Carl Maria von Weber.

Carl Maria von Weber was born on December 18, 1786 in Eutin, now part of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. His father Franz Anton von Weber gave him a comprehensive education, but the family’s frequent moves interrupted his studies.

In 1796, Weber studied with oboist Johann Peter Heuschkel in Hildburghausen. After moving to Salzburg in autumn 1797, he studied from 1798 with Michael Haydn, younger brother of Joseph Haydn, who agreed to teach Weber free of charge. He later attended the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna.

In 1813, Weber became Kapellmeister in Prague, a role he held until 1816 when he moved to Dresden as music director of the Deutsche Oper. There he promoted German opera over the Italian opera popular at the time.

His masterpiece Der Freischütz premiered in Berlin in 1821, a city known for its liberal audience, and became the defining work of German Romantic opera. He also wrote the opera Euryanthe in 1823 and left the comic opera Die drei Pintos unfinished at his death.

He traveled to London in 1826 for a concert, where he contracted a disease and died on June 5, 1826.

Weber married the soprano Caroline Brandt on November 4, 1817. They had one child, Max Maria von Weber.

He was a cousin of Constanze Mozart, the wife of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. His father was Franz Anton von Weber and his mother was Genovefa von Weber. He also had a sister named Maria Antonia.

Weber influenced later composers like Richard Wagner with Der Freischütz 1821, which remains his most performed work. His unfinished opera Die drei Pintos was completed by Gustav Mahler and premiered in Leipzig on 20 January 1888. Posthumously honored as an Honorary Member of the Royal Philharmonic Society, Weber died at age 39 in London.