Works by Paolo Coelho. Paulo Coelho success story

Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was born on November 18, 1786 in Eutin. The father dreamed of a musical career for his son and encouraged him to study music in every possible way. The family moved a lot, but in every new city they always found teachers for Karl. He wrote his first work in Salzburg under the direction of Michael Haydn, it was published and received positive reviews in the press. Weber's mother died in 1798. The family moves again, this time to Munich. Here Karl wrote his first opera, The Power of Love and Wine. Two years later, the opera “The Forest Girl” premiered in Freiburg. The father tried to apprentice his son to Joseph Haydn, but he refused.

Thanks to his success in conducting, in 1804 Weber headed the theater orchestra in the city of Breslau. Under his leadership, the orchestra undergoes some reformation: Karl seats the orchestra players in a new way, assigns separate rehearsals for ensembles to learn new parts, intervenes in productions, and also introduces dress rehearsals. These changes were received ambiguously by musicians and the public. Soon after Weber's acid poisoning accident, opponents of his reform returned everything to its original place.

On September 16, 1810, the premiere of his opera Silvana was successfully held in Frankfurt. Inspired, he writes “Abu Hasan”, and six months later he goes on a concert tour. In April 1812, while in Berlin, Weber learned of his father's death. Here he writes keyboard music and reworks Silvana. Next year, during a visit to Prague, he is offered to head the city theater. Without much hesitation, he agrees; for him, this was an excellent opportunity to realize his ideas and pay off his debts. On November 19, 1816, Weber announces his engagement to Caroline Brandt. Inspired by this event, he writes two piano sonatas, a concerto for clarinet and piano, and several songs.

In 1817, Weber was invited to the post of musical director of the Dresden German Opera. On November 4 he married Caroline Brandt. In Dresden he writes his best work- "Free shooter." However, work on the opera continued for a long period. It was overshadowed by the death of the composer's little daughter and the illness of his wife. In addition, Weber had many orders that he could barely cope with. The premiere of "Free Shooter" took place on June 18, 1821 in Berlin. Weber was waiting for success. Beethoven, delighted with the music, said that Weber should henceforth write only operas.

At this time, the composer's lung disease progressed. In 1823, he completed the opera “Euryanthe,” which was also very successfully received by the audience, and then, during a persistent struggle with his illness, he wrote “Oberon.” The premiere took place in London with unprecedented success. This was the first time in the history of the capital’s stage that the composer was asked to appear on stage.

In the history of Western European musical culture, Weber's name is associated primarily with the creation of romantic German opera. The premiere of his "Magic Shooter", held in Berlin on June 18, 1821 under the direction of the author, became an event historical significance. It put an end to the long dominance of foreign, primarily Italian, opera music on the stages of German theaters.

Weber's childhood was spent in the atmosphere of a nomadic provincial theater. His mother was a singer, and his father was a violinist and director of a small theater troupe. The excellent knowledge of the stage acquired in childhood later became very useful to Weber as an opera composer. Although constant travel interfered with systematic music training, already at the age of 11 he became an outstanding virtuoso pianist of his time.

At the age of 18, Weber began his independent work as an opera conductor. For more than 10 years he has been moving from place to place, without a permanent home and experiencing enormous financial difficulties. It was only in 1817 that he finally settled in Dresden, taking over the leadership of the German musical theater. The Dresden period became the pinnacle of it creative activity when the composer's best operas appeared: "Magic Shooter", "Euryanthe", "Oberon". Simultaneously with The Magic Shooter, two famous program pieces by Weber were created - a piano "Invitation to Dance" And "Konzertstück" for piano and orchestra. Both works demonstrate the composer's characteristic brilliant concert style.

In search of ways to create a folk-national opera, Weber turned to the latest German literature. The composer communicated personally with many German romantic writers.

Opera "The Magic Shooter"

"The Magic Shooter" is Weber's most popular work. Its Berlin premiere was accompanied by sensational success. Soon after, the opera toured theaters all over the world. There are several reasons for this brilliant success:

1 -I, the most important thing, is reliance on the traditions of the original German culture. Pictures of German folk life with its customs, favorite motifs German fairy tales, the image of a forest (as widespread in German folklore as the image of the free-flowing steppe in Russian folk art, or the image of the sea in English). The music of the opera is filled with melodies in the spirit of German peasant songs and dances, sounds of a hunting horn (the most shining example- a temperamental choir of hunters from the 3rd movement, which has gained worldwide fame). All this touched the deepest strings of the German soul, everything was associated with national ideals.

“For the Germans... there is something different here at every step, both on stage and in music, as familiar to us from childhood as, for example, the tune of “Luchinushka” or “Kamarinsky” ...” wrote A.N. Serov.

2 . The opera appeared in an atmosphere of patriotic upsurge caused by liberation from Napoleonic despotism.

3 . The most important feature“The Magic Shooter” is that Weber approached the depiction of folk life in a completely new way. Unlike operas of the 18th century, characters from the people are shown not in a comedic, emphatically everyday manner, but in a deeply poetic way. Everyday scenes of folk life (peasant holidays, hunting competitions) are depicted with amazing love and sincerity. It is no coincidence that the best choral numbers - the hunters' choir, the bridesmaids' choir - have become folk. Some radically changed the traditional range of intonations of operatic arias and choruses.

Plot For his opera, the composer found the novella by the German writer August Apel from The Book of Ghosts. Weber read this short story back in 1810, but did not immediately take up composing music. The libretto was composed by the Dresden actor and writer I. Kind, using the composer’s instructions. The action takes place in a Czech village in the 17th century.

The genre of The Magic Shooter is a folk-fairy-tale opera with Singspiel features. Its dramaturgy is based on the interweaving of three lines, each of which is associated with its own range of musical and expressive means:

fantastic;
folk genre, characterizing images of hunting life and forest nature;
lyrical and psychological, revealing the images of the main characters - Max and Agatha.

The fantastic line of the opera is the most innovative. She had a huge influence on all the music of the 19th century, in particular on the fiction of Mendelssohn, Berlioz, and Wagner. Its culmination is in the finale of Act II (in “Wolf Gorge”).

Scene in Wolf Gorge has a continuous (free) structure, it consists of a number of episodes independent in material.

In the first, introductory one, a mysterious, ominous atmosphere reigns, a choir of invisible spirits sounds. Its creepy, “infernal” (hellish) character is created by extremely laconic means of expression: this is the alternation of two sounds - “fis” and “a” in a monotonous rhythm, harmonized by t and VII in the key of fis-moll.

Section 2 - excited dialogue between Kaspar and Samiel. Samiel is not a singing person, he only speaks, and exclusively in his kingdom - Wolf Gorge, although throughout the opera he appears on stage quite often (passes, disappears). It is always accompanied by a short and very bright leitmotif - an ominous colorful spot (a chord and several abrupt fading sounds in the dull sound of low timbres. These are clarinets in the low register, bassoons and timpani);

Episode 3 (allegro) is devoted to the characterization of Kaspar, who is anxiously waiting for Max;

The music of the 4th section characterizes the appearance of Max, his fear and mental struggle;

The 5th and final section - the bullet casting episode - is the culmination of the entire finale. It is solved almost exclusively by orchestral means. Each picturesque stage detail (the appearance of eerie ghosts, a thunderstorm, a “wild hunt,” flames erupting from the ground) receives its original musical characteristics with the help of timbre and harmonic colors. Bizarre dissonances dominate, especially diminished seventh chords, tritone combinations, chromaticisms, and unusual tonal juxtapositions. The tonal plan is based on a diminished seventh chord: Fis - a - C - Es.

Weber opens new visual possibilities instruments, especially wind instruments: staccato horns, sustained low sounds of clarinets, unusual timbre combinations. The innovative discoveries of Weber's Wolf Valley had a tremendous influence on all music of the 19th century, in particular on the fiction of Mendelssohn, Berlioz, and Wagner.

The images of dark fantasy are contrasted with cheerful ones. folk scenes. Their music - somewhat naive, simple-minded, sincere - is permeated folklore elements, characteristic melodic turns of everyday song, as well as fair music of Thuringia.

The folk genre line is embodied in the crowd scenes of the 1st and 3rd acts of the opera. This is a picture of a peasant festival in a choral introduction, a scene of a hunters' competition. The march sounds as if it were performed by village musicians. The rustic waltz is distinguished by its emphasized simplicity.

The main image of the opera is Max, the first typically romantic hero in music. He is endowed with the features of psychological duality: the influence of Kaspar, behind whom are the forces of hell, is opposed by the purity of the loving Agatha. The full disclosure of the image of Max, like Agatha, is given in the scene and aria of Act I. This is a large aria-monologue, where a deep spiritual conflict is revealed.

Wonderful overture"The Magic Shooter" is written in sonata form with a slow introduction. It is built on the musical themes of the opera (this is Samiel’s ominous leitmotif in the introduction, the theme of “hellish forces” (the main and connecting part of the sonata Allegro), the themes of Max and Agatha (side part). Colliding the themes of “hellish forces” with the themes of Max and Agatha, the composer logically leads the development to the solemnly jubilant theme of Agatha, which sounds like a hymn to happiness and love.

With E.T.A. Hoffmann, Wieland, Tieck, Brentano, Arnim, Jean Paul, W. Muller.

Musical numbers alternate with spoken dialogues. Samiel is a non-singing face. The secondary image of the cheerful, playful Ankhen is interpreted in the spirit of Singspiel.

Biography

Weber was born into the family of a musician and theater entrepreneur, always immersed in various projects. His childhood and youth were spent wandering around the cities of Germany together with his father’s small theater troupe, due to which it cannot be said that he went through a systematic and strict training in his youth. music school. Almost the first piano teacher with whom Weber studied more or less long time, there was Johann Peter Heuschkel, then in theory - Michael Haydn, lessons were also taken from G. Vogler. - Weber's first works appeared - small fugues. Weber was then a student of the organist Kalcher in Munich. Weber subsequently studied the theory of composition more thoroughly with Abbot Vogler, having Meyerbeer and Gottfried Weber as his classmates; At the same time, he studied piano with Franz Lauski. Weber's first stage experience was the opera Die Macht der Liebe und des Weins. Although he wrote a lot in his early youth, his first success came with his opera “Das Waldmädchen” (1800). The opera by the 14-year-old composer was performed on many stages in Europe and even in St. Petersburg. Subsequently, Weber reworked this opera, which, under the name “Silvana,” lasted for a long time on many German opera stages.

Having written the opera "Peter Schmoll und seine Nachbarn" (1802), symphonies, piano sonatas, the cantata "Der erste Ton", the opera "Abu Hassan" (1811), he conducted the orchestra in different cities and gave a concert.

Max Weber, his son, wrote a biography of his famous father.

Essays

"Hinterlassene Schriften", ed. Hellem (Dresden, 1828);
"Karl Maria von W. Ein Lebensbild", by Max Maria von W. (1864);
Kohut's "Webergedenkbuch" (1887);
“Reisebriefe von Karl Maria von W. an seine Gattin” (Leipzig, 1886);
"Chronol. thematischer Katalog der Werke von Karl Maria von W.” (Berlin, 1871).

Among Weber's works, in addition to the above mentioned, we point out the concertos for piano and orchestra, op. 11, op. 32; "Concert-stück", op. 79; string quartet, string trio, six sonatas for piano and violin, op. 10; large concert duet for clarinet and piano, op. 48; sonatas op. 24, 49, 70; polonaises, rondos, variations for piano, 2 concertos for clarinet and orchestra, Variations for clarinet and piano, Concertino for clarinet and orchestra; andante and rondo for bassoon and orchestra, concerto for bassoon, “Aufforderung zum Tanz” (“Invitation à la danse”), etc.

Operas

"Forest Girl" (German) Das Waldmädchen), 1800 - some fragments have survived
"Peter Schmoll and his neighbors" (German) Peter Schmoll und seine Nachbarn ), 1802
"Rübezahl" (German) Rubezahl), 1805 - some fragments have survived
"Silvana" (German) Silvana), 1810
"Abu Hasan" (German) Abu Hassan), 1811
"Free Shooter" (German) Der Freischütz), 1821
"Three Pintos" (German) Die drei Pintos) - not finished; completed by Mahler in 1888.
"Euryanthe" (German) Euryanthe), 1823
"Oberon" (German) Oberon), 1826

In astronomy

The asteroid (527) Euryanta is named after the main character of Carl Weber's opera "Euryanthe". (English)
The asteroid (528) Rezia is named after the heroine of Carl Weber's opera Oberon. (English) Russian , opened in 1904
Asteroid (529) Preciosa is named after the heroine of Carl Weber's opera Preciosa. (English) Russian , opened in 1904.
Asteroids (865) Zubaida are named after the heroines of Carl Weber's opera Abu Hasan (English) Russian and (866) Fatme (English) Russian , opened in 1917.

Bibliography

Dresden. Grave of Carl Maria von Weber and his family

Ferman V., Opera House, M., 1961;
Khokhlovkina A., Western European Opera, M., 1962:
Koenigsberg A., Karl-Maria Weber, M. - L., 1965;
Bialik M. G. Weber’s operatic work in Russia // F. Mendelssohn-Bartholdy and the traditions of musical professionalism: Collection scientific works/ Comp. G. I. Ganzburg. - Kharkov, 1995. - pp. 90 - 103.
Laux K., S. M. von Weber, Lpz., 1966;
Moser H. J.. S. M. von Weber. Leben und Werk, 2 Aufl., Lpz., 1955.

Notes

Links

Works of Weber on Classical Connect Free classical music library on Classical Connect
Summary (synopsis) of the opera “Free Shooter” on the “100 Operas” website
Carl Maria Weber: sheet music of works at the International Music Score Library Project

Categories:

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People born in Oitin
Deaths in London
Composers of Germany
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Romantic composers
Composers by alphabet
Born in 1786
Died in 1826
Died from tuberculosis
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Musicians in alphabetical order

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See what "Weber, Carl Maria von" is in other dictionaries:

- (Weber, Carl Maria von) CARL MARIA VON WEBER (1786 1826), founder of German romantic opera. Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was born in Eutin (Oldenburg, now Schleswig Holstein), on November 18 or 19, 1786. His father, Baron Franz... ... Collier's Encyclopedia

- (Weber) (1786 1826), German composer and conductor, music critic. The founder of German romantic opera. 10 operas (“Free Shooter”, 1821; “Euryanthe”, 1823; “Oberon”, 1826), virtuoso concert pieces for piano. (“Invitation to... ... encyclopedic Dictionary

Weber Carl Maria von (November 18 or 19, 1786, Eitin, ‒ June 5, 1826, London), German composer, conductor, pianist, music writer. Creator of German romantic opera. Born into the family of a musician and theater entrepreneur. Childhood and... ... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

In February 1815, Count Karl von Brühl, director of the Royal Theater of Berlin, introducing Karl Maria von Weber to the Prussian Chancellor Karl August Prince of Hardenburg as conductor of the Berlin Opera, gave him the following recommendation: this man stands out not only as a brilliant “passionate composer, he has in full extensive knowledge of art, poetry and literature, and this sets him apart from most musicians.” There is no better way to describe Weber's many gifts.

Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was born on November 18, 1786 in Eutin. He was the ninth child of ten children from his father's two marriages. Father - Franz Anton von Weber, without a doubt, had musical abilities. He began his career as a lieutenant, but even on the battlefield he carried a violin with him.

WITH early years Karl was getting used to the constant nomadic life. From childhood he grew up as a sickly, weak boy. He started walking only at the age of four. Due to his physical disabilities, he was more thoughtful and withdrawn than his peers. He learned, in his words, “to live in his own world, a world of fantasy, and find occupation and happiness in it.”

His father had long cherished the dream of making at least one of his children an outstanding musician. Mozart's example haunted him. Thus, from an early age, Karl began to study music with his father and with his half-brother Fridolin. The irony of fate is that one day Fridolin exclaimed in despair: “Karl, it seems you can become anything you want, but you will never become a musician.”

Karl Maria was apprenticed to the young bandmaster and composer Johann Peter Heischkel. From then on, training progressed rapidly. A year later, the family went to Salzburg, and Karl became a student of Michael Haydn. At the same time, he composed his first work, which his father published, and received a positive review in one of the newspapers.

In 1798, his mother died. Father's sister Adelaide took care of Karl. From Austria the Webers moved to Munich. Here the young man began taking singing lessons from Johann Evangelist Wallishausz and studying composition from the local organist Johann Nepomuk Kalcher.

Here in Munich, Karl wrote his first comic opera, The Power of Love and Wine. Unfortunately, it was subsequently lost.

However, the restless nature of the father did not allow the Weber family to stay in one place for a long time. In 1799 they come to the Saxon city of Freiburg. A year later, in November, the first youth opera “The Forest Girl” premiered here. In November 1801, father and son arrived in Salzburg. Karl began studying with Michael Haydn again. Soon Weber wrote his third opera - “Peter Schmoll and His Neighbors”. However, the premiere of the opera in Augsburg did not take place, and Karl Maria went on a concert tour with his father. Even then, thanks to his thin and long fingers, the young man achieved a technique that was available to only a few at that time.

An attempt to send Karl to study with Joseph Haydn nevertheless failed due to the maestro’s refusal. Therefore, the young man continued his studies with Georg Joseph Vogler. Abbot Vogler supported the young talent's interest in folk songs and music, especially those popular at that time oriental motifs, which was reflected later in Weber’s work “Abu Hasan”.

More important, however, was learning to conduct. This allowed Karl to lead the orchestra in the theater of Breslau in 1804. Having not yet reached the age of eighteen, the conductor seated the orchestra members in a new way, intervened in the productions, and introduced separate ensemble rehearsals, as well as dress rehearsals, for learning new parts. Weber's reforms were received ambiguously even by the public.

Here Karl had many affairs in the theater, among other things, with the prima donna Dietzel. Beautiful life demanded more and more funds, and the young man fell into debt.

His son's debts prompted his father to search for a source of food, and he began to try his hand at copper engraving. Unfortunately, this has become a source of unhappiness. One evening, feeling cold, Karl took a sip from a wine bottle, not suspecting that his father kept nitric acid there. He was saved by his friend Wilhelm Berner, who urgently called a doctor. A fatal outcome was avoided, but the young man lost his beautiful voice. His absence was taken advantage of by opponents who quickly eliminated all his reforms. Without money, pursued by creditors, the young pianist went on tour. He was lucky here. The maid of honor Brelonde, lady-in-waiting of the Duchess of Württemberg, facilitated his introduction to Eugen Friedrich von Württemberg-Els. Karl Maria took the place of music director at Karlsruhe Castle, built in the forests of upper Silesia. Now he has a lot of time to write. During the autumn of 1806 and winter of 1807, the twenty-year-old composer wrote a concertina for trumpet, as well as two symphonies. But the offensive of Napoleonic army confused all the cards. Soon Karl was to take the place of private secretary of Duke Ludwig, one of Eugene's three sons. This service turned out to be difficult for Weber from the very beginning. The Duke, experiencing financial difficulties, more than once made Charles a scapegoat. Three years of wild life, when Karl Maria often took part in his master’s revels, ended quite unexpectedly. In 1810, Karl's father arrived in Stuttgart and brought with him new and considerable debts. It all ended with the fact that, trying to get out of both his own and his father’s debts, the composer ended up behind bars, though only for sixteen days. On February 26, 1810, Karl and his father were expelled from Württemberg, but they made him promise to repay his debts.

This event was of great importance to Karl. In his diary he will write: “Born again.”

In a short time, Weber first visited Mannheim, then Heidelberg, and finally moved to Darmdstadt. Here Karl became interested in writing. His greatest achievement was the novel A Musician's Life, in which he hilariously and brilliantly described the composer's spiritual life while composing music. The book was largely autobiographical in nature.

On September 16, 1810, the premiere of his opera Silvana took place in Frankfurt. The composer was prevented from enjoying his triumph by a sensational flight on hot-air balloon Madame Blanchard over Frankfurt, eclipsing all other events. The title role in the opera was sung by the young singer Caroline Brandt, who later became his wife. Inspired by success and recognition, Karl Maria began the composition “Abu Hasan” in late autumn. He completed his largest instrumental work at that time, C-Dur, opus 11.

In February 1811, the composer went on a concert tour. On March 14 it ended in Munich. Karl stayed there; he liked the cultural environment of the Bavarian city. Already on April 5, Heinrich Joseph Berman performed a hastily composed concertino for clarinet especially for him. “The whole orchestra has gone crazy and wants concerts from me,” wrote Weber. Even King Max Joseph of Bavaria commissioned two concertos for clarinet and concerto.

Unfortunately, the matter did not come to other works, because Weber was occupied with other hobbies, and mainly love ones.

In January 1812, while in the city of Gotha, Karl Maria felt severe chest pain. From that time on, Weber's battle with a fatal disease began.

In April, in Berlin, Weber received sad news - his father died at the age of 78. Now he was left completely alone. However, his stay in Berlin did him good. Along with classes with male choirs, correction and reworking of the opera Silvana, he also wrote keyboard music. With the Grand Sonata in C-Dur he stepped onto new ground. Was born new way virtuoso playing, which influenced musical art throughout the 19th century. The same applies to his second keyboard concerto.

Going on a new tour early next year, Karl recalled with sadness: “Everything seems like a dream to me: that I left Berlin and left everything that had become dear and close to me.”

But Weber's tour was unexpectedly interrupted as soon as it began. As soon as Karl arrived in Prague, he was dumbfounded by the offer to head the local theater. After some hesitation, Weber agreed. He had a rare opportunity to realize his musical ideas, since from the director of the Liebig Theater he received unlimited authority to compose an orchestra. On the other hand, he now has a real chance to get rid of his debts.

Unfortunately, Karl soon became seriously ill, so much so that he did not leave the apartment for a long time. Having recovered a little, he plunged into work. His working day lasted from six in the morning until midnight.

But the Prague crisis was not limited to illness and hard work. The composer could not resist attempts to bring flirtatious theater ladies together. “It’s my misfortune that an eternally young heart beats in my chest,” he sometimes complained.

After new attacks of illness, Weber left for spa treatment and from Bad Liebwerdn often wrote to Caroline Brandt, who became his guardian angel. After numerous quarrels, the lovers finally found mutual agreement.

The liberation of Berlin after Napoleon's defeat in Leipzig unexpectedly awakened patriotic feelings in the composer. He composes music for “Lützow’s Wild Hunt” and “Sword Song” from Theodor Kerner’s collection of poems “Lyre and Sword”.

However, he soon fell into depression, caused not only by new attacks of illness, but also by serious disagreements with Brandt. Weber was inclined to leave Prague, and only the serious illness of the theater director Liebig kept him in the Czech Republic.

On November 19, 1816, something happened in the composer’s life big event- he announced his engagement to Caroline Brandt. Inspired, in a short time he writes two sonatas for piano, a large concert duet for claret and piano, and several songs.

At the end of 1817, Weber took up the post of musical director of the German opera in Dresden. He finally settled down and not only began to lead a sedentary life, but also forever put an end to his increasingly debilitating love affairs. On November 4, 1817, he married Caroline Brandt.

In Dresden, Weber wrote his best work - the opera Free Shooter. He first mentioned this opera in a letter to his then-fiancée Caroline: “The plot is appropriate, creepy and interesting.” However, the year 1818 was already ending, and work on “Free Shooter” almost did not begin, which is not surprising, because he had 19 orders from his employer, the king.

Caroline was expecting a baby and was on last month pregnancy is not entirely healthy. After much suffering, she gave birth to a girl, and Karl barely had time to fulfill orders. He had barely finished the Mass for the day of commemoration royal couple, how a new order arrived - an opera on the theme of the Arabian Nights fairy tales.

In mid-March, Weber fell ill, and a month later his daughter died. Caroline tried to hide her misfortune from her husband.

Soon she herself became seriously ill. Nevertheless, Caroline recovered much faster than her husband, who fell into such a deep depression that he could not write music. Surprisingly, the summer turned out to be productive. In July and August, Weber composed a lot. But work on “Free Shooter” was not moving forward at all. The New Year 1820 began again with misfortune - Caroline had a miscarriage. Thanks to his friends, the composer managed to overcome the crisis and on February 22 began completing “Free Shooter.” On May 3, Weber was able to proudly declare: “The Overture of The Hunter's Bride is completed, and with it the entire opera. Honor and praise be to the Lord."

The opera premiered on June 18, 1821 in Berlin. A triumphant success awaited her. Beethoven said with admiration about the composer: “In general, a gentle person, I never expected this from him! Now Weber must write operas, only operas, one after another.” Meanwhile, Weber's health deteriorated. For the first time his throat began to bleed.

In 1823, the composer completed work on a new opera, Euryanta. He wasn't worried high level libretto. Nevertheless, the premiere of the opera was generally successful. The hall enthusiastically accepted new job Weber. But the success of “Free Shooter” could not be repeated. The disease is rapidly progressing. The composer is plagued by an incessant, debilitating cough. In unbearable conditions, he finds the strength to work on the opera Oberon.

On April 1, the premiere of Oberon took place in London's Covent Garden. It was an unprecedented triumph for Carl Maria von Weber. The audience even forced him to go on stage - an event that had never happened before in English capital. He died in London on June 5, 1826. The death mask accurately conveys Weber's facial features in some kind of unearthly enlightenment, as if he saw heaven with his last breath.

1. heavenly sign

At the age of twelve, Weber composed his first comic opera, The Power of Love and Wine. The opera score was kept in a closet. Soon, in the most incomprehensible way, this cabinet burned down with all its contents. Moreover, except for the closet, nothing in the room was damaged. Weber took this incident as a “sign from above” and decided to abandon music forever, devoting himself to lithography.
However, despite heavenly warnings, the passion for music did not pass and at the age of fourteen Weber wrote new opera"Mute Forest Girl" The opera was first staged in 1800. Then it was staged quite often in Vienna, Prague and even St. Petersburg. After such a very successful start to his musical career, Weber stopped believing in omens and various “signs from above.”

2. envious person No. 1

Weber's dislike for other people's fame was truly boundless. He was especially uncompromising towards Rossini: Weber constantly told everyone that Rossini was completely mediocre, that his music was just a fashion that would be forgotten in a couple of years...
- This upstart Rossini doesn’t even deserve to be talked about! - Weber once said.
“Tell him that this would suit me very much,” Rossinni responded to this.

3. motto

The motto of Weber’s work was the famous words that the composer asked to place as his own autograph on the published engraving with his portrait: “Weber expresses the will of God, Beethoven the will of Beethoven, and Rossini... the will of the Viennese.”

4. Salieri to himself

What happened to Weber in Breslau tragic accident, which almost cost him his life. Weber invited a friend to dinner and sat down to work while waiting for him. Having frozen while working, he decided to warm up with a sip of wine, but in the semi-darkness he took a sip from the wine flask in which Weber's father kept sulfuric acid for engraving work. The composer fell lifeless. Weber's friend, meanwhile, was late and arrived only after nightfall. The composer's window was lit, but no one answered the knock. The friend pushed open the unlocked door and saw Weber's body lying lifeless on the floor. A broken flask lay nearby, giving off a pungent odor. Weber’s father ran out of the next room in response to cries for help, and together they took the composer to the hospital. Weber was brought back to life, but his mouth and throat were terribly burned, and vocal cords didn't work. Thus Weber lost his beautiful voice. For the rest of his life he was forced to speak in a whisper.
He once said in a whisper to one of his friends:
- They say that Mozart was ruined by Salieri, but I managed without him...

5. Unfortunately, birthdays only come once a year...

Weber loved animals very much. His house resembled a zoo: the hunting dog Ali, the gray cat Maune, the capuchin monkey Shnouf and many birds surrounded the musician’s family. The big Indian raven was a favorite - every morning he said solemnly to the composer: “Good evening.”
One day, his wife Caroline gave him a truly wonderful gift. Costumes for the animals were made especially for Weber's birthday, and the next morning a funny procession went to the birthday boy's room to congratulate him!.. Ali was turned into an elephant with a long trunk and large ears, his nopon was replaced by silk handkerchiefs. Behind him was a cat dressed as a donkey, with a pair of slippers instead of bags on its back. Next came a monkey in a fluffy dress, a hat with a huge feather bouncing coquettishly on her head...
Weber jumped for joy like a child, and then something unimaginable began: he forgot about his illnesses, failures, and even about his competing composers... The animals and happy Weber rushed around the chairs and tables, and the serious raven said to everyone an infinite number of times:
- Good evening!
It's a pity that Rossini didn't see this...

6. ugly angel

When The Magic Shooter was staged in Prague, the leading female part was sung by Henrietta Sontag, a very small, charming and extremely timid singer. She was a girl of angelic beauty, but Weber did not like her too much because of her timidity and uncertainty.
“She’s a pretty girl, but still quite thin,” the composer shrugged.

7. subtleties of criticism

From time to time, enthusiastic praise of the greatest of the greatest maestros of all times, Weber, appeared in Parisian newspapers. Moreover, the laudatory articles of the unknown author were written with knowledge of all the intricacies of the composer’s music. And it is not surprising, since these praises of Weber were sung... by Weber himself.

8. maestro and his children

Weber was so in love with himself that, with the consent of his wife, three of his four children were named after their father-composer: Carl Maria, Maria Carolina and Caroline Maria.

Childhood

Max Weber was born on April 21, 1864 in Erfurt (Thuringia). He was the eldest child of seven children. His father was Max Weber the Elder, a prominent civil servant and member of the National Liberal Party, and his mother was Helena (née Fallenstein), whose family included French Huguenot emigrants. In 1868, his brother Alfred was born, who later also became a famous sociologist and economist. In 1869, the Weber family moved to Charlottenburg (a suburb of Berlin). Aged four years Max Weber suffered from meningitis. At the age of 13, he had already read the works of philosophers Arthur Schopenhauer, Benedict Spinoza, Immanuel Kant, as well as literary authors such as Johann Wolfgang Goethe.

Education

In 1882 he graduated from the gymnasium in Charlottenburg and entered the Faculty of Law University of Heidelberg. After a year of military service, he transferred to Berlin University. Simultaneously with his studies, he worked as a junior lawyer. In 1886, Weber passed the Bar Secretary examination, which is similar to the British and American Bar Association examination. legal systems. During the second half of the 1880s, Weber continued to study law and history. He received his doctorate legal sciences in 1889, writing a dissertation on legal history, “The History of Trading Companies in the Middle Ages.” His supervisor was Levin Goldshmidt, an authoritative scholar in the field of commercial law. Two years later, Weber completed his habilitation "Significance agrarian history Rome for State and Private Law", working with August Maitzen. After this, he received the position of privatdozent at the University of Berlin, where he lectured and advised the government.

Job

During the period between his doctoral dissertation and his habilitation, Weber became interested in social policy. In 1888 he joined the Union social policy, a new professional association of German economists associated with the historical school, who saw the role of economics primarily in finding solutions social problems, and who carried out large-scale statistical studies economic problems. In 1890, the association developed a research program to study " Polish question", or Ostfluchta: the influx of Polish farm workers into eastern Germany, while local workers left for rapidly developing industrial cities. Weber led this research and wrote most a final report that generated considerable controversy and marked the beginning of Weber's fame as a sociologist. From 1893 to 1899, Weber was a member of the Pan-German League, an organization that opposed the influx of Polish workers.

In 1893, he married his second cousin Marianne Schnittger, a future fighter for women's rights.

In 1894-1896 - professor of national economics at Freiburg University, from 1896 - at Heidelberg University, from 1919 - at University of Munich. One of the founders of the German Sociological Society (1909). Since 1918, professor of national economics in University of Vienna. In 1919 - advisor to the German delegation at the Versailles negotiations.

Basic theoretical work Weber: “The Exchange and Its Significance”, “History of Economics”, “Science as a Vocation and Profession”, “Politics as a Vocation and Profession”, “On Some Categories of Understanding Sociology”, “ Protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism."

Last years

Scientific activity

The formation of Max Weber's philosophical views was influenced primarily by the concept of “understanding” developed by Wilhelm Dilthey and the principle of dividing sciences into the sciences of nature (nomothetic, aimed at studying patterns) and the sciences of the spirit (idiographic, aimed at studying unique phenomena), developed by the Baden school of neo-Kantianism (Rickert and Windelband).

Weber contributed significant contribution to such areas social knowledge, as general sociology, methodology of social cognition, political sociology, sociology of law, sociology of religion, sociology of music, economic sociology, theory of capitalism.

Understanding sociology. Social Action Theory

Weber called his concept “understanding sociology.” Sociology analyzes social action and tries to explain its cause. Understanding means knowing a social action through its subjectively implied meaning, that is, the meaning that the subject himself puts into this action. Therefore, sociology reflects the diversity of ideas and worldviews that regulate human activity, i.e. all the diversity human culture. Unlike his contemporaries, Weber did not seek to model sociology natural sciences, referring it to humanities or, in his terms, to the cultural sciences, which, both in methodology and subject matter, constitute an autonomous field of knowledge.

All scientific categories are only constructions of our thinking. “Society”, “state”, “institution” are just words, so they should not be assigned ontological characteristics. Only real fact social life is social action. Every society is a cumulative product of the interaction of specific individuals. Social action is an atom of social life, and it is to this that the sociologist's gaze should be directed. The actions of subjects are considered as motivated, meaningful and oriented towards others; these actions can be analyzed by deciphering the meanings and meanings that subjects give to these actions. Social action, writes Weber, is considered to be an action that is meaningfully correlated with the actions of other people and is oriented towards them.

That is, Weber identifies 2 signs of social action:

meaningful character;
orientation towards the expected reaction of others.

The main categories of understanding sociology are behavior, action and social action. Behavior is the most general category activity that becomes an action if the actor associates a subjective meaning with it. We can talk about social action when the action is correlated with the actions of other people and is oriented towards them. Combinations social action form " semantic connections”, on the basis of which social relations and institutions are formed.

The result of understanding according to Weber is a hypothesis high degree probability, which must then be confirmed by objective scientific methods.

Weber identifies four types of social action in descending order of their meaningfulness and intelligibility:

purposive - when objects or people are interpreted as means to achieve their own rational goals. The subject accurately imagines the goal and chooses the best option for achieving it. This is a pure model of formal-instrumental life orientation; such actions are most often found in the sphere of economic practice.
value-rational - determined by a conscious belief in the value of a certain action, regardless of its success, performed in the name of some value, and its achievement is more important than the side consequences (for example, the captain is the last to leave a sinking ship);
traditional - determined by tradition or habit. The individual simply reproduces that pattern social activity, which was used in similar situations previously by him or those around him (the peasant goes to the fair at the same time as his fathers and grandfathers).
affective - determined by emotions;

According to Weber, a social relationship is a system of social actions; social relationships include such concepts as struggle, love, friendship, competition, exchange, etc. A social relationship, perceived by an individual as obligatory, acquires the status of a legitimate social order. In accordance with the types of social actions, four types of legal (legitimate) order are distinguished: traditional, affective, value-rational and legal.

Sociological method

Weber's method of sociology is determined, in addition to the concept of understanding, by the doctrine of the ideal type, as well as the postulate of freedom from value judgments. The ideal type according to Weber fixes the “cultural meaning” of a particular phenomenon, and ideal type becomes a heuristic hypothesis capable of ordering the diversity of historical material without being tied to some predetermined scheme. Regarding the principle of freedom from value judgments, Weber distinguishes two problems: the problem of freedom from value judgments in the strict sense and the problem of the relationship between cognition and value. In the first case, it is necessary to strictly distinguish between established facts and their assessment from the ideological position of the researcher. In the second, we are talking about the theoretical problem of analyzing the connection of any knowledge with the values of the knower, i.e. the problem of the interdependence of science and the cultural context. Weber puts forward the concept " cognitive interest”, which determines the choice and method of studying an empirical object in each specific case, and the concept of “value idea”, which is determined by a specific way of seeing the world in a given cultural context. In the “sciences of culture” this problem acquires special significance, because in in this case values act as a necessary condition for the possibility of the existence of such sciences: we, existing in a certain culture, cannot study the world without evaluating it and without endowing it with meaning. In this case, therefore, we are not talking about the subjective predilections of this or that scientist, but first of all about the “spirit of the times” of this or that culture: it is he who plays key role in the formation of “value ideas”.

These theoretical postulates allow Weber to interpret the sociology of economics in a “cultural” key. Weber identifies two ideal-typical organizations economic behavior: traditional and purposeful. The first has existed since ancient times, the second has developed in modern times. Overcoming traditionalism is associated with the development of a modern rational capitalist economy, which presupposes the presence of certain types social relations And certain forms social order. Analyzing these forms, Weber comes to two conclusions: he describes the ideal type of capitalism as the triumph of rationality in all spheres of economic life, and such development cannot be explained solely by economic reasons. In the latter case, Weber polemicizes with Marxism.

"The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism"

In his work “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism,” Weber tries to explain the genesis of modern capitalism by connecting this problem with the sociology of religion, in particular Protestantism. He sees a connection between ethical code Protestant faiths and the spirit of a capitalist economy based on the ideal of a rationalist entrepreneur. In Protestantism, in contrast to Catholicism, the emphasis is not on the study of dogma, but on moral practice, expressed in the worldly service of a person, in the fulfillment of his worldly duty. This is what Weber called “secular asceticism.” The parallels between the Protestant emphasis on secular service and the ideal of capitalist rationality allowed Weber to connect the Reformation and the emergence of capitalism: Protestantism stimulated the emergence of forms of behavior specific to capitalism in everyday life and economic life. The minimization of dogma and ritual, the rationalization of life in Protestantism, according to Weber, became part of the process of “disenchantment of the world”, begun by the Hebrew prophets and ancient Greek scientists and reaching its culmination in the modern capitalist world. This process is associated with the liberation of a person from magical superstitions, the autonomy of the individual, belief in scientific progress and rational cognition.

At the same time, it is necessary to note the extreme caution of Weber himself in this matter, who emphasized that “we are in no way inclined to defend such an absurd doctrinaire thesis that the “capitalist spirit” (in the sense in which we temporarily use this concept) could only arise as a result of the influence of certain aspects of the reformation, as if capitalism as an economic system was a product of the reformation.”

Sociology of power

In the sociology of power, Weber also follows his own method. In accordance with it, three types of legitimation of power (domination) are distinguished:

rational, based on faith in the legality of existing orders and the legal right of those in power to give orders;
traditional, based on the belief in the sanctity of traditions and the right to rule of those who received power in accordance with this tradition;
charismatic, based on belief in supernatural holiness, heroism, genius. or some other dignity of the ruler and his power, not subject to precise definition or a clear explanation.

In this context, Weber's theory of rational bureaucracy associated with the first type of power is formulated. In his analysis of democracy, Weber formulates the presence of two types of this type of government: “plebiscite leader democracy” and various forms of “leaderless democracy”, the goal of which is to minimize direct forms of domination of man over man through the development rational forms representation, collegiality and division of powers.

Weber's works had a significant impact on the sociology of the 20th century and continue to be relevant today.

	Weber, Carl Maria von in Wikiquote
	Weber, Carl Maria von on Wikimedia Commons