( b Berlin, 23 Oct 1801; d there, 21 Jan 1851). German composer. In his youth he gained experience as an actor, singer and conductor, which he put to effective use in the 20 operas (1824-51) forming the main part of his output. The comic operas, from Die beiden Schützen (1835) to Die Opernprobe (1851), are his most characteristic, showing a vivid personal vein of sentimental humour which though limited in range was popular in appeal and made him the most inventive composer of opera with spoken dialogue in mid-19th-century Germany. If his own theatre career was insecure, his best works nevertheless hold their place in German repertory. He began as an imitator, even borrower, of other composers works. With Zar und Zimmermann (1837) - followed up in such popular works as Der Wildschütz (1842) and Der Waffenschmied (1846) - he hit upon the formula, from Singspiel and opéra comique, of number opera with dialogue in a theatrically sound pattern. The numbers, usually solo songs, were often to a formula he could diversify by his melodic fluency to suit accepted singer-types (e.g. the comic bass); duets and choruses, less often ensembles, lead up to the finale. By also absorbing the example of the reminiscence-motif and the idiom of Spohr and Weber, seen for example in the advanced chromatic harmony of the magic operas Undine (1845) and Rolands Knappen (1849), he showed a sensitivity and craft well beyond the rigid pattern of number opera. Yet he remained essentially outside the development of Romantic opera and is remembered as an effective composer of theatrical entertainment.
works:
Dramatic music
- Die beiden Schützen (1835)
- Zar und Zimmermann (1837)
- Hans Sachs (1840)
- Casanova (1841)
- Der Wildschütz (1842)
- Undine (1845)
- Der Waffenschmied (1846)
- Zum Grossadmiral (1847)
- Regina (1848, perf. 1899)
- Rolands Knappen (1849)
- Die Opernprobe (1851)
- 7 other Singspiels and operas
- incidental music for 6 plays
- choral music
- ovs., variations, dances for orch
- songs
The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved.
