Gustav Alexander Wilhelm Nicolai (28 May 1795 – 21 December 1868) was a

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

n writer and composer.

Career

Nicolai was born in Berlin to Friederike Sophie Riemer and her husband Carl Friedrich Wilhelm Nicolai, a member of the Ober-Finanzrat (Upper Finance Council) and director of the Prussian maritime trading company. He was educated in the Gymnasium in Königsberg in der Neumark, attending the Gymnasium and receiving instruction from the organist Gracht Unterricht. He returned to Berlin in 1812, spending a short time at the

Graues Kloster The Evangelisches Gymnasium zum Grauen Kloster, located in suburban Schmargendorf, Berlin, is an independent school with a humanistic profile, known as one of the most prestigious schools in Germany. Founded by the Evangelical Church in West Berli ...

and receiving piano lessons Johann Philipp Schmidt. In 1813 he fought in the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

and then studied under Friedrich Wilhelm Berner in Breslau. From 1820 to 1843 he was Divisional Auditor in Berlin, before becoming a private tutor. His friends included the composers

Adolf Bernhard Marx Friedrich Heinrich Adolf Bernhard Marx . B. Marx(15 May 1795, Halle – 17 May 1866, Berlin) was a German music theorist, critic, and musicologist. Life Marx was the son of a Jewish doctor in Halle who, though a member of the congregation, was ...

Gaspare Spontini Gaspare Luigi Pacifico Spontini (14 November 177424 January 1851) was an Italian opera composer and conductor from the classical era. Biography Born in Maiolati, Papal State (now Maiolati Spontini, Province of Ancona), he spent most of his ca ...

and

Carl Loewe Johann Carl Gottfried Loewe (; 30 November 1796 – 20 April 1869), usually called Carl Loewe (sometimes seen as Karl Loewe), was a German composer, tenor singer and Conducting, conductor. In his lifetime, his songs ("Balladen") were well enough ...

, for whom he wrote the oratorio libretto ''Die Zerstörung von Jerusalem'', set to music by Loewe in 1833.

Frederick William III of Prussia Frederick William III (german: Friedrich Wilhelm III.; 3 August 1770 – 7 June 1840) was King of Prussia from 16 November 1797 until his death in 1840. He was concurrently Elector of Brandenburg in the Holy Roman Empire until 6 August 1806, wh ...

rewarded Nicolai with a golden box for the same libretto - the king was one of his main supporters, giving him the Gold Medal for Art and Science. Nicolai became widely known for his travelogue ''Italien wie es wirklich ist'' (''Italy as it really is'', 1834), in which he gave a critical description of the country. He was heavily criticised, including by

Friedrich Wilhelm Gubitz Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' Other *Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...

. Nicolai unsuccessfully sued for libel against the review '' Blätter für literarische Unterhaltung'' of 1 September 1834 (Nr. 244) - the judgement made legal history, defining the right of literary criticismAnnalen der deutschen und ausländischen Criminal-Rechtspflege, begründet von Julius Eduard Hitzig, fortgesetzt von den Gerichts-Directoren Dr. Demme in Altenburg und Klunge in Zeitz, Band 3, Altenburg 1837, S. 180-218 /archive.org/details/bub_gb_f8ZCAAAAcAAJ (Digitalised)/ref> Between 1835 and 1843 he corresponded with

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

and wrote several essays for the ''

Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 'Die'' (; en, " heNew Journal of Music") is a music magazine, co-founded in Leipzig by Robert Schumann, his teacher and future father-in law Friedrich Wieck, and his close friend Ludwig Schuncke. Its first issue appeared on 3 April 1834. Histo ...

''.

Personal life

Nicolai's first marriage was to Henriette Dorothea May and after her death his second was to Leopoldine Concordia Cölestine Grothe (1817 – 11 July 1852). They had four children in 1833, 1834, 1836 and 1837 (who all died in infancy), followed by Arthur Gustav (1845–1846), Leontine Catherine Valerie (1848–1868) and Leontine Rosamunde (born 1850). He died in Berlin.

Publications

* ''Die Geweihten, oder der Kantor von Fichtenhagen. Humoreske in zwei Theilen'', Berlin: Schlesinger 1829; 2. Aufl. 1846 * ''Jeremias, der Volkscomponist, eine humoristische Vision aus dem 25sten Jahrhundert'', Berlin: Wagenführ 1830 * ''Italien, wie es wirklich ist. Bericht über eine merkwürdige Reise in den hesperischen Gefilden als Warnungsstimme (für Alle, welche sich dahin sehnen)'', 2 Bände, Leipzig: Wiegand 1834 – 2. Aufl. 1835 (im Anhang zahlreiche Rezensionen der Erstauflage) ** Band
(Digitalisat)
** Band
(Digitalisat)
** Neuausgabe der Erstausgabe von 1834, mit Anmerkungen versehen und ergänzt mit zeitgenössischen Kritiken und Dokumenten zum Rechtsstreit wegen Beleidigung. Berlin 2016, . * ''Arabesken für Musikfreunde'', 2 Bände, Leipzig: Wigand 183
(Digitalisat)

Selected compositions

* op. 1: ''Die Sängerfahrt'', ballad to a text by

Ernst Schulze Ernst Schulze may refer to: * Ernst Schulze (poet), a German Romantic poet * Gottlob Ernst Schulze, a German philosopher * Ernst Schulze (chemist), a German Chemist and the grandson of Gottlob Ernst Schulze * Sadananda Swami Sadananda Das ( sa, � ...

(1836) * op. 2: ''Das Mädchen am Ufer'' (''The Girl on the Shore''), ballad after the English (1836) * op. 3–7: ''Zwölf Balladen'' (''Twelve Ballads'') to a text by

Ludwig Uhland Johann Ludwig Uhland (26 April 1787 – 13 November 1862) was a German poet, philologist and literary historian. Biography He was born in Tübingen, Württemberg, and studied jurisprudence at the university there, but also took an interest i ...

(1837)

Bibliography

* Carl Freiherr von Ledebur, ''Tonkünstler-Lexicon Berlin’s von den ältesten Zeiten bis auf die Gegenwart'', Berlin 1861, S. 396f. * Martin A. Völker, ''Wo die Zitronen blühen und die Flöhe beißen – Das Sehnsuchtsland Italien bei Gustav Nicolai (1795–1868) und Eduard Boas (1815–1853)'', in: Franciszek Grucza (Hrsg.), ''Akten des XII. internationalen Germanistenkongresses Warschau 2010. Vielheit und Einheit der Germanistik weltweit'', Bd. 7, Frankfurt am Main: Lang 2012, S. 185–190 * ''Briefwechsel Robert und Clara Schumanns mit Korrespondenten in Berlin 1832 bis 1883'', edited by

Klaus Martin Kopitz Klaus Martin Kopitz (born January 29, 1955, Stendal) is a German composer and musicologist. He became known in particular with his album ''Mia Brentano's Hidden Sea. 20 songs for 2 pianos''. In the US, it was 2018 on the annual "Want List" of t ...

, Eva Katharina Klein and

Thomas Synofzik Thomas Synofzik (born 30 December 1966) is a German musicologist. He is director of the Robert Schumann House in Zwickau. Life Synofzik was born in Dortmund. After achieving the Abitur, he studied church music at the Dortmund University of Musi ...

(''Schumann-Briefedition'', Serie II, Band 17), Cologne: Dohr 2015, S. 473–489,

References

External links

Genealogy
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nicolai, Gustav 1795 births 1868 deaths German travel writers Writers from Berlin Prussian Army personnel of the Napoleonic Wars 19th-century German composers 19th-century German male musicians 19th-century German non-fiction writers 19th-century German male writers German male non-fiction writers German male composers German oratorio and passion librettists