from Salzburg caused a change in music teachers. The unsystematic and varied nature of musical education was compensated by the versatile talent of young Karl Maria. By the age of 14, he had written quite a lot of works, including several sonatas and variations for piano, a number of chamber works, a mass, and the opera “The Power of Love and Hate,” which became Weber’s first such work.

Nevertheless, in those years the talented young man gained great fame as a performer and writer of popular songs. Moving from one city to another, he performed his own and other people's works to the accompaniment of a piano or guitar. Like his mother, Carl Maria Weber had a unique voice, significantly weakened by acid poisoning.

Neither the difficult financial situation nor constant travel could seriously affect the creative productivity of the gifted composer. The opera "The Maiden of the Forest" and the Singschpiel "Peter Schmoll and His Neighbors", written in 1800, received favorable reviews from Weber's former teacher, Michael Haydn. This was followed by numerous waltzes, ecosaises, four-hand piano pieces and songs.

Already in Weber's early, immature operatic works, a certain creative line can be traced - an appeal to the national democratic genre of theatrical art (all operas are written in the form of a singspiel - an everyday performance in which musical episodes and spoken dialogues coexist) and an attraction to fantasy.

However, a difficult financial situation forced him to agree to any offers: for several years he was a bandmaster in Karlsruhe, then - the personal secretary of the Duke of Württemberg in Stuttgart. But Weber could not say goodbye to music: he continued to compose instrumental works and experimented in the genre of opera (“Silvana”).

During the same period of creative activity, the composer’s literary talent developed. Numerous articles, reviews and letters characterized Weber as an intelligent, thoughtful person, an opponent of routine, and at the forefront.

Being a champion of national music, Weber also paid tribute to foreign art. He especially highly valued the work of such French composers of the revolutionary period as Cherubini, Megul, Grétry and others. Special articles and essays were dedicated to them, and their works were performed. Of particular interest in the literary heritage of Carl Maria von Weber is the autobiographical novel “The Life of a Musician,” which tells the story of the difficult fate of a vagabond composer.

The composer did not forget about music. His works of 1810 – 1812 are distinguished by greater independence and skill. An important step on the path to creative maturity was the comic opera “Abu Hassan,” which traces the images of the master’s most significant works.

Another patriotic work by Weber was the cantata “Battle and Victory,” written and performed in 1815 in Prague. It was accompanied by a brief summary of the content, which contributed to a better understanding of the work by the public. Subsequently, similar explanations were compiled for larger works.

The Prague period marked the beginning of the creative maturity of the talented German composer. Particularly noteworthy are the works of piano music he wrote at this time, into which new elements of musical speech and style texture were introduced.

Weber's move to Dresden in 1817 marked the beginning of a settled family life (by that time the composer had already married the woman he loved, former Prague opera singer Caroline Brandt). The active work of the advanced composer here, too, found few like-minded people among influential persons of the state.

In those years, preference was given to traditional Italian opera in the Saxon capital. Created at the beginning of the 19th century, the German national opera was deprived of the support of the royal court and aristocratic patrons.

The Dresden period became the pinnacle of Carl Maria Weber's creative activity and the final decade of his life. During this time, the best piano and opera works were written: numerous sonatas for piano, “Invitation to the Dance”, “Concerto-Stück” for piano and orchestra, as well as the operas “Freischütz”, “The Magic Shooter”, “Euryanthe” and “Oberon” ”, indicating the path and directions for the further development of opera in Germany.

The production of The Magic Shooter brought Weber worldwide fame and fame. The idea of writing an opera based on the folk tale about the “black hunter” originated with the composer back in 1810, but intense public activity prevented the implementation of this plan. Only in Dresden did Weber again turn to the somewhat fabulous plot of The Magic Marksman; at his request, the poet F. Kind wrote a libretto for the opera.

Events take place in the Czech region of Bohemia. The main characters of the work are the hunter Max, the daughter of the count's forester Agatha, the reveler and gambler Kaspar, Agatha's father Kuno, and Prince Ottokar.

Max has doubts, however, cleverly playing on the young man’s feelings for Agatha, Kaspar persuades him to go to the valley. Max leaves the stage, and the clever gambler triumphs in advance of his deliverance from the approaching hour of reckoning.

Agatha is waiting for Max. Seized with gloomy forebodings, she goes out onto the balcony and calls on the heavens to dispel her worries. Max enters, trying not to scare his beloved, and tells her the reason for his sadness. Agata and Ankhen persuade him not to go to the terrible place, but Max, who made a promise to Kaspar, leaves.

The third and final act of the opera is dedicated to the last day of the competition, which should end with the wedding of Max and Agatha. The girl, who had a prophetic dream at night, is sad again. Ankhen’s efforts to cheer up her friend are in vain; her concern for her beloved does not go away. The girls soon appear and present Agatha with flowers. She opens the box and instead of a wedding wreath, she finds a funeral dress.

There is a change of scenery, marking the finale of the third act and the entire opera. In front of Prince Ottokar, his courtiers and the forester Kuno, the hunters demonstrate their skills, among them Max. The young man must make the last shot; the target becomes a dove flying from bush to bush. Max takes aim, and at that moment Agatha appears behind the bushes. The magical force moves the muzzle of the gun to the side, and the bullet hits Kaspar, who was hiding in a tree. Mortally wounded, he falls to the ground, his soul going to hell, accompanied by Samiel.

The successful conclusion of the opera corresponds to the moral idea, presented in the form of a struggle between good and evil and the victory of good forces. A certain amount of abstraction and idealization of real life can be traced here, at the same time, the work contains moments that satisfy the requirements of progressive art: a display of folk life and the uniqueness of its way of life, an appeal to the characters of the peasant-burgher environment. Fiction, conditioned by adherence to folk beliefs and traditions, is devoid of any mysticism; in addition, the poetic depiction of nature brings a fresh spirit to the composition.

The dramatic action here unfolds on musical material, coming in large layers. To reveal the ideological meaning of the work and unite it with the help of musical and thematic connections, Weber uses the principle of leitmotif: a short leitmotif, constantly accompanying the character, concretizes one or another image (for example, the image of Samiel, personifying dark, mysterious forces).

A new, purely romantic means of expression is the mood common to the entire opera, subordinated to the “sound of the forest” with which all the events taking place are connected.

The overture to The Magic Shooter, written in sonata form, reveals the ideological concept of the entire work, its content and course of events. Here the main themes of the opera are presented in contrast, which are at the same time the musical characteristics of the main characters, which are developed in the portrait arias.

The orchestra is rightfully considered the strongest source of romantic expressiveness in The Magic Shooter. Weber managed to identify and use certain features and expressive properties of individual instruments. In some scenes the orchestra plays an independent role and is the main means of musical development of the opera (scene in the Wolf Valley, etc.).

A legendary plot with some mystical mystery, a desire for heroism and special attention to the psychological characteristics of the characters, the predominance of feelings and reflection on the development of action - these features outlined by the composer in this work later became characteristic features of German romantic opera.

The last opera was written by Weber at the request of Covent Garden, one of the largest opera houses in London. Realizing the proximity of death, the composer sought to finish his last work as soon as possible, so that after his death the family would not be left without a means of subsistence. The same reason forced him to go to London to direct the production of the fairy tale opera Oberon.

In this work, consisting of several separate paintings, fantastic events and real life are intertwined with great artistic freedom; everyday German music coexists with “oriental exoticism”.

Hard work in London, coupled with frequent overloads, completely undermined the health of the famous composer; July 5, 1826 was the last day of his life: Carl Maria von Weber died of consumption before reaching the age of forty.

In 1841, on the initiative of leading public figures in Germany, the question of transferring the ashes of the talented composer to his homeland was raised, and three years later his remains returned to Dresden.