SEARCH RESULTS FOR: Weber
1 of 4 Pages     Next ›

‘The Free-shooter’ The Faustian theme, with its connotations of the black arts, was not new to opera when Weber wrote Der Freischütz. Since 1796 there had already been eight operas based on the sixteenth-century legend as composers responded to one of the most seductive themes of the early Romantic era: a pact with the devil for personal gain or ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

(Kârl Ma-re’-a fun Va’-ber) 1786–1826 German composer Weber was a central figure in the growth of the Romantic movement in Germany, and one of its most important composers. He resuscitated and spread an enthusiasm for German opera, to which his own three-act opera Der Freischütz (‘The Free-shooter’, 1812) contributed. A gifted Kapellmeister and astute critic, he raised standards of ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

1786–1826, German Carl Maria von Weber was a teenage prodigy who wrote his first opera aged 14. By 1804 Weber, still only 18, was musical director in Breslau. By the time he had moved on to Stuttgart, Weber had reworked his first opera, Das Waldmädchen (‘The Forest Girl’, 1810), and gave it the new title of ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

Berlioz (1803–69) and the operatic composer, Giacomo Meyerbeer (1791–1864). Woodwind instruments were further developed and refined. The clarinet was improved and championed by composers such as Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826), who in his Clarinet Concerto and orchestral music showed how effective it could be as a soloist. Theobald Boehm (1793–1881) brought out a simplified fingering system on the flute ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

German player and maker Iwan Müller had developed a 13-keyed instrument in about 1812 and the music being written for the clarinet at the beginning of the nineteenth century by Weber, among others, made an instrument with 13 keys essential. While its chamber-music life in the classical period had produced such masterpieces as the Beethoven Septet (op. 20) and ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

horn has been well catered for musically ever since its introduction in the eighteenth century. Aside from the famous concertos by Mozart, there are works by Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826), Beethoven, Haydn, Strauss, Oliver Knussen (b. 1952), György Ligeti (b. 1923) and Britten. One of the horn’s most striking characteristics is its timbral variety. It is ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

on it. It could be fitted to any piano, and was frequently added to otherwise conventional instruments by such makers as Steinway, Chickering, Broadwood, Knabe, Weber and Steck. The Welte-Mignon mechanism alone was available at one time in 115 different makes of piano. The extent of its fidelity remains hotly debated, and in any case ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

of the drum, which were easier and quieter to use. Early Timpani Timpani first appear in the orchestra in Thésée (1675) by Jean-Baptiste Lully (1632–87). Until Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826) used three timpani in the overture to the opera The Ruler of the Spirits in 1811, the orchestra used two hand-tuned timpani with vellum heads of about 60–75 ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

the viola proved its immense musical worth hundreds of years ago. Georg Philipp Telemann (1681–1767), Johann Wenzel Anton Stamitz (1717–57) and Mozart provided early concerti; Beethoven, Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826), Louis-Hector Berlioz (1803–69) and Mendelssohn soon expanded the instrument’s reputation for solo playing. The great works for viola, though, came in the twentieth century. Composers including Bartók ...

Source: The Illustrated Complete Musical Instruments Handbook, general editor Lucien Jenkins

1842–1918, Italian Although best known as a librettist, Arrigo Boito was also a composer in his own right. He studied music in Milan with Alberto Mazzucato (1813–77). Later he went to Paris, where he met Verdi and began to think about subjects for operas. The choice was between Nero, the Roman Emperor, and Faust – a ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

was to retain for the rest of his life. He revived music by Baroque and classical composers including Bach and Mozart and promoted the works of his contemporaries, including Weber, Berlioz and Schubert, whose ‘Great’ C major Symphony he conducted at its premiere. In 1843 he founded the Leipzig Conservatory. Later Years His compositions written during the 1840s ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

years as court composer in St Petersburg, Boieldieu returned to France in 1812, where his Jean de Paris (‘John of Paris’, 1812) was admired by Carl Maria von Weber (1786–1826) for the ‘freedom and elegance of his vocal line … and … his careful and excellent use of the orchestra.’ Boieldieu’s masterpiece, La dame blanche (‘The White ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

Danzi was a cellist in the famous Mannheim orchestra. He was appointed deputy Kapellmeister in Munich in 1798, and in 1807 became Kapellmeister in Stuttgart, where he befriended Weber, before holding a similar position in Karlsrühe. Danzi’s positions as theatre Kapellmeister encouraged him to compose extensively for the stage, and his works include Singspiels and melodramas, ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

(Gas’-pa-ra Spôn-te’-ne) 1774–1851 Italian composer Spontini was the central figure in French serious opera between 1800 and 1820. Many of Spontini’s early Italian comic operas are now lost, and he achieved only modest success before settling in Paris in 1803. He was composer for Empress Joséphine from 1805, and in 1810 was appointed director of the Théâtre-Italien. His reputation was ...

Source: Classical Music Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie

he had numerous mistresses. Velluti, the last great castrato, retired in 1830, and became a farmer. Introduction | Early Romantic | Opera Personalities | Carl Maria von Weber | Early Romantic | Opera The Voice | The Castrati | Early & Middle Baroque | Opera The Voice | The Training of the Castrati | Late Baroque | Opera ...

Source: Definitive Opera Encyclopedia, founding editor Stanley Sadie
1 of 4 Pages     Next ›

AUTHORITATIVE

An extensive music information resource, bringing together the talents and expertise of a wide range of editors and musicologists, including Stanley Sadie, Charles Wilson, Paul Du Noyer, Tony Byworth, Bob Allen, Howard Mandel, Cliff Douse, William Schafer, John Wilson...

CURATED

Classical, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Country and more. Flame Tree has been making encyclopaedias and guides about music for over 20 years. Now Flame Tree Pro brings together a huge canon of carefully curated information on genres, styles, artists and instruments. It's a perfect tool for study, and entertaining too, a great companion to our music books.

Rock, A Life Story

Rock, A Life Story

The ultimate story of a life of rock music, from the 1950s to the present day.

David Bowie

David Bowie

Fantastic new, unofficial biography covers his life, music, art and movies, with a sweep of incredible photographs.