Karl Eulenstein (musician)

Karl Eulenstein (1833)

Karl Eulenstein even Charles Eulenstein (* 27. December 1802 in Heilbronn , † 15. January 1890 in Celje , Austria-Hungary , now Slovenia ) was around 1830 an internationally known Maultrommel -Virtuose who also several grammar textbooks of German and has written in English.

biography

Eulenstein was born as the son of the soap boiler Georg Heinrich Eulenstein (1776–1807) and Johanna Christiane. Winzelburger (1779–1844) was born in Heilbronn and after the early death of his father was given to a master dyer. He became interested in music at an early age, learned to play the violin and wanted to become a musician, but was urged by his guardian to do an apprenticeship in a Heilbronn trading house. There he met Justinus Kerner around 1820 , who played the jew's harp himself, brought Eulenstein into contact with the instrument and later promoted him in his career with letters of recommendation. Kerner dedicated the poem Auf Eulenstein's play on the Jew's Harp in the Night to Eulenstein and procured him a concert ticket for a Jew's Harp concert by Franz Koch , who was considered a master of the instrument. Eulenstein meanwhile practiced the jew's harp himself in his spare time, modified his instruments and soon composed his own melodies.

In 1821 he went to Lüneburg , where he completed an apprenticeship as a pastry chef. During his apprenticeship he often played in the teacher's house and was able to give his first concert here, after the positive response of which he wanted to travel home to Heilbronn in the summer of 1824 as a concert tour. However, this first concert tour failed completely, and he was unable to realize further tour plans in his home country. He was able to play for the Prince of Hohenlohe, the Margravine of Baden and the Swedish Queen, but initially found no economic livelihood with his music, so that he planned to work as a confectioner again, for which he went to Stuttgart in late autumn 1824 .

As Eulenstein, contrary to expectations, could not find a job in Stuttgart, he hired himself again as a musician. With letters of recommendation from Justinus Kerner, he played in front of Gustav Schwab , Ludwig Uhland , Wilhelm Hauff and other personalities, who in turn recommended him, so that he quickly achieved a good income with numerous appearances in private companies and was also well known in the press for the first time. Christian Ludwig Neuffer dedicated the poem An Eulenstein, Tonkünstler on the Jew's Harp to him .

Via Tübingen , where he was accompanied on guitar at a concert by Friedrich Silcher , and Zurich he came to Lausanne , where he learned to play the guitar and the French language. At the end of 1825 Eulenstein came to Paris , where he made the acquaintance of the composer and harpist Franz Stockhausen and attracted the attention of Gioacchino Rossini and Ferdinando Paër , through which he gained access to the French royal court. Not all appearances were rewarded with money, so that the musician was often threatened by existential needs. In 1826 Eulenstein traveled to England and gave a concert for the British King George IV , which was widely recognized.

After a short stay in his hometown Heilbronn, Eulenstein returned to London in 1827 , where, after initial difficulties and another difficult economic time, he also found attention as a guitarist. As a guitar soloist, he first appeared in 1828 with Stockhausen and his wife during a cure in the seaside resort of Cheltenham . He later moved to Bath , where he worked as a German and guitar teacher in between concert tours. Here he also wrote a German exercise book and a grammar book. Around 1830 he was considered the best jaw harp player of his time. He played up to 16 different jew's harps, which he could change without noticeable interruption of the game, thus reaching a range of four octaves . The Literary Gazette wrote in 1833: "It is unlikely to find a successor who will offer a lecture like this."

Playing on the Jew's Harp, however, damaged his teeth to such an extent that after many previous dental problems after a concert tour in 1833, playing the Jew's Harp became completely impossible after his last undamaged upper tooth broke off. In future he could only perform as a guitarist and work as a music teacher. On August 27, 1834, he married Katharina Henriette Sophie Rose in Lüneburg (* February 10, 1806 in Lüneburg; † May 11, 1879 in Günzburg), with whom he lived in Bath for a few years, although his income there temporarily due to competition from others Teachers and the lack of opportunities for jew's harp concerts were scarce. The couple had three children in Bath: Theodor Ernst (* 1839), Eduard Carl (* 1841) and Franziska Henriette (* 1843).

In 1847 the family moved to Heilbronn, where Eulenstein had a house built on the lower avenue in 1850 . Here he wrote two more books on German and English colloquial language. However, he did not continue his musical career. In 1858 the family moved to Stuttgart, later the couple moved to Günzburg and after the death of his wife Eulenstein last lived with his daughter in Celje, Austria, where he died in 1890 and was buried.

Works

• Charles Eulenstein: An Easy Introduction to the German Language . C. & H. Senior, London 1839 ( digitized in the Google book search).
• Charles Eulenstein: Progressive Exercises for Speaking German; A supplement to all German Grammars . D. Nutt, London 1844 ( digitized in the Google book search).

literature

• Karl Eulenstein: My musical career . Edited by Günther Emig (= small series of publications from the archive of the city of Heilbronn. 49). Heilbronn City Archives, Heilbronn 2001, ISBN 3-928990-76-4 .
• Hubert Weckbach: Eulenstein, the good spirit - Karl Eulenstein . In: Heilbronn heads III. Life pictures from three centuries (= small series of publications from the archive of the city of Heilbronn. 48). Heilbronn City Archives, Heilbronn 2001, ISBN 3-928990-78-0 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Karl Eulenstein in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Justinus Kerner: On Eulenstein's game on the jew's harp in the night. zeno.org