Wendelin Weißheimer
Encyclopedia
Wendelin Weißheimer was a 19th-century German composer, conductor, essayist, teacher and music writer. Wendelin Weißheimer studied with Franz Liszt
and was in close contact with Richard Wagner
, Hans von Bülow
, Peter Cornelius
, Louise Otto-Peters
, Ferdinand Lassalle
, August Bebel
and of many other notable musicians of his day.
He served as composer and conductor of the choirs in Mainz
, Darmstadt
, Baden-Baden
, Wurzburg
, Munich
, Leipzig
, Berlin
, Düsseldorf
, Szczecin
, Strasbourg
and Milan
's La Scala
.
in the 14th century. Wendelin's grandfather, Johann Weißheimer I, from Osthofen, inherited the stone mill from his mother's family at the end of the 18th century. The manor complex
on viticulture
, agriculture, animal husbandry
and mill grinding
, already in operation in the 19th century and still today owned by the Weißheimer family, were one of the most important in the former Grand Duchy
of Grand Duchy of Hesse
.
Wendelin Weißheimer was born on 26 February 1838 in the winery
stone mill of Osthofen, the eighth and youngest child of Johann Weißheimer II and Ottilie, née Best der Welt. His parents were wealthy and his father, a highly respected and multi-talented man with a keen interest in history and politics, had already been mayor for several years and a member of the first Osthofen Hessian
Ständekammer, which is why Wendelin had already met at a young age men of the March Revolution
of 1848 in the stone mill. Despite strong claims of being a landowner and politician, Wendelin Weißheimer's father still found time to deal with family and tradition-historical studies, whose results were his multi-volume chronicle
of the Osthofens that he handed for posterity in handwritten diaries. Thank to his versatility and open-mindedness he allowed his son Wendelin the study of music, although this clearly contradicted his actual plans to make Wendelin the heir of his estate.
when he was only 13 to seek an apprenticeship. There, he had through his piano teacher, a member of the theater orchestra, an opportunity to listen to a rehearsal for the performance of Tannhauser
, after he had heard earlier parts of the music during a visit to a military concert. Weißheimer himself wrote that these experiences had influenced him greatly. In his book: Experiences with Richard Wagner
, Franz Liszt
and many other contemporaries, he wrote: An unsuspected new world had risen for me, in fact. Soon thereafter, in Darmstadt, Wendelin Weißheimer listened to the Lohengrin
, and in Frankfurt
, the Flying Dutchman
, in complete Wagnerian delirium. In his final year in school Wendelin Weißheimer had the opportunity to be introduced to music theory by theater conductor Louis Schindelmeisser, something which captivated him so much that he soon began to compose.
It was Schindelmeisser who first recognized Wendelin's musical talent and helped him become a musician. So, at first it was a matter of persuading his father, Johann Weissheimer II, of his musical intentions. To this end, Schindelmeisser went to the stone mill in Osthofen on 16 March 1856 with the task of persuading Wendelin's father to allowed his son to acquire further musical training in Leipzig
. Despite his father's astonishment for his decision to make a career in music, Wendelin was very happy for his approval. So the young Weißheimer was given at his departure a picture dedicated to him by Schindelmeisser himself and also one of his many original letters of Richard Wagner.
had a lively musical scene. But while Leipzig was conservative and spurned the new music of Liszt and Wagner, the revolutionary youth in Weimar sought new forms of expression in music and clung to the so called New German School
and the genius of Franz Liszt. After the completion of his musical studies in Leipzig, Wendelin Weißheimer was given the post of second conductor at the city theatre in Mainz
by Schindelmeisser. But before the start of the activity thought as introduction to the practice, Weißheimer traveled to Zurich
with a recommendation letter given by Schindelmeisser to visit Richard Wagner who was living there in exile. Wagner was working on his musical drama Tristan and Isolde and usually declined to see visitors. Wendelin was first rejected, but then he spent one memorable afternoon with the master on 17 July 1858. Weißheimer writes of his departure: The pale expressive face of the then forty-five years old, accompanied me in town and everywhere else.
on 17 August 1858 and, among other things, visited the hospitable house of publisher Franz Schott and his amiable and highly musical wife Betty. After a performance of Wagner's Faust
overture Weißheimer got to know his Rhine-Hessian compatriot, the poet-composer Peter Cornelius, who became a lifelong friend.
of Sayn-Wittgenstein
, was introduced to a new musical world. In addition to Peter Cornelius, who had also come to Weimar in 1860, men such as Felix Draeseke
, Hans von Bronsart, Carl Tausig
, the Bohemia
n Smetana
, also Franz Bendel
, Gruère, Hans von Bülow and his acquaintances and friends were present.
The first performance of a composition by Weißheimer by an orchestra happened this time. Liszt had set on the program of the court concerts conducted by him on 13 March 1860 Weißheimer's symphony on Schiller
's Ritter Toggenburg
. To allow Weißheimer to take part in this concert at the Grand Ducal Palace only accessible to the court and nobility, Liszt had him wear a tail coat and a white tie in the middle of the string orchestra where he had to pretend that he was actually playing the violin. At the end of the concert, the Grand Duke
and Grand Duchess came out in the composer's approval. The next day on this occasion of his visit to Liszt, Weißheimer first saw his daughter Cosima
who was married for two years with pianist Hans von Bülow.
1861 would bring the climax of Weißheimer's stay in Weimar. The musical arrangements of the composer's musical artistic meeting, which was taken as a big surprise once Richard Wagner had unexpectedly arrived after eleven years of exile in Switzerland
, began with Liszt's Faust Symphony under Bülow's baton. Weißheimer achieved complete success at the presentation of his Grave in Busento by the Court Orchestra and the academic choir of Jena students.
After the Weimar's meeting, Wagner strived in vain at the premiere of his "Tristan" and unsuccessfully tried to reach Paris where Prince Metternich had provided him with a quiet apartment in the garden of the Austrian Embassy in late November. On 1 December, he arrived unexpectedly in Mainz to negotiate with the Schott publishing house
his stage festival play Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg. He had just completed the text and the poetic process should take place in Paris. Over the course of the Mainz days, Weißheimer reported in detail in his book Experiences with Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt and many other contemporaries, his visit to the opera performances conducted by Weißheimer himself and his joint participation in the meetings of Mrs. Betty Schott.
In Paris Wagner had completed his Meistersinger poetry in less than two months, and on 31 January 1862 he arrived with it in Mainz. Right on the first evening there took place in the Schotts' house before a selected circle of listeners the much-anticipated presentation of the Meistersingers poetry to which Wagner let also Peter Cornelius come and stay in Vienna. Weißheimer writes about this memorable night that Wagner carried away with the audience and caused them to rally tumultuously. At the end of the play the audience was aware that they stood at the cradle of a mighty kind work of art.
In order to be able to immediately complete the composition undisturbed by the outside world, Wagner rented a small apartment in nearby Biebrich
, just below the ducal castle on the Rhine. As a result, Weißheimer and Wagner were together almost every day. Weißheimer had become almost indispensable for Wagner, so despite the difference in ageRichard Wagner at that time was 48 years old while Wendelin Weißheimer was just 23. a warm friendship developed between the two. The constant financial difficulties of Wagner, who was in money matters more than reckless prompted Weißheimer to address his father in support of his friend. Johann Weißheimer II was generous and granted funds for Wagner. This was Wagner first visit to Weißheimer and his family in the stone mill in Osthofen,After he had to stay in bed a few weeks due to an illness, Wagner came in as a surprise to the stone mill to leave Wendelin then the only existing copy of the now world famous The Valkyrie
for Wendelin's appreciation. where he met Wendelin's parents, siblings, and last but not least, the "wine" on 1 June 1862. In the garden pavilion by the lake shore, known as "Richard-Wagner-house", Wagner spent many boozing hours and proved to be a brilliant entertainer. In that August, Richard Wagner returned to the stone mill, this time accompanied by Hans and Cosima von Bülow.
a concert on 1 November 1862. Despite the personal involvement of the conductor Richard Wagner, the Pianist Hans von Bülow and other renowned artists and organizations with works by Wagner, Liszt and Weißheimer, the attendance to the concert was so low that revenues collected were not enough to cover all the costs. This concert was the first time that Richard Wagner was allowed to perform in Germany after his exile.
In his "experiences" Weißheimer writes: Instead of Wagner filling up his pockets, I quickly had to call my father for help – Again, as before, and repeatedly later, Johann Weißheimer II jumped in as a generous savior. Wagner held it under these circumstances no longer in Biebrich. In November 1862 he moved to Vienna, where he again tried for the premiere of his "Tristan", but this time it simply did not happen. Difficulties piled up. Although Wagner had collected outrageous amounts of money on a concert tour in Russia in 1863, he was again in financial straits. Finally he had to flee from Vienna not to be put in prison for his debts.
On 29 April 1864, Wendelin Weißheimer surprisingly received a telegram from Stuttgart
with Wagner asking him for an immediate visit. Weißheimer came and Wagner reported his total collapse, not only financial, but also of his nervous breakdown. To prevent the worse, Weißheimer simply decided unceremoniously to stay with Wagner. Since Wagner was in debt he was urged to disappear, they both agreed on a secluded spot in Rauhe Alb, where Weißheimer should accompany him. Weißheimer had the intention to finish the piano score of the first Meistersingers act there as quickly as possible in order to persuade the publisher Schott for additional payments. Their journey had been set for 3 May, as Wagner wanted to see a performance of Don Giovanni conducted by Karl Eckert, when in an unbelievable turnaround, on 2 May, at the hotel Marquard, the Secretary of King Ludwig II of Bavaria
, Council of State Franz Seraph von Pfistermeister
, appeared with a mission to explore the residence of Richard Wagner and return with him to Munich
. When the proclaimed crowned Prince Ludwig II listened to Wagner's Lohengrin he said: When I am crowned, I want to show the world how much I know of the genius of Wagner. He was now seeking a way to maintain his self-given promise. As Wagner's most ardent admirer, he wanted to give him the opportunity to finish in Munich his Der Ring des Nibelungen
. So instead of the rough journey to the Alps
, Wagner went on 3 May 1864 to Munich, and after the reception by the King, he went to Vienna to pay his debts and get rid of all his concerns before he moved into the Villa on Lake Starnberg
provided to him by the King.
Attracted by the defamed writings of Lassalle, Weißheimer found in the first days of July 1864 the opportunity to get to know the socialist democrat in Frankfurt personally and to admire his speech virtuosity. When Weißheimer found out that Lassalle had arranged an excursion in the Palatinate for the next days with the countess Sophie von Hatzfeld, he invited both to Osthofen. So, once again the Stone Mill was to expect prominent guests.
Had Lassalle established a social-democratic party in the German social life, his outstanding personality would have become immortal. It is delightful to read in Wendelin Weißheimer's "experiences" how Ferdinand Lassalle's whipping-up visit worked in the quiet agricultural and wine-growing town of Osthofen. The news of his arrival had quickly spread in the place, and when both guests walked from the railway station to the Stone Mill on 6 July, curious and shy faces from open windows watched the odious, maybe also dreadful man. Indeed, in the Stone Mill the reception was polite, but frosty. Only when Lassalle came to speak with Johann Weißheimer on his studies about Franz von Sickingen
is that the horizon brightened. However, the sun burst only when, during a break in the midday meal, Wendelin Weißheimer's mother asked her neighbor straightforward: Now that there we are so comfortably together, can you also say to me Mr. Lassalle, what you want really? Lassalle hesitated at first, then, saved the situation when, quick as a flash, he gave mother Weißheimer a resounding kiss. In general laughter broke out and the ice was broken. The "Riesling" of the Stone Mill did the rest and Lassalle then almost completely captivated the Weißheimer family for hours with the explanation of his plans and goals with phenomenal eloquence. Indeed, Lassalle left friends there and when they parted ways he immediately ordered a whole barrel of the same "Riesling" which he had tasted so intensely.
Wendelin Weißheimer spent several days resting in the Palatinate with Lassalle, the Countess von Hatzfeld
and other friends. Wendelin would be glad to keep Lassalle company on a trip to the east of Switzerland, but because of an urgent message received from his wife, who had fallen seriously ill in Leipzig, he had to decline his invitation. So Lassalle traveled alone to Lake Lucerne
in mid-July, while the Countess von Hatzfeld went to Wildbad for a cure. The fateful meeting with Helena von Dönniges, the daughter of the historian Wilhelm von Dönniges, known to him from Berlin, would lead to a disaster in the course of the coming weeks. In a duel frivolously provoked by Lassalle, he became the victim of a fatal shot. For Wendelin Weißheimer Lassalle's death was a severe blow that took him a long time to overcome, especially because he was imbued with the conviction that Lassalle's death could have been averted if he had stayed in his company. Throughout his life Wendelin remained faithful to the Social Democratic Party, although this commitment had brought him some disadvantages for his professional career.
. Despite his official duties and numerous other engagements he could still act as a composer. After scoring songs and ballad
s of the German Minnesang
, as well as from Goethe and other poets, he dealt with his first opera Theodor Körner
. Franz Liszt spoke very appreciatively of this work, and Wagner also praised it. Lassalle, who had particularly liked the libretto and was equally enthusiastic about the music, had even offered to write Weißheimer a textbook on Florian Geyer
, Thomas Munzer or the Bohemia
n Jan Žižka
, but his death had put an end to this idea. Richard Wagner had written for Weißheimer a draft for the opera, Wieland the Blacksmith, but before Weißheimer could have scored it, he had given it back.
For the premiere of Theodor Körner at the Berlin Court Opera, Liszt began with the former artistic director Count von Redern. However, Count von Redern recommended Liszt to run the premiere on a different stage because, according to the textbook, Prince Louis Ferdinand plays a role which would affect the Prussia
n royal family too strongly. For the premiere to be accommodated elsewhere it would be then important to gain the support of Richard Wagner, for whom the faithful Wendelin had fought for many years. But Wagner was just too immersed in his own work to be of any help, so because of this untimely situation Weißheimer's negotiations with Munich moved very slowly.
During his time as conductor at the Augsburg palace, Wendelin Weißheimer's marriage to Rosalie Scholle from Leipzig took place on 10 January 1865. With her he had a 45-year childless marriage. Rosalie Weißheimer survived her husband, dying at the age of 79 on 25 September 1920 in Darmstadt. From Augsburg, Wendelin Weißheimer went to the Kroll Opera in Berlin, then to the theater in Düsseldorf. Then from 1866 to 1868 he was in Würzburg
. From here he tried once again a world premiere of his patriotic opera Theodor Körner
. For this reason he looked up to Wagner in Munich. Wagner was living together with Mr. and Mrs. von Bülow in a house on Arcisstraße, donated to him by the king and where Cosima Wagner was a housewife who took care of Wagner's correspondence. In the artist's circles, one had already recognized that Wagner had become interested in Mrs. Bülow, so it became clear that, among his friends, Weißheimer could only count on Peter Cornelius at the premiere of his Cid once Wagner was only reluctancy.
In June 1868 the friendship between Weißheimer and Richard Wagner came to an end. The motive for this was Cosima who, without going over the music, wrote on 6 July to Weißheimer that the text of his Theodor Körner could not be performed in court theaters because its seditious tendency might provoke trouble in peaceful times. Wendelin, like his father, had a stubborn personality whenever he recognized something right as wrong. Between him and Wagner now stood Cosima. However, the good-natured, harmless Wendelin was not very fond of the acclaimed Franz Liszt and the Frenchwoman countess d'Agoult's daughter who had inherited the elastic skill and perfectly shaped social mobility from her mother the big acumen from her father. Cosima also had her weaknesses. These were reflected in particular in her efforts to encourage Richard Wagner to be himself, even if Peter Cornelius and Wendelin Weißheimer turned against him. Maybe that might sound unbearable to Cosima, in addition to Wagner whom she idolized, and also to other composers with new ideas. So like this Wendelin Weißheimer matters worsened when he recognised their love affair, having him positioned himself on the part of the betrayed Hans von Bülow. At the premiere of Die Meistersinger in Munich on 21 June 1868, Wendelin Weißheimer had his last encounter with Richard Wagner.
family. From 1873 to 1878, Wendelin Weißheimer then worked in Strasbourg
where his opera Master Martin And His Companions premiered on 14 April 1879 in Karlsruhe
. Now Weißheimer moved to Baden-Baden
where he became in charge of the larger spa concerts. Together with Otto Dessoff he headed the concerts of the artists meeting with the performance of his Master Martin and his companions in May 1880. In the large central lodge, Weißheimer listened to the performance together with his great teacher Franz Liszt and the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns
outright, receiving from both acclaimed recognition for his accomplishment on such a wonderful work. In the following years Wendelin Weißheimer conducted during several years, despite personal disappointment in unchanged veneration of a genius, mainly works by Richard Wagner at the famous Teatro La Scala
in Milan. He had his residence on the idyllic Lake Como
.
Around 1893, Weißheimer moved to Freiburg
im Breisgau
in order to enhance his focus on his literary career. His 1898 book, Experiences with Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt and many other contemporaries saw three editions in one single year. Around 1900 he moved to Nuremberg
and from Freiburg and Nuremberg the way led him back again more often to his native homeland in the Stone Mill of Osthofen. In the casino society there he gladly spent hours with old friends whom he pleased most joyfully for improvisations, mainly on works by Wagner and Liszt, and on his own compositions. In his last years, Wendelin Weißheimer also led the mass choirs on the social-democratic Party Congresses. His target was the huge masses of the workers' movement and artistically increase the enjoyment of life through great experience in arts and culture. When Wendelin Weißheimer died on 16 June 1910 in Nuremberg, his death caused great turmoil. 30.000 unionized socialists paid Wendelin Weißheimer their respects and remembered him in all the leading newspapers obituaries of the time.
His operas, his cantatas, and his instrumental music underline this. Even if his "absolute" music pays homage to one of the great string quartet and successful "obligatory violin parts" to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier
, he displays in his other works a clear tendency for program music
. Weißheimer's piano pieces Reminiscence of Gioventu and At Beethoven's Grave, as well as his Symphony for Schiller's Knight Toggenburg certainly match the spirit of the New German School. Weißheimer literary taste is evident in the texts set to music by him. German minstrel poems, texts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
, Friedrich Schiller
, Körner
, Heinrich Heine
and others found their musical interpretation in his songs and cantatas.
Weißheimer always tried to summarize his individual compositions into larger cycles. Thus arose the 24 songs in the cycle "German minstrel", the 18 settings of Goethe, as well as songs from Heine and Körner, appeared for the men's choir "Eight Songs", along with previously unpublished choral cycles. After his departure with Wagner, Weißheimer turned increasingly to the labor movement and exercised with his compositions for male chorus a particular influence on the cultural aspirations of the Social Democratic Party
.
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
and was in close contact with Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
, Hans von Bülow
Hans von Bülow
Hans Guido Freiherr von Bülow was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. He was one of the most famous conductors of the 19th century, and his activity was critical for establishing the successes of several major composers of the time, including Richard...
, Peter Cornelius
Peter Cornelius
Carl August Peter Cornelius was a German composer, writer about music, poet and translator. He was born and died in Mainz where his grave in the Hauptfriedhof survives....
, Louise Otto-Peters
Louise Otto-Peters
Louise Otto-Peters was a German writer, feminist, poet, journalist, and women's rights movement activist. She often wrote under the pseudonym of Otto Stern. She is widely acknowledged as the founder of the organized German women's movement.-Life:Louise Otto-Peters was the daughter of a...
, Ferdinand Lassalle
Ferdinand Lassalle
Ferdinand Lassalle was a German-Jewish jurist and socialist political activist.-Early life:Ferdinand Lassalle was born on 11 April 1825 in Breslau , Silesia to a prosperous Jewish family descending from Upper Silesian Loslau...
, August Bebel
August Bebel
Ferdinand August Bebel was a German Marxist politician, writer, and orator. He is best remembered as one of the founders of the Social Democratic Party of Germany.-Early years:...
and of many other notable musicians of his day.
He served as composer and conductor of the choirs in Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
, Darmstadt
Darmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
, Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden is a spa town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River, in the region of Karlsruhe...
, Wurzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
, Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
, Szczecin
Szczecin
Szczecin , is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427....
, Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
and Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
's La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
.
Origin, family and childhood
The Weißheimer family had resided in WesthofenWesthofen
Westhofen is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
in the 14th century. Wendelin's grandfather, Johann Weißheimer I, from Osthofen, inherited the stone mill from his mother's family at the end of the 18th century. The manor complex
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
on viticulture
Viticulture
Viticulture is the science, production and study of grapes which deals with the series of events that occur in the vineyard. When the grapes are used for winemaking, it is also known as viniculture...
, agriculture, animal husbandry
Animal husbandry
Animal husbandry is the agricultural practice of breeding and raising livestock.- History :Animal husbandry has been practiced for thousands of years, since the first domestication of animals....
and mill grinding
Mill (grinding)
A grinding mill is a unit operation designed to break a solid material into smaller pieces. There are many different types of grinding mills and many types of materials processed in them. Historically mills were powered by hand , working animal , wind or water...
, already in operation in the 19th century and still today owned by the Weißheimer family, were one of the most important in the former Grand Duchy
Grand duchy
A grand duchy, sometimes referred to as a grand dukedom, is a territory whose head of state is a monarch, either a grand duke or grand duchess.Today Luxembourg is the only remaining grand duchy...
of Grand Duchy of Hesse
Grand Duchy of Hesse
The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine , or, between 1806 and 1816, Grand Duchy of Hesse —as it was also known after 1816—was a member state of the German Confederation from 1806, when the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt was elevated to a Grand Duchy, until 1918, when all the German...
.
Wendelin Weißheimer was born on 26 February 1838 in the winery
Winery
A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, bottling lines, laboratories, and large expanses of...
stone mill of Osthofen, the eighth and youngest child of Johann Weißheimer II and Ottilie, née Best der Welt. His parents were wealthy and his father, a highly respected and multi-talented man with a keen interest in history and politics, had already been mayor for several years and a member of the first Osthofen Hessian
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
Ständekammer, which is why Wendelin had already met at a young age men of the March Revolution
Revolutions of 1848 in the German states
The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states, also called the March Revolution – part of the Revolutions of 1848 that broke out in many countries of Europe – were a series of loosely coordinated protests and rebellions in the states of the German Confederation, including the Austrian Empire...
of 1848 in the stone mill. Despite strong claims of being a landowner and politician, Wendelin Weißheimer's father still found time to deal with family and tradition-historical studies, whose results were his multi-volume chronicle
Chronicle
Generally a chronicle is a historical account of facts and events ranged in chronological order, as in a time line. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events, the purpose being the recording of events that occurred, seen from the perspective of the...
of the Osthofens that he handed for posterity in handwritten diaries. Thank to his versatility and open-mindedness he allowed his son Wendelin the study of music, although this clearly contradicted his actual plans to make Wendelin the heir of his estate.
The path to music
Weißheimer's background differed from that of many other composers as he did not come from a musical family. His father had intended he inherit the stone mill, and for this purpose he was taken to a secondary school in DarmstadtDarmstadt
Darmstadt is a city in the Bundesland of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Rhine Main Area.The sandy soils in the Darmstadt area, ill-suited for agriculture in times before industrial fertilisation, prevented any larger settlement from developing, until the city became the seat...
when he was only 13 to seek an apprenticeship. There, he had through his piano teacher, a member of the theater orchestra, an opportunity to listen to a rehearsal for the performance of Tannhauser
Tannhäuser (opera)
Tannhäuser is an opera in three acts, music and text by Richard Wagner, based on the two German legends of Tannhäuser and the song contest at Wartburg...
, after he had heard earlier parts of the music during a visit to a military concert. Weißheimer himself wrote that these experiences had influenced him greatly. In his book: Experiences with Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
, Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
and many other contemporaries, he wrote: An unsuspected new world had risen for me, in fact. Soon thereafter, in Darmstadt, Wendelin Weißheimer listened to the Lohengrin
Lohengrin (opera)
Lohengrin is a romantic opera in three acts composed and written by Richard Wagner, first performed in 1850. The story of the eponymous character is taken from medieval German romance, notably the Parzival of Wolfram von Eschenbach and its sequel, Lohengrin, written by a different author, itself...
, and in Frankfurt
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
, the Flying Dutchman
The Flying Dutchman (opera)
Der fliegende Holländer is an opera, with music and libretto by Richard Wagner.Wagner claimed in his 1870 autobiography Mein Leben that he had been inspired to write "The Flying Dutchman" following a stormy sea crossing he made from Riga to London in July and August 1839, but in his 1843...
, in complete Wagnerian delirium. In his final year in school Wendelin Weißheimer had the opportunity to be introduced to music theory by theater conductor Louis Schindelmeisser, something which captivated him so much that he soon began to compose.
It was Schindelmeisser who first recognized Wendelin's musical talent and helped him become a musician. So, at first it was a matter of persuading his father, Johann Weissheimer II, of his musical intentions. To this end, Schindelmeisser went to the stone mill in Osthofen on 16 March 1856 with the task of persuading Wendelin's father to allowed his son to acquire further musical training in Leipzig
Leipzig
Leipzig Leipzig has always been a trade city, situated during the time of the Holy Roman Empire at the intersection of the Via Regia and Via Imperii, two important trade routes. At one time, Leipzig was one of the major European centres of learning and culture in fields such as music and publishing...
. Despite his father's astonishment for his decision to make a career in music, Wendelin was very happy for his approval. So the young Weißheimer was given at his departure a picture dedicated to him by Schindelmeisser himself and also one of his many original letters of Richard Wagner.
Music studies
Wendelin Weißheimer attended the Leipzig Conservatory from May 1856. Both Leipzig and WeimarWeimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
had a lively musical scene. But while Leipzig was conservative and spurned the new music of Liszt and Wagner, the revolutionary youth in Weimar sought new forms of expression in music and clung to the so called New German School
New German School
The New German School is a term introduced in 1859 by Franz Brendel, editor of the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik to apply to certain trends in German music...
and the genius of Franz Liszt. After the completion of his musical studies in Leipzig, Wendelin Weißheimer was given the post of second conductor at the city theatre in Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
by Schindelmeisser. But before the start of the activity thought as introduction to the practice, Weißheimer traveled to Zurich
Zürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
with a recommendation letter given by Schindelmeisser to visit Richard Wagner who was living there in exile. Wagner was working on his musical drama Tristan and Isolde and usually declined to see visitors. Wendelin was first rejected, but then he spent one memorable afternoon with the master on 17 July 1858. Weißheimer writes of his departure: The pale expressive face of the then forty-five years old, accompanied me in town and everywhere else.
Conducting in Mainz
Just 20 years old, Weißheimer took up his post as conductor in MainzMainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
on 17 August 1858 and, among other things, visited the hospitable house of publisher Franz Schott and his amiable and highly musical wife Betty. After a performance of Wagner's Faust
Faust
Faust is the protagonist of a classic German legend; a highly successful scholar, but also dissatisfied with his life, and so makes a deal with the devil, exchanging his soul for unlimited knowledge and worldly pleasures. Faust's tale is the basis for many literary, artistic, cinematic, and musical...
overture Weißheimer got to know his Rhine-Hessian compatriot, the poet-composer Peter Cornelius, who became a lifelong friend.
With Franz Liszt in Weimar
Weißheimer moved back to Weimar after the Mainz Theatre season. There he found in Franz Liszt a musically like-minded person and so he finally managed to be picked up by Liszt as a student in composition. In lessons of several hours, three to four times a week, Weißheimer soon became Liszt's favorite student and an ideal relationship of trust was built between teacher and student. So Weißheimer, in Altenburg, Weimar, then home of Liszt's close friend Princess Carolyne zu Sayn-WittgensteinCarolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein
Carolyne zu Sayn-Wittgenstein was a Polish noblewoman who pursued a 40-year liaison/relationship with Franz Liszt. She was also an amateur journalist and essayist and it is conjectured that she did much of the actual writing of several of Liszt's publications, especially his Life of Chopin...
of Sayn-Wittgenstein
Sayn-Wittgenstein
Sayn-Wittgenstein was a county of mediæval Germany, located in the Sauerland of eastern North Rhine-Westphalia. Sayn-Wittgenstein was created when Count Salentin of Sayn-Homburg married the heiress Countess Adelaide of Wittgenstein in 1345...
, was introduced to a new musical world. In addition to Peter Cornelius, who had also come to Weimar in 1860, men such as Felix Draeseke
Felix Draeseke
Felix August Bernhard Draeseke was a composer of the "New German School" admiring Liszt and Richard Wagner. He wrote compositions in most forms including eight operas and stage works, four symphonies, and much vocal and chamber music.-Life:Felix Draeseke was born in the Franconian ducal town of...
, Hans von Bronsart, Carl Tausig
Carl Tausig
Carl Tausig was a Polish virtuoso pianist, arranger and composer.-Life:Tausig was born in Warsaw to Jewish parents and received his first piano lessons from his father, pianist and composer Aloys Tausig, a student of Sigismond Thalberg. His father introduced him to Franz Liszt in Weimar at the...
, the Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
n Smetana
Smetana
Smetana is a Slavic loanword in English for a dairy product that is produced by souring heavy cream. Smetana is from Central and Eastern Europe, sometimes perceived to be specifically of Russian origin. It is a soured cream product like crème fraîche , but nowadays mainly sold with 15% to 30%...
, also Franz Bendel
Franz Bendel
Franz Bendel was a Bohemian German pianist and composer. He was a student of Franz Liszt for five years in Weimar. Bendel was a superb pianist who toured extensively until his death from typhoid fever in Boston while on an American tour...
, Gruère, Hans von Bülow and his acquaintances and friends were present.
The first performance of a composition by Weißheimer by an orchestra happened this time. Liszt had set on the program of the court concerts conducted by him on 13 March 1860 Weißheimer's symphony on Schiller
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
's Ritter Toggenburg
Ritter Toggenburg
Sir Toggenburg is a ballad by Friedrich Schiller, written in 1797, the year of his friendly ballad competition with Goethe. The text was used to inspire a Symphonic Poem of the same name by the New German composer and conductor Wendelin Weißheimer...
. To allow Weißheimer to take part in this concert at the Grand Ducal Palace only accessible to the court and nobility, Liszt had him wear a tail coat and a white tie in the middle of the string orchestra where he had to pretend that he was actually playing the violin. At the end of the concert, the Grand Duke
Grand Duke
The title grand duke is used in Western Europe and particularly in Germanic countries for provincial sovereigns. Grand duke is of a protocolary rank below a king but higher than a sovereign duke. Grand duke is also the usual and established translation of grand prince in languages which do not...
and Grand Duchess came out in the composer's approval. The next day on this occasion of his visit to Liszt, Weißheimer first saw his daughter Cosima
Cosima Wagner
Cosima Francesca Gaetana Wagner, née de Flavigny, from 1844 known as Cosima Liszt; was the daughter of Hungarian composer Franz Liszt...
who was married for two years with pianist Hans von Bülow.
1861 would bring the climax of Weißheimer's stay in Weimar. The musical arrangements of the composer's musical artistic meeting, which was taken as a big surprise once Richard Wagner had unexpectedly arrived after eleven years of exile in Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, began with Liszt's Faust Symphony under Bülow's baton. Weißheimer achieved complete success at the presentation of his Grave in Busento by the Court Orchestra and the academic choir of Jena students.
Friendship with Richard Wagner
The autumn of 1861 was followed by a second ovation of Weißheimer as music director at the City Theater in Mainz. Now it should begin the most interesting phase of his life which distinguishes itself by his friendship with Wagner. Wagner already knew Weißheimer when of his visit to Zurich and the Weimar's musical artistic meeting.After the Weimar's meeting, Wagner strived in vain at the premiere of his "Tristan" and unsuccessfully tried to reach Paris where Prince Metternich had provided him with a quiet apartment in the garden of the Austrian Embassy in late November. On 1 December, he arrived unexpectedly in Mainz to negotiate with the Schott publishing house
Schott Music
Schott Music is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe and is currently the second oldest music publishing house. The company headquarters of Schott Music was founded by Bernhard Schott in Mainz, Germany in 1770.Established in...
his stage festival play Die Meistersinger von Nuernberg. He had just completed the text and the poetic process should take place in Paris. Over the course of the Mainz days, Weißheimer reported in detail in his book Experiences with Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt and many other contemporaries, his visit to the opera performances conducted by Weißheimer himself and his joint participation in the meetings of Mrs. Betty Schott.
In Paris Wagner had completed his Meistersinger poetry in less than two months, and on 31 January 1862 he arrived with it in Mainz. Right on the first evening there took place in the Schotts' house before a selected circle of listeners the much-anticipated presentation of the Meistersingers poetry to which Wagner let also Peter Cornelius come and stay in Vienna. Weißheimer writes about this memorable night that Wagner carried away with the audience and caused them to rally tumultuously. At the end of the play the audience was aware that they stood at the cradle of a mighty kind work of art.
In order to be able to immediately complete the composition undisturbed by the outside world, Wagner rented a small apartment in nearby Biebrich
Biebrich
Biebrich is the name of two places in Germany.*Biebrich, a borough of Wiesbaden, Hesse, until 1926 an independent town*Biebrich, Rhineland Palatinate, a small municipality in the Rhein-Lahn district, near Katzenelnbogen...
, just below the ducal castle on the Rhine. As a result, Weißheimer and Wagner were together almost every day. Weißheimer had become almost indispensable for Wagner, so despite the difference in ageRichard Wagner at that time was 48 years old while Wendelin Weißheimer was just 23. a warm friendship developed between the two. The constant financial difficulties of Wagner, who was in money matters more than reckless prompted Weißheimer to address his father in support of his friend. Johann Weißheimer II was generous and granted funds for Wagner. This was Wagner first visit to Weißheimer and his family in the stone mill in Osthofen,After he had to stay in bed a few weeks due to an illness, Wagner came in as a surprise to the stone mill to leave Wendelin then the only existing copy of the now world famous The Valkyrie
Die Walküre
Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner...
for Wendelin's appreciation. where he met Wendelin's parents, siblings, and last but not least, the "wine" on 1 June 1862. In the garden pavilion by the lake shore, known as "Richard-Wagner-house", Wagner spent many boozing hours and proved to be a brilliant entertainer. In that August, Richard Wagner returned to the stone mill, this time accompanied by Hans and Cosima von Bülow.
Richard Wagner's patron
Weißheimer knew of Wagner's money problems, in which he found himself again and again due to his own fault. So also the Meistersingers was not finished on schedule and Schott held back the payments. All wealthy admirers of Wagner had denied him further material assistance, so to relieve Wagner's financial difficulties Weißheimer organized at the Leipzig GewandhausGewandhaus
Gewandhaus is a concert hall in Leipzig, Germany. Today's hall is the third to bear this name; like the second, it is noted for its fine acoustics. The first Gewandhaus was built in 1781 by architect Johann Carl Friedrich Dauthe. The second opened on 11 December 1884, and was destroyed in the...
a concert on 1 November 1862. Despite the personal involvement of the conductor Richard Wagner, the Pianist Hans von Bülow and other renowned artists and organizations with works by Wagner, Liszt and Weißheimer, the attendance to the concert was so low that revenues collected were not enough to cover all the costs. This concert was the first time that Richard Wagner was allowed to perform in Germany after his exile.
In his "experiences" Weißheimer writes: Instead of Wagner filling up his pockets, I quickly had to call my father for help – Again, as before, and repeatedly later, Johann Weißheimer II jumped in as a generous savior. Wagner held it under these circumstances no longer in Biebrich. In November 1862 he moved to Vienna, where he again tried for the premiere of his "Tristan", but this time it simply did not happen. Difficulties piled up. Although Wagner had collected outrageous amounts of money on a concert tour in Russia in 1863, he was again in financial straits. Finally he had to flee from Vienna not to be put in prison for his debts.
On 29 April 1864, Wendelin Weißheimer surprisingly received a telegram from Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
with Wagner asking him for an immediate visit. Weißheimer came and Wagner reported his total collapse, not only financial, but also of his nervous breakdown. To prevent the worse, Weißheimer simply decided unceremoniously to stay with Wagner. Since Wagner was in debt he was urged to disappear, they both agreed on a secluded spot in Rauhe Alb, where Weißheimer should accompany him. Weißheimer had the intention to finish the piano score of the first Meistersingers act there as quickly as possible in order to persuade the publisher Schott for additional payments. Their journey had been set for 3 May, as Wagner wanted to see a performance of Don Giovanni conducted by Karl Eckert, when in an unbelievable turnaround, on 2 May, at the hotel Marquard, the Secretary of King Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II of Bavaria
Ludwig II was King of Bavaria from 1864 until shortly before his death. He is sometimes called the Swan King and der Märchenkönig, the Fairy tale King...
, Council of State Franz Seraph von Pfistermeister
Franz Seraph von Pfistermeister
Franz Seraph von Pfistermeister , was the court secretary and State Council of the Kingdom of Bavaria. Pfistermeister entered history not only as a politician, but also musically when in his first official administrative function he was ordered by King Ludwig II to find the composer Richard Wagner...
, appeared with a mission to explore the residence of Richard Wagner and return with him to Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. When the proclaimed crowned Prince Ludwig II listened to Wagner's Lohengrin he said: When I am crowned, I want to show the world how much I know of the genius of Wagner. He was now seeking a way to maintain his self-given promise. As Wagner's most ardent admirer, he wanted to give him the opportunity to finish in Munich his Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen
Der Ring des Nibelungen is a cycle of four epic operas by the German composer Richard Wagner . The works are based loosely on characters from the Norse sagas and the Nibelungenlied...
. So instead of the rough journey to the Alps
Alps
The Alps is one of the great mountain range systems of Europe, stretching from Austria and Slovenia in the east through Italy, Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Germany to France in the west....
, Wagner went on 3 May 1864 to Munich, and after the reception by the King, he went to Vienna to pay his debts and get rid of all his concerns before he moved into the Villa on Lake Starnberg
Lake Starnberg
Lake Starnberg , 25 kilometers southwest of Munich in southern Bavaria, is Germany's fifth largest freshwater lake and, due to its large average depth, the second richest in water...
provided to him by the King.
Ferdinand Lassalle
It was during this time that Wendelin Weißheimer's friendship with Ferdinand Lassalle bloomed. As Richard Wagner was one of the greatest revolutionaries in the music field, which up until that musical period broke many musical ideas and established new laws, Ferdinand Lassalle was in the political field the greatest demagogue of his time. After studying economics, history and philosophy, he dealt primarily with social issues and made it his life's work, summarizing the work force to a "democratic party for social progress" which the monarchy respected as the uppermost representative of the people.Attracted by the defamed writings of Lassalle, Weißheimer found in the first days of July 1864 the opportunity to get to know the socialist democrat in Frankfurt personally and to admire his speech virtuosity. When Weißheimer found out that Lassalle had arranged an excursion in the Palatinate for the next days with the countess Sophie von Hatzfeld, he invited both to Osthofen. So, once again the Stone Mill was to expect prominent guests.
Had Lassalle established a social-democratic party in the German social life, his outstanding personality would have become immortal. It is delightful to read in Wendelin Weißheimer's "experiences" how Ferdinand Lassalle's whipping-up visit worked in the quiet agricultural and wine-growing town of Osthofen. The news of his arrival had quickly spread in the place, and when both guests walked from the railway station to the Stone Mill on 6 July, curious and shy faces from open windows watched the odious, maybe also dreadful man. Indeed, in the Stone Mill the reception was polite, but frosty. Only when Lassalle came to speak with Johann Weißheimer on his studies about Franz von Sickingen
Franz von Sickingen
Franz von Sickingen was a German knight, one of the most notable figures of the first period of the Reformation.-Biography:He was born at Ebernburg near Bad Kreuznach...
is that the horizon brightened. However, the sun burst only when, during a break in the midday meal, Wendelin Weißheimer's mother asked her neighbor straightforward: Now that there we are so comfortably together, can you also say to me Mr. Lassalle, what you want really? Lassalle hesitated at first, then, saved the situation when, quick as a flash, he gave mother Weißheimer a resounding kiss. In general laughter broke out and the ice was broken. The "Riesling" of the Stone Mill did the rest and Lassalle then almost completely captivated the Weißheimer family for hours with the explanation of his plans and goals with phenomenal eloquence. Indeed, Lassalle left friends there and when they parted ways he immediately ordered a whole barrel of the same "Riesling" which he had tasted so intensely.
Wendelin Weißheimer spent several days resting in the Palatinate with Lassalle, the Countess von Hatzfeld
House of Hatzfeld
The House of Hatzfeld, also spelled Hatzfeldt, is a prominent German family of high nobility originally from Hesse. The family is first mentioned in 1138 and has its ancestral seat in Hatzfeld.- Members :...
and other friends. Wendelin would be glad to keep Lassalle company on a trip to the east of Switzerland, but because of an urgent message received from his wife, who had fallen seriously ill in Leipzig, he had to decline his invitation. So Lassalle traveled alone to Lake Lucerne
Lake Lucerne
Lake Lucerne is a lake in central Switzerland and the fourth largest in the country.The lake has a complicated shape, with bends and arms reaching from the city of Lucerne into the mountains. It has a total area of 114 km² , an elevation of 434 m , and a maximum depth of 214 m . Its volume is 11.8...
in mid-July, while the Countess von Hatzfeld went to Wildbad for a cure. The fateful meeting with Helena von Dönniges, the daughter of the historian Wilhelm von Dönniges, known to him from Berlin, would lead to a disaster in the course of the coming weeks. In a duel frivolously provoked by Lassalle, he became the victim of a fatal shot. For Wendelin Weißheimer Lassalle's death was a severe blow that took him a long time to overcome, especially because he was imbued with the conviction that Lassalle's death could have been averted if he had stayed in his company. Throughout his life Wendelin remained faithful to the Social Democratic Party, although this commitment had brought him some disadvantages for his professional career.
Weißheimer as conductor and composer
In this meantime Wendelin Weißheimer had become music director in AugsburgAugsburg
Augsburg is a city in the south-west of Bavaria, Germany. It is a university town and home of the Regierungsbezirk Schwaben and the Bezirk Schwaben. Augsburg is an urban district and home to the institutions of the Landkreis Augsburg. It is, as of 2008, the third-largest city in Bavaria with a...
. Despite his official duties and numerous other engagements he could still act as a composer. After scoring songs and ballad
Ballad
A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of British and Irish popular poetry and song from the later medieval period until the 19th century and used extensively across Europe and later the Americas, Australia and North Africa. Many...
s of the German Minnesang
Minnesang
Minnesang was the tradition of lyric and song writing in Germany which flourished in the 12th century and continued into the 14th century. People who wrote and performed Minnesang are known as Minnesingers . The name derives from the word minne, Middle High German for love which was their main...
, as well as from Goethe and other poets, he dealt with his first opera Theodor Körner
Theodor Körner
----Theodor Körner, Edler von Siegringen served as the fifth President of Austria, between 1951 and 1957.- Life :...
. Franz Liszt spoke very appreciatively of this work, and Wagner also praised it. Lassalle, who had particularly liked the libretto and was equally enthusiastic about the music, had even offered to write Weißheimer a textbook on Florian Geyer
Florian Geyer
Florian Geyer , also known as "Florian Geier from Giebelstadt", was a Franconian nobleman, diplomat and knight...
, Thomas Munzer or the Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
n Jan Žižka
Jan Žižka
Jan Žižka z Trocnova a Kalicha , Czech general and Hussite leader, follower of Jan Hus, was born at small village Trocnov in Bohemia, into a gentried family. He was nicknamed "One-eyed Žižka"...
, but his death had put an end to this idea. Richard Wagner had written for Weißheimer a draft for the opera, Wieland the Blacksmith, but before Weißheimer could have scored it, he had given it back.
For the premiere of Theodor Körner at the Berlin Court Opera, Liszt began with the former artistic director Count von Redern. However, Count von Redern recommended Liszt to run the premiere on a different stage because, according to the textbook, Prince Louis Ferdinand plays a role which would affect the Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
n royal family too strongly. For the premiere to be accommodated elsewhere it would be then important to gain the support of Richard Wagner, for whom the faithful Wendelin had fought for many years. But Wagner was just too immersed in his own work to be of any help, so because of this untimely situation Weißheimer's negotiations with Munich moved very slowly.
During his time as conductor at the Augsburg palace, Wendelin Weißheimer's marriage to Rosalie Scholle from Leipzig took place on 10 January 1865. With her he had a 45-year childless marriage. Rosalie Weißheimer survived her husband, dying at the age of 79 on 25 September 1920 in Darmstadt. From Augsburg, Wendelin Weißheimer went to the Kroll Opera in Berlin, then to the theater in Düsseldorf. Then from 1866 to 1868 he was in Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
. From here he tried once again a world premiere of his patriotic opera Theodor Körner
Theodor Körner
----Theodor Körner, Edler von Siegringen served as the fifth President of Austria, between 1951 and 1957.- Life :...
. For this reason he looked up to Wagner in Munich. Wagner was living together with Mr. and Mrs. von Bülow in a house on Arcisstraße, donated to him by the king and where Cosima Wagner was a housewife who took care of Wagner's correspondence. In the artist's circles, one had already recognized that Wagner had become interested in Mrs. Bülow, so it became clear that, among his friends, Weißheimer could only count on Peter Cornelius at the premiere of his Cid once Wagner was only reluctancy.
In June 1868 the friendship between Weißheimer and Richard Wagner came to an end. The motive for this was Cosima who, without going over the music, wrote on 6 July to Weißheimer that the text of his Theodor Körner could not be performed in court theaters because its seditious tendency might provoke trouble in peaceful times. Wendelin, like his father, had a stubborn personality whenever he recognized something right as wrong. Between him and Wagner now stood Cosima. However, the good-natured, harmless Wendelin was not very fond of the acclaimed Franz Liszt and the Frenchwoman countess d'Agoult's daughter who had inherited the elastic skill and perfectly shaped social mobility from her mother the big acumen from her father. Cosima also had her weaknesses. These were reflected in particular in her efforts to encourage Richard Wagner to be himself, even if Peter Cornelius and Wendelin Weißheimer turned against him. Maybe that might sound unbearable to Cosima, in addition to Wagner whom she idolized, and also to other composers with new ideas. So like this Wendelin Weißheimer matters worsened when he recognised their love affair, having him positioned himself on the part of the betrayed Hans von Bülow. At the premiere of Die Meistersinger in Munich on 21 June 1868, Wendelin Weißheimer had his last encounter with Richard Wagner.
Weißheimer's last years
From Würzburg Wendelin Weißheimer came to be once again conductor in Mainz. During the subsequent activity in Zurich, friendship linked him and his wife to the WesendonckMathilde Wesendonck
Mathilde Wesendonck was a German poet and author. She is best known as the friend and possibly mistress of Richard Wagner, who set five songs to her words, called the Wesendonck Lieder.-Biography:...
family. From 1873 to 1878, Wendelin Weißheimer then worked in Strasbourg
Strasbourg
Strasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
where his opera Master Martin And His Companions premiered on 14 April 1879 in Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
. Now Weißheimer moved to Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden
Baden-Baden is a spa town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located on the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River, in the region of Karlsruhe...
where he became in charge of the larger spa concerts. Together with Otto Dessoff he headed the concerts of the artists meeting with the performance of his Master Martin and his companions in May 1880. In the large central lodge, Weißheimer listened to the performance together with his great teacher Franz Liszt and the French composer Camille Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
outright, receiving from both acclaimed recognition for his accomplishment on such a wonderful work. In the following years Wendelin Weißheimer conducted during several years, despite personal disappointment in unchanged veneration of a genius, mainly works by Richard Wagner at the famous Teatro La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
in Milan. He had his residence on the idyllic Lake Como
Lake Como
Lake Como is a lake of glacial origin in Lombardy, Italy. It has an area of 146 km², making it the third largest lake in Italy, after Lake Garda and Lake Maggiore...
.
Around 1893, Weißheimer moved to Freiburg
Freiburg
Freiburg im Breisgau is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. In the extreme south-west of the country, it straddles the Dreisam river, at the foot of the Schlossberg. Historically, the city has acted as the hub of the Breisgau region on the western edge of the Black Forest in the Upper Rhine Plain...
im Breisgau
Breisgau
Breisgau is the name of an area in southwest Germany, placed between the river Rhine and the foothills of the Black Forest around Freiburg im Breisgau in the state of Baden-Württemberg. The district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, which partly consists of the Breisgau, is named after that area...
in order to enhance his focus on his literary career. His 1898 book, Experiences with Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt and many other contemporaries saw three editions in one single year. Around 1900 he moved to Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
and from Freiburg and Nuremberg the way led him back again more often to his native homeland in the Stone Mill of Osthofen. In the casino society there he gladly spent hours with old friends whom he pleased most joyfully for improvisations, mainly on works by Wagner and Liszt, and on his own compositions. In his last years, Wendelin Weißheimer also led the mass choirs on the social-democratic Party Congresses. His target was the huge masses of the workers' movement and artistically increase the enjoyment of life through great experience in arts and culture. When Wendelin Weißheimer died on 16 June 1910 in Nuremberg, his death caused great turmoil. 30.000 unionized socialists paid Wendelin Weißheimer their respects and remembered him in all the leading newspapers obituaries of the time.
Wendelin Weißheimer works
Wendelin Weißheimer left 106 works (see and), including several songs and choral cycles. Even though he may have tried compositionally to go his own way, he could not emerge from the shadow of his great teacher Franz Liszt, and of Richard Wagner he deeply admired.His operas, his cantatas, and his instrumental music underline this. Even if his "absolute" music pays homage to one of the great string quartet and successful "obligatory violin parts" to Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier
The Well-Tempered Clavier
The Well-Tempered Clavier , BWV 846–893, is a collection of solo keyboard music composed by Johann Sebastian Bach...
, he displays in his other works a clear tendency for program music
Program music
Program music or programme music is a type of art music that attempts to musically render an extra-musical narrative. The narrative itself might be offered to the audience in the form of program notes, inviting imaginative correlations with the music...
. Weißheimer's piano pieces Reminiscence of Gioventu and At Beethoven's Grave, as well as his Symphony for Schiller's Knight Toggenburg certainly match the spirit of the New German School. Weißheimer literary taste is evident in the texts set to music by him. German minstrel poems, texts by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
, Friedrich Schiller
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and playwright. During the last seventeen years of his life , Schiller struck up a productive, if complicated, friendship with already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe...
, Körner
Theodor Körner (author)
Karl Theodor Körner was a German poet and soldier. After some time in Vienna, where he wrote some light comedies and other works, he became a soldier and joined the German uprising against Napoleon...
, Heinrich Heine
Heinrich Heine
Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...
and others found their musical interpretation in his songs and cantatas.
Weißheimer always tried to summarize his individual compositions into larger cycles. Thus arose the 24 songs in the cycle "German minstrel", the 18 settings of Goethe, as well as songs from Heine and Körner, appeared for the men's choir "Eight Songs", along with previously unpublished choral cycles. After his departure with Wagner, Weißheimer turned increasingly to the labor movement and exercised with his compositions for male chorus a particular influence on the cultural aspirations of the Social Democratic Party
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by a large number of political parties in various countries around the world...
.
Operas
- 1863/1864 Lyre and sword, an alternative titles Theodor Körner (Text: Louise Otto-Peters); Patriotic Opera in Four Acts, premiered in 1872 at the Court and National Theater Munich.
- 1878 Master Martin And His Companions (on the story by E.T.A. Hoffmann), premiere at thee Grand Ducal Court Theatre in 1879 in Karlsruhe.
Symphonies
- 1860–1862 Ritter ToggenburgRitter ToggenburgSir Toggenburg is a ballad by Friedrich Schiller, written in 1797, the year of his friendly ballad competition with Goethe. The text was used to inspire a Symphonic Poem of the same name by the New German composer and conductor Wendelin Weißheimer...
(Text: poem by Schiller; symphony for full orchestra), premiere: 1862 Leipzig Gewandhaus. - 1870 To Mozart, Symphony for Small Orchestra; premiere Zurich 1871.
Songs and Ballads
- 1856 The Grave in Busento (Text: August von Platen-Travemünde Haller), ballad for bass solo, male choir and orchestra, premiered in 1857 / Leipzig.
- 1858/1859 King Sigfrid (Text: Ludwig UhlandLudwig UhlandJohann Ludwig Uhland , was a German poet, philologist and literary historian.-Biography:He was born in Tübingen, then Duchy of Württemberg, and studied jurisprudence at the university there, but also took an interest in medieval literature, especially old German and French poetry...
), ballad for baritone or bass and piano, Opus 1, dedicated to Franz Liszt. - 1864–1866 The big company (Text: poem by Franz von Gaudy), obituary to Ferdinand Lassalle.
- 1864–1866 Five Spiritual Sonnets (texts: poems by Theodor Körner)
- Jesus and the Samaritan woman
- Jesus and the sinner
- The last supper
- Epiphany in Emmaus
- Ascension of Christ
- 1868/1869 German minstrel, song cycle, Debut book. Dietmar von AistDietmar von AistDietmar von Aist was a Minnesinger from a baronial family of Upper Austria, documented between 1140 and 1171,whose work is representative of the lyric poetry of the Danube region.-Life:...
- No. 1 The searchers (Soprano)
- No. 2 The separation (Soprano)
- No. 3 Spring (Soprano)
- Second book: Der von KürenbergDer von KürenbergDer von Kürenberg or Der Kürenberger was an middle-age poet, and one of the first named poets to write in Old High German language....
- No. 1 The searchers (Soprano)
- No. 2 The evening star (Mezzo-soprano or baritone)
- No. 3 Love's sorrow (Mezzo-soprano)
- No. 4 The lover farewell (Mezzo-soprano and baritone)
- No. 5 Only one (Mezzo-soprano)
- No. 6 Separation (Mezzo-soprano and baritone)
- Third book: Spervogel
- No. 1 Virtue is the most beautiful dress (Mezzo-soprano or baritone)
- No. 2 Rule of Life (Alt or bass)
- No. 3 The Thor (Alto or bass)
- No. 4 The evil time (Mezzo-soprano or baritone)
- No. 5 The good host (Bass)
- Heinrich von VeldekeHeinrich von VeldekeHendrik van Veldeke is the first writer in the Low Countries that we know by name who wrote in a European language other than Latin. He was born in Veldeke, a hamlet on the territory of Spalbeek, which has been a community of Hasselt, Limburg, Belgium, since 1977...
- No. 6 Love song (Tenor)
- No. 7 Minnelied (baritone)
- No. 8 Power of love (Tenor)
- No. 9 Gray hair (baritone or bass)
- Wernher von Tegernsee
- No. 10 Love Reim (Soprano or tenor)
- Folk songs from the 12th century
- No. 11 Come, O come, my fellow
- No. 12 I have pain in the heart (soprano)
- Fourth book: Christian von Hamle
- No. 1 The Anger (Baritone or mezzo-soprano)
- No. 2 Four eyes and two hearts (Baritone or mezzo-soprano)
- No. 3 Guard Song (Soprano and baritone)
- No. 4 Fidelity (Tenor)
- No. 5 Frauenlob (Tenor)
- John I, Duke of BrabantJohn I, Duke of BrabantJohn I of Brabant, also called John the Victorious was Duke of Brabant , Lothier and Limburg .-Life:...
- Herba lori fa (Soprano or tenor)
- 1869 Songs for voice and pianoforte
- Whenever it would remain (Text: after a poem by Friedrich von Bodenstedt)
- Do you ask with little eyes? (Text: after a poem by Peter CorneliusPeter CorneliusCarl August Peter Cornelius was a German composer, writer about music, poet and translator. He was born and died in Mainz where his grave in the Hauptfriedhof survives....
) - Swept (Text: after a poem by Paul FlemmingPaul FlemmingPaul Flemming is a Canadian curler. He currently plays third for Ian Fitzner-Leblanc.Flemming's junior team had a stellar record, yet failed to win the Nova Scotia Junior Men's Championship, losing 4 provincial finals...
)
- 1892–1896 Songs and ballads for voice and piano accompaniment (on poems by Johann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von GoetheJohann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His Faust has been called the greatest long...
).- No. 1 First loss
- No. 2 You!
- No. 3 Mignon
- No. 4 Rescue
- No. 5 Fliegentod
- No. 6 Beweggrud
- No. 7 Girl wishes
- No. 8 Die the fox, then the bellows
- No. 9 Blindekuh
- No. 10 The Shepherd
- No. 11 Different threat
- No. 12 Insuperable
- No. 13 Graceful presence
- No. 14 Over the world
- No. 15 Effect in the distance (Ballad)
- No. 16 The Dance of Death (Ballad)
- No. 17 The singer
- No. 18 The Pied Piper
- 1880 The lion's bride (after a poem by Adelbert von ChamissoAdelbert von ChamissoAdelbert von Chamisso was a German poet and botanist.- Life :He was born Louis Charles Adélaïde de Chamissot at the château of Boncourt at Ante, in Champagne, France, the ancestral seat of his family...
); concert ballad for voice and orchestra (or piano). - 1876 German National Anthem (Text: after a poem by F.W. Plath) for 4 male voices choir.
Other
- 1887–1891 An obligatory violin part to all preludes of Johann Sebastian Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier.
- 1895–1898 Epiphany (poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) for male choir, tenor, baritone and bass solo.
- 1870–1899 Eight Songs for male chorus.
- The Queen of England (folk song from the 12th century)
- John Barleycorn (poem by Robert BurnsRobert BurnsRobert Burns was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide...
) - German philistinism (poem by August Heinrich Hoffmann von FallerslebenAugust Heinrich Hoffmann von Fallersleben' , who used Hoffmann von Fallersleben as his pen name, was a German poet. He is best known for writing "Das Lied der Deutschen", its third stanza now being the national anthem of Germany, and a number of popular children's songs.- Biography :Hoffmann was born in Fallersleben , Brunswick-Lüneburg,...
) - Schneider Kourage (poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
- The golden calf (poem by Heinrich Heine)
- Just wait (poem by Heinrich Heine)
- Enlightenment (poem by Heinrich Heine)
- Promise (poem by Heinrich Heine)
- Tendency song (poem by Heinrich Heine)
- Bet 'and work (song by Georg HerweghGeorg HerweghGeorg Friedrich Rudolph Theodor Herwegh was a German revolutionary poet.-Biography:He was born in Stuttgart on 31 May 1817, the son of an innkeeper...
) "Dedicated to the 25-year-old union of the Social Democracy of Germany and the Social-Democratic Party Congress of Mainz in 1900.
- 1900–1902 Kronzoll Strangler (poem by Robert SeidelRobert SeidelRobert Seidel was a Swiss boxer who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics.In 1936 he was eliminated in the second round of the lightweight class after losing his fight to the upcoming gold medalist Imre Harangi....
for four-part male chorus. - 1905 The free people, the free song Federal Parole from Wendelin Weißheimer.
- 1906 Three songs for male choir.
- Up to the light (poem by Emanuel Wurm)
- Deep in the earth's womb (poem by Robert Seidel)
- Despite all this ("A salute to the reaction of Ferdinand FreiligrathFerdinand FreiligrathFerdinand Freiligrath was a German poet, translator and liberal agitator.-Biography:Freiligrath was born in Detmold, Principality of Lippe. His father was a teacher. He left a Detmold gymnasium at 16 to be trained for a commercial career in Soest...
") - German people and German freedom (poem by Robert Seidel); composition of the Social Democratic Party Congress in MannheimMannheimMannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
1906.
- 1906–1909 Three two-voice choir songs
- Egyptian folk song 2500 years ago
- Five Commandments of Moses
- Drinking song
- 1909–1910 Two three-voice choir songs
- From the Christian doctrine: The early Christians and Jesus' siblings (after a poem by Max MaurenbrecherMax MaurenbrecherMax Maurenbrecher was a German politician and pastor from Königsberg. He served as a pastor in the Evangelical State Church of Prussia's older Provinces until 1907. From 1909 to 1916 he preached for the free religious congregations in Nuremberg and Mannheim...
) - From the nature lesson: Carrots, monkey, junker and gendarmes (poem by Ludwig PfauLudwig PfauKarl Ludwig Pfau was a German poet, journalist, and revolutionary.-Poetry:...
)
Operas
- The four-year post (after a libretto by Theodor Körner,) completed in 1867.
- Ingeborg of Denmark Opera in four acts by Wendelin Weißheimer, completed in 1884.
- The miraculous crucifix, Opera in three acts (according to a legend of C.F.D. Schubart), unfinished.
Cantatas
- Oh dear, as long as you can love (poem by Ferdinand Freiligrath) Cantata for soloists, chorus and orchestra, later working for women's choir.
- Does not dry the tears of eternal love (poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe) for chorus and orchestra, premiered at the Leipzig Gewandhaus 1862.
- Religioso (poem by Emanuel GeibelEmanuel GeibelEmanuel von Geibel , German poet and playwright, was born at Lübeck, the son of a pastor in the city.He was originally intended for his father's profession and studied at Bonn and Berlin, but his real interests lay not in theology but in classical and romance philology. In 1838 he accepted a...
), Cantata for tenor solo, male chorus and large orchestra. - Spring song (from Mirza Schaffy by Friedrich von Bodenstedt) for mixed chorus with soprano and tenor solo and piano or orchestra.
- The crickets and the poet or the worse visit (poem by Emanuel Geibel) for female choir, baritone solo and piano.
- The dance (poem by Paul Fleming) for mixed choir and piano.
- I want to cry (poem by Heinrich Heine) for tenor and orchestra, completed in 1859.
- To Fanny (ode by Friedrich Gottlieb KlopstockFriedrich Gottlieb KlopstockFriedrich Gottlieb Klopstock was a German poet.-Biography:Klopstock was born at Quedlinburg, the eldest son of a lawyer.Both in his birthplace and on the estate of Friedeburg on the Saale, which his father later rented, young Klopstock passed a happy childhood; and more attention having been given...
) for tenor and orchestra.
Choirs
- Choral songs for male and female voices – First book:
- Sacred song (poem by Paul Flemming)
- On the death of a newborn little daughter (poem by Paul Flemming)
- Wedding song (poem by Johann Georg JacobiJohann Georg JacobiJohann Georg Jacobi was a German poet.The elder brother of the philosopher Friedrich Heinrich Jacobi, Johann Georg was born at Pempelfort near Düsseldorf. He studied theology at Göttingen and jurisprudence at Helmstedt, and was appointed, in 1766, professor of philosophy in Halle. In this year he...
) - To nature (poem by Friedrich Leopold Stolberg)
- Faith, hope and love
- Book II: Songs and poems by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- Who never ate his bread in tears
- New Year
- Delight of melancholy
- Spring flower sorakel
- Schneider-Courage
- Thirty-four part songs for male choir
- Hymn (poem by Spervogel)
- Folk song from the 12 century Hunter song (poem by Ernst Schulze)
- Night song (poem by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
- Rhine song (poem by Emanuel Geibel)
Sources
- Wendelin Weißheimer: Experiences with Richard Wagner, Franz Liszt and many other contemporaries. Leipzig / Mannheim 1898.
- Henry Beckenbach: Wendelin Weissheimer. A Rheinhessen conductor-composer. In: Wendelin Weissheimer, Memory for the third edition of the district Heimattag Worms in Osthofen on the Rhine. 1958, p. 7-19.
- Anton Maria Keim: Wendelin Weissheimer the 120th Birthday. In: Wendelin Weissheimer, Memory for the third edition of the district Heimattag Worms in Osthofen on the Rhine. 1958, p. 21-24.
- Ernst Laaff: Wendelin Weissheimer. Conductor and composer from the Wagner circle. In: Wendelin Weissheimer, Memory for the third edition of the district Heimattag Worms in Osthofen on the Rhine. 1958, p. 25-34.
- Ernst kummel: Speech at the unveiling of Wendelin Weissheimer memorial stone on 22 June 1958. In: Wendelin Weissheimer, Memory for the third edition of the district Heimattag Worms in Osthofen on the Rhine. 1958, p. 35-41.
- Hans-Peter Schilly: The estate of the Osthofener composer Wendelin Weissheimer, Diss. Mainz, 1961.