Wilhelm Karl Gottfried Taubert

* 23.03.1811 in Berlin; ✝ 07.01.1891 in Berlin

Pianist, Composer

Biography

Wilhelm Taubert learned to play the piano while studying under Ludwig Berger and to compose under Bernhard Klein. By the age of 20 he was entrusted with the direction of the Berlin Hofkonzerte, a position he retained through the reigns of four Prussian Kings until extreme old age. In 1841 he was appointed to the post of musical director of the Royal Opera, and in 1845 he was named its court kapellmeister.

Taubert was always a great enthusiast for ‘Vienna Classical’ composers (Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart und Ludwig van Beethoven) and it is thanks to him that they were performed at all in Berlin, a city with a reputation for musical conservatism. From 1865 he taught at the Arts Academy – having been a member since 1834 – and he was elected its president a few years later. This was a special honour, as the post had never previously been occupied by a musician. In 1870 Taubert left the Royal Opera in Berlin and retired from public life.

Throughout his life Taubert tried his hand in every musical field: from opera to simple piano pieces, from string quartets to children’s songs. Altogether he composed, along with numerous smaller works, six operas and six pieces for the musical stage.

Shakespeare-Vertonungen

• Othello. Ouverture after Shakespeare [first performed 1831 in Berlin].
• Macbeth, op. 133. Opera in 5 acts. Friedrich Hartwig Eggers after Shakespeare [first performance: Berlin, Königliches Opernhaus, 16.11.1857].
• Der Sturm, op. 134 [first performance: München, Königliches Hof- und Nationaltheater, 28.11.1855].
• Gesänge aus Shakspeare’s Was ihr wollt. Kaufmann von Venedig. Wie es euch gefällt. Sommernachtstraum. Der Liebe Müh‘ umsonst, op. 33. Songs for soprana/alto with piano. [c. 1860].
• Lied aus Heinrich VIII in 7 Lieder, op. 174, Nr. 1. Song for solo voice and piano [1864].
• Titania, op. 147. Composition for solo piano. After A Midsummer Night‘s Dream [1865].
• Cesario, op. 188. Opera in 3 acts. After Twelfth Night [first Performance: Berlin, Königliches Theater, 13.11.1874].

Literature

Primary Literature

• Eitner, Robert: ‘Taubert, Wilhelm’. In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, 37 (1894). Pp. 430-433 [Online Version]. Url: http://www.deutschebiographie.de/pnd11723589X.html?anchor=adb.
• Gooch/Thatcher: Vol. I, 1543, 5187, 6480, 6620, Vol. II, 7296, 8640, 10565, 10723, 11971, Vol. III, 15304, 17417, 17645, 18026.
• Neumann, William/von Lenz, Wilhelm: Carl Wilhelm Taubert, Ferdinand Hiller: Biographien (= Die Komponisten der neueren Zeit, 43). Kassel, 1857.

Album pages with this person

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