UC-NRLF B 3 M2D ^b -V rife oie(Be(R £«~ -so REESE LIBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. Received ^¥^J2^^£^-. r88y ^^-^«£^~__ Accessions No. _ Jl/ljLjr/^. Shelf No. _ OS- «o «-"-.'_. THE GREAT MUSICIANS WEBEE Cfte 6reat iBusSirianS Edited hi FRANCIS Hueffeb W E B E R By SIR JULIUS BENEDICT c ERSITY LONDON SAMPSON LOW. MARSTON, SEARLE, & RIVINGTOE CROWE BUILDINGS, 188, FLEET STREET 188] [All Rights Reserved] Con Don : R. Clay, Sons, and Taylor, BREAD STREET HILL, E.C Fiefrtntteb BY PERMISSION TO HER MOST GRACIOUS MAJESTY BY HER MAJESTY S MOST HUMBLE AND DEVOTED SERVANT, JULIUS BENEDICT. The materials for this short Biography were gathered partly from Weber's diary, from communi- cations with his contemporaries, and from my own personal recollections. I have, however, gratefully to acknowledge my indebtedness to Baron Max Maria von Weber's Life of his father, to Professor Friedrich Wilhelm Jahns's extensive Catalogue, and to the Lcbensskizze by the same author, all of which have been of great service to me. JULIUS BENEDICT. 2, Manchester Squarb. TABLE OF CONTENTS ANCESTORS ECCENTRICITIES OF FATHER BIRTH ENFANT PRODIGE EARLY EDUCATION ... FIRST DRAMATIC WORK ABBATE VOGLER (MEYERBEER) ... WANDERJAHRE STUTTGART (THE. ROYAL WASHERWOMAN', DUKE OF GOTH A FIRST MEETING WITH GOETHE ... PRODUCTION OF " SYLV PRAGUE ... THERESE BBUNBTT1 CAROLINE BRANDT LYRE AND SWORD ANA PVOK 1 3 4 5 5 7 8 9 12 19 20 23 25 26 23 34 CONTENTS. CAPELLMEISTER AT DRESDEN MORLACCHI " THE POETS' TEA'' ... MARRIAGE MASS IN G "invitation a la valse " "freciosa" benedict weber's pupil preparations for " der freischutz " rehearsal concert-stuck first performance of " der freischutz return to dresden humiliations a musical menu "euryanthe" (libretto) rehearsal (at vienna) meeting with beethoven " ludlam's cave" ... first performance of "euryanthe" "j AM THE POETESS" APPARENT SUCCESS ... "OBERON" (PROPOSALS FROM LONDON) CONTENTS. x i PAGE TIIYSICAL SUFFERING DURING ITS COMPOSITION ... 1<)7 VISIT TO GOETHE « ioa EURYANTUE" AT BERLIN ... ... ... \()(j "oberon" (the libretto) ... ... ... 112 journey to london ... ... ... h£ sir george smart ... ... ... ... 2 15 APPEARANCE AT THE ORATORIO AND PHILHARMONIC CONCERTS ... ... ... ... H(5 REHEARSALS OF " OCKRON " ... ... ... U7 ALTERATIONS REQUIRED ... ... ... Hg SOCIAL ENGAGEMENTS ... ... ... 120 PARTY AT THE DUCHESS OF KENT'S.— PRINCESS VICTORIA 120 "oberon" (FIRST PERFORMANCE) ... ... 121 A RIVAL OPERA ... ... ... ... 124 WEBER'S LAST SONG. — MISS STEPHENS ... ... 12(j HI 1 :, CONCERT (FINANCIAL FAILURE) ... ... 128 LONGING FOR HOME ... DEATH TRANSFER OF Ills REMAINS TO DRESDEN CATALOGUE OF WORKS ... ... t#< 134 130 132 :. WEBER Several of the ancestors of Weber belonsrin" to an old and noble Austrian family, were distinguished by a devo- tion, bordering almost on mania, to music and the sta^e. A Baron Joseph Franz Weber had a small theatre and concert-room erected upon his own estate as early as the beginning of the seventeenth century. In the thirty years' war, and the troublous times following it, the Austrian property was lost to the family, the members of which found new homes in the service of some of the petty princes who were then swarming all over Germany. Two brothers, Fridolin and Franz Anton von Weber, uncle and father of Carl Maria, are spoken of as re- nowned amateurs at the court of Karl Theodor, Elector of the Palatinate, about the middle of the eighteenth century. One of Fridolin's daughters, Constance, be- came a celebrated vocalist, and the wife of the great Mozart, the two eminent composers being thus cousins by marriage. Weber's father, Franz Anton, the handsome lieutenant in the Guard of the Elector, was the pattern of a junker of the period. Penniless, idle, reckless in spirit, but 2 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. jovial in manner, he became a general favourite of the jcunesse cloree at Mannheim, which he left to mend his fallen fortunes in the seven years' war. Wounded at the battle of Rosbach, he quitted the army, and entered the civil service. By a fortunate coincidence he not only wooed and married his beauti- ful bride, Maria Anna de Fumetti, but the death of his father-in-law happening almost immediately afterwards, he succeeded him in the important position of finan- cial councillor and district judge to Clemens August, Elector of Cologne, Bishop of Hildesheim. This, ac- cording to our present ideas, was certainly a most extraordinary appointment. Baron Weber knew no other law than that which answered his purpose, and his financial acquirements consisted in spending lavishly his income and the marriage portion of his wife ; but then he was good-looking, a pleasant companion at table, played the violin remarkably well, and was a nobleman into the bargain — qualities considered, a hundred years ago in Germany, sufficient to fit him for almost any responsible situation. His shortcomings were overlooked by the Elector ; and not even the neglect of his official duties or his eccentricities could alter, for the space of nine years, his friendly intercourse with his indulgent patron and protector. It must have been a singular and ludicrous exhibi- tion to see the administrator of the law, violin in hand, strutting like a peacock before his family of eight children, and astonishing the quiet citizens of Hildes- heim, during his w T alks in the neighbourhood, by won- derful flights of fancy on his favourite instrument : he WEBER. 3 was also found more frequently behind the scenes of the theatre than in the courts of justice. At the death of Bishop Clemens August a new Elector was chosen, who, not showing the preference of his predecessor for the musical judge and councillor, dismissed him from the service with a small pension. Nothing daunted by this diminution of his income, or the burden of his large family, Franz Anton now followed his bent for musical and theatrical venture, and, after having nearly squandered the remnant of his poor wife's fortune, ho at last left Hildesheim, and, starting under an assumed name as director of a wandering troupe of Thespians, found a more congenial atmosphere for his vagaries ; but this was too much for the proud Anna, who died of a broken heart at the age of forty-seven. Franz Anton henceforth dedicated all his time to his cherished pursuit, and was fortunate enough to obtain the post of Capellmeister to another small German sovereign, Friedrich August, Bishop of Lubeck and Eutin, where he endeavoured to get appointments for his sons in the orchestra and for his daughters on the stage. He was not successful in these schemes, and left Eutin at the end of three years, disgusted and dis- couraged ; and, after trying his luck in various parts of Germany, we find him in 1784 at Vienna. Excited by the astonishing success of his nephew, young Mozart, the ambitious Baron wanted to follow tin's example in his own family, and placed his two sons, Friedrich and Edmund, as pupils with the celebrated Joseph Haydn. A home for the children was found in a family of the B 2 4 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. name of Von Brenner, and here Franz Anton, who was now fifty, fell violently in love with Genovefa, the daughter of the house, a pretty girl of sixteen. He won her affections, and they were married in 1785 ; but finding, with his limited means, no suitable home in the expensive metropolis, he carried his young bride back to Eutin. Meanwhile the appointment of Capellmeister had been given to another, and having exhausted all his re- sources the proud nobleman was compelled to accept the humble situation of " Stadt Musikant " (town musician), the duties of his office being to conduct the music at the court balls, state dinners, or to play at weddings and serenades of the citizens or farmers. Franz Anton felt the humiliation of his position keenly, but his sufferings were greatly surpassed by the deep melancholy of his pining and home-sick young wife, torn away from gay Vienna and all the friends of her early youth to vegetate in the dullest of provincial towns. 1786. It was under these unhappy circumstances that on the 18th of December, 1786, Genovefa gave birth to Carl Maria, a sickly child, suffering from a disease of the hip-bone, which was subsequently the cause of his permanent lameness. The ever-scheming father, still bent upon rearing a second Mozart in his own family, and not having suc- ceeded with his other sons, began at once the training of this poor boy, who could not walk till he was four years old, but was taught to put his tiny fingers on the piano and to sing almost before he was able to speak. It must, WEBER. 5 however, be acknowledged that the other branches of his education were not neglected, and that no pains were spared to make him a juvenile prodigy in every respect. Presuming after a short time his wanderings, Baron Weber gave performances with his strolling company in various provincial towns of Germany, his wife and child following the erratic course of the restless impresario till they reached Salzburg. 1798. There, disheartened by a life so entirely re- pulsive to her quiet and gentle character, overcome by the severe climate, a victim to her husband's temper and rough treatment, poor Genovefa breathed her last before her darling son had reached his twelfth year. Meanwhile the little Carl Maria suffered both morally and physically. The constant change of residence, the want of regular supervision in his studies, the injudi- cious number of masters of all sorts, the utter absence of real delicacy or refined feeling on the part of his selfish and boasting father, had the most pernicious effect on his general progress. The only advantage gained by his associating so early in life with the management of theatres, was his acquiring a perfect knowledge of the intricacies of the stage, and hence the development of dramatic power, of which he gave such signal proofs in his later works. He was forced to write all sorts of music, amongst other things a mass, trios, sonatas, variations for piano, lour-] (art songs, canons &c, and even an opera, The Power of Love the opportunity, when consulted about the appointment of conductor at the Opera of Breslau, to recommend Carl Maria* though the youngest of his pupils, for that important post. Previously to his departure, Weber, then in his seventeenth year, had formed a close friendship with a Tyrolese officer, Gansbacher, and being freed for the first time from his meddling father, who had returned to Salzburg, he found a genial companion in this young lieutenant, who had exchanged the sword for the lyre, and become a fellow-student under Vogler. The two youths, left to their own devices, but too soon plunged into the dissipations of the gay metropolis, and, for the sake of his future, it was just as well that Weber was removed from that dangerous atmosphere to the quiet dulness of a provincial town. 1804. It was in his new position that he enlarged his knowledge of the stage, advanced with giant strides to the highest degree of proficiency on the piano, ami gave proofs of his talent in another branch of the art — the conducting of a large orchestra, in which he had already been initiated at the rehearsals of Samori. It was not an easy task for the beardless boy to impose his own views and readings on professors of mature age and experience ; but he passed triumphantly through this severe ordeal, though his stern and just discipline made him many enemies, who soon had an opportunity of jeopardising his position. 10 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. 1805. An accident nearly put an end to his career. Having drunk some corrosive poison, which had been carelessly left in his room, and which he mistook for wine, he was for nearly two months at death's door, and lost for ever one of the chief attractions of his talent— his beautiful voice. On his recovery he found that his opponents had turned to good account his forced absence, and that they had operated so insidi- ously on public opinion that he became disgusted with his position, and finally threw it up at the end of his second year of conductorship. 1806. It is unquestionable that, though of short duration, this appointment opened to Weber new vistas, and liberated him from the trammels and fetters of conventionality, by which till then he had been bound. His unfinished opera, Eubezahl, written during this period, bears witness to a great change in ideas, and to the development of an independent style. Unfortunately only a few pieces of this work have been preserved ; amongst them the overture now entitled The Ruler of the Spirits. The very small salary he had received during his engagement, viz. 600 thalers (£90) a year, was not sufficient to cover his expenses, especially as his father was dependent on him. He was also the victim of a liaison with a singer of the theatre, who increased to such a degree the drain upon his resources that he was soon involved in considerable debts which it took him many years to wipe off. By a lucky chance, however, he, conjointly with his father and an aunt, found a happy home with Duke Eugen Frederick of Wurtem- WEBER. 1 1 berg, at Carlsruhe, in Silesia, where lie passed a few- peaceful months conducting the small but excellent orchestra of that princely lover of the art. Here he composed his two Symphonies in 0. But this ray of sunlight was of short duration. The disastrous war with France in 1806 began to tell heavily on the social state of Germany, and obliged Duke Eugen to give up his establishment. He did not, however, forget his irrottye, but, recommending him warmly to his brothers, the King and Duke Louis of Wurtemberg, obtained for him the post of private secretary to the latter, at Stuttgart. 1807. The young man, just entering his twenty-first year, and again free from any control, was thus thrown at once from his comparative solitude into the vortex of a dissipated court. The newly-created king, Frederick, husband of the Princess Royal of England, Charlotte Matilda Augusta, daughter of George III., loved pomp and show. Numberless chamberlains crowded the apart- ments of the luxurious monarch, both at Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg, besides minions partly belonging to noble German families, partly chosen for their good looks and insolent manners from amongst the lowest of the low. The brilliant uniforms of the generals and scores young officers from the four regiments of the Guard of the king's paltry but expensive army were every- where to be seen, and the palaces rang from morning to night with music, mirth, and the uproar of unseemly pranks of the spoiled pages, in whose loose tone and manners his majesty delighted. Next in rank to the king was his brother, Duke 12 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. Louis, a dissolute and nearly ruined prince, always in the most painful embarrassments, and affecting in- timate friendship with General Dillen, one of the royal favourites, in order to obtain loans, through his influence, from the king. Poor Weber had not only to undertake the private correspondence of the duke, to regulate as comptroller the expenses of the household, manage the privy purse, and keep the books of receipts and disbursements, but to act as mediator with the king when the affairs of the duke were in a desperate plight. On such occasions it was the custom of his majesty to indulge in passionate outbursts, and to pour the most offensive epithets on the devoted head of the innocent messenger. Weber's ill-concealed hatred of the monarch was re- turned with tenfold interest by the king, who, after keeping the troublesome secretary for hours in his ante- chamber, would receive him only to- turn him out of the room without allowing him to utter a word. This one day so exasperated Weber that, when smarting under some fresh indignity, he revenged him- self by a mad freak which very nearly resulted in his imprisonment in the fortress Hohenasperg. He had just left the furious king, shrieking with rage in his private apartments, when he met an old and by no means good-looking lady, inquiring where she could find the room of the royal washerwoman. " There ! " said the reckless youth, pointing to the door of the sovereign's cabinet. The old lady entered, was vio- lently abused by the king, who had a horror of aged and ugly females, and in terror stammered that the WEBER. 13 junge Herr who had just passed out had designated the room she had entered as the abode of the royal washerwoman. The incensed monarch at once guessed who the culprit was, and on the spot ordered him to be thrown into prison. Carl Maria was, however, speedily released through the duke's influence, though the insult was never forgotten by the king. 1808. Notwithstanding these drawbacks, Weber had made charming acquaintances at Stuttgart. The sculptor Dannecker, just then occupied with his celebrated Ariadne, and Matthispn the poet of Beethoven's Ade- laide, were amongst them. Louis Spohr, at that time already one of Germany's greatest violin-players and composers, also came to see him ; but his staunchest and most valued friend was no doubt Danzi, the clever con- ductor at the Opera. Ever since his stay at Munich this accomplished artist, who was besides every inch a gentleman, had taken the liveliest interest in the boy's progress, and now he stood by him as a monitor, trying to guard him against the dissipations and seductions of the frivolous court, and defending him in the hours of trial, which were but too soon to throw a gloom over his career. Would that he had always listened to the advice of this excellent man ! But, sad to say, the company of one whose counsels and conduct were more to the taste of the light-hearted Carl Maria prevailed over Danzi's warnings. Franz Carl ffiemer, belonging to a society whoso denomination, "Faust's Ride to Bell," indicated to perfection the tendency of its mem- bers, was the tempter who had much to answer for in leading astray the inexperienced youth. Hiemer, who 14 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. had been occupied for a considerable time with the trans- lation and adaptation for the German stage of French and Italian operas, seemed to the future author of Der Freischiltz the right man for remodelling the libretto of the Dumb Girl of the Forest (now named Sylvana), with the numerous additions introduced since its first production. He was thrown, therefore, into daily contact with this fascinating but by no means scrupulous man, who introduced him behind the scenes to all the artists, and principally to the sirens of the Koyal Theatre. Under the pretext of converting and finishing the plot of Sylvana, dinners, country excursions, and riotous suppers, with Margarethe Lang, one of the youngest and prettiest prima donnas of the royal establishment, as queen of the fetes, were arranged. As a necessary consequence, more even than in Breslau Weber found himself involved in pecuniary embarrassments, which came to a crisis by the unexpected arrival of his father from Carlsruhe in the spring of 1809. 1809. Franz Anton, then in his seventy-fifth year, boasting and garrulous as ever, a wreck both morally and physically, became again the evil genius of his son, to whom he brought nothing but a heap of debts and the same baneful interference which had so often com- promised the prospects of both. At the end of ISO 9 Carl Maria discovered, to his utter dismay, that the old man had misappropriated certain sums, which the son as secretary had received from the duke to pay off a mortgage on the family estate in Silesia, and in order to shelter his father from dis- grace he himself became the sufferer. WEBER. 15 1810. The king found now the long-desired opportu- nity of revenge. The opera of Sylvana was in rehearsal under Weber's and Danzi's personal direction on the evening of February the 9th, 1810, when a body of gendarmes invaded the theatre by order of the king and dragged the luckless composer into prison, whilst his father was not permitted to quit his room. After a kind of mock trial, presided over by the king himself, whose vituperation and invective were met with calm dignity by the young prisoner, the two Webers were condemned, transported by the police to the frontier in the most ignominious manner, and banished the king- dom for ever. From the 27th of February, 1810, the day when the two exiles took refuge at Mannheim, dates the re- generated life of the artist whose genius, henceforth freed from all alloy, shone in purity and brilliancy like gold cleansed in fire. Carl Maria's firm resolve to devote his whole existence to his beloved art was fully carried out. Xot that his time had been wholly lost during the dissipations of the last three years. A set of pianoforte duets, composed for the Princesses of Wurternberg, daughters of Duke Louis, to whom he gave instruction in his leisure hours, the greater part of the opera Sylvana rewritten, a considerable portion of a charming operetta, Aim Hassan, sketched, and a cantata, Der Erste Ton, belong to that period. But being now in a genial atmosphere, leaving behind him corruption an d deceit, all his better qualities-— and they were not f ew — received an Impulse which soon led to excellent results. 16 JIIE GEEAT MUSICIANS. At Mannheim, in the house of his namesake, the celebrated theorist, Gottfried Weber, he found a home for his father, to whom, though suffering from all the mischief he had done him, he was attached with filial devotion. Both in that town and at Darmstadt, where lie met his beloved master, Vogler, again, he spent a great part of his time with the companions of his studies, Gansbacher and Mayer Beer (Meyerbeer), who became his life-long friends. Jacob Meyerbeer, which sounds a little more prosaic than the euphonious Giacomo adopted in Italy, was the son of one of the wealthiest bankers in Berlin. From his boyhood he evinced decided talent for music, and, forgetting his wealth, studied it in right earnest : for though only seventeen years old, he had already become one of the most eminent pianists of his time. This put Carl Maria on his mettle, and caused him to display a restless activity in trying to follow the example of the industrious and untiring boy. His first pianoforte Concerto in C, a great number of the most popular Zieder, six sonatas for piano and violin, and his operetta, Abu Hassan (now fully scored and completed), were all produced in the same year. The last-named work was, however, nearly laid aside owing to an interesting incident which took place during one of Weber's delightful tours with another of his young friends, A. von Dusch. When together at Stift Neuberg, they came across the very striking book by Apel— Gcspenster Geschichten (Ghost Stories), just published. One of these, " Der Freischutz," so engrossed WEBER. 17 their interest as a wonderful subject for a libretto, that they wrote a scenarium during that very night. Dusch was anxious to undertake the literary part, but, pressing duties preventing him, it was entirely laid aside, and thus happily deferred until Weber's genius had reached its ultimate and highest development ten years later. On the 17th September, 1810, his opera Sylvana was first produced at Frankfort, but a balloon ascent of the celebrated Mme. Blanchard so absorbed the public that the theatre was nearly empty. The work, though applauded by the scanty audience, achieved only°a succcs cTestime. The principal part was performed' by a young artist, then in her eighteenth year, Caroline Brandt, who at that time little dreamed that she was destined to become Weber's partner for life. 1811. After leaving his beloved master, Vogler, at the beginning of 1811, Carl Maria began his great °artistic journey through Germany and Switzerland, at first alone, but afterwards in company with Baermann, an eminent virtuoso on the clarinet, whose acquaintance he had made at Munich. Thanks to the favour he found with the King and Queen of Bavaria whilst in that capital, the small but delightful one-act opera, Abie Hassan, taken from the Arabian Nights, and intended by the librettist, Hiemer, as a humorous satire on Weber's financial difficulties in Stuttgart, was given for the first lime at Munich on the 4th of June, 1811, with great success and soon found its way to all the' theatres in Germany. Its first performance in England was in 1825 at Drury Lane Theatre, and its last pro- duction was at the same place in 1870. This work is a c 18 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. great advance in every respect on Sijlvana, and it is interesting to note how the Oriental colouring which Weber imparts in it to all his characters reappears, after a lapse of fifteen years, in Oberon, where the singing of Fatima recalls her namesake in Abu Hassan. Notwithstanding the many interruptions by journeys, concert-giving, &c, the year 1811 was one of the most fertile of Weber's genius; and some of his freshest and most successful instrumental works belong to that period. Amongst others, three concertos for the clarinet, variations with accompaniment of pianoforte for the same instrument, a concerto for bassoon, the rondo of the pianoforte concerto in E flat, the entire re- scoring of the overture to Bubezahl (the Euler of the Spirits), two grand Italian scenas and arias, besides various German songs, furnish manifest proofs of his activity and of his variety of style. With each successive work he seems to gain greater independence of thought and a more defined individuality. After a most pleasant stay at Munich, interrupted only by a short excursion to Switzerland, and wound up with a concert for himself and his fidus Achates, Baer- mann, the two artists started for the north of Germany. Prague, Dresden, and Leipsic received the travellers with artistic honours, though the pecuniary results were far from satisfactory. In the last-named town Weber cemented his life-long friendship with Fr. Eochlitz, editor of the Musical Gazette, and considered one of the most learned critics of Germany. They then accepted an invitation of the gifted but WEBER. ] 9 Emil Leopold August of Saxe- Gotha. This prince, an excellent sovereign and beloved by the subjects of his little dukedom, an able administrator, averse to the ridiculous military display of his princely neighbours, and a real patron of the fine arts, of a kind disposition, full of wit, poetic and musical talent, marred these qualities by occasional freaks of strange eccentricity. Thus he would don female attire at his court receptions, wear a dif- ferently coloured wig every day, appear sometimes in a Roman costume, &c. On one of his great "o- a la" days he approached each member of the assembly in turn, as if he had to make a very important communi- cation. This was confirmed by the somewhat perplexed attitude of all present. When he left, each asked of his neighbour, " What did the duke say to you ? " The first answered, " He told me, in a subdued tone and with a knowing smile, one, two, three." Said the second, " He whispered in my ear, with the greatest condescen- sion, four, five, six ; " and thus continuing counting, the duke had made the round of the whole court circle. 1812. The prince absorbed almost the entire time of the young composer's stay in Gotha by impromptu concerts, musical soirees, &c, given in conjunction with Baermann and Spohr, then Court Capellmeiste/. Though gratifying to his a mow propre, thia constant excitemenl at last became wearisome, and the artistic pair breathed more freely when on their road to the neighbouring Weimar in the end of January, L812. Eere not only the Grand Duke, so well known as the protector and friend of Schiller and Goethe, but his charming c 2 20 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. daughter-in-law, Maria Paulowna, sister of the Em- peror Alexander of Russia, and an admirable musical amateur, gave them the most cordial reception. Not so the man whom of all others they admired and revered — the immortal author of Faust. At a musical soiree given in honour of Weber and his companion by the princess, Wolfgang von Goethe, the proud Staats- minister of the Grand Duke, made his appearance, talked loudly during the performance of a duet by Weber and Baermann, and then was about to take his immediate departure without paying the smallest atten- tion to the mortified artists, when Weber was intro- duced to him. He was, however, honoured with no more than the most commonplace civility on the part of the great poet. Zelter, of Berlin, was the only privileged musician of that period who enjoyed Goethe's friendship to his death, and to whose strong recom- mendation the boy, Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, owed, in 1824, a quite different reception from that granted to Weber. His acquaintance with Wieland, the German Anacreon, as he was called, was of a much more pleasant description, and the impression he received from his intercourse with this cheerful and sympa- thetic old man had no doubt a great deal to do with his selection in after-life of that poet's Oberon for his last great work. He formed also a close friendship with the celebrated actor, Pius Alexander Wolff (author of the drama Preciosa) and his wife. After a short trip to Dresden, where the concerts of the two virtuosi were great successes with regard to WEBER. 21 their artistic appreciation by the scanty public as- sembled, they left the Saxon capital for Berlin, and arrived there on the 20th February, 1812. The importance of Weber's first visit to the town in which nine years later he achieved his greatest triumph cannot be overrated. He soon formed new acquaintances, and established friendly relations with several of the men most eminent by their social position and their talent in science, literature, or music. Amongst these may be named Heinrich Lichtenstein (Professor of Zoology), the Beer family (parents, brothers, and sisters of Meyerbeer), Gubitz (the editor of the influential news- paper, Der Freimiithige), E. T. Hofmann (the celebrated author, and the composer of the opera Undine), Music- director Rungenhagen, and Prince Anton Iiadzivill (a distinguished musical amateur, who had composed the lyrical parts of Goethe's Faust). The gloomy political atmosphere gave a serious aspect to the great northern city preparatory to the universal uprising of the nation against the French invader, and the elevated ideas of love of country and freedom which had been glimmering under the ashes, w T ere soon destined to burst out in an irresistible flame. Napoleon's legions had laid low the two mighl iest opponents of the bold and unscrupulous conqueror. Posbach had been avenged by Jena and Magdeburg ; and the King of Prussia compelled to leave his capital and to vegetate at Konigsberg; the daughter of the proud house of Hapsburg, Marie Louise, had become the wife of the former lieutenant of artillery; the Pope was a prisoner at Fontainebleau ; one of the 22 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. usurper's brothers had become King of Spain, another King of Holland, a third King of Westphalia; his brother-in-law was Viceroy in Italy, a cousin King of Naples ; all the smaller states in Germany had been transformed into kingdoms and dukedoms, which, though enriched with provinces wrested from Austria and Prussia, were entirely powerless ; a son and heir, bearing the title of King of Borne, seemed to assure the future of the Napoleonic dynasty for ever : only one power remained — the indomitable and unvanquished antagonist of the French Emperor, England. The first check of the invincible Grenadiers de la Garde was at Torres-Vedras, but Napoleon heeded it not. He wanted to punish his former defeated enemy and now wavering ally, Eussia, and by this means so to isolate Great Britain that its invasion and conquest should be only a matter of time, and that Aboukir and Trafalgar should be wiped out in the ruin of " la perfide Albion." To fill the cup of humiliation to overflowing, a Prussian and Austrian army were to co-operate with the French and the minor southern German States in the invasion of the Czar's vast dominions. This was too much for the oppressed and down-trodden Germans. Everywhere secret associations were formed, and, notwithstanding executions and incarcerations of patriots, the uprising of the entire nation and a struggle to the bitter end were discussed and prepared. This portentous state of things could not fail to impress Weber, who had hitherto lived an easy, careless life in the light-hearted and often profligate courts of Southern Germany, and had not escaped unscathed WEBER. 23 from the seductions of frivolous courtiers. Now for the first time he was initiated to higher aspirations, and brought into contact with the best of his country- men in every condition of life. The impressions created on his mind are henceforth manifest in a more elevated style, which gradually made him reach the pinnacle of his career. His first months in Berlin were devoted to the pro- duction of his opera, Sylvana, which, after considerable trouble, he succeeded in having brought out at the Opera House on the 10th July. It was received ap- parently with much favour, but neither then nor at its reproduction in 1814 did the work outlive a few repre- sentations, owing to the incorrigible feebleness of its plot and the deficiency of dramatic interest. The inherent defects of the music are a want of unity of style, chiefly to be attributed to the fact that its composition was spread over many years, partly belonging to his youth- ful and immature efforts and partly composed in a period of transition. By judiciously selecting the most effective pieces and adapting a rational libretto to them there would be a probability of giving Sylvana a place amongst the later productions of the same author. An attempt in that direction was made only a few years ago by M. Widor, in Paris, who introduced into his arrangements with good success some of Weber's earlier songs. During the preparations for the production of his opera, Carl Maria received from Gottfried Weber the news of his father's death (16th April, 1812), which affected him deeply. Notwithstanding the vagaries of 24 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. the old man and the almost endless scrapes and diffi- culties of which he was the cause, his son cherished him with a truly touching affection, and never once reproached him with his want of discretion and often unjustifiable conduct. Weber mentions the event thus in his diary : — "He fell asleep tranquilly, it is said. May God grant him above that peace which he had not below ! It is beyond measure painful to me that I could do no more to procure his happiness. May God bless him for all the great love he bore me, and which I did not deserve, and for the education which he bestowed on me." Weber terminated his stay at Berlin on the 31st August, and from the 6th September till December 19th he remained again the guest of his princely patron, the Duke of Saxe-Gotha, his incessant musical activity being interrupted only by a second visit to the Grand Duchess Maria Paulo wna at Weimar, by whom he was received with the most marked consideration, and where, owing perhaps to the high distinctions be- stowed on him at the palace, he obtained a more friendly recognition by Goethe than at his first meet- ing, without, however, carrying with him a lastingly favourable impression of the great poet. On the 19th of December Weber left Gotha, passing for a third time through Weimar, where he played with his wonted success at the palace, and reached Leipsic on the 26th of December. The year 1812 was memorable for the composition of the following works : — The great pianoforte concerto in E flat ; the pianoforte variations on a theme from WEBER. 25 Mehul's Joseph ; the hymn, In seiner Grdnv.ng sclwjft ch r 1L //- / and the first of his four great pianoforte sonatas. 1S13. This year began under very favourable auspices. On the 1st of January the hymn and the concerto were performed by AYeber at a very successful concert he gave at Leipsic. At the conclusion of his artistic tour he went to Prague, where he arrived on the 12th of January. Here the place of musical director of the theatre had just become vacant. To this he was appointed by the manager, an intelligent man, Herr Liebich, who, fully appreciating the value of his new acquisition, charged him with the engagement of the principal artists for the season. Liebich had long seen the necessity of a complete reform in the opera, which had fallen to decay under previous incompetent directors : the public had become lukewarm, took no interest in the theatre, and was conspicuous by its absence. "Weber's task was a difficult one. He went, on March 27th, to Vienna, where he stopped two months, and completed the for- mation of his troupe. Here he found again Meyerbeer and Spohr, and made some very interesting new acquaintances; amongst others, Salieri, Mosel, Castelli, Moscheles, and the Counts PalfTy and Dietrichstein. On his return to Prague, with that conscientious feeling for art which he maintained till his death, he began the rehearsals of Spontini's Fernand Cortez — the work which was destined to open the operatic season, in- activity was marvellous : he combined the heterogeneous office3 of scene-painter, stage-manager, prompter, copy- ist, superintendent of costumes, and musical director, 26 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. inspiring all branches of the establishment with his boundless energy. Unfortunately his fine and noble qualities did not prevent him from falling into the snares of a fascinating, unscrupulous woman, who very nearly destroyed his prospects in life. Therese Brunetti was the wife of a dancer belonging to the company engaged, she herself having risen from the ballet to the position of an actress, undertaking light parts with fair success. Being in the habit of attending opera rehearsals, she came in almost daily contact with the young conductor. Though the mother of several children, she still maintained a charm and freshness in her appearance which soon captivated the too susceptible heart of the musician, encouraged rather than thwarted in this mode of action by her wily husband, who expected to gain influence and power by his wife's liaison with Weber. She succeeded in enticing the young man to take up his abode in Brunetti's house ; and then began a system of coquetry and seduction, so enslaving her victim that escape seemed impossible. Notwithstanding her perversity, her delight in raising his jealousy almost to madness, her feigning one day the most profound passion, another complete contempt and indifference, he loved her beyond all description, enduring the sneers and ironical remarks of the society of Prague, and disregarding the counsels of his best friends. The artful woman never felt any real affection for her awkward and not very handsome lover, but was highly nattered by her unlimited dominion over a man occupying such a prominent position, and whose smallest WEBER. 27 attentions were so much sought after and so highly prized by her colleagues. It is a sad spectacle to contemplate the hopeless struggles of such a noble nature as Weber's in trying to break this degrading chain. Though always faithful in the fulfilment of his official duties, he neglected his art, following step by step the siren, watching her every moment, trying to catch a glimpse of her eye in the midst of the unworthy circle of her acquaintance, into which she dragged him, spending whole nights in the vain hope of obtaining a smile for the sacrifice of his talent and time. Not satisfied with raising his jealousy to fever pitch, she perfidiously tried to turn the tables upon him, when he upbraided her, by accusing him of infidelity to herself. Thus he exclaims in his diary of November 8th, — " Terrible scene (with Therese) ! It is really a hard fate that the first woman whom I love truly and with all my heart should believe me faithless ; and, before God, that is false. The enchanting dream is over. Confidence cannot return. Calina came ; painful situa- tion ! The chain broke ! " On 9th,—" Seen Therese : unspeakably painful explanation. Flow of tears caused by the pressure of sorrow; feverish agitation." On 14th, "Again seen Therese. Long estrangement: at last reconciliation ; indescribably affecting, our sufferings vanishing as if by enchantment. So powerfully does the mind affect the body." But on the 23id we find this entry, " She loves me not; if she did, would it be possible for her t«» speak with such warmth of her first love, to dwell with delight on each small incident of its commencement, and to relate her own peculiar feel- 2S THE GREAr MUSICIANS. ings of that time ? For me she never experienced them ; and could she be so pitiless if she loved me ? No. This dream has also fled ; I must never know this bliss, but always stand alone. Here I love for the first time. And this woman possesses every quality which could make me happy. She fancies sometimes that she loves me — but it is not true. The necessity of a confidant, on whose rectitude she could implicitly rely, drew her to me. She can sit by the hour quietly beside me ; but if by chance the conversation turns upon Hans, then she glows with rapture. I will now again shut myself up in myself, and she, at least, shall not be able to say that I did not worship her most intensely. I will do all for her happiness — bury the bitter certainty deep within me, and — work." Thus he went on hoping against hope — now in the depths of despair, now on the summit of bliss, following this ignis fatuus which daily led him more astray. Though under this pernicious influence, Weber managed to advance the preparations for the opening of the season, which took place September 9th, with an admirable performance of Cortez. This was suc- ceeded by a series of lyric masterpieces of all schools, though the indefatigable director was obliged to yield in many instances to the by no means refined taste of the local public by the production of inferior works. The composer of Syhana had not forgotten the charm- ing representative of the heroine of that opera at its first performance in Frankfort. Since that period Caroline Brandt had been heard at several of the leading theatres of Germany, and always with increasing success. He WEBEB. 29 therefore found no difficulty in obtaining the sanction of the manager for an engagement at the Prague opera. On her arrival in that town, December 11th, she Mas introduced by AVeber to Liebich and the influential patrons of the establishment, and at once created a most favourable impression. 1814. This was confirmed on her ddbut on January 1st, 1814, in Xicolo Isouard's opera, AschenbruJ>i (Cinderella). Her prepossessing appearance, her un- affected but highly artistic acting, and above all her style of singing, with a well-cultivated though not strong voice, won all hearts, and she at once became a favourite of the public. Weber was naturally influenced by the charm of his own protegtc ; but very soon the qualities of her character, her spotless reputation, her retired life with her mother, her refusal of the homage of the noble and fashionable frequenters of the theatre, her always cheerful but modest countenance, combined with rare intellectual powers which only wanted an opportunity to be fully developed, produced a singular revolution in his heart. The contrast between the designing heartltss Therese and the simple innocent Caroline was too striking to pass unobserved. Still lie could not sever yet the tie by which he was held fast By an accident at the theatre, where she hint her foot, Caroline Brandt had to give up singing for some weeks. The anxious Capellmeister, who constantly inquired after his favourite artist, was at last admitted to her quiet home. Here he bad occasion to observe and to admire the touching attachment of mother and daughter, and to compare it with the state of things at 30 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. his Armida's residence. The change gradually coming over him did not escape the experienced eye of Mme. Brunetti, who tormented him with reproaches on account of his inconstancy. Persuading himself that he loved her still, he clung to her against his better judgment, and on the 19th of February we find in his note-book, " Without her no joy ; with her only sorrow ! " On her birthday he sent her a beautiful gold watch, with a set of charms symbolical of his affection for her ; at the same time being invited to dine with her, he prepared her a treat in the shape of a dish of oysters — an uncommon and most costly delicacy in Prague at that time. She hardly noticed the watch, still less the accompanying ornaments, but disgusted him above all by the avidity with which she devoured the oysters. This was not enough : a Mr. Calina, a rich proprietor, had long been considered her favourite lover. In the coolest manner she told the astonished and indignant Weber that Calina having offered her and her husband a home at his own house at the lowest terms, she had consented to his proposal. The worst was yet to come. An opulent banker, Mr. Kleinwachter, who had his entree on the stage, being conspicuous by his attentions to Caroline Brandt, the perfidious Brunetti advised her to encourage his advances, telling her, " Keep him fast; it is worth your while,— he has plenty of money." The illusion was now dispelled. Fortunately for him, his growing affection for Caroline was recipro- cated by her ; and after the performance of Don Giovanni, when she won a triumph as Zerlina on his benefit night, he was accepted as her affianced lover. WEBER. 31 In adddition to his other troubles he had received, in May of this year, the news of the death of his well- cherished master, the Abbe Vogler, on the 6th of that month. " Peace be to his ashes ! I have much to thank him for, and he has always shown me the most sincere affection ; " thus he writes in his diary of May 8th. The unexampled struggle of the year had, how- ever, shattered his always precarious health, and, availing himself of his annual leave of absence, in the month of July he went to the bath of Liebwerda for a cure ; hence he again visited Berlin. Here, where he gave a concert and re-studied and reproduced his opera Sylvana, he received a most hearty welcome, and added to his old friends new ones ; amongst others, eminent men, such as Ludwig Heck, and above all the Count Carl von Bruhl. This nobleman was soon afterwards appointed General-Intendant of the Court Theatre, Berlin, and as such was the most faithful protector of the master, whose greatest artistic con- ceptions were put on the stage under his auspices. Great changes had taken place since Weber's last visit to the Prussian capital : the battle of Leipsic had been fought (Oct. 18th, 1813); the French invader driven over the Rhine; Prance itself conquered by the allied powers after the most stubborn resistance; Palis taken (March 30th, 1814) ; the mighty Xapoleon, from an empire larger than that of Augustus, exiled to a puny island, Elba; Louis XVIII. reigning as king in France, a congress in Vienna, where all the nations of Europe were represented, regulating its destinies. The waves of patriotism ran high; nothing was thought of 32 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. but war-songs, war-pictures, extolling the great deeds of the German nation, and its fallen heroes ; amongst the latter, Theoclor Korner, the author of Lyre and Sword, and justly named the German Tyrtoeus, stood foremost. Many were the attempts of musicians to "blend the inspirations of the soldier-poet with their own strains, but none had hitherto touched the popular chord. With the earnestness and fixity of purpose which always distinguished the author of Der Freischutz, he read these noble lines till they became almost his own, and gradually fitted themselves to those melodies which were so soon to raise him to the very pinnacle of fame. As a natural consequence, also, of the times, the national legends became the favourite subjects of the most eminent literary men of the Fatherland, and strange enough, but for unavoidable circumstances, Weber would doubtless have chosen the subject of Tannhauser for his next opera. It was offered to him by Clemens Brentano, approved by Tieck, and the libretto partly written, when his official duties interfered with the carrying out of a project destined to be realized thirty years later by Pichard Wagner. On his journey back to Prague, where he was not only anxiously expected by Liebich, his impresario, then in trouble, but where his own heart prompted him to hasten, and after a flying visit to Leipsic and Weimar, he found at Gotha a pressing invitation of his warm friend and admirer, the Duke Emil August, to an old feudal castle of his — Grafen-Tonna. He accepted; and the following letter to his beloved Lina gives a graphic des- cription of his mode of life there, and of his feelings : — WEBER. 33 " The very old castle in which I dwell, and in whose gloom-inspiring chamber, accompanied 1 •;.- * ^ the rattling of windows and doors, I write these lines, operates on my mind most soothingly with its quiet stillness, and affords me, in the genial intercour.se of the duke, a very desirable rest, which would enable me to work and to accomplish a great deal if I could remain long enough, and if certain other feelings did not carry me far away, and with pleasant indiscretion intermix themselves with my every thought and action. But I tattle to no purpose and Mukkerl 1 does not even know where good honest old Tonna is hidden," &c. " I drove here with the kind of anxious feeling I always entertain when I have not seen a friend for some time, and fear to be received with less warmth than I antici- pated or consider myself entitled to. My fears, how- ever, were this time groundless, for the duke welcomed me as cordially as one could wish. Directly after dinner I accompanied him to Langensalze, where we visited a museum of natural history, and took tea with a Herr von Seebach. On the 13th I composed two new songs, put my papers in order, and spent the whole day, from eleven o'clock in the morning till eleven o'clock at night, with the duke, where naturally throat and fingers were brought into requisition," &c. The two songs alluded to were two of the finest Ger- man national melodies ever written, Lutzow's WUdH\ and the Sword Song. In another letter he writes : — "The duke will not hear of my immediate departure, and I am therefore not able to say anything decisive on the subject. The kindness and affection oi the duke are really extraordinary, and whilst admiring his brilliant and sparkling humour I am even more attracted by the 1 Name of endearment given by Weber to Caroline. D 34 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. goodness of his heart, which but too often is misunder- stood because he certainly sometimes castigates rather severely with his biting wit the follies of others. There are very few who would find themselves satisfied in the midst of this solitude in which the duke rejoices so much. Here, far removed from the turmoil of the court, he is surrounded only by those he really likes. Generally he is content everywhere with his boundlessly fertile imagination. What he most delights in is to sit near me at the piano, to dictate as it were sentiments and images which I have to embody in my performances, so that he invents and relates whole romances while I illustrate them by music and, through tones, amplify them still further. So passes day after day, and I may rely on returning to my room every evening enriched by some new idea or impression." At last Weber yielded to the entreaties of Liebich, shortening his leave of absence, tearing himself away from his kind patron, and reaching Prague on the 25th September. He composed on the road, as it was his wont to do, a third masterly patriotic song, Men and Boys from Lyre and Sword. This was another instance of the marvellous faculty Weber possessed, whilst walking or travelling, to construct mentally entire pieces which, already completed by his fertile mind, wanted only to be transferred to paper without the slightest alteration. The remainder of the matchless songs from Lyre and Sword, which raised at once his popularity to an almost unprecedented degree, wherever the German tongue was spoken, and wherever a German heart beat, were, it may be asserted, all created at the same time and in the same manner. Returned to his round of occupation, he began to feel more and more his isolated position, WEBER. 35 a™ravated by the doubts and hesitations of his CO J beloved, who, probably instigated by her worthless rival, Therese Brunetti, tormented him with ironical allusions and insinuations. Notwithstanding all this, he set to work for the art establishment confided to him. The execution of Fidelio especially gives us a striking proof of his energy. Although fourteen most laborious rehearsals were devoted to the study of this masterpiece, and its performance was nearly faultless, it met with a cold reception from the public. AVeber, who had been in active correspondence with Beethoven, and who was most anxious to pay a tribute of admiration to the immortal master, wanted thus to atone for a very foolish squib written under the influence of Vogler some years before, and ridiculing one of Beethoven's symphonies. It was a lamentable omission on his part not to seek the personal acquaintance, when at Vienna, of one who opened such new and imperishable vistas to the musical world in his symphonic poems, which singularly enough Carl Maria did not appreciate as highly as the pianoforte works, though, in after life, he never ceased repenting his unwarranted youthful presumption. How differently he judged, even at this time, of Beet- hoven is expressed in a letter to Giinsbaclier, where ] ie S ays — "I brought out, on the 26th, Beethoven's Fidelio, which went splendidly. The music is indeed replete with magnificent things, but they don't under- l it : it is enough to make one frantic. Punch and Judy would suit them better " 1815. Bis unremitting attentions to Lina brought the lovers wry nearly to a Bcrape. To ensure a good D 2 36 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. receipt for the songstress's benefit the young Capell- meister in a rash moment announced that he himself would sell the tickets at the box-office of the theatre : hence a great pecuniary result, but also an endless gossip of scandal and injurious aspersions against the eminent composer and the favourite prima donna. These so much increased that, to put an end to all, Weber urged an immediate marriage, but on condition that his future wife should give up the stage for ever. This both mother and daughter, accustomed to the applause of the public, and thinking that it would be premature to cut short so promising a future, opposed. Partly on account of this refusal, partly on account of the ad- miration felt by Caroline Brandt for Napoleon and her aversion to Weber's national inspirations, he at last resolved to end these ceaseless bickerings by taking a three months' leave, which idea she readily fell in with. He went to Munich on June 8th, and there, after the news of the great victory of Waterloo, 18th June, 1815, he conceived and matured the idea of his celebrated can- tata Kampf und Sieg. In the meanwhile, though he had received an unexpected terrible blow by a letter from Caroline Brandt in which she declared that their pro- jected union was impossible, and virtually dissolved the engagement, his feelings remained the same, and he went back to Prague with a broken heart. Fortunately he met there his old co-disciple Gansbacher, in whose friend- ship he found some consolation for what he considered his irretrievable loss. Devoting himself exclusively to composition and to his duties at the opera, he studiously avoided her whom he thought he should never call his WEBER. 37 own. The fates, however, were not so unkind ; for once his "evil star" was eclipsed. The estranged lovers at last met at a great reception in Liebich's house, and the flame of Caroline's affection, temporarily stifled by the calumnies and slanders of Weber's enemies, burst out afresh, never to be extinguished. Weber, consoled and happy, returned with activity to his official duties and produced, after the most careful preparation, his friend Meyerbeer's third opera, Alimelek, or the Two Caliphs, which, though favourably received at Stuttgart at its first performance, failed to please at Berlin and Vienna. The following extract from Weber's notice of the work in the leading Prague newspaper will show the high esteem in which he held the composer : — " Oftentinies convinced by my journey abroad, whilst on leave this year, that mention is seldom, nay scarcely ever, made of our city and of the works of art pro- duced and represented in it, and not having heard in my literary retreat here, and indeed not believing, that in a few months any improvement has taken place in this sad state of affairs, I take up my pen to bring under the notice of the readers of your valuable paper an excellent original German production, and to inform them of the reception and appreciation it lias met with. " I feel doubly impelled to do so because our enthusiasm, in spite of our boasted Germanism and of our desire \o avoid all kinds of prejudice, is too apt to worship works of foreign origin, whilst our own if pulls to pieces, carps at, picks holes in, and twists about, till, depreciated and disfigured, they dis- gust the hearer, and are reserved for the admiration of posterity. 38 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. " Herr Meyerbeer lias as yet achieved a reputation principally as a great pianist, because this is a thing which speaks for itself absolutely and at once, carrying away the feelings, and has obtained, by force, the applause of every lover of music before he has had time to ask the opinion of others, whether they be opinionated, half-instructed judges or the most envious of scientific connoisseurs. " With respect to his merits as a composer, however, he has fared much worse. In most of the places where he proved his genius by the production of his greater works, they have been passed over in silence ; and so it happens that neither his great opera, Jeplitha (given in Munich), his Wirth und Gast (in Stuttgart), his oratorio, Gott und Natur, &c, not even the enthusiastic plaudits which his playing in Munich and elsewhere wrung from the popular voice, have been mentioned, except with expressions ambiguous at most, and intended to render them insignificant. Indeed it is very sad that the good results of the satisfaction and delight of the public, which the artist must buy with his very heart's blood, are in the hands and at the caprice of individuals whom chance, love of scribbling, or the pleasure of seeing themselves in print, perhaps even hunger, may have made the heralds and exponents of public opinion. "it would be very well if this reporting and criticism arose from pure and proper conviction ; but how often do we find it twisted, favourably or otherwise, by the meanest trifles. Experience could muster many sad examples of the unhappy result of a neglected call or an omitted invitation. But enough of this. Let us return to the cause of this digression, viz., the opera of Alimeleh " The subject is taken from a story in the Arabian Nights, and treated with extraordinary wit and humour. On this account we must especially congratulate the WEBEE. 39 composer on having bad such an author as Herr Wohl- briick to work with. Where the author writes with so much theatrical knowledge, with such power of delineating character, and produces verses so suggestive of melody, the composer must needs be carried away with glowing animation ; and this is eminently shown in this case. The unity and harmony of the whole opera give it an advantage such as few works of the kind possess ; and together with these we have proofs of an earnest study of the science, an exquisite combination of independent melodies in which each character is separately developed, an absence of prolixity, a strict adherence to dramatic truthfulness, and abundance of lively, sparkling fancy, of charming, even voluptuous melodies, correctness of declamation, rich and novel turns of harmony, combined with an instrumentation careful throughout and full of startling combinations. Such is the opera, and it would be easy for me to offer proofs of all I have remarked, had not experience taught me that such single sentences and passages, when detached, cease to be what they can only represent when taken together, and therefore seldom produce a convincing effect. " Just one year ago (October 20th, 181-4) this opera was produced at the Karnthner Thor Theatre in Vienna, and fell through owing to a number of circumstances, of which I need only mention a few to account for its failure in spite of its many good points. . . . Here the opera had to struggle against double difficulties; in the first place the unfavourable opinion watted ovi r from Vienna, and again the Sunday audience, which Is never of ro quiel and discriminating a character as that which generally tills the theatre throughoul the week-. Bui then, tai the ether hand, we had Berr Elder and a prima ilmum such as Madame Griinbaum, and on all sides a pure love of the tiling itself. On the first night the approbation was not unanimous. £o much 40 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. the more decided was the triumph of this exquisite work on its second representation (October 24th), when nearly every piece was well received, and many enthusiastically; and at the third representation, on the 30th, the overflowing house and the repeated applause proved that in Prague a good thing is still appreciated, and that the judgment of a rash public is always just. "The pianoforte abridgment, which will probably appear shortly, will undoubtedly be gladly placed upon every piano, and I shall have attained my object if by these remaiks I have called the attention of lovers of music to the birth of a new enjoyment." Weber now devoted all his time to the completion of his great cantata, Kampf und Sieg, and at last had a concert for his benefit, December 22nd. Un- fortunately, it being so near Christmas, the attend- ance was anything but numerous ; but the artistic result was a glorious triumph, and even the receipts, 10,000 florins Viennese (400/.), were more than could be anticipated, On that occasion he received a touch- ing proof of the love and esteem of all the artists and of the most distinguished amateurs of Prague, who volunteered their services and contributed successfully to an almost matchless performance. 1816. This ought perhaps to have reconciled him to the many annoyances inseparable from his Prague conductorship ; but he had resolved to make either another long professional tour or to seek a position more worthy of his fame, and this determination was confirmed by a most one-sided and aggressive report sent to Liebich by the new president of the theatre *'<«* WEBER. 41 41 committee. It was stated therein that ever since 1S12 the company and the performances had deteriorated materially, and that no novelty of importance had been introduced into the repertoire. The truth is, that during a period of three and a half years, of which more than ten months must be deducted for vacations, Weber had produced thirty-one entirely new operas, and put on the stage altogether sixty-one works, never using his influence for the furtherance of his own compositions, of which not one was given. Moreover, his health had been for ever impaired by his ceaseless exertions ; and so, in a most dignified letter he sent in his resignation. Weber being aware that the place of second Capell- meister in Berlin was now vacant, he offered to give his new cantata there on the anniversary of the battle of Waterloo, for the benefit of the wounded. This was accepted through the mediation of his friend, Count Brtilil. The enthusiasm of Prague being greatly ex- ceeded by that of the Prussian capital, the king desired a second performance. The "evil star" under whose influence Weber's similar undertakings had suffered before prevailed again. A violent thunderstorm reduced the attendance at the first performance to half the number expected, and the announcement of the celebrated Catalani's approaching arrival for the purpose of giving a concert, with the then unheard-of price of one pound for a ticket, had the same effect on the second performance. With regard to his public reception, however, and his unprecedented popularity, the youn« composer had every 42 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. reasoD to be satisfied ; and, what still more enhanced his happiness, he procured a starring engagement of six representations at the Opera House for his beloved Lina, to whom he was formally betrothed on November 19th of that year. On the way to Berlin he had been summoned to Pillnitz, the country palace of the King of Saxony, to receive from Count Vitzthum of Eckstadt, the King's equerry, a valuable token on behalf of his sovereign, in acknowledgment of a copy of Kampf und Sieg presented by the composer. There can be little doubt that in consequence of what passed on this occasion Weber was induced on his journey to make a slight ditour and spend a few days in Carlsbad, where Court-Marshal Count Heinrich Vitz- thum, brother of the equerry, was then staying. Being the director of the Eoyal Theatre at Dresden, this distinguished nobleman had conceived the idea of establishing there a German opera on a large scale, where hitherto only Italian operas had been given. After a strong opposition on the part of the King of Saxony, this project was at last realised, and, on the urgent recommendation of Count Vitzthum, the post of Capellmeister was offered to and accepted by Weber. The evil spell pursuing him seemed at last to be broken, and a vista of glory and undisturbed happiness to open for him. 1817. Having freed his mind from an unworthy passion, and being on the point of taking to his heart and home one who was possessed of all the qualities calculated to make him happy, he undertook his new office under the most favourable auspices, January WEBER 43 13th, 1817. But alas, for the vanity of human ex- pectations ! King Friedrich August, owing his passing grandeur exclusively to Napoleon, — who, in order to complete the humiliation of his antagonist, the King of Prussia, had severed some of his finest provinces, adding them to the puny Electorate of Saxony, — had become the most devoted ally and friend of the French Emperor. After the battle of Leipsic, and at the Congress of Vienna, these provinces were not only restored to their former owner, but the best part of Saxony was torn away from its rightful possessor and given as compensation to the King of Prussia. The old Saxon monarch, after a time of captivity in his rival's dominions, was at last allowed to return to Dresden; but the hatred he bore to his spoliator did not cease until his death. Whilst compelled to chime in with the other small German potentates in the chorus of exultation prevailing in the fatherland, he abhorred all patriotic utterances alluding to the struggle between Germany and France, and more especially all poems, songs, &c 3 which spoke of the defeat of the French and the victories of the Germans. A powerful enemy of the luckless Capellmeister, Count Einsiedel, who at his first interview with Weber had conceived an almost invincible anti- pathy for him, was prime minister and an intimate friend of the king, lie took good care to keep his majesty informed of Weber's crime consisting in the composition of those truly Germanic effusions called Lyre <Jc < T Weber's wife, who tried to keep up his spirits and to cheer him, was deeply affected, having to lament the death of her father about the same time; and there is little doubt that her own illness and the premature death of the infant may be traced to this incident. 1819. Stung to the quick, but mournfully resigned to his fate, Weber resumed his work, and finished his second great Mass in G, called the Jubilee Mass, to be performed at the Roman Catholic Church on the 17th February, 1819. It was of a lighter and much more cheerful character than the first, and, having the excellent quartett of Sassaroli, Buccolini, Benelli, and Benincasa, he could well prognosticate a decided success with the court and the public. But here again he was doomed to disappointment. By royal order, Polledro and Morlacchi were commissioned to write the first the Symphony, the other the Offertorium ; these portions of the mass composed by Weber being set aside, and the work thus completely mutilated. But a yet greater humiliation awaited him. Morlacchi had brought with him from Milan a young tenor, Giovanni Cantu, one of the handsomest young men possible to imagine, and with a voice equal, if not superior, to Mario's. Nothing was spoken of in society at Dresden, but the dibut of this artist; not a note of Weber's music could be heard amid the general hum of the not over-religious congregation, impatient for the 54 TOR GREAT MUSICIANS. appearance of their idol ; and only when the Offertorium began there was a sudden hush, and general attention was riveted on the marvellous tenor, whose triumph in a worthless trumpery air totally eclipsed the poor German composer. These few instances may suffice to give an idea of "Weber's position. After a severe illness, which confined him to his bed for a month, and a long- tedious convalescence, Weber at last regained, if not his health, at least his spirits, and in one of his happiest moments penned that ever-green Invitation a la Valse, dedicated to his Carolina, which to this day forms the delight of artists and amateurs. Under the influence of his guardian angel, he wrote also some other of his most popular pianoforte pieces, amongst them the charming duets and the Rondo in E flat, and progressed most rapidly with the composition of his opus magnum. The animosity of the court, which led to so many humiliations, seemed, at last, to yield to a recogni- tion of the great services and exertions of Weber on behalf of all the musical establishments under his care. He received a positive command to compose a Fest Oper for the impending wedding of Prince Friedrich August, nephew of the king, with the Archduchess Maria of Austria. It is, however, more than probable that it was owing to the personal influence of this young prince, who, with his brother John, — both future kings of Saxony — was the staunchest and most constant friend of the ill-fated composer, that this result was obtained. The subject chosen, after some discussion, was a fairy WEBER. 55 opera by Kind — Aldndor. Forgetting the injuries heaped upon his head, Weber, elated by this ray of favour, immediately concentrated all his energies on the new work, forming at once the outline of the first act, to be filled up afterwards with his richest colouring. But alas ! again before two months had elapsed, the order was rescinded, and a cantata, composed by Morlacchi, substituted. Weber's heart was broken, but he bore this new blow with apparent indifference. The information received from Berlin that there was almost a certainty of his opera, the Hunters Bride, afterwards Der Frdsr] L ntz, being performed at the new Schcni spielTia 'us, then in course of building, brought him back to his favourite occupation. Amongst the memorable events of 1819 was the first visit of the King of Prussia, after a lapse of four years, to the court of Saxony, then residing at Pillnitz. At the state dinner, given on that occasion, the so- called "table music" was conducted by Morlacchi, who, probably to make himself still more i^rsona grata with the old king, introduced as a grim joke the overture of La Gazza Ladra (the Thievish Magpie) as first piece— a proceeding not exactly calculated to improve the already overstrained relations between the two sovereigns, but obtaining the desired result for the astute Italian. More personally interesting to Weber was the arrival, (luring that year, of Beiurich Marsclm.T and Louis Spohr. One of the finest qualities in Weber's character was the great interest, free from all envious or jealous 56 THE GKEAT MUSICIANS. feeling, he manifested for rising talent in the musical art. Of this he gave evident proofs in his reception of Marschner, who owed his introduction to the public of Dresden, and his first success, to the active intervention on his behalf of the great composer. Spohr, whose acquaintance Weber had already made at Gotha, and who was always received by the author of Der Freischutz with open arms, though he never did justice to Weber's genius, came to visit him in Dresden, and everything was done to further his views, and to spread his fame as the leading violinist of Germany. After a great soiree given in Spohr's honour, to which Weber invited the elite of society, and at which the violinist's quartet in E minor was played, he wrote in his diary, " Spohr is certainly a great artist." Towards the end of the year, the composition of the Hunter's Bride was so far advanced that Weber could announce to Count Briihl that it would positively be completed in March, 1820. The grand scena of Agatha " Leise leise," and the not less beautiful prayer, " Und ob die Wolke," were added to the musical gems of that wonderful creation. The composer, pleased, as well he might be, with what had already been done, regained his former elasticity of thought and spirit, looking with confidence and hope to the future. A fancy dress ball was arranged for new year's eve, and nothing could exceed the overflowing wit and humour of the droll verses he sent to many of his friends on this occasion. That night he wrote as follows in his diary, " Thus the year which has brought me so much sorrow concludes merrily. May God continue His WEBER. 57 blessing. Thanks and praise to Him for strength to bear the trials He imposed." 1820. Kejoicing for the first time for many years on a marked improvement in his health, the inspired composer still increased, if possible, his almost feverish activity, and the year 1820 may be recorded as the culminating point of his musical career. Not only did lie finish what will remain for ever the most national lyrical drama of the German stage, but in the short space of two months he followed up this great achievement with another production which, though cast in a different mould, revealed to the public treasures equal to those of Der Freischutz. His old Weimar friend, P. A. Wolff, the celebrated actor, had written a melodrama, Preciosa, the incidental music for which had been composed years before by Eberwein, Concertmeister at Weimar. This addition, being very tedious and un- interesting, was rejected by several theatres, and thus Count Briihl, who entertained a high opinion of the play, advised Wolff to confide it to Weber. His counsel, much for the benefit of music, was accepted by the author, and Weber, finding a complete contrast in the southern colouring of the plot with the rather sombre tints of the German legend, went to work with a will The light sparkling overture (built chiefly upon a Spanish Bolero, the striking Gipsy March, and the fascinating melody allotted to Precosia in her ballet solo) formed a lit opening to this characteristic work. All the choruses, No. 1, repeating the Bolero of the overture, tlhe foresl chorus, with its echo, the Gipsy .March, embodied skilfully with the voices in the fina I e 58 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. of the first act, are as fresh as they are effective. The original treatment of the melodramatic music accompanying instead of interrupting the dialogue, the airs de ballet breathing as it were the perfume of orange blossoms, and last, though not least, the peer- less sons:, " Einsam bin ich, nicht alleine," form a beautiful ensemble. It was most lucky for Der Freischutz that Preciosa was its precursor at the Berlin theatre. Nothing could dispose the public better for the popular favourite than a work so pregnant with unexpected effects, and so entirely different from the national strains of Lyre and Sword. Scarcely was this labour finished than he began a third of considerable dimensions — a comic opera in three acts, The Three Pintos, by Theodor Hell (Winkler), which, also founded on a Spanish subject, was distinguished by even greater freedom of treatment and variety of form and execution, than its predecessor. If we add to all this his official duties, an endless correspondence with Berlin, and a reception of illus- trious visitors, including John Nepomuk Hummel, and the son of Mozart, we may well be astonished at such power of mind in such a delicate frame. Weber received the great pianist, Hummel, with even more than his wonted cordiality, and contributed chiefly by his influence to the great success of the concerts given by that eminent artist. The scores of Der Freischutz, now positively christened by that name and Preciosa had been sent to Berlin, where everything seemed to point to a triumph for the composer, when again the fatality he so often complained of made its WEBEB. OS* intluence felt both in the Saxon and Prussian capitals. In Dresden, where, through his ceaseless exertions, was produced his friend Meyerbeer's first really successful Italian opera, Emma di Eeslurgo, he unfortunately raised a storm of indignation against himself. He published in the popular journal, Die Abendzeitung , an introductory and much too laudatory analysis of that work, in which an allusion to the generally inferior qualities of the modern Italian school was made an excuse by his enemies to renew their assertions that Weber had no other aim than to insult and endanger the very existence of genuine Italian music, " Fraiilein out of the Corner " leading the van on this occasion. In Berlin, where the general cry was for his appoint- ment as Capellmeister, depending on the success of his new opera, which Count Brtihl considered as certain, where Ins numberless friends had been moving heaven and earth to place him in a situation above the petty intrigues of a small court, the king, notwithstanding his undoubted patriotism, had selected another Italian, Le Chevalier Gaspar Spontini, author of La Vestalc and Fernand ( ' himself. Ho was learning by heart tin- words of EuryarUhe, which he Btudied until he made them a portion of himself, his own creation, as it were. His genius would sometimes lie dormant during his frequent repetition of the G 2 84 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. words, and then the idea of a whole musical piece would flash upon his mind, like the bursting of light into darkness. It would then remain there uneffaced, gradually assuming a perfect shape, and not till this process was attained would he put it down on paper. His first transcriptions were generally penned on the return from his solitary walks. He then noted down the voices fully, and only marked here and there the harmonies or the places where particular instruments were to be introduced. Sometimes he indicated by signs, known only to himself, his most characteristic orchestral effects ; then he would play to his wife or to me, from these incomplete sketches, the most striking pieces of the opera, invariably in the form they after- wards maintained. The whole was already so thoroughly developed in his brain that his instrumentation was little more than the labour of a copyist ; and the notes flowed to his pen with the marks of all the shading of expression, as if copper-plated on the paper. By this peculiar mental process the large quantity of work which he was able to accomplish in a brief period can be explained. The scoring of the opera of Euryanthe from his sketches occupied only sixty days. At the end of his stay in Hosterwitz he returned to Dresden, devoting all his time to the completion of this opera. Many precious hours were lost in the endeavour to give a dramatic turn to the last act of this ill-contrived olla-podrida, of which some ingredients were even borrowed from Shakespeare's Cymbeline ; but the unintelligible, meaningless plot was past redeeming, WEBER. 85 and led to constant bickerings between the conceited poetess and the ill-fated composer. 1823. A Fcstspicl, the words by Lndwig Robert, com- posed for the wedding of Prince Johann, formed the only interruption to the incessant labour at his opera, which, with the exception of the overture, was finished on the 28th of August, 1823, at Hosterwitz. Mor- lacchi, though fully aware of the immense responsibility of his colleague, who had pledged his word to be ready with EuryarUhe in the beginning of the autumn, asked for a new leave of absence to restore his shattered health, so that not only Weber's Festspid, but Morlacchi's cantata for the same occasion, added to the weight of the two operas, fell on the over-burdened conductor. He was invited in the most flattering terms to direct personally the fiftieth performance of his Freischutz at Berlin, but, owing to his official duties, and being entirely wrapped up in his new work, he was obliged to decline the offer. He at last set out for his momentous journey on the 16th of September, and after a short visit to Prague, arrived in Vienna on the 21st, accompanied by myself. Frau von Weber, whose state of health did not permit her to travel. remained with their child at Dresden. The rehearsal of the opera began almost immediately. All the artists had taken it up witli great zeal— none more so than the charming Henriette Sontag, t<> whom tie- principal part was allotted. The choruses went admirably, the orchestra was almost perfect;. On the surface all seemed smiling and prosperous. But the heart of the public was not with him as at Berlin in 86 THE GEEAT MUSICIANS. 1821. Even the artists, Weigl, Sey fried, Kreutzer the stage manager, Gottdank one of his professed friends, found fault with the work. The latter did not hesitate to say that " it was hard to understand and harder to sing such music." The great Franz Schubert had evi- dently a grudge against Carl Maria, and spoke of his dislike of the man and the artist in a manner which proved but too clearly that there was no sympathy between them. Advantage was also taken of the alleged feud with Beethoven. Everything was done to foster that hostile feeling, but the mighty Ludwig was above small-talk and mischievous gossip. He had heard from Willi el- mine Schroeder with how much care, devotion, and energy, Weber had produced Fidclio in the summer of 1822, and how deep and lasting the impression of this masterpiece was on the Dresden public ; he had been in active correspondence with the Saxon Capellmeister himself, and to my great joy and surprise, when T met him one morning at his publishers', Beethoven actually condescended to speak with me on the subject. I see him yet before me, and who could ever forget those striking features ? The lofty vaulted forehead with thick grey and white hair encircling it in the most picturesque disorder, that square lion's nose, that broad chin, that noble and soft mouth. Over the cheeks, seamed with scars from the small-pox, was spread a high colour. From under the bushy, closely compressed eyebrows flashed a pair of piercing eyes ; his thick-set Cyclopean figure told of a powerful frame. He approached me with his inseparable tablet in his hand, and in his WEBER. 81 usual brusque manner addressed me : " You are Weber's pupil?" I gave an affirmative nod. " Why doesn't he come to see me? Tell him to come to Baden with friend Haslinger," pointing to Steiner's partner. Ask- ing for his tablet, I wrote in it " May I come too ? " He smiled, replying, " Ja, kleiner nascweis " (Yes, you saucy little fellow). So, having duly announced his visit, Weber, Haslinger, and myself drove out on the 5th of October to Baden, near Vienna, where the master was wont to take refuge till late in the autumn. We all felt strangely moved when entering the great man's poor desolate-looking room ; everything in the most appalling disorder — music, money, clothing on tip 1 floor, the bed unmade, broken coffee-cups upon tip' table, the open pianoforte with scarcely any strings left and thickly covered with dust, while he himself was wrapped in a shabby old dressing-gown. He recognised Weber at once, and embracing him, energetically shouted: " There you are, du TeufeTs Kerl" (you devil of a fellow), and, handing him his tablet, pushed a heap of music from the piano, threw himself upon it, and during a flow of conversation commenced dressing to go out with us. He began with a string of com- plaints about his position, about the public, the theatres, the Italians, and more especially about his own un- grateful nephew. Weber, evidently touched by ibis tale of woe, advised him to leave Vienna and goto Germany and England, where his works were so much appreciated. "Too late," cried Beethoven, pointing to his ear and shaking his head sadly; then he seized Weber's arm and dragged 88 THE GEEAT MUSICIANS. him away to the hotel where he used to take his meals. Weber in his diary says, " We dined together in the happiest mood ; the stern rough man paid me as much attention as if I were a lady he was courting, and served me at table with the most delicate care. How proud I felt to receive all this attention and regard from the great master-spirit ; the day will remain for ever impressed upon my mind and those of all who were present," After a long and most interesting conversation re- ferring to the highest questions of art, the time came for departure. Again and again Beethoven embraced Weber, and it was long before he would loose the thin delicate hand from the grasp of his mighty fist. " Suc- cess to your new opera ; if I can, I will come on the first night," were his last words. The two great musicians never met again. As the time of the first performance approached, the anxiety of Weber's numerous friends increased, witli the vague rumours emanating from the green-room, that notwithstanding the manifold beauties of the work, its prospects were clouded by the feebleness of the book, nay, even by the too serious character of the music. Nowhere was the ultimate fate of Euryanthe more warmly discussed than in the " Ludlams Hohle" This name had been given to a society composed of the dite of literary men, musicians, painters, singers, and actors of all nationalities. They assembled nightly in a quaint old inn in one of the bye-streets of the Grabcn, then the Regent Street of Vienna. There, WEBER. ascending a steep and narrow staircase, of the character ^ p of a ship's ladder, and passing through a room " « y where beer and sour Austrian wine were handed to ordinary mortals, you reached, through a passage, your destination. A long, low room with once white- washed walls, a large deal table, common chairs, and a few pegs for cloaks, &c, illuminated by some oil-lamps and tallow candles ; such was the sanctum of the choicest spirits of the age. Oehlenschleger, the celebrated author of Aladdin and Coreggio, whom the Danes claim as their Shakespeare, and who was one of the founders of the society, had written a play called the Ludlams Hohle, which was received with much favour at Vienna, its name (Ludlam's Cave) seeming particularly appropriate to the dark and smoky atmosphere of lleidvogel's Inn. The constitution of that singular social gathering, which later on was considered to be a satire on the government, required that the president and chairman should be the most stupid of all the members. He was raised to the dignity of caliph. The vice-president was called Vizdumm (vice-stupid), all the guests invited were merely considered shadows and only became ladies when they were elected members. The caliph at that period was a former mediocre actor, Schwarz (Black), who, retiring on a small pen- sion, and with a great predilection for liquids of all sorts, distinguished himself by smoking more pipes and drinking more beer than anybody else. His rubicund face, resembling a full moon, justified the nickname of Eauchmar der rothe M>>ltr (the red black). He 90 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. never once failed to be at his post, and there, after the play or the opera, np to the small hours of the morn- ing, you might meet Saphir, overflowing with wild humour ; Castelli, dry and irresistibly droll ; Grill- parzer ; Count Mailath, the poet of Hungary ; Stuben- rauch, a distinguished painter ; Deinhardstein, the H. J. Byron of that period ; Moscheles and Gyrowetz, the celebrated musicians ; Anschiitz and Kettel, the leading tragedians ; Heitzinger and Forti, the principal vocalists of the opera; the brothers Biedermann and Aloys Jeitteles, literary amateurs of the highest distinction ; Zedlitz, author of Napoleon s Midnight ficvieiv, and Holtei, a clever dramatic author and novelist. All these and many more vied with each other in the production of poetry and music which had to be written and composed on the spot, and read or sung by the author or the members. This was an indis- pensable condition of membership. Weber, who counted his best friends in that merry circle, had been admitted, pro tern., and spent many pleasant hours in their midst. It being known that chiefly from the opposition of the higher aristocracy to the so-called German element, and their partiality for modern Italian music, unfavour- able demonstrations against the composer might be anticipated at the first performance of Uicryanthe, the Ludlamites pledged themselves, one and all, to support him on that evening. Now again the whole of Weber's future fate hung upon the issue of one momentous night. It might either increase the favour already gained by the composer, or WEBER. 91 mar and even destroy it. An immense crowd filled the Kamthnerthor Theatre on the 25th October. Not a place was vacant. The highest political authorities, the flower of nobility and beauty, filled the boxes, whilst in the pit there was not one musician of repute absent, with the exception of Beethoven, who sent a most kindly message to ^Yeber regretting his inability to attend. A ludicrous incident formed an unexpected intro- duction to the overture. Out of the surging waves of the pit, swaying to and fro, arose, on the top of the last bench, the figure of a by no means prepossessing lady, past the meridian of life, in a shabby dress, an old worn-out hat, and a shawl that had seen better days. Her attempts to gain in a rational way the front seat allotted to her having been frustrated, the gangway., being impassable, she tried to find her way over the crowd, exclaiming loudly, "Make room, make rerun for me, I say ! I tell you I am the poetess ! the poetess!" This, accompanied by mocking shouts of laughter, was taken up by the whole pit and echoed by the boxes, " Room for the poetess ! room fur the poetess ! " and did not cease till Frau Helmina vod Chezy was squeezed into her scat, after having been literally passed over the heads of the people. Another moment and the uproarious merriment ol the public changed to a welcome of the beloved com- poser such as he had not received, even at Berlin At last silence was restored. The overture, comp only a few days before the performance, then began. Though utterly different from that of Der FreischiUz it is equally rich in new combinations of instrumental 92 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. effects, chivalric, expressive, and passionate by turns. Planned according to Weber's adopted system, it in- cludes several of the important musical and dramatic points of the opera, compressing them into a most interesting and effective prologue. Thus the leading phrase, embodying Adolar's trust in " God and his Euryanthe," conjures up at once the splendour of a Provencal Court, with its knights, its troubadours, its fair ladies. The second subject which follows is taken from Adolar's scena, " Scligkeit, dich fass icli Jeaum," and forms a delightful contrast with the preceding strain. After the termination of the first part an unexpected and novel modulation leads to a mysterious movement, which embodies the ghostly apparition of Adolar's ancestors. (Weber's first idea of having the curtain raised for a tableau vivant during the unearthly music, thus explaining all that w r as obscure in the plot, was unfortunately not carried out.) The characters of Adolar's rival, Lysiart, and of Eury- anthe's false friend, Eglantine, are then portrayed by their respective musical figures, which, alternating with snatches of the first subject, describe well the struggle of truth and loyalty against fraud and treason. At last the clouds are dispersed, and the return to the beginning and to Adolar's motive, " SeligJceit" in the original key, now a jubilant, triumphant song of victory, in- spiring, and almost overwhelming by its enthusiasm and fire, completes this highly poetical conception. Strange that an inspiration so original and striking should have failed to impress the public. At the general rehearsal the day before it had been received with WEBER. 93 boundless demonstrations of approval, but maybe the violins, who are heavily taxed, and who would have been the better for an additional rehearsal, became nervous ; the intonation of the otherwise almost faultless orchestra in some of the intricate passages of modulation was in several instances far from satisfactory, and, contrary to all expectations, though repeatedly applauded, the over- ture did not command an encore. The first chorus in the introduction, as stately and charming as one of Paul Veronese's picture?, the graceful slow dance of the knights and their fair companions, even Adolar's love-song " Unter blvtinden Mdridelbaumen" sung to perfection by Haizinger, passed almost unobserved, but when Adolar, with the leading strain of the overture repeated " Ich ban auf Gott," trusting in the love of his Euryanthe, defies the cynical proposal of Lysiart, who makes a wager to win the favour of this unsullied bride, then, only at the end of this grand musical piece, was a storm of ap- plause raised from the hitherto apparently indifferent listeners, and the composer was unanimously called on the stage. Sontag's appearance as the heroine, in the freshness and bloom of her beauty and talent, was the signal for another outburst. Her song, though tender and poetical beyond description, had not the fascinating ring of the voluptuous Italian melodies to which tin- Viennese were accustomed, but the following duet between her and her rival, Eglantine (Mine. (Jriin- baum), produced some of the anticipated enthusiasm. This being redemaiided, and bringing Weber again on 94 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. the stage, raised the hopes of his friends. Eglantine's aria following did not create any particular sensation ; but now came the crowning point of the evening, the finale of the first act. The gay march and chorus, accompaying Lysiart's entry into Adolar's castle, the courteous and elegant phrases entrusted to Sontag on receiving the friend of her betrothed, Lysiart's nattering address, with a significant undercurrent of the orchestra, and then that loveliest of all quartets, " Frohliche Klange" with Euryanthe's solo, containing all the elements of Italian popularity, and displaying the talent of the prima donna to the greatest advantage, excited the public almost to frenzy. The curtain, which had fallen, had to be raised again. The whole quartet had to be repeated, the recalls and shouts were deafening, and every vestige of opposition seemed to have vanished before this magical effect. Meanwhile, with the recalls and repetitions the first act had occupied an hour and a half, and Weber omin- ously shook his head when congratulated on the stage, saying, " They have fired off their powder too soon." An entr'acte of nearly half an hour's duration was sufficient to cool the fever-heat of the audience, and neither the grand scena of Lysiart, rendered with much spirit by Forti, nor the subsequent duet between him and Eglantine, so highly dramatic and powerful, suc- ceeded in keeping up the thermometer of public favour. It was not until the change of scene with AdoIar l s scena and aria, embodying the lovely motive of the overture, " Seligkeit dich fass ich kaum" a gush of feeling unsurpassed in modern music, and the following WEBER. 95 duet with Euryanthe, " Hin nimm die seele mein" melo- dious, popular, without being vulgar, that the former ovations were renewed, ending in the latter case with an encore and the recall of the composer. But with the finale began the reaction, chiefly on account of the unintelligible libretto. In the original legend Lysiart, introduced in a clandestine manner into Euryanthe's chamber by Eglantine, who burns to revenge herself for Adolar's preference of the former, discovers on her neck the mark of a violet which is known only to her husband. To introduce this on the stage as a proof of the wife's infidelity would of course have been out of the question, and so the inventive genius of Frau von Chezy supplied an almost incomprehensible story of a certain sister of Adolar, Emma by name, who, having been guilty of the crime of self-murder by a poisoned ring, was condemned to be a wandering spirit. Adolar had made his fiance'e take an oath not to divulge the horrible secret to any one, she however has broken her pledge in an unguarded moment, making a confidante of her bosom friend, Eglantine, who in turn has revealed it to the treacherous Lysiart. Armed with this proof, Lysiart appears at the great fete given by the king, proclaiming that he has won the favour of Euryanthe, and producing the ring connected with the catastrophe At this disclosure, and without asking for further proof, the simple-minded lover takes the whole tale for granted, and brands the innocent victim as a shameful traitress. His anger and rage are echoed by the whole court, and at the close of the act he is seen carrying the senseless Euryanthe to her doom. 96 THE GKEAT MUSICIANS. This short sketch of one of the greatest dramatic mistakes ever made, may account for the falling off in the interest which the public had hitherto shown in the plot. There could not be the slightest sympathy for such a simpleton as Adolar, such a weak sovereign as the king, or such an assemblage of idiots as his court. It was quite natural that a young girl accused of having committed a fearful crime should not be able to answer immediately, but that her momentary silence should be made a convincing proof of her guilt passed the comprehension of the audience. What with that mysterious Emma who never came upon the scene at all, what with a secret, which even the public were not allowed to understand, the composer unconsciously felt the want of cohesion and of clearness in this, the most important point of the opera, and with all endeavour on his part to supply the deficiency of the situation, his genius was paralysed, and the result was a diffuseness and straining after effects which acted as an anticlimax to all that had gone before. The curtain fell amidst much applause, accompanied, however, by some unmistakable signs of disapproval. The ayes had it, but there was a feeling of weariness increased by another long entr'acte, and which, unfor- tunately, was not dispelled by the opening scenes of the third and last act. Euryanthe is led to a desert by the infuriated Adolar, who, after saving her from the attack of a lion, is rational enough not to kill her outright, but to leave her to starvation. The duet between the lovers, the melancholy song of Euryanthe lamenting her fate, passed without any acknowledgment on the part of the WEBER. 97 tired listeners. Then came another redeeming point. The king arrives, hunting with his retinue, to a chorus entirely different from the celebrated one in Der Freis- chiltz but infinitely more original in conception and rhythm. This, marvellously executed by the Vienna singers, was (an unheard-of thing on the stage) re- demanded twice. The king, nobody knows why, is at once convinced of Euryanthe's innocence, and promises to take her back to her ill-advised lover ; this leads to a passionate air of the heroine, " Zu ihm } m ihm" taxing her vocal powers to the utmost and raising a storm of applause. Euryanthe falls senseless, and is carried away as dead. The scene changes. Lysiart having won by his wager all Adolar's estates, is about to be married to Eglantine. This gives occasion for a May-song by the villagers assembled to witness the event. Of such exquisite beauty and charm is this composition that it commanded an irresistible encore. Adolar in disguise meantime arrives, and questioning the villagers hears on all sides the general conviction that poor Euryanthe, supposed to be dead, was the victim of a wicked con- spiracy. He is immediately convinced of the truth of this statement, and, in an animated strain, swears to punish the traitor. A solemn wedding march an- nounces the arrival of Lysiart and Eglantine, who seem far from anticipating great connubial Miss. These unpleasant forebodings are but too sunn to he verified. Adolar, haviDg overheard a significanl conversation of the guilty pair, breaks forth in a violent paroxysm of rage and indignation, provoking Lysiart to mortal Combat. The fight is interrupted by the arrival of the II 98 THK GREAT MUSICIANS. king, who proclaims the death of Euryanthe. Eglantine, exulting at the fate of her rival, announces Euryanthe's innocence and the accomplishment of her own vengeance, which indiscretion prompts Lysiart to stab her on the spot. He, of course, is led to his doom. But Euryanthe after all is not dead, and being united to Adolar every- thing ends merrily. At the conclusion of the opera Weber, first called on the stage, with all the principal performers, was obliged to return alone ; and with the waving of handkerchiefs, frantic shouts, and an unceas- ing torrent of applause, this memorable evening came to a close — for the public. Another, perhaps even more gratifying triumph, awaited the composer of Euryanthe. Weber had pro- mised his devoted friends of the Ludlams Hohle to accept the supper prepared for him by the members, and though half dead with fatigue and emotion, made his appearance. The warmth of his reception could not be equalled ; the members were au complet ; eight charming poems, extolling the man, the artist, and the work, were recited by the leading spirits of that unique assemblage of talent and wit, and his health was repeatedly drunk with acclamation. To perpetuate the memory of such an event Weber, hitherto only a shadow, was unanimously elected a body, with the euphonious name of " Euryanthus der Zieltreffer" (Euryanthus the victorious marksman). A similar honour was conferred on myself, who, emerging from my obscurity and not yet of age, was exceptionally " embodied " under the appellation of " Maledunntus Wagner der Weber junge : " " Maledunntus " (bad thin WEBER. 99 one) in contradistinction to my real name, or* an approximation to it, Benedicktus (good stout one) ; again Wagner, being the famulus of Weber, as Wagner was of Faust ; and lastly " Weber junge " (the Weber boy) because the dear master had always treated me with fatherly affection. He seemed to revive in this congenial atmosphere, and it was nearly three in the morning when all escorted him to his home. Even then he did not seek the needed rest, but wrote a touching letter to his wife, describing the occurrences of the evening. To all appearance he had achieved a triumph even superior to that of Der Freischiltz ; the second and third performances under his own direction went far better still than the first, the houses were excellent, and the public seemed delighted. But a mighty opposition had arisen. Franz Schubert, who had already declared that there was only one musician-like piece in Der Freischiltz, viz., the duet between the two ladies, was amongst the bitterest adversaries of the new work. He did not disguise his opinion to his friends, saying on one occasion, " This is no music. There is no finale, no concerted piece according to the rules of art. It is all striving after effect. And he finds fault with Eossini ! It is utterly dry and dismal." The partisans of Italian music took up Weber's own bad joke, when he exclaimed, after a long tedious rehearsal, that he feared his Euryanthe might prove Fnnuyante ; others said that because Weber wrote for eternity he had made his opera eternally long. He felt rather too late that cuts would be necessary, and H 2 100 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. with judicious pruning reduced the duration of the opera to two hours and a half. In this form Conradin Kreutzer conducted the fourth performance in the presence of the composer, who, though concealed in a private box, was obliged to yield to the demands of the audience, and to appear repeatedly on the stage. Before starting on his journey home he received a most gratifying message from Beethoven and from old Salieri, who congratulated him on his success. He had also an audience of the Emperor, who accepted the dedication of Euryanthe, sending him a magnifi- cent snuff-box studded with diamonds, and expressing himself in unmeasured terms of praise and cordiality. The elated composer was compelled to stay one night at Prague, where he had been requested to con- duct the fiftieth performance of Der Freischutz, with the theatre crowded to the ceiling, and with every token of affection on the part of his old and grateful friends. All this was very satisfactory, but he was really happy only when, once more in his home, he could clasp his beloved wife and child to his heart. On the 13th of November he wrote Lichtenstein a long letter, giving a description of the first performances of his opera, and terminating with these words — " That envy should raise her head mightily, you may well imagine. It does not recoil from falsehood. All the pieces not at first understood were appreciated in the subsequent performances. I can't repeat what the most eminent musicians such as Weigl, Gyrowetz, Sey fried, Mosel, Abbe Stadler, &c. said, because it places me so high that I blush when I think of it." WEBER. 101 At the dear master's special desire I remained some weeks longer at Vienna to watch the successive repre- sentations of Euryanthe, but I had not the heart to communicate to him by letter what I saw and heard on the subject. The difference in the attendance was appalling, and no wonder ! The opera being found still too long, Conraclin Kreutzer reduced it to two hours ; some of the finest points were omitted, others were so maimed and mutilated as to make them lose their original form ; the libretto, always obscure, be- came a perfect jumble ; the artists grew neglectful and indifferent by seeing their exertions not duly acknow- ledged ; the orchestra slovenly, and even the chorus wanting in their former precision and energy. Such was the fate of Weber's masterpiece in the Austrian capital. It limped with great trouble through twenty per- formances, and was then withdrawn for years. To add to the composer's cup of bitterness, adverse criticisms, which at first appeared at long intervals, and were written in a moderate tone, became more frequent, pungent, and satirical, and his enemies pro- cured themselves the sorry satisfaction of seuding them anonymously to the composer. When I returned to Dresden the change in Weber's appearance was painful to a degree. lie seemed to have grown older by ten years in those few weeks; his former Strength of mind, his confidence, his Live for the art had all forsaken him. Sunken eyes, general apathy, and a dry hectic congh bespoke clearly the preca- rious condition of his health, lie attended his official duties as before with the most scrupulous punctuality, 102 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. but his creative powers were at a complete standstill. In the space of fifteen months, from October 19th, 1823, to January 23rd, 1825, he actually composed nothing but one short French song. A happy event on the 6th of January, 1825, the birth of his second son, Alexander Victor Maria, seems to have dissipated the gloom oppressing his mind, maybe also he felt his increased responsibilities. His time meanwhile was filled up with preparations for the first performance of Euryantlie at both Dresden and Leipsic, where the work was received with acclamation. At Dresden he had the great satisfaction to secure the services of Madame Schroeder-Devrient in the principal part for the first night. She not only carried out com- pletely the intentions of the composer, but infused such an amount of original pathos and feeling into her conception of the character as to take, not only the frequenters of the opera, but Weber himself by storm. Before the year closed Weber, who had for a long time past asked to have his onerous duties relieved by a competent assistant, repeated this request owing to the prolonged absence of Morlacchi, suggesting his old friend and fellow pupil Gansbacher. To his great joy and surprise his wish was granted, and he lost no time in writing to Gansbacher telling him of his satis- faction at the idea of having one of his best friends near him as a colleague. He was however again thwarted in his expectations. His friend, weary of waiting, had accepted the appointment as musical director of St. Stephen's, Vienna, and thus the full WEBER. 103 weight of his dreary and ceaseless labour fell again on Weber's shoulders. Another incident of that period was the parting be- tween Weber and myself. He thought that it was time lor me to begin my artistic career in earnest, and felt besides that in his then condition he could not continue to devote his time, as it was his wont to do, so largely and generously to my instruction. The separation was very painful on all sides, and his farewell letter to me is written in the most affectionate terms. It was to his powerful influence and recommendation that I owed my first official appointment as conductor at the Im- perial Opera of Vienna in the autumn of 1824. 1824. In the beginning of the same year a somewhat angry correspondence with Spontini at Berlin formed a not altogether pleasant episode. The promised perform- ance of Euryanthe in that capital was always deferred under some pretext or another, and this, combined with the continual newspaper attacks, aggravated by the old system of petty annoyances by his superiors, had so much impaired Carl Maria's health that he was com- pelled to seek a short rest at Marienbad, from which, however, he derived little or no benefit. Later in the year he won golden opinions by his direction of Haydn's Seasons at Dresden, and of the musical festival at Qued- linburg, initiated to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Klopstock's birth in that town. What he wrote during these months to a friend (Ignaz Susann) may give insight into his state of mind and noble charac- ter. " In memory I live through again that beautiful time when one feels happy in framing resolutions, 104 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. and their accomplishment seems so easy and so sub- lime. How often did my high-soaring wishes, which then seemed to me unattainable, aspire to no more than what I have reached now, and yet how much farther did my true and great ideal always advance in my con- viction, and how much less was I myself satisfied with what seemed to give satisfaction to others. Believe me, a great success weighs like a heavy debt upon the soul of the honest artist, and he can never pay it as he earnestly desires. What experience adds to our faculties is taken away by the decaying force of youth, and nothing remains but the consolation that everything is imperfect, and that at least we did — as much as we could do." On arriving at Hosterwitz from Marienbad, Weber found a letter from Charles Kemble, which confirmed what Moscheles had told him at Vienna the year before. The unheard-of triumphs of Dev Freischutz, given in no less than three London theatres (Co vent Garden, Drury Lane, and the Lyceum) simultaneously, and with no abatement of public favour, inspired the lessee of the first-named house with the idea of securing, if pos- sible, its composer for an original work in the English language. Previous applications from Paris had also been renewed, offering every artistic and pecuniary advantage. Weber, who had always felt a strong sympathy for England and for the illustrious family represented by Kemble, was further influenced in his decision by Moscheles, who in his artistic tour through Germany visited Dresden, and, knowing the disposition of the English public so well, urged the acceptance of WEBER. 105 the London offer. Before finally acceding to Kemble's request Weber had a consultation with his medical ad- viser and friend, Hedenus, explaining his situation, and the precarious position in which, in case of his death, he would leave his wife and his children. He had with his usual honourable feeling discharged every penny of his thoughtless father's debts, besides those contracted by himself whilst at Stuttgart. This, with his establish- ment in Dresden on a larger scale, and with his paltry salary, had absorbed nearly all the benefit derived from Der Freischutz and Preciosa. He now wanted to know the candid opinion of the physician, whether he would be tit to undertake the journey to England in the depth of winter, and would not decide until he had ascer- tained that opinion. Hedenus replied, "If you give up any idea of conducting or composing, start at once for Italy, and remain in idleness at least one year, you may live five or six years longer." " And if not ? " asked Weber. * Then," was the stern answer of the doctor, " it can be only a question of months, nay, maybe of weeks." Weber replied, deeply moved, but firmly, "As God will ; from what you say I cannot hope to secure a future for my wife and family by dragging on for a few years a useless life. In England I may expect a return lor my labours which will leave them in possession of means which I could not otherwise procure them, and thus it will he much better that I should accept the task." He recommended to Hedenus tin- most absolute silence on what had passed between them, and accepted the engagement, leaving the conditions in the hands of Kemble, who, after at first offering the small sum of 106 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. 500/. and Weber's expenses for the copyright of the new opera, and the direction of Der Freischutz and Preciosa by the composer, subsequently increased it to double the amount, viz., 1,000Z. Faust or Oberon (taken from Wieland's poem) would have been equally welcome to the lessee of Covent Garden, but the composer having chosen the latter subject, the services of the late Mr. Planche were im- mediately put in requisition, and on the 30th December Weber received the first act of the libretto. The poor sufferer, struggling with death, began only then to study the English language, in which the libretto was to be written, and from Oct. 2nd, 1824, till February 11th, 1826 (five days before his departure for London), he took 153 lessons, with an astonishing result. 1825. Armed with his new resolutions he invoked once more the muse which had so long lain dormant, and as in days of yore, fresh ideas, surprising com- binations, arose in his fertile mind. His work was unceasing ; he felt that there was no time to lose, and, heedless of his impending fate, he fought bravely on. How in his state he could find the freshest, per- haps the most original, melodies his pen ever produced, is marvellous. According to his diary he composed Huon's grand scena, " From boyhood trained in battle- field," on the 27th February, 1825. After this date there is apparently a pause in the progress of the work, as No. 1, that highly poetical chorus, " Light as fairy-foot/' is not mentioned as composed till the 11th September of the same year. It must not, however, be inferred that he did not devote his time to the WEBER. 107 important task lie had assumed. Quite the reverse. As in his former operas, the whole of the first act was created and encased, so to speak, in his head in the first three months of that year. At the same time he undertook the arrangement of a collection of Scottish songs with accompaniment of flute, violin, violoncello, and pianoforte. Some of his most effective part songs for male voices belong also to this period. Unfortunately a violent attack of his disease in the beginning of April put an end to any further occupa- tion, and as early as that month he was obliged to take an absolute rest at a summer-house in KoseVs Garten. Hence he was ordered by Hedenus to Ems to take the waters. On his way there he paid, at the special request of Goethe's son, a visit to the great poet, who, always under the influence of his friend Zelter, considered the favourite composer of the German nation as a kind of mushroom celebrity, made him first wait a quarter of an hour in his ante-room, and when at last admitting him treated him almost as an intruder. This undeserved insult, repeated for the third time, so angered and upset Weber, that he was forced to remain in bed for two days, being constantly nursed with real affection by Hummel and his family. At Ems he was overwhelmed with marks of esteem and consideration by the distinguished visitors as- sembled there, who perhaps claimed more of his time and person than was desirable lie there waa gladdened by the visit of Charles Kembie and Sir George Smart, who came from England on purpose to confer with him about Oberon, Sir George inviting him 103 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. in the kindest manner to stay at his house while in London. On leaving Ems he passed through Frankfurt, where he had the honour of being solemnly welcomed (with trumpets and kettledrums, as his diary jokingly has it) during a performance of Euryanthe. There was now a slight change for the better in his health, and with an almost feverish activity he devoted every free moment to his last work, terminating the first act on November 11th, 1825, and the second act, with the exception of the finale, on the 27th of the same month. Meanwhile numerous and most harassing occupations distracted poor Weber beyond all description. One of these was the performance of Olimpia, proposed by him- self as an appropriate opera for the wedding of Prince Max with a Princess of Lucca. Giving this work his utmost care, and producing it with even more minute attention to every detail than he had bestowed on his own, he answered Spontini's unjustifiable proceedings against him in the most generous and self-denying manner. He even composed, ingeniously imitating the style of Spontini, an important recitative for the part of the goddess Diana, containing a poetical allusion to the royal wedding. This at last touched the heart of the proud Italian ; his persistent opposition to Euryanthe was overcome, and the rehearsals began at Berlin in right earnest. But to utilise the numerous and efficient corps de ballet a pas de cinq was required, and was written by the hard-driven composer for that purpose. And thus after two years' anxious delay the WEBER. 1 09 ardent wish and ambition of Carl Maria were realized. His proximate arrival in the Prussian capital after nearly four years' absence was hailed with rapture by the whole population, who wanted to testify their love for their favourite. On the 5th of December he left Dresden, carrying with him a beautiful diamond ring, the gift of the King of Saxony, who, though urged by the intendant of the theatre, Herr von Liittichau, to arrant Weber the much-wished-for decoration, was in- duced by Count Einsiedel to refuse the request. The head of the Beer family having died meanwhile, Weber took up his abode with Heinrich, the eldest son. Nothing could exceed the tender attention he received in that house; the rehearsals also proceeded most satisfactorily ; in fact the whole matter, barring the wretched state of health of the poor sufferer, was a repetition, with, if possible, increased success, of the glorious Frcischiltz time. On the 23rd of December an unprecedented, and even for "VVeber surprising, ovation awaited him in the Opera House. The crowd which had besieged the entrance to the theatre since three o'clock in the afternoon rushed in in a torrent when the doors were opened ; again and again the house rang with shouts and accla- mations, which lasted several minutes before the per- formance could begin, and gave him the courage and energy to go through his task with all the vigour of former days. The singers, Mme. Seidler (Euryanthe), Mm-. Schultz (Eglantine), Badei (Adolar), Blume (Lysiart), no Less than orchestra and chorus, surpassed themselves; the raise > n scene was gorgeous, the dresses 110 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. rich and tasteful, and the whole performance went off without a single blot. Weber, in a letter to Count Briihl, had said, " I am sure that only at Berlin Euryantlie will fulfil all my intentions," and here truly it had at last found its right appreciation. A supper at Jagors, where all artistic and aristocratic Berlin, including even his persistent antagonist Zelter, did homage to the master, was a fit renewal of a similar fete in the same locality on the first evening of l)er Freis- chiltz, four years earlier. He might well write to his wife that he had achieved " the completest and most magnifi- cent triumph." He had also the satisfaction to receive through the advocacy of his old friend, Count Briihl, the handsome remuneration of 800 thalers. After a second performance, conducted by him with the same effect and to a crowded house, he took his departure. His farewell from his dear friends, whom he was destined never to see again, was most affecting. A letter from Charles Kemble, which reached him at Berlin, informed him that all the arrangements for the performance of Oberon were completed,, and that the sooner he could come the better it would be. Once more Weber arrived at his home at Dresden, not with the buoyant hope he had so long entertained of creating new master-works surrounded by those he prized above all, his wife and children, but with the dismal prospect of a journey to a strange land, a wreck in health, and with the cruel certainty that his days were numbered, and that his farewell might be the last. In vain did his anxious wife entreat him to give up the idea of superintending personally the production of his work, and to sacrifice WEBER. HI everything rather than compromise his chances of recovery. How willingly would she have accompanied him ; but with her eldest boy not yet four years old, and with another sickly infant child whom she could not have taken with her in the depth of winter, Weber would not hear of such a proposal. All the remon- strances of his friends failed to deter him from his purpose, and his answer was invariably, "It's all the same ! Whether I go or remain, in one year I am a dead man. But if I go, my children will have bread when their father dies, if I remain they will starve." 1826. With the sad presentiment preying on his mind he felt it his duty to put all his affairs in order, which he did with great care. Every spare hour in the month of January was dedicated to the termina- tion of Oberon; on the 6th the second finale was finished, and by the 13th only some short parts of the opera and the overture were wanting. Who could have believed that that magical fairy-dream with the heavenly melody of the mermaid in the end of the second act had been penned by a man suffering the most excru- ciating pain from an incessant cough and a devouring fever, sitting at his lonely desk till the early hours of the bitter winter mornings ? And yet so it was. These inspirations came from above, and gave him the almost incredible courage to struggle and fight on as long as lie had breath. The only outer sign of lassi- tude which can be detected in that trying time is the fact that he accepted the libretto of Oberon from Planche* with few objections, and that when even these were not heeded he submitted to the decision of the 112 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. poet without any further opposition. The follow- ing letter written in his peculiar English may give an idea of the very modest alterations he required : — "You have so well construed my first prayers that I continue proposals in confidence to your kind- ness. "The scene between Shcrasmin and Fatima, in the second act, and the (very pretty) arietta of the latter, must necessarily be omitted, and the quartetto follow immediately. Also the chorus of the pirates. But the time which we gain thereby we must spare for a duetto between Huon and Bezia. The absence of this piece of music would be very much regretted, and the scene upon the desert shore seems the most convenient place for it, though my musical heart sighs that the first moment when the loving pair find each other passes without music, but the opera appears too long already. " Now wish I yet a mad aria for Sherasmin (when he discovers the horn) in which Fatima's lamentations unite and close the scene with a beautiful contrast. Oh ! dear sir ! what would not we produce, if we were living in the same town. "Still I beg leave to observe that the composer looks more for the expression of feelings than the figurative ; the former he may repeat and develop in all their gradations, but verses like — " ' Like the spot the tulip weareth Deep within its dewy urn ; ' or, in Huon's song — " ' Like hopes that deceive us, Or false friends who leave us, Soon as descendeth Prosperity's sun ; ' must be said only once" &c. WEBER. 113 These reasonable requests of the composer were not complied with by the author of the words. [I always felt myself most strongly the necessity of a duet in the situation named by Weber, between Huon and Bezia, and in the Italian version which I arranged for Her Majesty's Theatre I introduced that of Adolar and Euryanthe, " Hin nimm die Seek mein" which was generally approved.] The offer of Fiirstenau, the celebrated flutist and member of the Royal Orchestra at Dresden, to accom- pany the invalid on his journey, presented a glimpse of hope to his anxious wife. He had always been a staunch friend and admirer of Weber, and he remained faithful to his promise to keep up his spirits and spare him the worry and trouble indispensable in travelling. The 16th of February, the day of departure, at last arrived. After a most heartrending farewell he tore him- self away from all he cherished most on earth. Every- thing had been done to provide for his comfort in his travelling carriage, and the variety of incidents on the way, and the cheerfulness of his companion, served to relieve his depression. Having made short stages, the travellers did not reach Paris till the 25th. Weber was very much interest! d in all he saw on the journey, and thanks to Maurice Schlesinger, his publisher, found a most comfortable home in the French capital. His firsl Lution had been to remain quite incognito, to avoid any excitement, only frequenting one or two of the principal theatres \ but his own restlessness, and the wish to make the personal acquaintance of Ins eminent colleagues then living there, very soon altered this deter- i M4 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. mination. He called upon Cherubim, Rossini; Berton, Catel, Paer, Auber, and Onslow, each and all giving him the heartiest welcome. Eossini actually over- whelmed him with his kindness; but what was most satisfactory to Weber, Cherubini, who called twice upon him personally, expressed his admiration for him in the most emphatic and genuine manner. It had become generally known that Weber was in Paris, and at the Grand Opera, as well as at the Opera Comique, he was obliged to bow from his box to the manifestations of the public. At the latter theatre he witnessed the "first performance of Boieldieu's La Dame Blanche, of which he wrote to Theodor Hell, " Such a comic opera has never been composed since Mozart's Figaro!' He accepted an invitation to dine with Madame Pasta at Schlesinger's, and expressed himself highly enchanted with the talent of the celebrated prima donna, who sang on purpose for his gratification. The direction of the Grand Opera was most anxious to arrange if possible the production of his Euryanthe, but overcome by all the excitement of this Parisian life, and feeling that he must not tarry any longer, he would and could not entertain other propositions, however flattering. He consequently left the French capital on the 2nd of March, a bitterly cold morning, and arriving at Calais on the 4th, was attacked by a violent fit of coughing which threatened to suffocate him, so as to excite Fiirstenau's greatest alarm. He was not, however, to be detained, and crossed the same day. A good night's rest in Dover enabled him to WEBER. HT> continue his journey, and to arrive on the 6th under Sir George Smart's hospitable roof in Great Portland Street. His first impressions of England could not have been more favourable. In a letter to his wife, after extolling the beautiful appointments of the stage coach, with its four magnificent horses, of which no prince would have been ashamed, and which seemed to fly through the air, he writes : " The meadows covered with the most beauti- ful green, the gardens with blooming flowers, all the buildings of an elegance and neatness formiug an in- credible contrast with the dirt in France. . . . March 7th. — I am now excellently cared for in Smart's house. Every possible comfort is studied. ... A bath-room in the house. . . . Fiirstenau lives quite near in the house of a German. ... I found a number of visiting-cards waiting for my arrival. From the first pianoforte-makers an admirable piano, with a charming note begging me to make them happy by using it during my stay. . . . Everything foretells the most brilliant and profitable result. The whole day till five o'clock belongs to me, then we prepare for dinner, and theatre or company. . . . Kemble is at Bath, but returns the day after to-morrow : this evening we dine with his wife. Afterwards I go to Covent Garden to hear the singers; and then to a concert. To-morrow early I shall begin to work. This morning I only had time to put my things to rights, clean and brush myself; then came your dear Letter, which made me so happy. Being alone in England has nothing to make mo uneasy. All the ways hero are so congenial to my nature, and my little bit of English, I 2 116 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. in which I make rapid progress, is of the greatest use to me. . . . Don't be alarmed about the opera, I have really time and rest here because they respect my time ; besides, Oberon will not be given on Easter Monday, but some days later. . , . People are really too good with their anxious sympathy. . . . No king could receive more proofs of love and interest than myself. I am spoilt in every possible way, nay, I may say almost literally that they carry me in their arms. I take the greatest care of myself, and you may be perfectly tranquil," &c. Weber conducted a part of the first of the so-called " Oratorio Concerts," for twelve of which he was engaged, on the 8th of March, at Covent Garden. In those medley performances where, long before the existence of the Sacred Harmonic Society, the choral works of Handel might alone be heard, his selections from Der Freischiitz, Freciosa, &c, were performed under the composer's personal direction. These became ex- tremely popular, and, it is needless to say, gave the public an opportunity of showing its predilection for the great musician. At the Philharmonic concerts, then at the Argyll Kooms, Eegent Street, with Francois Cramer and Mori as leaders, and under a mixed direction, he met with a warm recognition on the part of the orchestra — who discovered him among the audience — but was hardly noticed by the aristocratic subscribers. It was not till the last concert of the series, on April 3rd, when he was invited to conduct the overtures to Der Freischiitz and Euryanthe, performed with irresistible WEBER. 117 fire, that he conquered the icy reserve of his critical listeners, and was applauded to the echo. On the 9th of March he began his rehearsals of Oberon, and, sad to tell, the illusions and dreams he had entertained on arriving in London were destined to be one by one cruelly dispelled. The prima donna, Miss Paton (afterwards Mrs. Wood), though gifted with a good voice, and at home on the stage, was wayward, capricious, requesting alterations, abbreviations, &c, in her part, Madame Vestris, so popular in operettas like those of Bishop and Horn, was overweighted in the part of Fatima. Braham, the favourite of the public, found fault with the beautiful scena Weber had written for him, and in which one of the principal subjects of the overture forms the leading melody. Being per- sonally attached to the celebrated tenor, and at the recommendation of both Planche and Sir George Smart, Weber, for the first time in his musical career, made a holocaust of his own opinions, and to gratify the singer wrote another scena, " Yes, even Love to Fame must yield," quite opposed to the general style of the opera, but well adapted to Braham's vocalisation. Fawcett (Sherasmin), an excellent actor with hardly any, and Bland, a bad actor with an offensive, v. completed the cast. With the exception of Braham and thecharming young Miss Harriet Cawse,who al the < Leventh hour undertook the pari of Puck, and sang also the Mermaid's song, there was not one of the artists to be compared with the German interpreters of Weber's former masterpieces. The chorus was deficient in strength, and of doubtful intonation; and the com- 118 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. paratively scanty orchestra by no means up to the mark. To move and to excite those inert elements, to make them understand his meaning, was the task of the poor sick man, who, however, conquered the short- comings of this inefficient crew. They actually learnt to sing, almost to feel ; and, to tranquillise his anxious wife, he wrote to her after the first rehearsal that lie was fully contented with his solo singers, chorus, scenery, dresses, &c. It had been asserted that he would follow in the footsteps of his predecessor of the year before. Eossini by his winning manners and the protection of King George IV., not to speak of his transcendent talent as composer and singer, had captivated the fair representatives of the aristocracy and earned a golden harvest, not only by his engagement at the opera, but by numberless private concerts, lessons, at the rate of from two to five guineas, &c. These prognostications proved fallacious. After the momentary breaking through the rules of English etiquette by the dash- ing Italian, who treated proud lords and ladies as his equals, everything had relapsed into its former routine. A very different system from that of the Continental towns existed in the fashionable circles of London. Whilst in Germany and in France, Im- perial and Eoyal Princes and Princesses associated on terms of esteem and friendship with distinguished artists ; here the latter were considered as costly mer- chandise. In the huge reunions of the aristocracy artists were not expected to mix with the company. Shut up, till everybody had assembled, in a small room, bid by insolent lacqueys to enter the gorgeous drawing-rooms WEBER. 119 by aback staircase, even separated in some cases by a cord from the rest of humanity, to avoid any con- tagion, commanded like any menial to sing their songs, which were accompanied by 600 discordant voices, one striving to be heard above the others, the concert over either directed to take their refreshment in a separate room or to go home supperless— all this con- sidered, it was not to be wondered at that even richly remunerated artists were disgusted with the treatment they received. Weber's ungainly figure formed a sad contrast with that of the handsome liossini, and, not- withstanding the many letters of introduction from the highest personages in the Fatherland, his professional engagements in soirees with the aristocracy were limited to three, though he was honoured with many invita- tions, which however proved neither pleasant nor profitable. The following is his own description of one of the former. " At half-past ten I drove to Lord Hertford's. Heavens, what a huge company ! Splendid rooms ; 500 to 600 people assembled, all most brilliantly attired. Nearly all the stars of the Italian Opera company ; also Veluti, the celebrated Puzzi, and the not less celebrated double-bass Dragonetti Every kind of music was sung, but nobody listened to it. The din and n<»ise of the throng were horrible. When I per- formed there wa3 an endeavour to obtain a little silence. and L00 persons placed themselves sympathetically round m<>. God alone knows what they heard, fori my- self didn't hear much of it. I bore in mind, however, my thirty guineas, and was resigned At last at two o'clock they went to supper, from which T excused myself." [20 THE GEE AT MUSICIANS. A delightful contrast which afforded him great satis- faction awaited him however in the highest circles. He had been warmly recommended by his friend and patron, Prince Friedrich of Saxony, to the brother of the Duchess of Kent. Prince Leopold, late King of the Belgians; and to the Duke of Clarence, who had married Princess Adelaide of Meiuingen ; both these princes giving him the most cordial recep- tion. On the 9th of April, and on the 14th of May, he was invited to intimate family meetings at the Duchess of Kent's, where he met the Duchess of Clarence, Princess Augusta, sister of the King, and the Prince Leopold. A beautiful child of seven years, graceful and merry, delighted the company. This was none other than the Princess Victoria, daughter of the Duchess, and our present Gracious Sovereign. Conversation was carried on in German, and all was so simple, unaffected, and interesting, that he might have fancied himself at one of his friendly social gather- ings in Berlin. And when the Duchess of Kent requested him to accompany her in some songs, and producing a book of his own compositions, sang them with pure and sympathetic voice, he was tempted to forget his pains and the horrible oppression at his chest which nightly threatened to suffocate him. After sixteen most laborious rehearsals of his opera the doors of Covent Garden opened on the 12th of April for his last and one of his greatest triumphs. The crowded house, containing almost every notability, social or artistic, bore witness to the popularity of the man and of his works. Much had been done by the WEBER. 121 indefatigable conductor to make the artists one and all enter fully into the spirit of the' composition, and the result was a performance as much above the average as the music itself. The overture, embodying as in Der Frciscltutz and Euryanthe the chief elements and motives of the opera most skilfully and artistically moulded together, could not fail to inspire even the usually apathetic members of the orchestra, and there was no resisting the universal demand for its repe- tition. It is certainly akin to its predecessors in effect, but distinguished from them by the Eastern colouring so happily imparted to it. From the first mysterious call of Oberon's magic horn, with the fragment following of the fairy choruses, the march of Charlemagne played pianissimo, Huon's sccna, the quartet of the second act, and Puck's appeal to the spirits, to the conclusion with the irresistible strain taken from Rezia's great air, the interest is not only maintained but goes on increasing. The pieces which riveted the public attention and elicited the greatest applause on this memorable occasion were Huon's grand air in the first act. Fatima's romanza and her song " Araby," the Mermaid's song, and the light fantastic finale of the second act, all re-demanded, and, with the exception of the last, repeated. But every other piece received its full meed of approbation, without a Bingle dissentient voice, to the last QOte of the opera. When the curtain fell, the entire audience, who had shown the composer their attention and regard by remain- ing in their places till all was over, rose simultaneously with frantic and unceasing calls for Weber, who at 122 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. last appeared, trembling with emotion, exhausted, but happy. Such a distinction was till then unheard-of in England, and worth recording, though of late it has been most indiscriminately bestowed. Weber elated, though completely prostrate, wrote after the performance to his wife : "By God's grace and help I have to-night had such a perfect success as perhaps never before. It is quite impossible to describe the dazzling and touch- ing effect of such a complete and cloudless triumph. God alone be praised for it! When I entered the orchestra the whole house rose as of one accord, and an incredible applause, cheers, waving of hats and handkerchiefs received me and was hardly to be quieted." Then having described the chief incidents of the performance he says, "I ought to tell you a great many other particulars, but I cannot, and must defer it till we can talk it all over at Hosterwitz. The splendour and perfection of the scenery pass all de- scription, and I shall never see the like of it again. They say the expenses amounted to 7,000/. Perform- ances are to continue now every evening as long as the singers can hold out. I have undertaken to conduct the twelve first. After that I shall have had enough of it ; and I already begin to tremble at the thought that they want to see the opera in Dresden. Fortunately they have not the materials to get it up, and ten horses should not drag me to direct it personally elsewhere." The reaction unavoidable after such a great exertion was terrible. When Fiirstenau entered the master's room the next morning, with some medicine, Weber was lying in his easy chair and murmured faintly, " Go, WEBEU. 123 go, all these attempts are of no avail. I am a shattered machine, "Would to God it could be held together till I might embrace once move my Lina and my boys ! " This yearning for home became paramount in every one of his successive letters. Time crept on much too slowly for the home-sick man. The nightly re- presentations of Obcron, the late hours to which he was so unaccustomed, the want of rest, mental and physical, could not fail to hasten the final catastrophe. Having been dragged to two or three formal English dinners, where he was obliged to sit four hours at table, drinking wine with ever} r one of the guests, and expected even to make a speech, he now resolved to give up all invitations not quite indispensable, and only received his intimate friends. Among these were Moscheles, whose kindness nothing could exceed, Dr. Kind, his medical adviser, the nephew of his former collaborator, Herr Goschen, father of the present M.P., Flirstenan, and of course Sir George Smart. The in- fluence of the climate contributed also to the depression of his spirits. In a letter of April 18th he says, " This is a day to shoot one's self! Such a dark yellow fog that one can hardly see in the room without a candle. The sun has no rays — only a red patch in the fog, it is truly appalling/' &c, &c. With all these drawbacks, however, he managed by the strength <>1* his will not only to conduct the stipulated number of performances, but to give his talent to his friends and colleagues on the occasion of their benefit concerts. This he did for Moscheles, Miss Sawes, Charles Kemble, Rliss Paton, and Braham. 124 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. The then manager of Drury Lane, to counteract the attractions of Covent Garden, had commissioned the justly popular English composer, Bishop, to write an opera, Aladdin, likewise on an Eastern subject taken from the Arabian Nights. Weber thus relates what happened on the evening of the 29th of April: "Yes- terday was an interesting day ; the first performance of my so-called rival's opera Aladdin. It was difficult to obtain places : one of the proprietors of the theatre, however, offered me his box, and for that purpose called on me in person. No sooner had I stepped into the box and was seen than the whole house rose and received me with the greatest enthusiasm. This, in a strange theatre and on such an evening, testified clearly to the love of the nation, and much moved and rejoiced me. The opera lasted well from seven to half-past eleven. That is enough "to kill the audience and the work. The applause was at first very great. Bishop had the same reception as myself ; the overture encored as well as the first romance of Aladdin. But the applause gradually became fainter, and I am sorry to say justly so, for it is a small weak affair, which can scarcely claim the pretence of an opera. A very pretty hunting chorus passed unobserved, and when it was over they whistled in the pit the hunting chorus from Der Freischutz . Bishop was not recalled, and the opera may be said to have failed," &c., &c. At the invitation of the members of the Boyal Society of Musicians Weber followed the example of his illustrious predecessors and colleagues, Hadyn, Winter, Hummel, Spohr, &c, and undertook to compose WEBER. 125 a march for their anniversary festival, May 13th ; but he was unable to produce an absolute novelty, and there- fore arranged for the orchestra a martial movement included in his "Six pieces a. quatre mains," written many years before, and unknown in England. His weak trembling hand refused to do its office, and he was obliged to dictate the scoring to Furstenau, not even being able to witness the performance, which went off very successfully. The expectations which had been raised of a ricli harvest from private engagements being so entirely nullified by the indifferent result, his friends urged him to give a great concert under his own direction, and containing, if possible, one or two novelties from his ■pen. It was but natural to suppose that the aristocracy, which had hitherto kept aloof, his numberless admirers, besides the 30,000 of his countrymen residing in London would eagerly seize the opportunity of rendering homage to the great German master. Weber was easily persuaded to share that opinion ; in fact all his hopes were now centred in this appeal to the public, from which he expected largely to increase the pro- vision for Lis family. Consequently, with the help of his friends, he organised a most interesting musical entertainment to take place on the 26th of May. A phalanx of the best English artists offered their services on the occasion: Miss Paton, Madame Caradori-Allan, Miss IT. Cawse, Miss Stephens, now the Dowager Countess of Essex ; Messrs. Braham, Sapio and Phillips, besides a complete chorus, including the members of the choir of St. Paul's Cathedral ; an orchestra composed of 126 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. the first instrumental performers in London, amongst whom were Mori, Loder, Lindley, &c.; Kiesewetter the famous virtuoso on the violin, who lent the charm of his talent; Furstenau who played one of his exquisite solos — all these formed an ensemble almost unapproach- able. Weber himself, who in compliance with the re- quest of Miss Stephens had promised to set to music the words of Tom Moore, " From Chindara's warbling fount I come," and who with his wonted conscientiousness read the whole poem of " Lalla Rookh " in order to give that special piece the right meaning and colouring, was to accompany the popular vocalist on the occasion. His jubilee cantata, cleverly adapted to English words by Hampden Napier, and now called the The Festival of Peace, was to be performed for the first time in England. The programme included also the so popular overtures of Euryanthe and Oberon. Messrs. Moscheles, Hawes, Fawcett, Furstenau and Sir George Smart had under- taken the whole management of the concert, and thus everything seemed to promise a gratifying result. Weber himself, however, remembering his evil star, had some vague forebodings which were expressed in a letter to his Lina on the 19th. "This day week is my concert. My heart beats strangely when I think of it. I am so over anxious as to the result. They are my two last and most important chances, the concert and my coming benefit at the theatre. When I reflect what they cost me — and if they did not answer to my modest hopes — it would be very hard." The same day he rehearsed his new song with Miss Stephens, having only been able to write down the voice WEBER. J-< part. The great artist entered at once into the spirit of the composition, which she afterwards rendered so admirably at the concert, The general rehearsal, con- ducted by Mori, with Weber sitting in an arm-chair, went off with great eclat and to the complete satisfac- tion of the master, who only on one occasion raised his voice from the customary whisper. The chorus in a prayer, an appeal to the Deity in the cantata, began to sing at the top of their voices ; Weber stopped them at once, exclaiming — " Hush, hush, would you scream like that in the presence of God ? " Nothing, unfortunately, could have been more unpro- pitious than the day selected. Xot only did F.psom Races absorb the great bulk of the public, but a concert, given by the Italianised Belgian, Signor Begrez, a fashionable professor of singing, at the mansion of the Duke of St, Albans, attracted all the leading ladies of the aristocracy, and resulted in a clear benefit of 400 guineas for the concert-giver. The whole clay the rain came down in torrents, and when Weber, leaning on the arm of Sir George Smart, entered the Argyll Rooms, his heart sank on beholding it not quite half filled. The scanty audience made up as best they could fur their deficiency in number, by vociferous demonstrations, re-demanding a chorus in the cantata, and Weber's new song accompanied by his own trembling hand.-. These were the last notes he ever played on the piano. Alter the overture to Euryanthe he had hardly strength to reach the artists' room, and was led almost fainting to a sofa. His friends gathered mournfully around him ; whilst grasping Goseheii's hand he whispered with a 128 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. bitter smile, " What do you say to it ? This is Weber in London ! " His heart, till then so full of hope, was broken at last ; in silence, but suffering heavily, he was conveyed home. The next day, feeling somewhat better, and with that delicacy of feeling which was one of his chief characteristics, he tried to conceal from his poor wife the wreck of his hopes, writing thus : " Finan- cial business has not been good of late. My concert of the 26th was artistically the most brilliant I ever gave, orchestra, chorus, all did their best. All were zealous to serve me. The applause beyond anything enthusias- tic. . . but the receipts, which I don't know fully yet (the net profit amounted to 96/., lis.) were very mediocre, and throw me back very much in my plans. My benefit is now fixed for Monday, June 5th. The first performance of Der Freischufz entirely restored accord- ing to the original score. Who knows whether it will then please so much ? first impressions decide everything ; that representation is sure to attract a large audience. But afterwards I have to conduct the opera five times gratuitously," &c. Though this letter was written in apparently good spirits, the alteration in the hand- writing, until now so firm and clear, but in the present instance irregular and sometimes illegible, proved more than anything the consequences of the shock he had received the day before. Ever since that fatal 26th of May the disease had assumed such alarming dimensions that Dr. Kind de- manded and obtained a consultation with an eminent English physician, to which the poor patient submitted. It was decided then that he must give up every thought WEBER. 129 of appearing again in public, that of course his projected benefit was to be abandoned at once, and the most abso- lute rest from all excitement was to be strictly observed. Far from being cast down by this apparently severe measure, which deprived him of the last chance of realising his dream of independence for his family, he became quite elated. What was foremost in his thoughts was that unspeakable desire of being once more with his beloved ones ; and now there could be no further obstacle to his immediate departure, which he fixed for the 6th of June. To the urgent entreaties of his medical advisers and of all his friends to suspend such a perilous under- taking he turned a deaf ear, and wrote in the following half-jocular, half tender way to his wife : " There dwells a feeling of impatience in me ! You won't see many more letters from me, so now receive my stern com- mands : do not answer this letter to London, but direct to Frankfurt poste restante. You are astonished ? 'Well then, yes, I shall not go to Paris. What could I do there? I cannot walk, I cannot speak. I want to banish business for years to come ; much better take the direct route home from Calais by Brussels, Cologne, Coblenz, down the Rhine to Frankfurt, what a glorious journey ! Though obliged to travel slowly and to take sometimes half a day's rest — we shall gain at least a fortnight, and in the last days of June I hope to clasp you in my arms." Nothing else was to interfere with this journey; records of London and gifts for his friends at Dresden were bought, and the only object of his conversation was this inexhaustible tlieme of travel. Once more for the last time he wrote to K 130 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. his wife on the 2nd of June, in the following touching words : — "What joy, my dearest wife, did your dear letter of the 22nd bring me. What happiness for me to know that you are all so well. But for myself unfortu- nately I am still very excited and suffering. Good heavens, only to be once seated in the carnage ! My concert succeeded better than I expected. I have about 100/. over, a great deal for Germany, very little for Lon- don. ... If only Der Freischiltz on Monday next were over ! 1 But God will give me strength. Since yester- day I have had a large mustard-plaster on my chest, that is to do away with that horrible difficulty of breathing, &c. &c. You seem to be enjoying life with daily visitors ! Well done, I prefer that to your money being spent at the chemist's. God grant that I may help you when I return. I have the best intention of doing so. As this letter requires no answer it must necessarily be very short. Isn't it nice not to be obliged to answer ? Fiirstenau has given up his concert. This may enable me to come perhaps even a few days sooner — Hurrah ! May God bless you all. . . . and keep you well. Would I were amidst you ! I send you my tenderest kisses, my beloved wife; preserve your love for me, and think joyfully of him who cherishes you above all. "Carl. 1 ' From Moscheles, who came to see him on the 3rd, he took most affectionate leave, thanking him for the numberless proofs of his friendship and attachment. 1 He had evidently not even then given up the idea of his benefit. WEBER. 131 On the 4th, when Goschen, accompanied by Dr. Kind, came to hid him farewell, he said, " Have you any message for your father ? I shall tell him that his son was a dear friend to me in London." In the evening of that day he lay exhausted in an armchair surrounded by Sir George Smart, Furstenau, Goschen, and Moscheles. His friends insisted that he should go early to rest, and .Furstenau and Smart conducted him to his room. He refused the offer of the former to watch at his bedside, nor would he consent to forego his usual habit of bolting his door. "With his accustomed punctuality he wound up his watch, shook hands with his faithful companion, and his last words were, " Now let me sleep." Early on the morning of the 5th, when Sir George Smart's servant knocked at Weber's door he received no answer. He knocked again and again, but without result. Alarmed, he went to his master, who rushed im- mediately to the room. Furstenau was sent for and arrived, anticipating the worst. After repeated fruitless attempts to be heard they burst the door open and approached the bed. There the beloved friend lay lifeless — his head resting on his hand as if in sweet slumber ; no traces of his suffering could be seen in those noble features. His spirit had fled — home indeed ! So quiet, so unchanged was the aspect of the master, that it seemed impossible he should not be any longer amongst the living, and only when a medical man, summoned in haste, declared that life had been extinct five or six hours, did they begin to realise their loss. Nothing could exceed the sympathy felt by all classes on hearing of the sad event. The corpse was embalmed, k 2 132 THE GREAT MUSICIANS. and after many unavoidable delays a resting place was found in the far-distant Moorfields Chapel, where on the 17th of June an imposing funeral service with Mozart's Requiem, sung by Madame Caradori- Allan, Miss Paton, Braham, and Lablache, was held, in the presence of all the musical celebrities of the metropolis. Seventeen years later, and that irresistible yearning for home which had haunted him during the last days of his existence, was at last to be fulfilled. The repeated endeavours of the widow and sons, nay, of the German nation, to have the mortal remains of the dear master transferred to his native soil were crowned with success, chiefly through the energy of Eichard Wagner, then Capellmeister in Dresden. The coffin was landed in Hamburg on the 20th of Octo- ber, 1844, but did not reach Dresden till the 14th of December, owing to the Elbe being frozen. The solem- nity of that evening was worthy of the occasion ; thou- sands thronged to the Catholic cemetery in the Fried- richsstadt, where Madame Schroeder-Devrient, with all the artists belonging to the theatre, paid homage to his memory, covering the coffin with laurel crowns and flowers. In the family vault, where his younger son, Alexander, had been buried only a fortnight before, Weber's body was laid. He was again at home, and the flowers on his grave were tended by his beloved Lina. Richard Wagner's farewell to Weber at his grave echoed truly the feelings of his countrymen : " There never was a more German composer than thou ; in what- ever-distant fathomless realms of fancy thy genius bore thee, it remained bound by a thousand tender links to WEBER. 133 the heart of thy German people, with whom it wept or smiled like a believing child listening to the legends and tales of its country. Yes, it was thy childlike simplicity which guided thy manly spirit, like a guardian angel, keeping it pure and chaste, and that purity was thy chief characteristic. . . . Till death didst thou preserve that supreme virtue. Thou couldst never sacrifice it or alienate this beautiful inheritance of thy German origin; thou couldst never betray us. Behold the Briton does thee justice, the Frenchman admires thee, but only the German can love thee ! Thou art his own, a bright day in his life, a drop of his blood, a particle of his heart ! " CATALOGUE OF THE WOEKS OF CAEL MAEIA VON WEBEE. I. WOEKS PUBLISHED WITH OPUS NUMBER. 1798, Op. 1. Sechs Fughetten. First orig. edit, in type (very rare), Mayr, Salzburg; Berlin, Schlesinger (R. Lienau), edited by C. Reinecke. This first attempt at composition of the boy Weber at the age of eleven can only be regarded as a musical curiosity, and has no intrinsic value, notwithstanding the favourable opinion of Michael Haydn. Some of the subjects have been employed by Weber in a quartet of his opera " Peter Schmoll," and in his Mass in E flat. 1800, Op. 2. Sechs Variationen furs Klavier oder Pianoforte, iiber ein Original-thema. First orig. edit. pub. by composer himself, in Munich ; Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau), ed. of C. Reinecke. This work, dedicated by the boy composer in his thirteenth year to his master Kalcher at Munich, calls for no comment, being an immature trifle. 1801, Op. 3. Six petites pieces faciles pour le pianoforte a quatre mains. First orig. edit., Augsburg, Gombart. 1801, Op. 4. Douze Allemandes pour le pianoforte. First orig. edit,, Augsburg, Gombart ; Berlin, Schlesinger (Leinau), ed. C. Reinecke. CATALOGUE. 135 1804, Op. 5. Huit variations pour le pianoforte, sur l'air de ballet de u Castor et Pollux,"' par M. 1'Abbe" Vogler. First orig. edit; Vienna, Joseph Eder ; Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau), of Reinecke. A great step in advance is to be remarked in these variations, and traces of talent and originality may be found principally in the first, second, fifth, and last of the set. Henselt has modernised some of the variations with great skill. 1804, Op. 6. Six variations pour le pianoforte, avec accompagnement d'un violon et violoncelle ad libitum, sur l'air de Naza : Woher mag dies wohl lommcn ? ana Vogler's Oper " Samori." First orig. edit, with violin and violoncello, lith. Vienna, Steiner and Haslinger. About on a level with the preceding work. A funeral march ; var. No. 5 shows an interesting variety of harmonic turns. The accompaniments add nothing to the effect of the piece, only doubling occasionally the melody, or filling in the harmony. 1807, Op. 7. Sept variations pour le pianoforte, sur l'air '• Vien qua, Dorina Delia," etc. (par Bianchi) " dediees a sa majeste la Reine de West- phalie." First orig. edit, with dedication, Augsburg, Gombart. This is unquestionably the work which first contributed to spread Weber's popularity as a pianoforte writer. Its chief distinctions are an originality of treatment, an elegance and variety which make it stand prominent, even now, amongst the Btandard works of composers fur the pianoforte. 1807, Op. 8. f: Grande ouverturc a plusieurs instruments," also named 'Ouver- ture '•" Peter Schmoll," also "Ouverture pour lea Eetea musicalea d'Allemagne," also "C >ncerl < tiivrtuiv,'- also "Ouverture in Es." firal orig. "lit., orchestral puts only, Augsburg, Gombart. Published as pianoforte duel and boIo, Berlin, Schlesingerj full B( ore, Leipzig, Petera ; Paris, Richault r l'liis overture, originally composed for the unpublished onera, "Peter Schmoll und Beine Nachbaren," in 1801, was entirely . ore 1 and partly rewritten by the author in 1807. 136 CATALOGUE. 1808, Op. 9. Theme original, varie pour le pianoforte. First orig. edit., Offenbach, Andre. A brilliant and effective composition. 1809, Op. 10. Six pieces pour le pianoforte a quatre mains, dedicated "a leurs altesses Serenissimes Mesdames les Princesses Marie et Amelie de Wurttemberg." First orig. edit., Augsburg, Gombart. One of the* most popular works of Weber. It is as fresh now as when composed more than seventy years ago ; every one of the pieces having a peculiar charm of its own. 1810, Op. 11. Grand concerto en Ut Majeur (C major) " No, 1," pour piano- forte. First orig. edit., complete, Offenbach, Andre. A most graceful and effective work. The crescendo employed by the composer at the end of the Adagio in A flat will not be easily forgotten by those who have had the privilege of hearing it. The skilful interweaving of the two principal subjects in the last movement, which is full of grace and fire, contributed to its popular success. 1808, Op. 12. Momento capriccioso per il pianoforte, dedicated to Meyer- beer. First orig. edit., Augsburg, Gombart. Up to this day one of the most taking concert pieces, per- formed by Liszt, Hans von Billow, Tausig, Madame Schumann, Madame Essipoff, etc. 1810, Op. 13. Canon, " Madchen, ach meide" (comp. 1802) Liebeszauber, "Madel, schau nur " (1807) Lied, "Sanftes Licht" (1809) Die Schaferstunde (1810) Wiegenlied (1810) Die Zeit (1810) First orig. edit, Augsburg, Gombart. The Wiegenlied has, ever since its composition, taken its place among the national songs of Germany. CATALOGUE. 137 1808, Op. 14. Der erste Ton. Poem by Fr. Rochlitz with melodramatic music and iinal chorus. First orig. edit., orchestral and vocal parts, Bonn, Simrock. Arrangement for the pianoforte by composer. This work is the first of a more serious and extended character ; though limited in the first part to instrumental effects only, it concludes with an elaborate chorus terminating with a fugue.' It was received with much favour at its successive performances in Mannheim, Munich, Prague, Leipzig and Frankfurt. It deserves to be saved from oblivion, as it contains many bold and happy innovations, and will, no doubt, interest all the admirers of Weber. SIX SONGS. Op. 15. 1. Meine Lieder, meine Sange (comp. 1809). 2. Ein steter Kampf i.st unser Leben (1808). 3. Ach wenn icb nur ein Liebchen hatt' (1809). 4. Was zieht zu deineni Zauberkreise (1809). 5. Ich sah ein Pioschen am Wege stehn (1809) 6. Ein Echo kenn' ich (1808). First orig. edit., Bonn, Simrock. No. 1. of this collection is a kind of preface to the rest, both poetical and musical ; the words written by an amateur, Wilhelm Count Lowenstein-Wertheim, and most 'skilfully appropriated by Weber. The 2nd is one of the most passionate and effective of the composer's songs, and remarkable also as having been composed in prison at Stuttgart. The other four, but principally Nos. 3 and 4, are still favourites with German artists and amateurs, the latter being sung with rare excellency by W T eber himself, who had a special predilection for it. 1810, Op. 16. Rec. and Rondo, II momento s'avvicina, for a soprano voice. First orig. edit, orchest. parts with pianoforte score with Italian and German words. Offenbach, Andre ; Berlin, Schlesin^er (Lienau). ° One (the Bhortest) of six grand concert arias written for the J 681 ' '■> v ' tote '■' Germany of that period, it was performed for the hrst time at Heidelberg by Luise Frank, to whom it is dedicated. 1810, Op. 17. Designated by Weber as second Op. 10; in Schlesinger's last edition, Op. 13. 138 CATALOGUE. Six sonates progressives pour le pianoforte avec violon oblige, dediees aux amateurs. Two books of three sonatas each. First orig. edit., Bonn, Simrock. This work, written to order for the house of Andre in Offenbach, gave the author no end of trouble. The task was evidently not to his liking, and though he tried hard to give variety by treating the different sonatas, two in the Polish, one in the Russian, one in the Spanish, and one in the Sicilian national style, they are dry, laboured, and not characteristic of Weber's fine qualities as an original composer. When brought to Andre, he refused them on the plea that they were too good, probably meaning the reverse, and the composer himself never en- tertained a very high opinion of their merits. Moscheles pre- pared an amended edition of these sonatas for Chappell, but, though musically improved, the original ideas of the composer are too often tampered with, and cannot therefore be recognised as Weber's own. 1809, Op. 18 (see Op. 11). Grand quatuor pour le pianoforte, violin, alto, et violoncelle. First orig. edit., Bonn, Simrock ; in score, Paris, Richault ; London, Chappell, Cramer ; Milan, Ricordi ; Berlin, Schlesinger ; etc., etc. Weber had in his own enumeration marked this work as Op. 11. The pianoforte concerto published as Op. 11 he numbers Op. 18. It would be desirable to restore the succession of works according to his own wish. We have little of elaborate chamber music in the otherwise rich stores of Carl Maria's creations. There are only three pieces, the above quartet, the concertant duet for clarionet and pianoforte (Op. 48), and the trio for flute, piano, and violoncello (Op. 63). The quartet is the most pre- tentious with regard to contrapuntal writing, but not the most successful. There is a stiffness and awkwardness in the imita- tions, and what the Germans call DurcJifiihrung, which very often mars the otherwise abundant richness of ideas. This is principally remarkable in the first Allegro. The Adagio, though more felicitous, is deficient in unity of design. In the Presto Weber reveals himself ; there are fewer attempts at scholastic erudition, greater freedom in the treatment of the parts, and consequently more effect as a whole in the construction of this spirited movement. The second subject recalls vividly the Allegro Brillante (Op. 62). CATALOGUE. 1807, Op. 19. Sinfonia in C. (No. 1.) Dedicated to Gottfried Weber of Mannheim. First orig. edit, orchestral parts, Offenbach, Andre ; Paris, Richault. Written for a small orchestra, this work shows much less of Weber's individuality than might be expected. He follows as strictly as possible the example of Haydn, but in the working out of the different subjects is far behind the Father of the Symphony. The Scherzo and the Finale are the best move- ments. 1808, Op. 20. Grand pot-pourri pour le violoncelle, avec accompagnement de l'Orchestre. Dedicated to his friend Graff (a celebrated violoncellist). First orig. edit., Bonn, Simrock. A brilliant show piece for the violoncello, without any particular musical value. 1808, Op. 21. Grande polonaise pour le pianoforte, in E flat. Dedicated to the actress Margarethe Lang. First orig. edit. Bonn, Simrock. This is the first of the four most popular pianoforte pieces of Weber, which since their appearance have formed the delight of every true lover of music. The other three are Rondo in E flat, Pulacca brillante in E major, and the 4i Invitation a la Valse." 1808, Op. 22. 9 Variations sur un air Norvegien, for piano and violin. First orig. edit., Berlin, Schlesinger. A very interesting and effective concert piece, maintaining all through the distinctive character of the plaintive national air. six songs. Op. 23. !. Meine Farben, "Wollt ihr sie kennen?»(1808). 2. Rhapsodie, " Traurig, einsam welksl duhin" (IB :;. Maienbliimlein, " Maienbliimlein s<> Bchon " (181 1). 4 SoTM'tt, "Da liohcs. holdes, himmelsiisses Wesen' 1 (1812). 5. « Beiese Btille Liebe Bcbwebel " (1812). 6. An cine Freundin, -'Zur Freude ward geboren" (1812). First orig. edit, in type, Berlin, Schlesinger. 140 CATALOGUE. Of these songs, the first, full of quaint conceits, and besides, most original by its changes of rhythm and expression, carries the palm. No. 4, a most tender love ditty, admirably con- ceived, and overcoming the difficulty of the sonnet metre with wonderful skill, ought to be more generally known. 1812, Op. 24. Grosse Sonate fiir Pianoforte C. No. 1. Dedicated "A son Altesse Imperiale Madame la Grand-Duchesse Marie Paulowna, Princesse hereditaire de Saxe- Weimar." First orig. edit., Berlin. Schlesinger. In this work Weber revealed himself at once as one of the greatest tone poets for the pianoforte, equal in this form to Mozart, Haydn, Clementi, Dussek, Hummel, and only inferior perhaps to Beethoven. The entire construction teems with surprising and nearly always happy innovations. The first Allegro, stately and grand, the Adagio, in turns plaintive and heroic, the Minuetand Trio alternately playful and majestic, the Rondo (Moto continuo or Perpetuum mobile), up to this day adopted by every pianiste great or small, re-arranged with the additional difficulties of the modern school by Henselt, and adapted as a study for the left hand by Brahms. The performance of the work by the author himself has never been equalled by any of his successors. Having the advantage of a very large hand, and being able to play tenths with the same facility as octaves, Weber pro- duced the most startling effects of sonority, and possessed also the power, like Rubinstein, to elicit an almost vocal quality of tone where delicacy or deep expression were required. Op. 25. 1. Liebe-Gliihen, "In der Berge Riesenschatten" (1812). 2. " Ueber die Berge mit Ungestum " (1811). 3. "Lass mich sehlummern, Herzlein, schweige " (1811). 4. Bettlerlied, "I und mem junges Weib" (1812). 5. " Umringt vom mutherfullten Heere" (1811). First orig. edit. Berlin, Grobenschiitz u. Seiler ; Hamburg and Leipzig, Schuberth and Co.; Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau). No. 2 is one of the most striking and popular of Weber's compositions, and has become a household word in every German family. CATALOGUE. 141 No. 4, in the Bavarian dialect, and overflowing with humour, touches irresistibly the popular chord, forestalling the composer's charming Volkslieder. The whole set is impregnated with the author's now fully established individuality, nay, here and there, mannerism. 1811, Op. 26. Concertino fur clarinette. First orig. edit., Leipzig, Peters. The firsi of a series of compositions of great merit, written on purpose for and dedicated to his faithful friend H. Baer- mann, one of the most eminent soloists on the clarionet who ever lived. 1811, Op. 27. Ouvertiire zum Beherrscher der Geister (Ruler of the Spirits). First orig. edit., score, Leipzig, Peters. Published in score and arranged for the pianoforte as duet in numerous editions, and in all countries. This entirely re-constructed, and partly re-written overture, belonged in its original and now lost form, to the unfinished opera " Rubezahl," composed at Breslau in years 1804-5. It is perhaps of all the instrumental preludes of the composer of "Der Freischiitz," the most regular, complete, and musician- like. No flaw from the fiery beginning to the end of the exciting peroration can be detected; all is harmonious, rhythmical, a work of beauty. 1812, Op. 28. Sieben Variationen fiir das Pianoforte, iiber die Romanze aus Mehul's Oper "Joseph" (A peine au sortir do l'enfance). First orig. edit., Leipzig, Bureau do Musique (Kiilmer). Undoubtedly the most important set of variations by Weber, a showy brilliant concert piece, replete with difficulties of style and execution, which to conquer will reward any musical student. There is it; this a greater freedom of treatment ami inde- pendence of idea than in the celebrated Op. 7, and the Variations 3, 4, and the final.-, air specially remarkable. TBE CANZONBTTE. 1811, Op. 29. 1. ' : Ah dove sicte." 2. "Ninfe Be liete." 3. " Ch' io inai vi poSBa." 14-2 CATALOGUE. First orig. edit., Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau). Graceful and elegant specimens of Weber's composition in the Italian style ; almost unknown to the general public. Op. 30. 1. Wiedersehn, "Jiingst sass ich am Grabe derTrauten allein" (1804). 2. Lied, "Es sturmt auf der Flur" (1813). 3. Unbefangenheit, "Frage mich immer, fragest umsonst" (1813). 4. Minnelied, " Der Holdseligen sonder Wank" (1813). 5. Reigen, " Sagt mir an, was schmunzelt ihr" (1813). 6. Lied, " Sind es Schmerzen, sind es Freuden" (1813). First orig. edit., Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau). One of the most interesting collections of Weber's songs. No. 1, belonging to the sentimental and early period of the author's life ; the third, a delightful, quaint ditty ; the fourth, a real German Volkslied, simple, yet quite original ; the fifth, a most characteristic song, reminding one of the merry solo of Kilian in the introduction of " Der Freischutz " THREE DUETS. 1811, Op. 31. 1. u Se il mioben." 2. "Mille volte." 3. " Va ti consola." First orig. edit, Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau). These duets, like the canzonettes (Op. 29), give proof of the versatility of Weber's genius, he here having appropriated to him- self the peculiarities of the Italian style with the happiest result. They were dedicated to Queen Caroline of Bavaria. No. 1 was written for two ladies with exceptionally deep alto voices, Charlotte Mangold and Frau Schonberger. The latter even sang the tenor part of Belmonte in Mozart's " Seraglio" without changing a note. The effect of this duet with the obbligato accompany- ment of clarionet for H. Baermann seems to have been magical. The other two numbers were for soprano voices. 1812, Op. 32. Grand Concerto (E flat, No. 2) pour le pianoforte, dedie a son Altesse Serenissime, Monseigneur le Due regnant de Saxe-Gotha CATALOGUE. 143 et Altenburg, Eniil Leopold August. First orig. edit., Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau). The second and most difficult concerto of Weber, who per- formed it extensively on his artistic tour, being then in the full ripeness of his talent as pianist, and combining to a rare degree delicacy and power of execution. The Adagio with its romantic introduction for divided violins con sordini is a gem, and the last movement as brilliant as any of the modern pianists could desire. 1811, Op. 33. Sieben Variationen fur Claiinette und Pianoforte iiber ein Thcma aus Weber's Oper "Silvana." First orig. edit., Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau). A graceful and effective concert piece for both instruments without an} r particular difficulties for the pianist. 1815, Op. 34. Grosses Quintett fur Clarinette, 2 Violinen, Viola und Violoncell. First orig. edit, published in parts, Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau), also the full score. This work, rather for clarionet solo, with accompaniment of quartet, than a regular quintet, has evidently been inspired by the similar work of Mozart. It is esteemed one of the most grateful concert pieces for the clarionet, and its neglect, con- sidering the scarcity of similar compositions of such merit, is only to be accounted for by the fact that the stringed instruments perform only a secondary part, instead of being interwoven with the solo as in Mozart's. 1813, Op. 35. Andante e Rondo Ongarese p■• specially mentioned. Jahns givi curious enumeration of the other transcriptions, including a duel a quatre mains, . for two pianos, fortwo pianos a huil mains, piano and violin, two violins, violin and violoncello, string quar- tring quintet, do. with Unto for firs! part, harp and piano, one flute, zither, and finally soprano with pianoforte accompani- ment. '■ Vieni. o car i." 154 CATALOGUE. Op. 66. 1. Das Veilchen im Thale, " Ein Veilchen bliiht im Thale " (18i7). 2. Lied, "Rosen im Haare" (1818). 3. "Ichdenkedein" (1806). 4. Lebensansicht, " Frei und froli mit muntern Sinnen " (1812). 5. Der Lethe des Lebens, " Wenn, Briider, wie wir taglich sahen" (1809). 6. Wimsch und Entsagung, "Wenn icIi die Blumlem schau (1817) First orig. edit., Berlin, Schlesmger. This collection of songs, of which one half belong to an earlier period, has not become as widespread and popular as the pre- ceding ones. It may be said that as Homer sometimes slum- bers, & so the great master is not exempt from that passing infirmity, though at rare intervals and far between. It must not be inferred that these songs are not well written, only that they are inferior to what we are accustomed to from the same pen. Op. 67. Probably intended for a collection of songs, which however were not published. Op. 68. Four part-songs for men's voire-. 1 Das Turnierbankett, " Fiillet die Humpen, muthige Knappen " (1812). 2. Ermunterung, 'Ma, freue dich so w>3 du bist " (1819). 3. Freiheitslied "Ein Kind ist unsgeboren" (1819). 4. Schlummerlied, " Sohn der Ruhe, sinke nieder " (1822). 5. Gute Nacht, " Bald heisst es wieder Gute Nacht ' ; (1819). 6. Husarenlied, "Husaren sind gar wack're Truppen " (1821). First orig. edit., Berlin, Schlesmger ; Vienna, Steiner. Among these beautiful songs, of which the first is for men's chorus with tenor and bass solos, the wonderfully effective Schlummerlied (No. 4), may be considered the 'finest. At its first production in Weber's concert at Vienna, March 19th, 1822, it was received with such an outburst of enthusiasm that only a double repetition would satisfy the public. Op. 69. This number would probably have included the Offertoriums, not published with the two masses, and an Agnus Dei written for the Roman Catholic Church at Dresden. CATALOGUE. 155 1822, Op. 70. Grosse Sonate fur Pianoforte, E minor, No. IV. Dedicated "dem Herrn Hofrath Friedrich Rochlitz." First orig. edit Berlin, Sehlesinger. Like the " Invitation a la Valse " and the Concertstuck, this splendid composition has a subject. The first movement, according to Weber's own ideas, portrays in mournful strains the state of a sufferer from fixed melancholy and despondency, with occasional glimpses of hope, which an-, however, always darkened and crushed. The second movement describes an outburst of rage and insanity; the Andante in C is of a consolatory nature, and fitly expresses the partly successful entreaties of friendship and affection endeavouring to calm the patient, though there is an undercurrent of agitation— of evil augury. The last movement, a wild fantastic Tarantella with only a few snatches of melody, finishes in exhaustion and death. None but Weber himself could give the true picture of this fierce struggle of reason against the demon of insanity which this fine composition so graphically describes. Op. 71. 1. Triolett, "Kerne Lusl ohn' treues Lieben " (1819). 2. Bach, Echo Kuss. "Ein Madchen ging die Wies'entlansr" (1818). * 3. Das Madchen an das erste Schneeglockchen, "Was briclit hervorwie Bluthen weiss " (1819). 4. Omsonst. "Umsonst entsagt' ich der lockenden Liebe" (1802). 5. Lied der Hirtin, "Wenn die Maieti griin sich kleiden"(1818). 6. Des Kiinstlers Abschied. " Auf die stiirmische See hinaus " (1810). First orig. edit, complete, Berlin, Sehlesinger. Weber, as it was his wont, reverted here again to some of his former compositions, which he thoughl worthy of being saved from oblivion. The disparity of style which arises from thai ding is thus easily explained. No. L. i- one of the mosl graceful Bongs we owe to the fertile pen of Weber, who conquered the difficulty of the metre of the triolel wild his usual skill. ong, firs! composed for Kind's Idyll Play, "Der I am Waldrunnen," is another pleasing specimen of the author's inexhaustible Btore of melody, popular, without ever being vu!_ No. 3. Perhaps the mosl perfeel of Weber's shorter lyrics, 156 CATALOGUE. written with all the depth of feeling which is one of his most characteristic features. No. 4. This was the first of all Weber's published songs ; but the orig. edit, being lost, he had it reprinted in this collection. It has a dramatic colouring, but no particular artistic value. No. 5. Thoroughly Weberish, charming, fresh, a little master- piece. No. 6. Written as a leave-taking from his friend Dr. Dusch, but altogether much below the standard of the first songs in this collection. 1819, Op. 72. Polacca brillante per il pianoforte, also called " L'Hilarite." First orig. edit., Berlin, Schlesinger. Mendelssohn's favourite solo, which he played almost in pre- ference to all his own compositions^— a work that could have been written yesterday, so brilliant and so effective is it for the per- former, adopted by the virtuosi of all nations, and destined to remain a stock piece for all future times. Weber's own perform- ance of this spirited piece, like that of the (Concertstuck, was matchless. F. Liszt has most skilfully scored this work for the orchestra, but the interpolation of the introduction belonging to the Polonaise Op. 21, is not only unwarrantable, but to any unbiassed hearer inefficient and completely out of place. 1811, Op. 73. Concert fur Clarinette. No. I. In F minor. Dedicated to his friend, Heinrich Baermann. First orig. edit., with orchest. parts, Berlin, Schlesinger; Paris, Richault. Passionate and impetuous in the first Allegro, full of pathos and sentiment in the Andante, bright and fascinating in the last movement, this Concerto occupies undoubtedly the first rank among Weber's always interesting and effective works for the clarionet. 1811 Op. 74. Concert fur Clarinette. No. II. In E flat. Dedicated to his friend, Heinrich Baermann. First orig. edit., with orchest. parts, Berlin, Schlesinger ; Paris, Richault. Almost equal to Op. 73, and perhaps even more brilliant for the solo performer in its difficult but most showy finale, a grand polacca. This concerto aims at a dramatic character, containing, CATALOGUE. 157 amongst other striking beauties, a very fine recitative, embodied in the charming romance of the Andante. 1811, Op. 75. Concert fur das Fagott. Composed for G. Fr. Brandt, first bassoon in the Court Orchestra of the King of Bavaria. First orig. edit., with orchest. parts, Berlin, Schlesinger. In this clever work Weber shows his customary facility for prominently displaying all the best qualities of even such an apparently uncouth instrument as the bassoon, and it is to this day the touchstone of the rare virtuosi on that instrument. It is to be regretted that this composition is almost unknown, on account of the difficulty of finding adequate performers for it. It has been adapted for violoncello, but of course loses much of its effect by the change. The two iirst movements are incontestably the best. 1818, Op. 75d. Missa Sancta. No. I. In E flat. For four solo voices (soprano, alto, tenor, and bass) and chorus. Full score, with a part for organ (without offertorium). Paris, Richault ; full pianoforte score, London, Xovello. This w( irk, written for the celebration of the Saint's day of King Friedrich August I. of Saxony, is far from being as well known as it deserves. It certainly contains some of Weber's peculiarities. nay, crudities, in the contrapuntal treatment of the subjects, but at the same time beauties of a high order, and the neglect into which this remarkable work has fallen is to be deplored. The severe criticisms describing this mass as an incongruous mixture of the dramatic and ecclesiastical styles, and preventing it from achieving the popularity which it ought certainly to have obtained, would nowadays hardly be accepted, when the much bolder innovations of Rossini in his Mass, of Verdi in his Requiem, were hailed with general approbation. Anumgst the pieces which would prove attractive if performed by some of our giv.it Choral eties or at festivals, the magnificent "Gloria," the elaborate do," them 'S inctus," and the melodious "Benedictus" might be quoted. Singularly enough Weber employed the motives of three of his six sln.it 1 Op. 1), written when a hoy, in this composition. The M nally appeared without Op. number, but Weber, in hi- own enumeration of his works, quotes ii as Op. 75, which it seems advisable to mention, though the bassoon con- certo hens the same number. L819, Op. 76. Missa Sancta, No. II. in G, for four solo voices and .horns, also 158 CATALOGUE. called Jubilee Mass. First orig. edit., full score, with a part for organ (without offertorium), Vienna, Haslinger ; full pianoforte score, London, Novello. Different in character and treatment. The second mass, com- posed for the celebration of the golden wedding day of King Friedrich August and his Queen, has many qualities to give it a high rank amongst the master's works. It is festive, bright, and melodious throughout, in some instances, principally in the solo for tenor, " Qui tollis peccata, " and that for soprano, " Et incarnatus est," of an operatic colouring. Performed by an admirable quartet of Italian vocalists, Sassaroli, soprano, Buc- colini, contralto, Benelli, tenor, Bennicasa, bass, it achieved a great success at its first, and every successive performance, in Dresden at the royal chapel. The only drawback at the first performance was an unwarrantable interpolation, commanded by the King, of aii offertorium for soprano, by Morlacchi— a worthless display of vocal fireworks. It may be said of this Mass, as of the preceding, that a better acquaintance with it would lead to its frequent production. Op. 77, 78. No works bearing these numbers can be traced. Probably some of the posthumous compositions were intended to till the gap. 1821, Op. 79. Concertstiick. Dedicated to H.E.H. the Princess Marie Anguste of Saxony. First, orig. edit,, full score, Leipzig, Bureau de Musique, Peters. Arranged for piano alone by Hans von Billow. The last, and unquestionably the most striking of Weber's compositions for the pianoforte was the Concertstiick, of which he had already conceived the idea as early as 1815, though he did not complete it until the morning of the first performance of "Der Freischutz," 18th June, 1821. As he had already broken through the conventional forms of the overture, so he initiated a new style for the Concerto. It Avould be useless and superfluous to give an analysis of a piece of music which has become, it may be said, the property, the study, and the delight of every living pianist, and which has never failed for the last six years to raise the enthusiasm of the public, in all parts of the world. It is essentially graphic music, telling its story with so much clearness that no commentary is required. The exact idea of the composer is expressed in the preceding biography. CATALOGUE. 159 Op. 80. 1. Lied von Clotilde, " Wenn Kindlein siissen Schlummers Ruh 9 (1821). 2. s hnsucht (Weihnachtslied). "Judaa, hochgelobtes Land" (1819). 3. Elfenlied, "Ich tummle mich auf der Haide" (1819). 4. Schmerz, " Herz, mein Herz, ermanne dich ! " (1820). 5. An Sie, " Das war ein recht abscheuliches Gesichf (1820). 6. Der Sanger nnd der Maler, " Ei, wenn ich doch ein Maler war"' (1820). First orig. edit., Berlin, Schlesinger. A charming collection, where it is difficult to award the palm. Nos. 1. 3 and G are widely known, and amongst these again No 1 is by far the most popular. II. WORKS PUBLISHED WITHOUT OPUS NUMBER. 1802. "Sechs Ecossaisen furs Fortepiano komponirt und zugeeignet Dem schonen Geschlecht in Hamburg.'' First orig. edit., with above dedication, Hamburg, Bohme ; Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau). Written in imitation of the style of Joseph Haydn, but of no artistic value. 1803. Grablied, " Leis', wandeln wir, wie Geisterhauch," fur " Canto, 2 Tenore u. Bass." First orig. edit, as Xo. 6 of posthumous works of Weber, ed. Jahns. Full score with piano accompaniment, Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau). A line and melodious part-song, though written when Weber was <>nly seventeen, and worthy of ! included amongsi the best of his later compositions in the same style. 1804. Pi i arrangement of Vogler's opera "Samori." First orig. edit. Vienna, Moll >. 1805. Quintet " Prinzessin " Eor four Bopranos and one bass. the incomplete and unpublished opera " Rubezahl." Piano- forte arrangemenl by Jahns, crom the orig. rull Bcore, ae No. 1 of Weber's posthumous works, Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau). This rather lengthy piece, though containing BOme beautiful 160 CATALOGUE. melodies, of which the composer availed himself in different forms In some of his' later works, cannot be considered to rank with the inspirations of his popular operas. We can trace the most striking motives in a Cantata L'Accolienza, in the Jubilee Overture and in " Oberon." 1806. Romanza Siciliana per il Flauto principale, with accompani- ment for small orchestra. First orig. edit., orchestral parts, Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau). Arranged for flute and pianoforte by Mockwitz, ditto. An unpretending, but rather pleasing piece, with a slight tinge of Arab or Sicilian character in the melody. 1807. " Sinf onia in C" (No. II.), Allegro. Adagio ma non troppo. Menuetto, Allegro. Finale, Scherzo, Presto. First orig. edit., orchestral parts, Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau) ; London, Novello. What has been said with regard to the first symphony of the master, published as Op. 19, is equally applicable to the second. The same desire to follow Haydn in the structure, style and elaboration of the themes is manifest in every movement: but the whole composition seems written to order, and various beauties scattered everywhere suffer from interpolations and episodes which have no direct bearing on the principal subject, and are but too frequently stiff and awkward— giving evidence that this branch of the art, even had he continued to attempt it, did not belong to Weber's sphere. There are, however, many parts worthy of the highest commendation, such as the first Allegro and the Adagio. Both the symphonies were written for a limited orchestra, and could Weber have revised them later in life, he would have cer- tainly embellished these works by the instrumental combinations which are admired in his overtures. 1808. " Der erste Ton," poetry by Fr. Eochlitz, with melodramatic music and final chorus with orchestral accompaniments. First orig. edit., orchestral and vocal parts, Bonn, Simrock. Pianoforte score by composer, ditto. This, " The First Tone," forms the transition to a dif- ferent and more elevated style of music. The idea of the poet w r as to extol the origin of musical sound after the CATALOGUE. ],;] creation of the world— a mystic and confused idea, which however, gave scope to Weber to write some very interesting melodramatic music, accompanying the introductory poem, which is spoken ; the whole concluding with a fugue for the chorus and orchestra Drum, Preia dir, Ton). By the composer's own admission this high flight is deficient in iluencv, and shows his inexperience in the severe style of writing; the vocal parts being often clumsily put together, and the counter-point forced and ineffective, though here again, as in the symphonies, beauties of no mean order can be discovered. 1809. Serenade " Horch, Ieise horch I Geliebte horch." For one voice with accompaniment of pianoforte or guitar ; words byBaggesen First edit., Bonn, Simrock. °° An elegant composition, which, if sung with the right spirit and without unnecessary Htardandos, cannot fail to please, and is well adapted for a tenor voice. 1809. Romanze (Die Rumen), "Siisse Ahnung dehnt den Busen." Words by G. Reinbeck. First orig. edit, in type in a collection of poems by Reinbeck ; Leipsic, Rein. Not one of the most successful songs of the master- tho beginning promises well, but it is unnecessarily spun out' and wanting in originality and spirit. 1809. Rondo alia Polacca fiir Tenor, « Was ich da thu' das fnyrt er mich in Haiden's (Flaydn's) Oper "Der Freybrief:" with orchest. accompaniments. First orig. edit., pianoforte score, by Jahns; Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau). A pretty son-, showing Weber's originality, and intro- duced into one of Joseph Haydn's operas for performance in Stuttgart. Duett. "Dich an dies Hen; zu drftcken : " fiir sopran und tenor m Haiden s (Haydn's) I > P er « Der Freybrief,'' with orches- tral accoropanirnente. First orig. edit., pianoforte score by Jahns; Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau). Published as No 3 of posthumous works. A duel interpolated like the preceding aria in Haydn's opera • Webertrying,not unsuccessfully, to adapt it to the Bomewhai antiquated stye of that work, i„ its original forn, it belonged II 162 CATALOGUE. to the unpublished opera " Peter Schmoll," 1801, but was much altered for the subsequent purpose, by the composer himself. 1810. Silvana. Romantische Oper in 3 Acten. Libretto by Franz Karl Hiemer, sixth dramatic work of Weber. First orig. edit., full score, Berlin, Schlesinger, (Lienau). Pianoforte score by composer; first orig. edit, in type, Berlin, Schlesinger, 1812, (Lienau). Numerous arrangements for pianoforte solo, a quatre mains, &c. A new arrangement with French words by Widor, 1877, Paris. " Silvana " owes its origin to Weber's second operatic attempt "The Dumb Girl of the Forest," written by him when yet a boy, but of which precocious production only some slight fragments, one or two airs, and these greatly modified, remain. _ It is therefore quite a mistake to mix up the two works as if they were identical; still in "Silvana" the drawbacks of an often interrupted composition, changing in manner and form as it proceeds, are manifest, and have always impaired its effect. All the corrections made in later times by Weber himself could not remove the fault of want of unity, and a very frequently heterogeneous mixture of the old and the new style. It is a pity, for instance, that the insignificant shreds and beginnings and the outline of the overture of "Das Waldmadchen" have been preserved by the composer in "Silvana." Had he been unfettered, as in " Abu Hassan," there would be the vitality in the work in which it is now unfortunately entirely deficient. Maybe that he clung to his almost childish production with a kind of tender forbearance ; but the boy of 1800 felt certainly quite differently in musical matters from the young man of 1807, and still more of 1810. The arrangement by M. Widor, made as late as 1877, with an ingenious and clever libretto, could not save the opera from failure. A masterly composition, like the Quartet No. 11, forms an almost painful contrast with other pieces of the opera, as does also the finale of the second act, with a very dramatic effect and climax, reminding the hearer of the one in " Euryanthe," written when in the full ripeness of his talent. The only theatres where this opera met with a favourable reception were those of Frankfort (at its first production), Berlin, and lastly, Prague, 1817. 1810. Canzonette (Italianisches Standchen), "Sicche t' inganni, o Clori." " Wie sehr du mich verkanntest," for a bass voice, with CATALOGUE. 163 accomp. of pianoforte (or harp). First orig. edit., Leipzig, Peters ; also in Widor's complete collection of Weber's Italian arias, canzonettes and duets, Paris, Heugel, 1880. No more than a theme with variations for the voice on a Swabian national air, and useful as a solfeggio without any higher pretension, written on the last day of his stay at Stuttgart. 1810. Canon " Die Sonate soil ich spielen." For three voices. Words by C. M. von Weber. Printed in Friedr. Willi. Jahn's catalogue of Weber's work?, and not otherwise published. During the time of Weber's stay at Mannheim, where his name- sake, Gottfried Weber, lived, the two composers agreed that all small messages between them should be written in canon form. This particular one refers to a sonata of Gottfried Weber, which the composer wanted to hear performed by Carl Maria, and to which, being replete with chromatic passages, the latter refers in rather an ironical manner. 1810. Dreistimmiger Canon, "Canons zu zwei sind nich drey," "Ar-h wie gelehrt umgekehrt." First orig. edit., Mayence, Sehott. This canon was composed when both the Webers, Carl Maria, and Gottfried, continued their studies under the Abbe Vogler. who excelled in this particular branch of contrapuntal science, and discountenanced anything which was not based on a kind of mathematical exercise. 1810. Variationen fiir das Violoncell. No. 9 of posthumous works. First orig. edit., with orchest. parts, Leipzig, Bureau de Musique (Peters), with pianoforte accomp., ditto. The greater part of tin's composition had already been employed by Weber in previous works, viz., a Pot-pourri for the same instrument (Op. 20), and No. 3 of the six pieces a quatre mains (Op. 10). It is brilliant but very easy, having been Compiled expressly for Weber's friend, A. von Dusch, who could n I manage the Pot-pourri. Tin- time allotted to the composer for the writing of this work was limited to eight hours. 1811. "Abu Hassan." Opera in one act. Libretto by UiVnior. De- dicated to Ludwig I., Grand-duke of Besse. Wearer's seventh M 2 164 CATALOGUE. dramatic work. Overture only, orchest. parts, orig. form, Bonn, Simrock ; pianoforte score by composer, first orig. edit., ditto; various editions, and arrangement for pianoforte. Dramatis persona', Fatima, mezzo-soprano ; Hassan, tenor ; Omar, bass ; chorus of creditors. Merry, sparkling, like a bottle of champagne, full of originality and humour. The future composer of "Der Freischutz" and " Euryanthe " reveals himself in this admirable though short work. The libretto was written by the companion of his vagaries at Stuttgart, Hiemer, quite as much troubled by pecuniary difficulties as Weber. There is an immense differ- ence between this bluette and the spun-out, ungainly " Silvana." Nothing could prove its intrinsic merit better than its almost universally favourable reception, from the first performance at Munich, June 4th, 1811, till its last, in London, in 1870, when Italian words were adapted to it, and Mine. Trebelli achieved a great triumph in the part' of Fatima. It contains only ten pieces, besides the overture. 1. Introduction. Duet. Fatima and Hassan. 2. Aria. Hassan. 3. Chorus of creditors for male voices, with Hassan and Omar. 4. Duet. Fatima and Hassan. 5. Aria. Fatima. 6. Duet. Fatima and Omar. 7. Trio. Fatima, Hassan and Omar. 8. Aria. Fatima. 9. Trio. Fatima, Hassan and Omar, with chorus. 10. Final chorus. The well-known tale, taken from the Arabian Nights, of the light-hearted couple, Fatima and Hassan, who, to escape from the pursuits of their creditors, and their chief Omar (the love- stricken but rejected usurer), feign to be dead, and successfully baffle them, has furnished a fertile source of melodies to Weber. Nothing can be more characteristic than the impe- tuous chorus, claiming "Geld, Geld, Geld," nothing more elegant than the two duets of the luckless but merry couple ; nothing more fascinating than the air No. 8. The munificent Duke of Hesse sent W'eber what was then a very handsome gift, 440 florins— nearly £40, for the dedication of this work, which has been undeservedly laid aside. " Abu Hassan," whenever carefully performed, will vindicate its own merits. 1811. " Adagio und Rondo fur das Harmonichord '' (oder Harmonium) with orchest. accomp. Composed for Friedr. Kauffmann. First CATALOGUE. 1G5 orig. edit., as No. 15 of posthumous works, Leipzig, Bureau de Musique (Peters). This little piece was written for the harmonichord, an im- provement on the pbysharmonica, and predecessor of the pn harmonium. It is well contrived to bring out the peculiarities of that now almost forgotten instrument. 1812. Romanze (Wiedersehn), "Urn Rettung bietet ein giild'nes Geschmeide." Words from a novel of Duke Leopold August of Gotha. Composed for the author of the lines. First published as supplement to Polyhymnia, an illustrated literary annual, edit. by Kind and H. Marschner. Leipzig, Hermann ; as No. 10 of the posthumous works, Peters. This song was composed to please the lifelong friend and patron of Weber, but the obscure meaning of the high-flown words of the royal poet did not inspire the musician, who, had he lived, would no doubt have opposed its publication. 1812. Schwabisches Tanzlied "Geiger imd Pfeiffer." Part sono- for " Canto, 2 Tenori, Basso/' with pianoforte accomp. ad lib First orig. edit, Berlin, Grobenschiitz u. Seiler. For soprano, tenor and bass, without accomp., Hamburg, Cranz. A characteristic quaint ditty in the genuine stvle of the old Swabian valse with a very brilliant part for the principal soprano W .-her, in a letter to his bride, July 27th, 1817, refers to the per- formance of a cantata for the Princess Maria Anna, and concludes thus, "Thereupon we sang other things, amongst them my Tanzlied 'Geiger und Pfeiffer/ which created such merriment that the Court Marshal caught the Mistress of the Robes, and valsed round the room with her, to the great amusement of everybody." 1812. "Serbs Favorit-Walzer der Kaiserin von Frankreich, Marie Louise.* Performed on her arrival a1 Strassburg by the [mperial Guard First orig. edit, (withoul oame of author). Leipzig Bureau de Musique. Written to order, and consequently, as i n so many other instances, of an inferior description. The valses were only lately discovered by tin- indefatigable exertions of Jahns 166 CATALOGUE. 1814. Canon, " In dem Reich der Tone schweben," for four parts. First orig. edit, in type, m Gubitz's almanack for the people (Volkskalender, 1862, p. 88). Composed at a friendly gathering to words improvised by Gubitz, and sung on the spot by those assembled. 1814. Canon, " Scheiden und leiden ist einerlei," for four parts. Pub- lished only in J alms' complete catalogue of Weber's works. Composed at a farewell party given to Weber at Pankow, near Berlin. 1815. Dreistimmige Burleske, " Drei Knabchen lieblich ausstaffiert," for two tenors and bass. Written for Weber's friend, Heinrich Baermann. First orig. edit, in L. Nohl's Musical Letters, p. 281-283, Leipzig, Duncker u Humblot, 1867. A musical frolic introducing various subjects from Mozart's " Zauberflote," to which Weber adapted comic words, sending it to his friend Baermann, on his fete day. 1815. "Deutscher" auch " Original-Walzer/' for orchestra. First orig. edit., as " Original-Walzer " in orchest. parts, Berlin, Traut- wein (Guttentag), arranged for pianoforte by Jahns, ditto. Without any artistic importance. 1815. Lieder, " Wer stets hinter'n Of en kroch." For baritone, with three part male chorus and orchestra, and " Wie wir voll Gluth uns hier zusammenfinden," for tenor, with orchestra. Both com- posed for a patriotic festival cantata, " Lieb'und Versohnen oder die Schlacht bei Leipzig," by F. W. Gubitz. First orig. edit, the above two with three others by Wollank, Hellwig, and Rungen- hngen for the same cantata. In type, Berlin, Vereinbuchshandlung ; pianoforte score by Jahns, Berlin, Schlesinger. Both spirited and effective patriotic songs, which, though only made public twenty years after their composition, rank worthily with " Lyre and Sword." 1816. Romanze, " Ein Konig einst gefangen sass," for voice with accomp. of guitar. First orig. edit., Berlin, Schlesinger ; with pianofoite accomp. ditto. CATALOGUE. 167 This beautiful romance was introduced into a play of Castelli, " Diana von Poitiers/' the first two verses being sung by King Francis I., and the third by the heroine. 1817. Lied : " Hold ist der Cyanenkranz," introduced into a pastoral festival play, "Der Weinberg an der Elbe," by Fr. Kind. For a vocil quartet and chorus with orchestral accompaniments. First published in type as supplement to the above play. Leipzig, Goschen, 1817 First orig. edit, engraved as No. 14 of Weber's posthumous works, Leipzig, Bureau de Musique (Peters). A fresh and brilliant composition, written for a Festival Play, to celebrate the marriage of a Saxon Princess with the Grand Duke of Tuscany. The performance having been delayed and then suddenly commanded, Weber composed and scored it in the night previous to his own wedding. 1818. Romanze. AlkanzorundZaide " Leise weht es .'' For voice with accompaniment of guitar. Introduced into the play, " Das Nacht lager von Granada," by Fr. Kind. First published with two others under the title, " Drei Gesange aus Weber's Musik Nachlass." Dresden, Friese ; also separately, Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau). A very original, characteristic little composition, in imitation of the Spanish style, and appropriate to the subject, the composer being always careful to give national colour to his melodies. 1818. "Sei gegrusst, Frau Sonne, mir." Duet for tenor and bass. Introduced into the romantic spectacular comedy, "Die drei Wahr/eichen," by Holbein. First orig. edit, with two others, as above ; I Dresden, Friese. A short and unpretending song. 1810. Doppel-Canou fi'ir vier Singstimmen. Without words. In Louis Spoor's A Ibum. Facsimile in Spohr's Autobiography. See also Jahns' eataL of Weber's works. 1820. "I>rr Freischurz," romantic opera in three acts. Libretto by Friedrich Kind. Weber's eighth dramatic work. Complete, full score. First orig. edit., with Weber's lithographic portrait, 1843, 1G8 CATALOGUE. Berlin, Schlesinger ; French edit, as " Robin des Bois ou les Trois Balles." Words by Castil-Blaze. Paris, Castil-Blaze. Full pianoforte score by the composer. First orig. edit., Berlin, Schlesinger, 1821 ; for pianoforte alone, ditto. See Biography, page 65 et seq. 1820. " Preciosa." Drama in four acts, by Pius Alex. Wolff, mit Musik. Weber's ninth dramatic work. Complete full score. First orig. edit., Berlin, Schlesinger. Full pianoforte score by composer, Berlin, Schlesinger ; for pianoforte alone, ditto. See Biography, page 57. 1822. Das Licht im Thale, " Der Gaishirt steht am Felsenrand." Ballad with pianoforte accompaniment. First published in a collection of songs "Taschenb. zum gesell. Vergmigen," for 1823, by Becker, edited by Kind ; in type, p. 238 ; also separately, Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau). A short and by no means interesting song, probably written in a great hurry to oblige his friend Kind. 1823. " Euryanthe." Grand heroic romantic opera in three acts. Libretto by Helmina von Chezy. Weber's tenth dramatic work. Dedicated by the composer to His Majesty Francis I., Emperor of Austria. First complete full score, with the subsequently added Pas de cinq, and the abbreviations made by Weber him- self for Vienna and Dresden, besides a preface of the editor, Pro- fessor G. Rudolff, with Weber's important observations on the tempi, their treatment, and all the metronome marks, 1866, Berlin, Schlesinger (Lienau) ; full pianoforte score, first orig. edit, by composer, Vienna, Steiner, 1823; pianoforte alone, ditto. See Biography, page 91 et seq. 1824. Romance, "Elle £tait simple et gentilette." For voice with pianoforte accompaniment. Words by Ferd. de Cussy, German version, Griinbaum. First orig. edit, as " Cedant au charme de la priere,' ' Paris, Richault ; with German words, Berlin, Schlesinger, (Lienau). This simple, graceful song was the only composition written by Weber during seventeen months, from the termination of "Euryanthe" till the beginning of " Oberon," a period of both physical and moral prostration unprecedented in Weber's ever- active career. Even this would not have been written but for the incessant entreaties of the author of the words, M. de Cussy. CATALOGUE. 1GU 1825. Schutzenweihe, " Hornerschall 1 Ueberfalll" Part song for four men's voices with pianoforte accomp. ad. lib. Words by A. Oertel. First printed in a book entitled " Liederbuch for deutsche Krieger and deutsches Volk," Darmstadt, Junghaus. P. 376, Anh. 2. The last of the patriotic songs Weber composed, and by no means inferior to its seventeen predecessors. It is admirably written for the voices, full of lire and energy. 1825. Zelm Schottische, National Gesange (Ten Scotch National Melodies), with Preludes, accompaniments, etc., for pianoforte, flute, violin, and violoncello, added by W 1. "The Soothing Shades" words by T. Pringle. 2. The Troubadour „ W. S 3. "0 Poortith Cauld" „ R Burns. 4. Bonny Dundee „ R. Burns. 5. " Yes, thou may'st walk " ,, J.Richardson. (5. A Soldier am I ,, W. Smyth. 7. ''John Anderson, my Jo," old poem, the two last verses by .... P.Burns. 8. "O my Love's like the red, red Rose" „ R. Burns. 9. " Rol-in is my joy, mi dear" ,, Dav. Vedder. 10. "Wharha'eyebeen a' day" „ Machnell. First orig. edit, with German words. Leipzig, Probst. ; con- tained in "The Melodies of Scotland/' with symphonies and accompaniments for pianoforte, violin, etc., by Pleyel, Haydn, Beethoven. Weber, Hummel, etc. Edinburgh, published !■•. proprietor, Q. Thompson ; and (Vol. I. Ill V.), London, Th. Preston ; (Vol. II. IV. . London, Coventry and Bollier. Mr. Q. Thompson, an eminent publisher and collector, had already obtained from Beethoven Bixty-two Irish mel< arranged in the same fashion, following the example of Joseph Haydn, who was the firsl musical celebrity applied to. He now commissioned Hummel ami Weber to continue the work of their illustrious predecessors, and embodied the resull in a collection of five volumes, together with Borne very inferior contributions by Pleyel and Kotzeluch. Theidea was not a happy one. Had Thompson told the greal composers that he wished to have th,' harmonies (sometimes incorrect ami awkward) reviewed and 170 CATALOGUE. altered, without changing the simplicity and originality of their treatment, the result would have been quite different ; but leaving them full scope to add and modify as they liked, the consequence was, that the very essence of the originals was often changed, and that it is difficult to recognise them. There are harmonic turns — accompaniments for the instruments added, which, though skilfully managed— as how could they be other- wise ? — alter entirely what ought to have been preserved. They have never become, and never will become, popular. 1826. " Oberon." Romantic Opera in three acts. Libretto by James Robinson Planche. First orig. edit,, pianoforte score by the composer; London, Welsh and Hawes, 1826, now Wood. German version by Theodor Hell. Complete full score, Pracht- ausgabe, Schlesinger (Lienau) ; German and French, Paris, Brandus ; German and Italian, ditto. ; Swedish, Stockholm, Hirsch. See Eiography, page 121 et seq. 1826. Marsch (a), for wind and brass instruments ; (b), for full orchestra with chorus. "Zu den Fluren des heimischen Heerdes." First orig. edit, for wood wind and brass instruments, as No. 8 of posthumous works, Leipzig, Peters. For orchestra and chorus, ditto. Weber, having received an invitation to the Festival dinner of the Royal Society of Musicians on May 13th, 1826, adapted for it the above march, only a few weeks before his death. It had been composed as early as 1801, but being of a joyous festive character, Weber thought it would be tit for the occasion, and added to it an entirely new trio, scoring also the whole, which had only existed as a pianoforte duet. It is perfectly marvellous that at death's door, and with the irresistible yearning for his home which absorbed all his thoughts, he should have found courage to pen the above. Though the composer was not present at the dinner, his work was most cordially received, and a hearty cheer given to the absent master. Amongst the distinguished musicians present on the occasion were Sir George Smart, John B. Cramer, Moscheles, Potter, Knyvett, Loder, Bishop, and other leading members of the profession. UNPUBLISHED WORKS. 1801. "Peter Schmoll und seine Nachbarn." Opera in two acts. Libretto taken from K. G. Cramer's novel of the same name, CATALOGUE 171 and written by Joseph Tiirke. Weber's third dramatic work. Dramatis persona, Minette, soprano; Riding- Master, Niclas, tenors; Schmoll, Bast, Grcis, basses. Of this juvenile opera, only two pieces have appeared in print, viz :— the overture, and the duet No. 9, with pianoforte impaniment by Jahns. Vide works without Op. number. Neither of the novel by Cramer^which furnished the e the libretto, nor of the libretto itself, could .Mr. Jahns, the indefatigable compiler of every scrap of music written by Weber, find a trace. The opera was performed in Augsburg in 18U3, but as no mention is made of it in Weber's own sketch of his life, excepting- that bare fact, and a significant remark that it did not prove successful, it must be held that he considered it premature and a failure. This opinion of the composer has been confirmed by a careful perusal of the MS., and more bo by the fact that, with the exception of the concluding chorus embodied, with the addition of all the splendour of a modern orchestra, in the finale of " Oberon," none of the other pieces of the opera have been revived. The style of the work is very similar to that of Weigl, Gyrowetz, and Dittersdorf, and completely unlike the later productions of the great master. 1804-5. Two pieces from " Rubezahl." When hardly seventeen. Weber, who. at the recommendation of his master, Abbe Vogler, was engaged as musical director at Breslau, undertook the composition of the opera "Rubezahl, the demon of the Giant Mountains'' (Riesengebirge). The libretto, written by Herr Rhode, friend and contemporary of Leasing, though containing here and there dramatic situations, would nowadays be considered entirely unfit for the si _■. Nor are the few existing fragments of the music of a nature to cause regret for the Don-completion of the work, though during two ' W ; :• earnestly contemplated it. Judging severely his early attempt, he only preserved from oblivion in the overture, known as the "Ruler of the Spirits," the principal Bubject i f riginal. Of the opera itself , the quintet mentioned among works without Op. number, a chorus of spirits, N . 3, ind a recitative and aria for bass and chorus, No. 7 (the last two in MS.), only exist 1812. Kriegs-Eid, •• Wir rtehn vor 6ott. w For men's voices in unison. Accompaniment of brass instrun 172 CATALOGUE. A simple, but grandly-conceived, and very effective composi- tion which was successfully performed, with German words m London at one of Sir Julius Benedict's concerts, June 26th, 1863, the MS. having been entrusted to him by Baron Max von Weber. It is a spirited precursor of " Lyre and Sword," and if more frequently heard could not fail to achieve a great and deserved popularity. 1817. L'Accoglienza (Der Fest-Empfang). Cantata in occasione del felice Imeneo delle A.A. J.J. e R.R. Leopoldo di Toscana e Maria Anna Carolina di Sassonia. Parole del Signor Celani, 29th Ottobre, 1817. Dresden. This work, another of the burdens of Weber's position, was written in the short space of a fortnight, for the wedding of the Hereditary Grand Duke of Tuscany with the Princess of Saxony. During the absence of his colleague and rival, Morlacchi, not only the direction of the German, but of the Italian Opera also, the arduous service at the Roman Catholic Court Chapel, implying four or five times a week his personal attendance and conductor- ship, besides the table music of the King at Pillnitz, were thrust upon Weber's shoulders. As ill-luck would have it, the prepara- tions for his own wedding, with workmen in every room of his lodgings, interfered so much with his work that he wrote to Gansbacher "it was enough to drive one mad." Being thus pressed for time he was compelled to have recourse to some of his old and forgotten MSS. by taking fragments from "Peter Schmoll" and "Riibezahl," and moulding them with new and elaborate scoring for their new purpose. This, however, did not prevent him from adding fresh material, which, in its turn, con- tained so much of spontaneous melody and charm, as to be partly used by the composer for his last opera "Oberon." Under these circumstances it seems doubtful whether the publication of the MS. would be desirable, as all the art of the composer was unable to blend such heterogeneous elements. 1821. " Die drei Pintos." Unfinished comic opera in three acts. Libretto by Theodor Hell (Karl Winkler). Weber's twelfth dramatic work. The subject of this opera was taken from a German novel called " Der Brautkampf," (Struggle for the Bride,) by Di C. Seidel. The following is an outline of the plot : Don Pantaleon CATALOGUE. 173 de Pacheco of Seville (bass), has promised, by letter, the hand of his niece Clarissa (soprano), to Don Pinto de Fonseca (bass), son of his friend Don Numo de Fonseca. This Pinto is an uncouth, ponderous, stupid clown, whom, however, neither Clarissa, Laura prano), her sprightly maid, nor Don Pantaleon himself know nnally. Pinto on the journey to his bride arrives at an inn. where he meets a student, Don Gaston (tenor), ready for any kind of fun, to whom he communicates the object of Lis errand. Gaston thereupon determines to introduce himself to Pantaleon and Clarissa under Pinto's name; to accomplish which he conspires with his astute servant, Ambrosio (bass), and the merry daughter of the innkeeper, to entice Pinto into a jovial supper, the consequences of which prevent the unlucky bride- groom from leaving his temporary lodging. Gaston, possessing himself of Pinto's letters of introduction, proceeds at once to Pantaleon's house at Seville. Here, before meeting Don Panta- leon, he meets Don Gomez (tenor), the lover of Clarissa. Gomez, to whom Gaston presents himself as the real Pinto, entreats him not to cross his love; Gaston gives that promise, but without divulging his real name, and induces Gomez to avail himself of Pinto's letters of introduction, and to represent him (Gaston) as his friend. Both are received in a solemn manner by Pantaleon, and Gomez is betrothed to Clarissa, who has been initiated by Gaston in the whole secret. All at once the real Pinto appears outside the house. Gaston denounces him to the servants as an intriguing and dangerous fellow, though a relative of the family; Pinto, therefore, is not admitted. At a festive gathering which Pantaleon arranges in honour of the betrothed couple, Numo de Fonseca, Pinto's father, appears at last. Pinto, who by this means gains also admission, is recog- nised as the real Pinto, Gomez as a simple, and Gaston doable impostor. All however is arranged satisfactorily. Gomez and Clarissa become a happy pair. For this not very elaborate or ingenious imbroglio. Weber had composed some of his happiest inspirations, and the loss of a work s<> totally different in character and tr< i from "Der Frcisrhiitz," " Euryanthe," or " Oberon," and still of the most striking originality, cannot be lamented enough. It was the privilege of the writer of these lines, not only to hear every piece of the first ad ae it came fresh from the brain of the author, but to become bo familiar with them thai he could remember every note, though they were penned in the usual hieroglyphic style of the master, who, having the whole, with all its instrumental and choral effects, perfeel in his I was satisfied with writing only the vocal parts, in many instances 1 74 CATALOGUE, without even a bass, and with very scanty indications of the accompaniment. Had the task of completing the fragments been confided immediately after the death of the beloved master, or even one or two years later, to his pupil, he could have supplemented the deficiencies and omissions, and at any rate have presented a pianoforte score containing the harmonies and chief features of every number; but this was not to be. About twenty-eight years after the death of Weber, the imperfect MS. was entrusted to his lifelong friend, Meyerbeer, who had undertaken to fill up the existing gaps, and to adapt the materials to a short one-act opera. On examining the MS. carefully, Meyerbeer recoiled from the difficulty of the task, and in a conversation in Paris with the writer, asked him to undertake this labour. It was then too late, and every recollection of the charming music had been irretrievably lost. Enough, however, remains in this interesting torso to make one regret the circumstance. Even the vocal parts existing give evident proof of the masterly conception of the whole. The attempt made by C. G. Reissiger to arrange with full orchestra the Duet No. 3 (So wie Blumen), of which there are more indications in the accompaniments than of any other number, has not proved successful ; it was, however, performed for the first time in public at a concert of Mr. J. Benedict in 1863 but met with a cold reception. A singular circumstance connected with this opera deserves to be mentioned. When, in 1848, the widow of Weber saw his pupil at Dresden, she asked him, in reference to his conversation with Meyerbeer, if he remembered whether the parts of the opera with which they were all so familiar were scored by her husband. She maintained that this was the case, that the full score was in the same neat hand- writing as those of "Der Freischutz" and " Euryanthe," and that he carried it always with him, and brought it to England. Benedict, though he had not seen the score but only the sketches, shared her opinion, and she expressed her sorrow that, when suggesting that the labour of restoration should be en- trusted to the pupil rather than to the friend of her husband, she was overruled by contrary advice. It was, however, quite natural that preference should be given to the world-wide fame of the author of " Robert le Diable" and " Les Huguenots." From what Frau v. Weber said, it would appear that the MS. must have been lost, or abstracted in London, after the sudden death of her husband. It seems that on that fatal morning many persons were admitted to have a glance at the features of the beloved com- poser, and it is not impossible that some enthusiast may have profited by the confusion at Sir George Smart's house to possess CATALOGUE. } 75 himself of the preeious document. On the other hand Mr. Jahns, whose investigations have been unremitting, and whose opinion is certainly of the greatest value, maintains that, re- membering how very particular Weber was in recording every feature connected with his works in his diary, it is unlikely that in that single instance he should have' deviated from the course he always pursued, omitting to mention the scoring of even one piece from the "Three Pintos." Of this circumstance the following explanation might be given. When, after "Euryanthe" in 1823, Weber returned to Dresden, and when the interval of nearly seventeen months of prostration and inactivity followed, he may have been so much disheartened that he did not even choose to note his undertakings. This, however, is only a supposition, and the error of believing that the act was completed may have arisen from the fact that the first page contained eighteen bars in full score, encouraging the idea that the remainder was in the same portfolio. Act I. No. 1. Chorus of Servants of Don Pantaloon. Clarissa, Laura, Pantaleon. " Wisst ihr nicht was wir hier sollen." An elaborate and most ingenious piece, beginning with a lively and chatty chorus, expressing the curiosity of the servants to know what will be decided with regard to the daughter of the house. Don Pantaleon's pompous solo, with a peculiar and ludicrous turn at the end, well expressing the self-conceit of the old gentleman, the plaintive mourning of Clarissa despairing of being united in her lover, and the spirited encouragement of her lively maid, form a most animated tableau. No. 2. Pecitative and aria. Clarissa. " Wonnesiisses Hoff- nungs-traumen." The four first bars are found to be identical with the fragment of a lost solfeggio, composed by Weber in 1818. No. 3. Duet("Sowie Blumen") and Trio ("Geschwind nur von hinnen"). Clarissa, Gomez. Laura. The graceful and elegant duct deserved to fare better than to lie so feebly completed as it was by Reissiger. Tie- trio, full of bustle and animation, might hive rivalled "Zitti zitti. piano, piano." No. 4. Duet. Enez, Gaston. "Wir die dm Musen dienen." This piece is chiefly remarkable for the introduction of an original Spanish melody, which was found, by A. Thayer, who has compiled tie- famous catalogue of Beethoven's works, to have been also treated by that master. No. 5. Trio. Gaston, Pinto, Ambrosio. ''Also frisch, das Werk begonnen." M • striking and genial. Ga rfl owing spirits on the sue of his stratagem are illustrated by a brilliant violin solo, the effect of which is increased by the clumsy imitation ( .f Pinto. the accompaniment being transferred with comic effect to the 176 CATALOGUE. violoncellos and double basses, whilst Ambrosio, with assumed sentimentality, gives an absurd version of the tender answers of the bride. No. 6. Finale. Inez, Gaston, Pinto, and Chorus. " Auf das Wohlsein uns'rer Gaste." A most cleverly contrived and admirably carried out composition. The hilarity of poor Pinto, soon degenerating into a state of complete drunkenness, the jovial character of both Inez' and Gaston's solos, and the mocking spirit of the chorus, are admirably expressed. Act II. No. 7 ; Duet, Gaston, Ambrosio. " Nun da sind wir." A bright effective duet between tenor and bass. The following extract from a letter of Weber to Lichtenstein, 17th May, 1824, may indicate the composer's views with regard to this work :— " I think as little of the Pintos now as of music in general. I am quite tired of it, and am not likely to under- take any more elaborate works in a hurry." 1826. Gesang der Nurmahal aus Lalla Rookh. Words by Thomas Moore. " From Chindara's warbling fount I come." Com- posed expressly for Miss Stephens (now Dowager Countess of Essex). At a concert given by Weber at Argyll Rooms, May 26, 1826, this song was performed for the first and only time, with an impromptu accompaniment of the composer, by Miss Stephens. Weber's trembling hand had not the power to trace more than the melody on the paper, and the pianoforte part was supplied subsequently in the most efficient manner by his friend Ignace Moscheles. It is touching to find in his diary how, within death's grasp, he tried to invoke the old power. He writes on the 23rd " forced myself to compose for Stephens tried again in the evening in vain." 24th. "Worked for Miss Stephens." 25th. " Got up at five. Sketched song for St. ; rehearsed with her at two o'clock." This was Weber's last composition, and, though written under the most distressing circumstances, is quite worthy of the author of n Oberon." There are a quantity of detached pieces existing in MS., such as the two offertoriums to his Masses, the music to Milliner's tragedy " King Yngurd," to Gehe's play " Henry IV.," with many others of which it is impossible to give an opinion, as they are the private property, partly of Baron Max von Weber, partly of Herr Jahns, whose patience and perseverance ' in accomplishing a most difficult and laborious task cannot be praised sufficiently. / * 1 14 DAY USE RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED MUSIC LIBRARY This book is due on the last date stamped below, or on the date to which renewed. Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. OCT 30 1968 NOV 30 1968 LD 21A-10m-5,'65 (F4308sl0)476 General Library University of California Berkeley 2.0^5 + DATE DU] Music Library University of California at Berkeley