Wilhelm Westmeyer

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Wilhelm Westmeyer, photo by the Viennese court photographer Fritz Luckhardt

Wilhelm Westmeyer (born February 11, 1829 in Iburg ; † September 3, 1880 in Bonn ) was a German composer and pianist . He wrote church music and operas as well as children's songs . He also devoted himself to military music .

Life

family

Westmeyer's birthplace in Bad Iburg, 2008

William West Meyer was in 1829 as the first child of the peasantry from Mentrup coming car maker Johann Heinrich Bernard West Meyer (1803-1856) in what was then the Kingdom of Hanover belonging stains born Iburg. His mother was the Iburger shoemaker's daughter Maria Elisabeth Westmeyer, born in Niebusch (1802–1866). His birthplace at Osnabrücker Straße 16 in Bad Iburg has been preserved. Wilhelm Westmeyer had six siblings, five brothers and one sister. The growing family lived in simple circumstances, which caused three of his brothers to emigrate . His brother Joseph Carl Heinrich Westmeyer emigrated to the USA in 1857, Anton Heinrich Westmeyer went to the Netherlands in 1858 and lived as a merchant in Amsterdam, Gerhard Carl Westmeyer moved to London in 1862.

Childhood and youth

Wilhelm Westmeyer attended school in Iburg. He received piano lessons at an early age, presumably supported by the doctor Augustin Lamby, the father of his fellow pupil Alfred Lamby (1829–1900). After finishing school, Westmeyer began training as a locksmith in Osnabrück. The organist of Osnabrück Cathedral and piano teacher Carl Klein became aware of Westmeyer and made sure that he could attend the Carolinum grammar school. His parents agreed to go back to school because they wanted him to become a priest . Westmeyer lived temporarily with Klein, who gave him music lessons. In 1847 Westmeyer left school without having passed the Abitur and went to Leipzig .

Studied in Leipzig

In October 1847 he began his studies at the Conservatorium der Musik in Leipzig . There he studied among others with Moritz Hauptmann and Ignaz Moscheles . His studies were financially supported by a scholarship from King Ernst August I of Hanover and his son Georg , who was still crown prince at the time and contributed 50 Reichstaler from his own box . In 1849 he dedicated some compositions to the Crown Prince and his wife Marie , which he sent to the couple through the royal Hanover consul general Gustav Moritz Clauss. From Hanover, however, he was reminded that his studies were being promoted in order to perfect himself in piano, and not in order to devote himself to composing. Due to illness, Wilhelm Westmeyer interrupted his studies in Leipzig, where cholera had broken out, and lived temporarily in Zschepplin Castle at the invitation of Count Clemens August Bruno von Mengersen . At the end of 1850 he returned to Leipzig and, while studying, took private lessons in composition with Johann Christian Lobe , with whom he also lived. In 1851 the royal scholarship was not extended. Westmeyer appeared as a pianist at concerts in Saxon noble houses and tried to earn a living. In doing so, he violated the rules of the conservatory, which did not allow his students to appear in public before completing their studies. In the "Disciplinary Regulations" it was said: No pupil is allowed to go to any public place, wherever it may be, neither in the orchestra nor as long as he is taking part in the lessons in the Conservatory and has not yet been formally discharged from the latter as a solo player, still performing as a singer. Westmeyer saw himself primarily as a composer and broke off his studies without a degree.

From Vienna to Bonn

Wilhelm Westmeyer probably lived temporarily in Vienna after his Leipzig years after he had been issued a passport in his home town of Iburg in December 1852, which he had applied for with the purpose of traveling to “visit musical studies”.

His stay in Berlin is documented from 1855, where his first opera Amanda or Countess and Peasant Woman was published. The Komische Oper was premiered in 1856 at the Hoftheater Coburg and performed again in Leipzig in 1858 in the City Theater.

In Stauchitz he was a guest of the manor owner and member of the Saxon professional assembly Ludwig von Zehmen and his wife Victorie Genoveva for several years . There he composed the opera Der Wald bei Hermannstadt , the libretto of which his host had written. It was based on a play from 1808. The opera premiered on April 3, 1859 in Leipzig and was discussed in several publications, including the Leipziger Zeitung , the Berliner Musik-Zeitung , the Illustrirten Zeitung and the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik . The critic of the Ilustrirten Zeitung wrote in the April 16, 1859 edition: [...] the music deserves praise for its warmth and characteristic expression, and so this musical creation maintains the applause it received at its first performance. The opera was also performed in Berlin, Dresden and Prague. It is not clear whether it was also performed in Paris at the Théâtre des Bouffes-Parisiens , as Jacques Offenbach Westmeyer had promised in 1867. He probably also wrote his opera Die Brandschatzung in Stauchitz.

The performance of the opera Der Wald bei Hermannstadt on September 21, 1867 in the New Town Theater (Novomestské divadlo) , a summer stage in Prague, was welcomed. The German-language magazine Bohemia published there on September 24, 1867 said: Westmeyer's name has been mentioned often in Germany in recent years. The donations made by his muse met with applause almost everywhere [...] and, especially in German journalism, such friendly, warm recognition that one could justifiably be eager to get to know one of his works. There were three more performances in October at the Royal German City Theater .

Between 1862 and 1866 Wilhelm Westmeyer spent a long time in Dresden, there in the city apartment of Baron Zehmen on the Altmarkt . Westmeyer returned to Stauchitz from Dresden, who had no apartment of his own throughout his life. In 1863 he gave a concert during one of his visits to his birthplace in Iburg, in which Luise Hiltermann appeared as a singer.

In 1869 Westmeyer moved to Vienna and lived there in various hotels. In Vienna he turned his attention to the establishment of a military music conservatory, but failed. Constant von Wurzbach paid tribute to his work with an entry in the Biographical Lexicon of the Austrian Empire , published in 1886 . The magazine for the Austrian grammar schools in 1880 highlighted his compositions of children's songs. His Kaiser Overture , written in 1873, was played frequently in Austria . Austria's military bands included them in their program at events on the occasion of the birthday of Emperor Franz Josef I. Eduard Strauss later rearranged them. The emperor had a splendid edition of their final apotheosis published, the elaborate, individually designed splendid bindings of which were made by the Viennese bookbinder Franz Felix Rosenberg as personal gifts for the highest dignitaries with the insignia of the recipient.

Another stay in Iburg is documented from 1875. There his festival song was performed on the occasion of the construction of a rifle tower on the Dörenberg .

Due to his poor health, Wilhelm Westmeyer left Vienna at the beginning of 1880 and was admitted to the Hertz'sche private clinic, which Carl Hertz had founded in Bonn in 1849 as a sanatorium for the mentally and mentally ill. There he died in September 1880. His brother Anton Westmeyer had him buried in the old cemetery in Bonn .

Works (selection)

Operas

  • Amanda or Countess and Peasant Woman , comic opera, world premiere on May 29, 1856 in Coburg
  • The forest near Sibiu , romantic opera, world premiere on April 3, 1856 in Leipzig
  • The pillage , comic opera

Overtures

  • Overture , first performance in October 1851 in Leipzig
  • Festival overture
  • Concert overture , first performed in Gotha in 1856
  • Kaiser Overture , 1873
  • Concert Overture "A Young Man's Dream"

Church music

  • Kyrie , first performance on December 20, 1849 in Leipzig
  • Agnus Dei , first performance on December 20, 1849 in Leipzig
  • Vocal fair , first performed in Leipzig in 1850

Symphonic music

  • Symphony in E flat major , first performance on January 27, 1852 in Leipzig
  • Symphonic seal Napoleon I's vision on St. Helen

Concert music

  • Octet for wind and string instruments, first performed in 1865, probably in Dresden
  • trio
  • Quintet farewell sounds
  • Double joint
  • Waltz fantasy

Songs and song cycles

  • Song cycle Das Leben im Liede , created around 1870
  • Dark clouds of fog , first performed in Leipzig in 1848
  • Father, mother, stop complaining , 1849 in Leipzig
  • Many weeks have fled , in Leipzig in 1849
  • Come here, happy and free , in Leipzig in 1849
  • Eight children's songs

Choral music

  • The hour calls for parting , premiered in Leipzig in 1848
  • Honor the man
  • Are you a poor devil
  • The general
  • The grave digger
  • The angel song
  • Dream song
  • Festival song , performed in 1875 on the Dörenberg in Iburg

Honors and aftermath

Austria honored Wilhelm Westmeyer in 1867 with the Franz Joseph Order , which was awarded to him by Emperor Franz Joseph I on May 22, 1867 and awarded on May 31, 1867. On June 11, 1867, the Emperor received Westmeyer in Ofen , where Franz Joseph I stayed after his coronation as King of Hungary.

In Germany, Westmeyer received the Prussian Order of the Crown with the Johanniter Cross .

On March 1, 2005, Westmeyer's works were again performed at the anniversary event of the Association for Local and Local History Bad Iburg.

The city council decided in December 2005 on the suggestion of the association for local and local history Bad Iburg to name the Wilhelm-Westmeyer-Weg on the Urberg after the musician.

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gerhard Vollbrecht: Life and work of the Iburger composer Wilhelm Westmeyer p. 23
  2. ↑ Quoted from: Gerhard Vollbrecht: Life and work of the Iburger composer Wilhelm Westmeyer p. 57
  3. ↑ Quoted from: Gerhard Vollbrecht: Life and work of the Iburg composer Wilhelm Westmeyer p. 42
  4. ^ Biographical Lexicon of the Austrian Empire , 1886
  5. ^ Journal for the Austrian grammar schools , 1880
  6. ^ "The forest near Sibiu, libretto, approx. 1859"
  7. ↑ Anniversary of the Association for Local and Local History Bad Iburg, Newsletter 29 on the website of Horst Grebing ( Memento from July 11, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Westmeyer, Wilhelm
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer and pianist
DATE OF BIRTH February 11, 1829
PLACE OF BIRTH Bad Iburg
DATE OF DEATH September 3, 1880
Place of death Bonn