Friedrich August Burgmüller (3 May 1760 – 21 August 1824) was a German pianist,

Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Cond ...

as well as the first municipal

music director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

in Düsseldorf and co-founder of the

Lower Rhenish Music Festival The Lower Rhenish Music Festival (German: Das Niederrheinische Musikfest) was one of the most important festivals of classical music, which happened every year between 1818 and 1958, with few exceptions, at Pentecost for 112 times. History In t ...

. He is the father of the composers

Friedrich Burgmüller Johann Friedrich Franz Burgmüller, generally known as Friedrich Burgmuller (4 December 1806 – 13 February 1874) was a German pianist and composerPhilip J. Bone''The Guitar and Mandolin. Biographies of celebrated players and composers for thes ...

and

Norbert Burgmüller August Joseph Norbert Burgmüller (8 February 1810 – 7 May 1836) was a German composer, renowned for his contributions during the nascent stages of the Romantic Era. His oeuvre, albeit cut tragically short due to his untimely drowning at the ag ...

Life and work

Burgmüller was born on 3 May 1760 in Magdeburg and baptized on 6 May with the names "Anton Friedrich".Magdeburg, Evangelische Superintendentur, baptismal register Domgemeinde 1656-1814, . In the older literature the first names are also "Friedrich August" or "Johann August Franz", the latter in most handwritten sources. He himself signed mostly briefly "August Burgmüller". His father was Johann Christian Burgmüller (1734–1776),

organist An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ (music), organ. An organist may play organ repertoire, solo organ works, play with an musical ensemble, ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumentalist, instrumental ...

at the Magdeburger Dom, who taught him how to play the piano. From 1783 Burgmüller studied in

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

and

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

, but dropped out in 1785 and went from Erfurt to

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...

to the theatre troupe of the principal Joseph Bellomo (real name Joseph Edler von Zambiasi, 1752/54–1833). Burgmüller worked there as

, but also as an actor, and composed a

Singspiel A Singspiel (; plural: ; ) is a form of German-language music drama, now regarded as a genre of opera. It is characterized by spoken dialogue, which is alternated with ensembles, songs, ballads, and arias which were often strophic, or folk- ...

and stage music for the troupe. Already in autumn 1786 he changed to Gustav Friedrich Wilhelm Großmann and his co-director Christian Wilhelm Klos at their newly founded theater company at

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

with which he also gave guest performances in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

and

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

. At last Klos led the company alone and led it into bankruptcy in July 1788 in

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

. From this outstanding ensemble emerged the so-called Bonner Nationaltheater, which was subsidized by Elector Maximilian Franz with 15,000 Reichstalers annually and opened on 3 January 1789. Together with other members of the Klosschen Troupe – including Christiane Keilholz, Carl Demmer, Joseph Lux,

Johann Baptist Spitzeder Johann Baptist Spitzeder (24 December 1764 – 2 October 1842) was an Austrian actor and bass singer. Life Born in Salzburg, Spitzeder was a son of Franz Anton Spitzeder (1732–1796), Mozart's first biographer. From 1786 to 1788 he was engag ...

and

Heinrich Vohs Johann Heinrich Andreas Vohs (probably 16 March 1763 in Kleve – 16 July 1804 in Stuttgart) was a German actor and singer. Life From 1787 Vohs belonged to the touring troupe of Christian Wilhelm Klos, who played in the Rhineland, and from 178 ...

– Burgmüller also went to Bonn and became Kapellmeister there. His theatre orchestra consisted mainly of musicians from the Bonn court orchestra, among them the 18-year-old

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 ...

, who played

viola The viola ( , () ) is a string instrument of the violin family, and is usually bowed when played. Violas are slightly larger than violins, and have a lower and deeper sound. Since the 18th century, it has been the middle or alto voice of the ...

. Beethoven obviously hoped that Burgmüller would perform his ''

Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II Ludwig van Beethoven's Cantata on the Death of Emperor Joseph II, WoO 87 is a cantata with a libretto by Severin Anton Averdonk (1768-1817), written in 1790 and intended for a memorial service for Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor to be held in Bonn. ...

'' WoO 87, because he wrote to the Hofkammerrat August von Schall on 16 June 1790: The whimsical letter still contains numerous news from Bonn's cultural life, but even in Bonn Burgmüller did not endure long. In the same year he moved to the Nationaltheater in

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

. After the French occupation of the city in 1792 he went to Düsseldorf where he settled as a piano teacher. Here he met his pupil and later wife Therese von Zandt. When in October 1794 Düsseldorf was also occupied by the French, he lost sight of her again for many years. Burgmüller fled again to Mainz and took over the musical direction of various acting troupes around Friedrich Wilhelm Hunnius and Johann Ludwig Büchner. With the two troupes he also played in Aachen, Cologne and Düsseldorf. Due to a search advertisement published by Therese von Zandt in the Leipzig newspaper ''

Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung The ''Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung'' (''General music newspaper'') was a German-language periodical published in the 19th century. Comini (2008) has called it "the foremost German-language musical periodical of its time". It reviewed musical e ...

'' on 9 November 1803, Burgmüller left the Rhineland and travelled to

Regensburg Regensburg (historically known in English as Ratisbon) is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the rivers Danube, Naab and Regen (river), Regen, Danube's northernmost point. It is the capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the ...

in August 1804, where he saw his former fiancée again and married on 13 May 1805. On the recommendation of the Privy Councillor Karl Christian Ernst von Bentzel-Sternau, Burgmüller was appointed

Music director A music director, musical director or director of music is a person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert ...

of the newly built

Theater Regensburg Theater Regensburg (also known as the Stadttheater Regensburg, theatre of the city of Regensburg) is a theatrical organization that produces operas, musicals, ballets, plays, and concerts in Regensburg, Germany. The organization operates sever ...

. In addition he founded the first German drama school there, decisively supported by the influential Elector and Reich Chancellor

Karl Theodor von Dalberg Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg (8 February 1744 – 10 February 1817) was a Catholic German bishop and statesman. In various capacities, he served as Archbishop of Mainz, Prince of Regensburg, Arch-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, ...

. Burgmüller's move to Regensburg can presumably be explained by the fact that Therese's father had done everything in his power to break the liaison with the musician, so that the two could only live together in "exile". Duesseldorf golzheim friedhof burgmueller 669

Duesseldorf golzheim friedhof burgmueller 669

Half a year after his last festival leadership in Düsseldorf, 1822, he was dismissed for inexplicable reasons by the theatre directors Josef Derossi and Wolf, which led to severe financial losses for Burgmüller, as a result of which he fell seriously ill. He did not recover from this suffering and finally died on 21 August 1824 in

at the age of 64. He was buried at the . After his death a benefit concert was organized in favour of his family. The people of Düsseldorf thanked him afterwards in 1949 for his merits with a new grave plate and the inscription: "Städtischer Musikdirektor Friedrich August Burgmüller, founder of the Niederrheinischen Musikfeste, 1760-1824". His two sons

and

also became respected pianists and composers, with Norbert becoming the more talented and successful musician despite his short life and following in his father's footsteps. He also played an outstanding role in the Düsseldorf music scene.

Work

* Drama music to ''

Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...

'', Weimar 1785, (lost) * ''Das hätt ich nicht gedacht'' (libretto:

Christian August Vulpius Christian August Vulpius (23 January 1762 – 25 June 1827) was a German novelist and dramatist. His sister married the noted German writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Biography He was born at Weimar, and was educated at Jena and Erlangen. In ...

), Singspiel, Weimar 1785/86, verschollen * Ariette ''In questa tomba oscura'' (text

Giuseppe Carpani Giuseppe Carpani (28 January 1752 – 22 January 1825) was an Italian man of letters. He is remembered in large part for his role in the history of classical music: he knew Haydn, Mozart, Salieri, Beethoven, and Rossini, and served them in vario ...

), ca. 1805 * ''Vier Gesänge'' (ext: Theodor von Haupt), ca. 1818 * ''Frühlingslüftchen'', Düsseldorf: Comtoir der National-Industrie, um 181
(Numerised)
* ''Cantate zur Feier des fünfzigjährigen Amts-Jubiläums des Herren Pfarrers und Consistorialraths Hartmann in Düsseldorf am 17. Oktober 1823'' / von J. F. Wilhelmi. Musik von Burgmüller. Düsseldorf: Dänzer, 182
(Numersied libretto)

References

External links

Grabtafel Friedrich August Burgmüller

Städtischer Musikverein zu Düsseldorf e.V. – Lebenslauf: Geschichte – Daten – Episoden
{{DEFAULTSORT:Burgmuller, Friedrich August German male classical pianists 19th-century German classical pianists 18th-century German composers 18th-century German male musicians 18th-century German musicians 19th-century German composers German conductors (music) 1760 births 1824 deaths Musicians from Magdeburg 19th-century German male musicians 19th-century German musicians

Life and work

Work

References

Further reading

External links