Weyse, Christoph Ernst Friedrich
Weyse, Christoph Ernst Friedrich
Weyse, Christoph Ernst Friedrich, eminent Danish pianist, organist, pedagogue, and composer of German descent; b. Altona, March 5, 1774; d. Copenhagen, Oct. 8, 1842. He studied with his grandfather, a cantor in Altona, and in 1789 went to Copenhagen, where he studied with J. A. P. Schulz; he remained there the rest of his life. After establishing his reputation as a pianist, he devoted himself to the organ. He was deputy organist (1792-94) and principal organist (1794-1805) at the Reformed Church, and then served as principal organist at the Cathedral from 1805 until his death, winning great renown as a master of improvisation. In 1816 he was named titular prof, at the Univ. and was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1842, the year of his death. In 1819 he was appointed court composer. Through the court conductor Kunzen, he became interested in a movement for the establishment of a national school of Danish opera, for which his works (together with those of Kuhlau) effectively prepared the way. He remains best known for his fine songs.
Works
dramatic: Opera (all 1st perf. in Copenhagen): Sovedrikken (The Sleeping Potion; April 21, 1809); Faruk (Jan. 30, 1812); Ludlams hule (Ludlam’s Cave; Jan. 30, 1816); Floribella (Jan. 29,1825); Et eventyr i Rosenborg Have (An Adventure in Rosenborg Gardens; May 26,1827); Festen pàa Kenilworth (Jan. 6, 1836). Incidental Music To: Shakespeare’s Macbeth (1817); J. Ewald’s Balders dod (The Death of Baldur; 1832). ORCH.: 7 syms. (1795-99). CHAMBER: Sonata for 2 Bassoons (c. 1798). KEYBOARD: Various piano works, including (6) Allegri di bravura (Berlin, 1796), (8) Études (1837), and many waltzes, impromptus, and écossaises; 32 organ preludes; the folk-song collection Halvtresindstyve gamie kaempeviser (1840-2). VOCAL: Miserere for Double Chorus and Orch. (1818); various cantatas (1818-22); numerous songs, many of which were publ. as Romancer og sange (1852-60).
Bibliography
A. Berggreen, C.E.F. W.s biographie (Copenhagen, 1876); J. Larsen, W.s sange (Copenhagen, 1942); C. Harting, W.s kantater (diss., Univ. of Copenhagen, 1955).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire