Stephan von Breuning (17 August 1774 – 4 June 1827) was a German civil servant and
librettist
A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...
. He was
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classical ...
's lifelong friend, from his childhood in
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...
when receiving music lessons until acting as executor in Vienna.
Life
Born in
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...
, Breuning was the son of Emanuel Joseph von Breuning and his wife
Helene von Breuning
Helene von Breuning (née von Kerich; 3 January 1750, Cologne – 9 December 1838) was a member of the Bonn upper class, who engaged young Ludwig van Beethoven to teach music to her children, gave him education and introduced him into social circle ...
, also known as ''Beethoven's second mother''. In 1784, the family made the acquaintance of Ludwig van Beethoven in their home at Bonn. He became a close friend to the family and gave piano lessons to the Breuning children Eleonore and Lorenz.
In 1801, Breuning moved to Vienna where four years later Beethoven's ''
Fidelio
''Fidelio'' (; ), originally titled ' (''Leonore, or The Triumph of Marital Love''), Op. 72, is Ludwig van Beethoven's only opera. The German libretto was originally prepared by Joseph Sonnleithner from the French of Jean-Nicolas Bouilly, with ...
'' was premiered. Besides
Joseph Sonnleithner
Joseph Ferdinand Sonnleithner (3 March 1766 – 25 December 1835) was an Austrian librettist, theater director, archivist and lawyer. He was the son of Christoph Sonnleithner, brother of Ignaz von Sonnleithner and uncle of Franz Grillparzer and Le ...
and
Georg Friedrich Treitschke
Georg Friedrich Treitschke (; 29 August 1776 – 4 June 1842) was a German libretto, librettist, translator and lepidopterist. He was born in Leipzig and died in Vienna.
In 1800 he came to the Vienna Hofoper. From 1809 to 1814 he was principal ...
, Breuning also contributed to the libretto. In 1806, Beethoven dedicated his violin concerto op. 61 to his friend. Following Beethoven's death in 1827, Breuning assisted in handling affairs of the estate, but he died at age 52 only a few months after the composer. The plan to publish a Beethoven biography, which Breuning had considered writing in collaboration with Beethoven's childhood friend and Breuning's brother-in-law
Franz Gerhard Wegeler
Franz Gerhard Wegeler (22 August 1765 – 7 May 1848) was a German physician from Bonn, who, in his youth, was a close friend of composer Ludwig van Beethoven.
He was the father of historian Julius Stephan Wegeler (1807-1883).
Wegeler studied m ...
and
Anton Schindler
Anton Felix Schindler (13 June 1795 in Medlov – 16 January 1864 in Bockenheim (Frankfurt am Main)) was an Austrian law clerk and associate, secretary, and early biographer of Ludwig van Beethoven.
Life
Schindler moved to Vienna in 1813 to st ...
, could not be realized.
Family
Breuning married in April 1808 Julie von Vering (1791–1809), the daughter of Beethoven's physician Gerhard von Vering (1755-1823), to whom Beethoven dedicated the piano version of his
Violin Concerto
A violin concerto is a concerto for solo violin (occasionally, two or more violins) and instrumental ensemble (customarily orchestra). Such works have been written since the Baroque period, when the solo concerto form was first developed, up thro ...
. After her untimely death he entered into a relationship with Constanze Ruschowitz around 1812 (1785/86 in
Freudenthal Freudenthal is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Axel Olof Freudenthal (1836–1911), Finland-Swedish philologist and politician
*Dave Freudenthal (born 1950), American politician
* Franz Freudenthal, Bolivian physician k ...
,
Austrian Silesia
Austrian Silesia, (historically also ''Oesterreichisch-Schlesien, Oesterreichisch Schlesien, österreichisch Schlesien''); cs, Rakouské Slezsko; pl, Śląsk Austriacki officially the Duchy of Upper and Lower Silesia, (historically ''Herzogth ...
, – 5 October 1856 in Vienna), whom he married on 18 February 1817.Wien, Pfarre Alservorstadt, Trauungsbuch, Tom. 1809–1817, fol. 264, quote after
Rita Steblin
Rita Katherine Steblin (April 22, 1951 – September 3, 2019) obituary, ''Figures of Speech'' was a
Gerhard von Breuning,
* Helena Juliana Philippina von Breuning (born 17 August 1818),
* Mara Magdalena Barbara von Breuning (born 2 April 1821).
Further reading
*
Ludwig Nohl
Ludwig Nohl (born 5 December 1831 in Iserlohn; died 15 December 1885 in Heidelberg) was a German music scholar and writer best known for discovering and publishing Beethoven's famous bagatelle, "Für Elise".
Life
After graduation from the Gymna ...
, ''Drei Freunde Beethovens. Über Beethovens Beziehung zu Ignaz von Gleichenstein, Stephan von Breuning und Johann Malfatti'', in the '' Allgemeine deutsche Musikzeitung'', Jg. 6 (1879), Nr. 39 dated 26.9., ; Nr. 40 dated 3.10., ; Nr. 41 dated 10.10., ; Nr. 42 dated 17.10., ; Nr. 43 dated 24.10.,
*
Stephan Ley
Stephan Ley (29 November 1867 – 30 May 1964 in Bonn) was a German music educator, Beethoven researcher and musicologist.
Life
Born in Bonn, Ley attended the Königliches Gymnasium in Bonn (today the and studied Classical philology, German s ...
Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...
''
* Martella Gutiérrez-Denhoff, ''Neue Mosaiksteine im Bild der Familie von Breuning. Ein Beitrag zum geistig-sozialen Umfeld des heranwachsenden Beethoven in Bonn'', in: ''Musikalische Quellen – Quellen zur Musikgeschichte. Festschrift für
Martin Staehelin
Martin Staehelin (born 25 September 1937) is a Swiss musicologist and university lecturer.
Life
Born in Basel, Staehelin first studied ancient languages, history, school music and flute. In 1967 he received his doctorate in musicology and anci ...
zum 65. Geburtstag'', published by
Ulrich Konrad
Ulrich Aloysius Konrad (born 14 August 1957) is a German musicologist and professor at the Institute for Music Research of the University of Würzburg. He is considered an expert on European music of the 17th to 20th centuries, especially the work ...