Carl Wettig

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Carl Bernhard Wilhelm Wettig (born March 16, 1826 in Goslar ; † July 2, 1859 in Brno ) was a German composer , pianist and conductor .

Life

Wettig was born on March 16, 1826 in Goslar and baptized on March 31 in the Stephanus Church there. His parents were the musician and mill owner Wilhelm Sebastian Wettig and his wife Albertine Dorothee Marie Wettig nee. Albrecht.

He studied at the Leipzig Conservatory from 1845 and then lived in Weimar , where he was taught by Carl Montag (1817–1864). In addition, he taught the piano himself to Alexander Wilhelm Gottschalg, who was the same age .

On July 23, 1848 he sent some of his works to Robert Schumann for the first time from the village of Wusseken near Stolp in Hinterpommern , where he worked as a private teacher , who then became involved in Wettig's work. On August 5, 1848, Schumann wrote to Wettig that he liked his “Clavierstück mit Orchester”, which he wanted “to be printed soon”. At the same time he offered: "My wife, who you probably know by name as a good musician, would play it in Leipzig at the first opportunity that presents itself." That did not happen, but Schumann managed to get the Verlag Breitkopf & Härtel published several songs and piano works by Wettig in print.

On January 2nd, 1849, Schumann wrote to Wettig that he was staying in Leipzig from January 7th to 11th and invited him to a meeting. Wettig does not seem to have reacted. On January 4, 1850, through Schumann's mediation, a Wettig overture was performed at a concert by the Leipzig association “Euterpe” . The two composers' correspondence ended shortly afterwards.

From the beginning of the 1850s, Wettig worked as Kapellmeister in Erfurt and Naumburg . In Naumburg he met the young Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900), who lived there from 1850 to 1856 and who later commented on him with great praise: “Here I have to mention the excellent music director Wettig, a thoroughly capable musician, both in the Conducting as composing. He always kept his little chapel in perfect order, the choirs of the choral society were excellently practiced by him, but he was also considered the best teacher in Naumburg. His wife, a former opera singer, also did a lot to brighten up the musical performances. "

From 1855 Wettig worked as opera conductor in Brno, where shortly before his untimely death he finished the opera Wittekind , about the life of the leader of the pagan Saxons Widukind in the resistance against Charlemagne .

Wettig's cause of death is unknown.

family

Wettig's wife was the singer Wilhelmine Marie Henriette ("Minna") Stark (born March 8, 1828 in Weimar; † April 2, 1912 ibid), a daughter of the Weimar doctor Wilhelm Moritz Stark, who came from Weimar. She also studied at the Leipzig Conservatory from 1845 and then worked for a few years at the Leipzig City Theater. Both married in July 1852 in Mannstedt near Weimar .

After the death of her husband, she moved back to her hometown and married the violinist August Friedrich Weißenborn there on October 8, 1868 († October 19, 1902 in Nordhausen ). One son from this marriage was the Dutch composer Ernst Wettig-Weissenborn (1868–1946).

From 1869 to 1874, Minna Wettig-Weißenborn can be verified as a singing teacher at the Weimar Sophienstift, a school for higher daughters .

Works (selection)

Wettig's orchestral works did not appear in print and are lost.

  • op. 2 - Longing ( Emanuel Geibel ), Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1849
  • op. 3 - Three piano pieces, Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1849
    • op. 3 No. 1 - Impromptu in B flat major for piano, dedicated to Antonie von Puttkammer
    • op. 3 No. 2 - Two bagatelles in A flat major and A major , dedicated to Eveline von Puttkammer
  • op. 4 - Scherzo, “ Dedicated to Franz Liszt ” for piano, Hamburg: Schubert & Co., 1850
  • op. 5 - Four songs based on texts by Heinrich Heine , Hamburg: Schubert & Co., 1850
  • op. 6 - Songs without words for piano, Hamburg: Schubert & Co., 1850
  • op. 7 - Twelve little pieces for piano, Hamburg: Schubert & Co., 1851
  • op.8 - Three songs , Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, 1851
  • op.9 - Theme with variations in D major for piano, Leipzig: CF Peters, 1854
  • op. 10 - Concert piece in B flat minor for piano and orchestra, “Frau Dr. Dedicated to Clara Schumann "(unprinted, lost)
  • op.13 - Six Piano Pieces , Leipzig: CF Peters, 1856
  • op.14 - Impromptu in G sharp minor for piano , Winterthur: J. Rieter-Biedermann, 1860
  • op. 18 - Five piano pieces , dedicated to "his friend Carlschulz" [sic], Leipzig: CF Peters, 1860
  • op.19 - nine piano pieces for four hands , Vienna: CA Spina's successor (Friedrich Schreiber)
  • op. 22 - Four songs for mixed choir , Leipzig, around 1895
  • op. 23 - Six songs , Winterthur: J. Rieter-Biedermann, 1860
  • op. 24 - Bagatelle in E flat major for piano
  • op. 25 - Im Wald ( Müller von der Werra ) for male choir, Leipzig: Friedrich Kistner, approx. 1862

literature

In 1862 the Weimar organist and music writer Alexander Wilhelm Gottschalg published allegedly “a biographical sketch” of Wettig “at Trautwein in Berlin”, of which, however, no copy can be verified.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Goslar, St. Stephani, Taufen 1826, p. 342 No. 19; communicated by Angelika Koch, State Church Archives Wolfenbüttel. In the literature there are several false statements that Wettig was born on March 16, 1827 in Mannstedt near Weimar.
  2. ↑ Musikalisches Conversations-Lexikon , ed. by Hermann Mendel, Volume 4, Berlin 1874, p. 309 ( digitized version )
  3. ↑ Robert Schumann's letters. New episode , ed. by F. Gustav Jansen , 2nd edition, Leipzig 1904, p. 287 ( digitized version )
  4. ↑ Alexander Wilhelm Gottschalg , Unprinted Letters from Rob. Schumann (conclusion) , in: Neue Zeitschrift für Musik , Volume 87, No. 13 from April 1, 1891, pp. 145f., Here p. 145 ( digitized version )
  5. ↑ Neue Zeitschrift für Musik , Volume 32, No. 6 of January 18, 1850, p. 28 ( digitized version )
  6. ↑ Friedrich Nietzsche, autobiographical from the years 1856–1869 , in: ders., Works in three volumes , Munich 1954, volume 3, p. 26 ( online )
  7. ^ Neue Berliner Musikzeitung , Vol. 13, No. 33 of August 17, 1859, p. 263 ( digitized version )
  8. ^ Emil Kneschke, The Conservatory of Music in Leipzig. His story, his teachers and pupils , Leipzig 1868, p. 36 ( digitized version )
  9. ↑ The marriage apparently took place in the fall of 1865; see. Neue Zeitschrift für Musik , Volume 61, No. 49 of December 1, 1865, p. 435: “The widow of Capellm living in Weimar. Wettig has married the court musician Weißenborn, who is known as an excellent violinist. "
  10. ↑ Elise Rosalie Antonie Emilie von Puttkammer (born March 28, 1828 in Bartin near Rummelsburg ( Pomerania ))
  11. ↑ Cf. Neue Zeitschrift für Musik , Volume 45, No. 18 of October 24, 1856, p. 189 ( digitized version )
  12. ↑ Information from Hermann Erler , Robert Schumann's Leben. Described from his letters , Berlin 1887, Volume 2, p. 51 ( digitized version )
  13. ^ Neue Zeitschrift für Musik , Volume 57, No. 11 of September 12, 1862, p. 98 ( digitized version )
personal data
SURNAME Wettig, Carl
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wettig, Carl Bernhard Wilhelm (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer, pianist and conductor
DATE OF BIRTH March 16, 1826
PLACE OF BIRTH Goslar
DATE OF DEATH July 2, 1859
Place of death Brno