Carl Maria von Weber was born near Lubeck, Germany on November 18, 1786. He was the cousin of Mozart’s wife and the son of a musician traveling with a theatre company. Thus, he was trained to be a musician as a child in part by Micheal Hadyn, an Austrian composer. He began writing operas at the age of 13, and became an operatic conductor at age 18. He is famous for his three operas Der Freischutz (first performed in Berlin in 1821), Euryanthe, and Oberon (performed in London after his death) as well as the change from spoken dialogue to words sung with the melody of the music. He also wrote two symphonies, clarinet concertos written for Heinrich Baermann, a Horn Concerto, a bassoon Concerto, cantatas, and piano solos. He was also an influence to the German composer Richard Wagner.

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