Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 4.djvu/406

390 by his acquaintance with Aloys Senefelder, the inventor of lithography, in whose shop he frequently occupied himself, even imagining that he had discovered some improvements in the method of mechanical reproduction. Indeed, his interest in lithography became so keen, that for a time he neglected composition. The father, always restless and whimsical, thought of carrying out the new discovery on a large scale, and it was decided to move to Freiberg in Saxony, where the necessary materials were more easily procurable. The plan was carried into effect in 1800, Carl Maria giving concerts on the way with success at Leipzig and other towns in Central Germany. Arrived in Freiberg he speedily lost his interest in lithography, partly owing to an opening which occurred for producing a dramatic work. The large and well-selected company of Ritter von Steinsberg, whom the Webers had met before, had been playing there since the summer. Steinsberg had written an opera-book, 'Das Waldmädchen,' which he handed over to Carl Maria, then just thirteen, and the first performance took place on Nov. 24. Public expectation had been roused to a high pitch by Franz Anton's manœuvres, and seems to have been barely satisfied by the result. Two Freiberg musicians entered into a newspaper correspondence with the composer, whose pen was obviously guided by his father, for the intemperate, impertinent, tone of the letters is wholly unlike anything in Carl Maria's character. The opera succeeded better at Chemnitz (Dec. 5, 1800), and was evidently appreciated in Vienna (Leopoldstadt Theatre, 1805), where it was given eight times during the month of December. It was also performed at Prague, and even in St. Petersburg, but negotiations with Weimar fell through. Carl Maria was quite aware afterwards of the small value of this youthful work. In his autobiographical sketches, he calls it 'a very immature production, not perhaps without occasional marks of invention, the second act of which I wrote in ten days,' adding, 'this was one of the many unfortunate consequences of the marvellous tales of the great masters, which made so great an impression on my juvenile mind, and which I tried to imitate.'

Freiberg in its turn was abandoned, possibly towards the end of 1800, certainly by the beginning of 1801. The last we hear of him there is that he wrote on Dec. 9 to Artaria of Vienna offering him his lithographic invention, the advantages of which were, in his own words, '1. I can engrave music on stone in a manner quite equal to the finest English copper-plate engraving, as the enclosed specimens will show. 2. One workman can complete from two to three plates a day in winter, and from three to four in summer when the days are longer. 3. A plate can be used again, by which I mean entirely erased, over thirty times. 4. Two men can take as many thousand impressions a week as in common printing. 5. One hundred thalers will cover the whole outlay for machinery.' He also offered the Viennese publishers several compositions for strings and for piano. Artaria took no notice of the letter. After this the father and son seem to have made some stay in Chemnitz, as we have letters from the former there dated April 24, and May 17, 1801. By November they were again in Salzburg, where Carl Maria composed the opera 'Peter Schmoll und seine Nachbarn,' produced in Augsburg (probably in 1803) without any special success. In a letter of Nov. 25, 1801, Carl Maria calls himself a pupil of Michael Haydn, 'and of several other great masters in Munich, Dresden, Prague, and Vienna,' but who these masters were has not been ascertained. As far as Vienna, Prague, and Dresden are concerned, it can refer only to short temporary relations with musicians, as up to this time no stay had been made in any of these places. The passage however is fresh evidence of the continual restlessness in which Weber's youth was passed. In the summer of 1802 he went with his father to North Germany, and in October paid a fortnight's visit to his birthplace. Here he saw much of Johann Heinrich Voss, a fact worthy of note, because of the admirable settings he afterwards composed to some of Voss's poems. On the return journey he composed at Hamburg, also in October, his two first Lieder—'Die Kerze,' by Matthisson, and 'Umsonst,' of which the latter only has been printed. At Coburg, where the court was very musical, he tried to procure a hearing for his two operas, but whether successfully or not cannot be ascertained. More important than the actual musical results of this tour were the theoretical studies on which he embarked during its progress. He collected books on theory, and soon his letters are full of Emmanuel Bach's 'Versuch über die wahre Art das Clavier zu spielen,' of Agricola (apparently his revision of Tosi's 'Introduction to Singing'), of Kirnberger, and others. Thus he began to cultivate independence of thought on matters of art. His newly acquired knowledge of theory was indeed rudely shaken in Augsburg, where he arrived November 1802, and made some stay. Here he formed a close friendship with a certain Dr. Munding, who in all their conversations on art had a disturbing habit of demanding the reason for every rule propounded, which Weber was not at that time competent to give. This however stimulated him to clear up his own views on the fundamental laws of art. The most striking fact about him at this time was the extraordinary activity of his mind in every direction. He took great interest in musical criticism, and in December 1802 was busy with preparations for a musical dictionary. A Salzburg friend, Ignaz Susan, wrote to encourage him in a plan for a musical periodical, and was soon afterwards employed in procuring him materials for a history of music in Vienna, whither he betook himself early in 1803. The most important acquaintance he made on this visit was that of the Abbé Vogler, who was then composing his opera 'Samori.' This gifted, many-sided man, however he may have fallen