Carl Siegemund Schönebeck (26 October 1758 in
Lübben, Germany – early 1800s) was a German composer and
cellist
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
. Few of his works have survived. The compositions attributed to him show features of originality and have been compared to
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. He is one of the most revered figures in the history of Western music; his works rank among the most performed of the classical music repertoire ...
's.
Biography
Schönebeck, in line with his parents' wishes, aspired to become a surgeon, but felt so drawn to music that at age 14 he decided to have lessons from a musician in his home town of
Lübben. He had some years of study in Lübben, and later in the Silesian city of
Grünberg, but was largely self-taught as a violinist and as a player of several wind instruments. However, when a cello virtuoso arrived in Grünberg, he was so fascinated by the instrument that he taught himself to play it.
Two years later he was invited to join the Duke of Dohna's orchestra in the Saxon province of
Kotzenau. Then in 1780, Schönebeck became a town musician in
Sorau, Lower Lusatia (now Żary, Poland). In order to continue perfecting his music, Schönebeck travelled to
Potsdam
Potsdam () is the capital and largest city of the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the Havel, River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of B ...
, where he met the cello virtuoso
Jean-Louis Duport
Jean-Louis Duport (4 October 17497 September 1819), sometimes known as Duport the Younger to distinguish him from his older brother (and teacher) Jean-Pierre Duport, Jean-Pierre (1741-1818), was a cello, cellist, pedagogue, and composer.
He is pe ...
. He also travelled to Dresden to play alongside the French cellist
Jean Balthasar Tricklir.
In 1787, Schönebeck joined the
Duke of Courland
The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia was a duchy in the Baltic region, then known as Livonia, that existed from 1561 to 1569 as a nominal vassal state of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and subsequently made part of the Crown of the Polish Kingdo ...
's orchestra in the Silesian province of
Sagan. Four years later he moved to the Duke Truchsess zu Waldburg's orchestra, near the Prussian city of
Königsberg
Königsberg (; ; ; ; ; ; , ) is the historic Germany, German and Prussian name of the city now called Kaliningrad, Russia. The city was founded in 1255 on the site of the small Old Prussians, Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teuton ...
(now known as Kaliningrad, Russia). He stayed there for two years, until he was transferred to the heart of Königsberg where he worked as a cellist in the orchestra and as a church organist. Some four years later Schönebeck and his wife tried without success to set themselves up as farmers near Lübben.
It was in his native city of Lübben where he finally established himself as a composer and music teacher. By 1800 he was able to present his own compositions in Leipzig.
It is not clear exactly when he died. In Volume IV of
Ernst Ludwig Gerber
Ernst Ludwig Gerber (29 September 1746 in Sondershausen, Germany – 30 June 1819 in Sondershausen) was a German composer, organist, cellist, and author of a famous dictionary of musicians.
His father, Heinrich Nikolaus Gerber (1702–1775), a ...
's encyclopedia ''Neues Lexikon der Tonkünstler'', he is described as a virtuoso cellist and apparently still alive in 1814; however other sources say that he died in 1806.
[Ernst Ludwig Gerber, Neues historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Tonkünstler, welches Nachrichten von dem Leben und den Werken musikalischer Schriftsteller, berühmter Komponisten, Sänger, Meister auf Instrumenten, kunstvoller Dilettanten, Musikverleger, auch Orgel- und Instrumentenmacher, älterer und neuer Zeit, aus allen Nationen enthält, tomo 4, S–Z, Leipzig, 1814, column 110–112.]
Works
Schönebeck composed light operas, quartets, duets for two cellos and for cello and viola, as well as concertos for cello, flute, horn and clarinet. Most of his works are lost.
Sources
*
Gerber, Ernst Ludwig, ''Neues historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Tonkünstler'', Volume 4 (S–Z), Leipzig, 1814, column 110–112
Links
* Online biography in German
Schönebeck (Carl Siegmund) ''Neues historisch-biographisches Lexikon der Tonkünstler'', 1814.
Schönebeck, Carl Siegemund, Catalog of works Deutsche National Bibliothek.
*
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schonebeck, Carl Siegemund
1758 births
1800s deaths
18th-century German composers
18th-century German male musicians
German classical cellists
People from Lübben (Spreewald)