676 



WEBER, CARL-MARIA VON. 



WEBSTER, DANIEL. 



676 



attention from his legitimate pursuit, and excited in him a wish to 

 rival the ingenious inventor of that art. He procured the necessary 

 tools, and setting himself vigorously at work, at length almost fancied 

 himself the original inventor : at least, he says, ho felt sure that he 

 had devised a more perfect system, and could construct more perfect 

 machinery. Impressed with this belief, he urged his father to remove 

 to Freiberg, where all the necessary materials could be more readily 

 procured. The mania however quickly left him : the mechanical 

 nature of his ivew occupation, the fatigue and annoyance attending it, 

 and, above all, its tendency to cramp and deaden the more intellectual 

 faculties, soon determined him to abandon it, and he returned with 

 increased zest to his musical pursuits. 



Weber now set to music Steiusberg's opera, 'Das Waldmadchen' 

 (The Wood-girl), whith was performed in 1800, and spread further 

 than, at his maturer age, he thought desirable. It was, he says, a 

 crude jejune work, though in some parts not altogether destitute of 

 invention. The whole of the second act was composed in ten days, a 

 youthful affectation of promptness which he honestly acknowledges, 

 condemns, and deplores. Being called to Salzburg, he there, in 1801, 

 composed ' Peter SchmolL' In 1802 his father proceeded with him 

 on a musical tour to Leipzig, Hamburg, and Holstcin, in all which 

 places he diligently collected and studied the theoretical writers of 

 music. He then felt himself impelled towards that great resort of 

 musical talent, Vienna. There, in addition to the society of other 

 eminent masters, including the immortal Haydn, he became acquainted 

 with the Abbe" Vogler, who generously opened to him the treasures 

 of his mind. By his advice he abandoned many favourite projects, 

 suggested by the fervour of youthful inexperience, and dedicated 

 nearly two years to the study of the great masters, analysing their 

 compositions, and thus discovering their mode of carrying out their 

 ideas and of employing their means. An invitation to fill the situa- 

 tion of music-director at Breslau offered him a new field for exertion 

 and fresh opportunities of gaining a knowledge of effect. He there 

 re-touched several of his earlier works, and composed the greater por- 

 tion of the operas of ' Rubezahl,' which, strange to say, afterwards 

 appeared as the composition of Professor Rode. In 1806 that true 

 lover of the art, Prince Eugene of Wiirtemberg, invited Weber to his 

 court at Carlsruhe, where he produced two symphonies, several con- 

 certos, &c. ; but the evils of war obliged him to move, and proceed on 

 a professional tour, under very unfavourable circumstances, though com- 

 mon enough at that turbulent period. This brought him to Stuttgardt, 

 where he resided for some time in the house of Duke Louis of Wiir- 

 temberg, and completed his opera of ' Sylvana,' or rather remodelled 

 it on his former work, ' Das Waldmadchen,' producing during the 

 same period several other compositions. 



In 1810 Weber set out on another professional journey in Germany, 

 which he traversed in various directions. At Frankfurt, Munich, 

 Berlin, Vienna, and other places his operas were performed, and his 

 concerts well attended. In Vienna he found his venerable friend, the 

 Abbe" Vogler, devoting the remnant of his life to the instruction of 

 his pupils Meyerbeer and Gansbacher. At Darmstadt, in 1810, he 

 composed 'Abon Hassan.' From 1813 to 1816 he directed the opera 

 at Prague, after having completely re-organised that establishment. 

 Then he lived for some time unoccupied. Subsequently he accepted 

 an engagement to found a German opera at Dresden, and this appoint- 

 ment, which he held till his decease, absorbed, during the first two 

 years, nearly the whole of his attention. In 1822 he brought out, at 

 Berliu, his greatest work, ' Der Freischii tz,' the text, or libretto, by 

 his friend and countryman Kind. Not only the novelty and beauty 

 of the music, but the deep thought it evinced, immediately excited 

 an extraordinary sensation in the north of Germany ; and a copy of 

 the work having been sent to London and obtained by the editor of 

 'The Harmonicon,' an extract from it appeared, in January 1823, in 

 the first number of that periodical. This gentleman lost no time in 

 mentioning the opera in strong terms to the proprietor of the English 

 Opera-House, who, fearing to incur the expense of getting it up, 

 declined the attempt. From the same quarter it was then recom- 

 mended to Drury Lane, and afterwards to Covent Garden, but with a 

 similar result. However other specimens of the work, and among 

 them the beautiful cavatina, appearing in the 'Harmonicon,' and 

 public attention having thus been called to it, the opera was at length 

 performed, July 23rd 1824, at the English Opera-House, and produced 

 as great an effect in London as it had done in Berlin. In the following 

 October it was given at Covent Garden theatre, and in November at 

 Drury Lane, with the most brilliant success at both houses. On the 

 8th of December 'Der Freischiitz,' under the title of 'Robin des 

 Bois,' was brought out in Paris, at the Ode"on, and though it did 

 not make the same powerful impression on a French as on an English 

 audience, its effect was sufficiently flattering to the composer, who 

 nevertheless^ had great reason to complain of the surreptitious means 

 by which his music had been procured, and of the imperfect manner 

 in which it had been prepared. 



In November 1823, Weber produced at Vienna his 'Euryanthe,' 

 which was not at first received with the enthusiasm his ' Freischutz ' 

 had excited. It is perhaps too serious, and certainly not written in a 

 popular manner ; but the more it became known, the more it was 

 admired, and the overture is one of the composer's happiest flights of 

 genius, 



In 1825 Weber received a visit at Dresden from Mr. C. Kemble, 

 the lessee of Covent Garden theatre, for the purpose of inviting him 

 to compose an opera for the English stage, and to superintend its 

 production in London ; an engagement which he willingly undertook. 

 The terms were five hundred pounds. Mr. Planchd provided the 

 drama, which was entitled 'Oberon, or the Elf-King's Oath,' and 

 founded on Wieland's celebrated poem. In 1826, on the 12th of April, 

 it was brought out, and though at first some of its beauties were not 

 discovered by those who were unaccustomed to music of so original 

 and high an order, yet they were fully felt by competent judges. The 

 author was greeted in the most cordial manner by the audience, and 

 thoroughly satisfied with his public reception and the success of his 

 work, which had twenty-seven representations, twenty-four of which 

 were conducted by the composer. But it was now apparent that he 

 was suffering under pulmonary disease. Hia journey to London in an 

 unfavourable season, and his arrival in February, in the worst weather 

 possible, aggravated his malady : nevertheless he bore up manfully 

 against his sufferings. On the 26th of May he had a benefit concert 

 at the Argyll Rooms, which was but badly attended. He was very ill 

 at its commencement, and though he managed to conduct the concert 

 to the end, at its conclusion he was so exhausted as to create con- 

 siderable alarm in the by-standers. On Monday, the 5th of June, early 

 in the morning, he was found in a lifeless state in his bed. His funeral 

 was delayed a considerable time by the endeavour to obtain permission 

 to deposit his remains in St. Paul's cathedral ; but this could not be 

 granted in a Protestant church, as his friends resolved to have a 

 Requiem sung at his obsequies, he having always professed himself a 

 member of the Church of Rome. At length the interment took place, 

 on the 21st of June, in the Roman Catholic Chapel, Moorfielda ; and 

 the followers, consisting chiefly of distinguished professors and ama- 

 teurs, were so numerous as to fill sixteen mourning coaches. 



Weber was a man who would have stood prominent in any station 

 of life demanding the exertion of quick powerful intellect. His mind, 

 naturally strong and active, was enlarged by education, and highly 

 cultivated by extensive reading and the society of literary and scientific 

 friends. His manners were calm and polite, and his conversation 

 was remarkable not only for good sense, but for a degree of pleasant 

 sententiousness which closely bordered on wit. His morals were 

 irreproachable, and he well supported, on every occasion, the character 

 of an honourable gentleman. He left a widow and two sons to deplore 

 the untimely loss of an excellent husband and father. 



* WEBER, WILHELM EDUARD, was the son of Michael Weber, 

 a distinguished Protestant theologian, and was born at Wittenberg on 

 December 24, 1804. He studied first at the Lower School at Halle, 

 and then entered the university there, of which subsequently he 

 became professor extraordinary of natural philosophy. In 1826, in 

 conjunction with his elder brother, Ernst Heinrich, who was professor 

 of anatomy and physiology in the University of Leipzig, he published 

 'Die Wellenlehre auf Experimente gegrundet, oder die Wellen tropf- 

 barer Fliissigkeiten mit Anwendung auf die Schall- und Lichtwellen ' 

 (The Wave Theory grounded on Experiments, or the liquid fluidity of 

 Waves, with its application to Waves of Sound and Light). In 1827 

 he published 'Leges oscillationis oriundae, si duo corpora diversa 

 celeritate oscillantia ita conjunguntur, ut oscillare non possiut nisi 

 eimul et synchronice.' In 1831 he was appointed professor of physics 

 in the University of Gottingen, from which office he was displaced 

 by Ernest, king of Hanover, on December 14, 1837, on account of 

 his liberal political opinions. In 1836 he had written in conjunction 

 with his younger brother Edward, now professor of medicine at 

 Leipzig, ' Mechanik der menschlichen Sehwerkzeuge ' (Mechanism of 

 the Human Optical Organs). He then travelled about Germany, and 

 visited England, till 1843, when he was recalled to his post. He had 

 contributed many essays on acoustics and physics to various German 

 scientific journals. The most important of these was one written in 

 conjunction with Gauss ' On the Magnetism of the Earth,' which 

 opened many original views on this subject, gave a new direction 

 to the investigations, and was recognised by scientific men as a work 

 of great merit. This was followed, in 1840, by the ' Resultate aus 

 den Beobachtungen des magnetischen Vereins ' (Results from the 

 Observations of the Magnetic Society), and ' Der Atlas des Erdmag- 

 netismus ' (Atlas of the Magnetism of the Earth). One of his latest 

 works is the ' Elektrodynamischen Massbestimmungen ' (Electro- 

 dynamic proportional Measures). 



WEBSTER, DANIEL, was born January 18, 17S2, in the township 

 of Salisbury, New Hampshire, United States of America. His father, 

 Ebenezer Webster, was descended from Thomas Webster, a Scotchman, 

 who settled at Hampton, on the coast of New Hampshire, in 1636. 

 Ebenezer Webster served as a common soldier against the French and 

 Indians, but rose to the rank of captain before the war terminated. 

 He received in 1763 the grant of an allotment of land in the township 

 of Salisbury on the upper course of the river Merrimac, and there in 

 1764 built his log-cabin, when there was no other white man's habita- 

 tion between it and the settlements at Montreal. He afterwards built a 

 frame-house not far from his log cabin, on the Elms Farm, and there 

 Daniel Webster was born, and spent his childhood and much of his 

 boyhood. His opportunities for early education were very scanty, 

 working on the farm in summer, and trudging two or three miles 

 through the snow to school in winter, In 1796 he was sent to aa 



