Restless Spirit | Carl Maria von Weber

To mark the 200th anniversary of composer Carl Maria von Weber’s death, we take a look at the depth of his sound and his pioneering spirit.

A tireless innovator: Carl Maria von Weber was driven by curiosity, musical expressiveness and an insatiable artistic energy. Soprano Regula Mühlemann, baritone Äneas Humm, composer Jörg Widmann, film composer Rachel Portman and others discuss the artist, whose influence extends far beyond the well-known ‘Freischütz’.

Even as a child, he was constantly on the move: he grew up in a family of travelling actors with no permanent home, moving from town to town to various theatres. His childhood shaped his sense of how sound can touch people – a sensibility that would later characterise his entire body of work. His fascination with the effect of music on people became apparent early on – a power that would permeate his operas, songs and instrumental works.

Carl Maria von Weber saw the orchestra as a narrative force, experimented boldly and created new musical realms, the influence of which extends into the modern era, including film music. At the same time, his life was marked by upheavals, shaped by illness, financial strain, tireless work and the search for his own artistic language beyond established traditions. His music combines emotional force with a timeless quality that continues to surprise listeners to this day.

The famous opera “Der Freischütz” remains the epitome of German Romantic opera and has become a milestone in German cultural history. Weber was one of the first composers to consciously seek the creation of a distinct German opera culture – linguistically, musically and thematically.

“Restless Spirit – Carl Maria von Weber” takes us into the world of a composer who, until his untimely death at the age of 39, worked tirelessly to renew the sound of his time and to give music its own expressive language, thereby introducing the audience to a new way of listening.