Carl Friedrich Weitzmann
Encyclopedia
Carl Friedrich Weitzmann (Aug. 10 1808-Nov. 7 1880) was a German music theorist and musician.
. From 1827 to 1832 he studied composition in Kassel with Louis Spohr
and Moritz Hauptmann
. In 1832 he founded a Liedertafel (a peculiarly German type of male singing society) in Riga (now in Lithuania) with Heinrich Dorn
. In Revel (now Tallinn, Estonia), he became music director of the opera where he composed three operas. From 1836 he began a ten-year association with the Saint Petersburg court orchestra. At this time he began to collect music books and folksongs. He toured in Lappland and Finland (then part of the Russian empire) and performed with orchestras in Paris and London. He returned to Berlin in 1848 to research music history and theory. He took a teaching position with the Stern Conservatory
(now part of the Berlin University of the Arts
) in 1857.
Weitzmann published his first major theoretical work Der übermässige Dreiklang (the augmented triad) in 1853. He suggested a minor triad
was merely an inversion of a major triad and both are generated by a common fundamental tone in the middle. This had been only a passing observation by the earlier theorist Moritz Hauptmann
. Composer Franz Liszt was especially influenced by Weitzmann's work; therefore, Weitzman is now associated with the "Music of the Future." (a generic term for composers following Lizst, Wagner, Berlioz, and Bruckner). Weitzmann's theories accounted for the increasingly chromatic music of the time, and Lizst drew upon them in his analysis of own Faust Symphony – a work saturated with augmented triads.
Weitzmann later extended his theories to scales, noting how a descending minor scale starting from the fifth degree is an inversion of an ascending major scale. Because his theories relate major and minor, it is called a "dualist" explanation. Later dualist theorists include Arthur von Oettingen and the early work of Hugo Riemann
.
Weitzmann differed from most theorists in his ideas of tuning and temperament
. Most theorists viewed equal temperament as a compromise or a necessary evil. Weitzmann viewed it positively. He looked for acoustical properties of 12-note equal temperament, presumed enharmonic equivalence, and de-emphaisized traditional rules of voice leading and treatment of dissonance leading to a theory where any chord can follow another chord.
His most lasting contribution to music theory (researched by contemporary American theorist Richard Cohn
) concerns chord relations. Traditionally, a C-major triad was thought to be related most closely to a G-major triad through the circle of fifths
and traditional tonic-dominant (V-I) resolution. Weitzmann suggested a-minor and e-minor triads were more closely related to C-major because they shared two common notes. This theory elegantly accounted for third relation and common tone progressions in earlier music of Schubert and Beethoven, and it paved the way for later chromatic composers who explored cthe compositional possibilities of tonal regions related by symmetrical augmented triads and diminished seventh chords.
Life and Work
Weitzmann was born in Berlin and first studied violin in the 1820's with Carl Henning and Bernhard KleinBernhard Klein
Bernhard Klein was a German composer.Klein was born in Cologne. He married Lilly Parthey , who was the sister of Gustav Parthey and the granddaughter of Friedrich Nicolai...
. From 1827 to 1832 he studied composition in Kassel with Louis Spohr
Louis Spohr
Louis Spohr was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Born Ludewig Spohr, he is usually known by the French form of his name. Described by Dorothy Mayer as "The Forgotten Master", Spohr was once as famous as Beethoven. As a violinist, his virtuoso playing was admired by Queen Victoria...
and Moritz Hauptmann
Moritz Hauptmann
Moritz Hauptmann , was a German music theorist, teacher and composer.Hauptmann was born in Dresden, and studied violin under Scholz, piano under Franz Lanska, composition under Grosse and Francesco Morlacchi,...
. In 1832 he founded a Liedertafel (a peculiarly German type of male singing society) in Riga (now in Lithuania) with Heinrich Dorn
Heinrich Dorn
Heinrich Ludwig Egmont Dorn was a German conductor, composer, and journalist. He was born in Königsberg , where he studied piano, singing, and composition. Later, he studied in Berlin with Ludwig Berger, Bernhard Klein, and Carl Friedrich Zelter. His first opera, Rolands Knappen, was produced in...
. In Revel (now Tallinn, Estonia), he became music director of the opera where he composed three operas. From 1836 he began a ten-year association with the Saint Petersburg court orchestra. At this time he began to collect music books and folksongs. He toured in Lappland and Finland (then part of the Russian empire) and performed with orchestras in Paris and London. He returned to Berlin in 1848 to research music history and theory. He took a teaching position with the Stern Conservatory
Stern conservatory
The Stern Conservatory was a private music school in Berlin with many notable tutors and alumni.-History:It was originally founded in 1850 as the Berliner Musikschule by Julius Stern, Theodor Kullak and Adolf Bernhard Marx. Kullak withdrew from the conservatory in 1855 in order to create a new...
(now part of the Berlin University of the Arts
Berlin University of the Arts
The Universität der Künste Berlin, UdK is a public art school in Berlin, Germany, one of the four universities in the city...
) in 1857.
Weitzmann published his first major theoretical work Der übermässige Dreiklang (the augmented triad) in 1853. He suggested a minor triad
Triad
Triad is a term used to describe many branches of Chinese criminal organizations based in Hong Kong, Vietnam, Macau, Taiwan, China, and also in countries with significant Chinese populations, such as Malaysia, Singapore, the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom...
was merely an inversion of a major triad and both are generated by a common fundamental tone in the middle. This had been only a passing observation by the earlier theorist Moritz Hauptmann
Moritz Hauptmann
Moritz Hauptmann , was a German music theorist, teacher and composer.Hauptmann was born in Dresden, and studied violin under Scholz, piano under Franz Lanska, composition under Grosse and Francesco Morlacchi,...
. Composer Franz Liszt was especially influenced by Weitzmann's work; therefore, Weitzman is now associated with the "Music of the Future." (a generic term for composers following Lizst, Wagner, Berlioz, and Bruckner). Weitzmann's theories accounted for the increasingly chromatic music of the time, and Lizst drew upon them in his analysis of own Faust Symphony – a work saturated with augmented triads.
Weitzmann later extended his theories to scales, noting how a descending minor scale starting from the fifth degree is an inversion of an ascending major scale. Because his theories relate major and minor, it is called a "dualist" explanation. Later dualist theorists include Arthur von Oettingen and the early work of Hugo Riemann
Hugo Riemann
Karl Wilhelm Julius Hugo Riemann was a German music theorist.-Biography:Riemann was born at Grossmehlra, Schwarzburg-Sondershausen. He was educated in theory by Frankenberger, studied the piano with Barthel and Ratzenberger, studied law, and finally philosophy and history at Berlin and Tübingen...
.
Weitzmann differed from most theorists in his ideas of tuning and temperament
Temperament
In psychology, temperament refers to those aspects of an individual's personality, such as introversion or extroversion, that are often regarded as innate rather than learned...
. Most theorists viewed equal temperament as a compromise or a necessary evil. Weitzmann viewed it positively. He looked for acoustical properties of 12-note equal temperament, presumed enharmonic equivalence, and de-emphaisized traditional rules of voice leading and treatment of dissonance leading to a theory where any chord can follow another chord.
His most lasting contribution to music theory (researched by contemporary American theorist Richard Cohn
Richard Cohn
Richard Cohn is a music theorist and Battell Professor of Music Theory at Yale. Early in his career, he specialized in the music of Béla Bartók, but more recently has written about Neo-Riemannian theory as well as metric dissonance.-External links:*...
) concerns chord relations. Traditionally, a C-major triad was thought to be related most closely to a G-major triad through the circle of fifths
Circle of fifths
In music theory, the circle of fifths shows the relationships among the 12 tones of the chromatic scale, their corresponding key signatures, and the associated major and minor keys...
and traditional tonic-dominant (V-I) resolution. Weitzmann suggested a-minor and e-minor triads were more closely related to C-major because they shared two common notes. This theory elegantly accounted for third relation and common tone progressions in earlier music of Schubert and Beethoven, and it paved the way for later chromatic composers who explored cthe compositional possibilities of tonal regions related by symmetrical augmented triads and diminished seventh chords.
Works
- Der übermässige Dreiklang (Berlin, 1853) (The Augmented Triad)
- Der verminderte Septimenakkord (Berlin, 1854) (The Diminished Seventh Chord)
- Geschichte des Septimen-akkordes (Berlin, 1854) (History of Seventh Chords)
- Geschichte der griechischen Musik (Berlin, 1855) (History of Ancient Greek Music)
- Harmoniesystem (Leipzig, 1860, 2cd printing 1895) (System of Harmony)
- Die neue Harmonielehre im Streit mit der alten (Leipzig, 1860) (The Conflict between New and Old Harmonic Theory)
- Geschichte des Clavierspiels und der Clavierlitteratur (History of Piano Playing and Piano Literature) (Stuttgart, 1863, expanded 1879); revised and edited by Max SeiffertMax SeiffertMax Seiffert was a German musicologist and music arranger.-Biography:Seiffert was born in Beeskow an der Spree, Germany; and died in Schleswig, Germany. He was first educated at the Joachimsthal Gymnasium at Berlin, and then at the University of Berlin where he received a Ph.D. in 1891 for the...
as Geschichte der Klaviermusik (History of Piano Music) (Leipzig, 1899)