Wilhelm Friedrich Wieprecht

Wilhelm Friedrich Wieprecht ( born August 8, 1802 in Aschersleben, † August 4, 1872 in Berlin) was a German composer, conductor, arranger. He is regarded as a great reformer of German military music.

Life

Wieprecht father, who had served as a trumpeter in the campaigns of 1790 and 1806, was a versatile musician (violin, flute, clarinet ... ), who had settled in Aschersleben as so-called town-musician. It was obvious that the Wilhelm Wieprecht already received music lessons at a young age. Aged 10, he has already led to a violin concerto in public. When the teaching skills of the Father to the Son nothing more essential New bestowed, he got out of the court musicians Hünerbein, a pupil of Louis Spohr, further lessons. In August 1821 he moved to Leipzig, where he received letters of recommendation from city Kapellmeister Barth and Rörte, who counseled him a contact to Carl Maria von Weber. These letters Wieprecht moved to Dresden, where he was first musician in the orchestra of city music director Johann Gottfried Zillmann. Carl Maria von Weber has worked for Wieprecht and transfers it to Louis Haase to further studies. There he learned about the famous clarinetist rotting know, for whom he composed some clarinet solos. In June 1822 Barth invited him to Leipzig to become a member of the Gewandhaus Orchestra. In the town chapel of Barth Wieprecht completed his knowledge of the wind instruments, although he played in the Gewandhaus orchestra violin. In 1824 he was was due to a counsel of his cousin wing, the music director of the Berlin ballet, chamber musician in Berlin. There he got close ties to the military music. With the changing of the guard, he heard a music corps of infantry play the Overture to Marriage of Figaro by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The following quote is retained for this purpose: Was it the rhythmic, melodic, harmony, or the merger of these different elements that shook me so violently? - And when I pursued this Militair -Capelle on their Hinmarsche to Wachtparade and there the same heard playing the overture to Mozart's Figaro in closed circuits, since it was to dedicate my heart to the firm decision myself from now on, the times the Militairmusik exclusively. In my collected knowledge in the areas of the bladder instruments, I felt a professional purpose and overlooked with a look that I would do very soon in this branch is skilful. He recognized very quickly that here offenlag a vast terrain.

The music corps of cavalry was compiled with the musicians who played exclusively on natural instruments (without valves). They had barely usable and authentic literature. For the trumpet corps of the Dragoon Guards by Major Gottlieb von Barner (1786-1846) he wrote six marches. These were gladly received and listed all the time. The commander of this military band then gave him even the opportunity to reclassify the trumpet corps according to his own ideas. Hardworking he went to work, minds his students entrain and soon had the first success. His modified cast was as follows: 6 trumpets, 2 horns flaps, 2 baritones, 1 bass tenor horn and 2 bass trombones. For special occasions, this 13 musicians scoring corps was supplemented by six trumpets, 1 bass trombone. Due to the success in Berlin soon followed on other cavalry and dragoon music and trumpet corps.

1829 gave the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III. Wieprecht to reform the order the music corps of the guard in Potsdam and gave him the training of all trumpeter. Shortly thereafter has Wieprecht - developed the tuba - together with the Berlin Hofinstrumentenbauer Johann Gottfried Moritz. Although there was already a so-called Bombardon with valves, but that against the new possibilities of the developed tuba could not sustain. 1835, the tuba was patented.

1835 promoted Prince Albrecht of Prussia Wieprecht to Inspector of 3 Musikkorps his brigade. This Wieprecht developed an orchestra of 80 musicians, which he gave many successful concerts. At a wedding in 1837, this orchestra played the Fackeltanz by Gaspare Spontini and a torch dance by Wilhelm Wieprecht in continuous repetition and left a deep impression.

On February 2, 1838 Wieprecht was even director of all bands of the Guards Corps. On May 8, 1838 was Tsar Nicholas I of Russia to visit. Wieprecht put a huge orchestra of 1,000 musicians and 200 drummers from all Berlin music corps together. In a second performance the huge orchestra played the overture from Olympic Gaspare Spontini and the jubilation Overture by Carl Maria von Weber. However, an important anecdote is certainly that on August 10, 1838 in the evening a troop inspection by the Russian Tsar Nicholas I in Landshut by an order of King Frederick William III. the curfew for all Prussian armies was ordered. Since then, the tattoo is also called Russian curfew. Wilhelm Wieprecht created from it by joining the curfew with the cavalry retreat and expansion to the prayer with curls, reputation and the discount today still valid ceremony of the Great curfew.

This was followed by concerts with such major orchestras in Lüneburg and Koblenz on the occasion of the visit of Queen Victoria.

Thereafter, the entire Prussian military music was reformed, in particular what the instrumentation was concerned. Even in Sweden and Denmark took over one reform in the local military music corps. 1847 Turkey Wieprecht asked to reform its military music corps also. 1852 Wieprecht sent an assistant to comply with the request of the Government of Guatemala to reform its military music corps. 1857 Wieprecht became a member of the Swedish Academy. Giacomo Meyerbeer, Spontini Gaspare and Franz Liszt, the friends with Wieprecht him and were grateful for various transcriptions of their works for military music corps, had stimulated a discussion in the Paris Conservatoire, to make the theories and reforms Wieprechts knowledgeable.

The highlight of the musical career was the competition of military bands at the World Exhibition in Paris on 21 July 1867. Before a jury of Ambroise Thomas, Hans von Bülow, Félicien David and Leo Delibes the most famous military bands emulated from all over Europe for the honor. In addition to the compulsory piece, the overture to Oberon by Carl Maria von Weber, he led his combined bands ( 2nd Guard Regiment and the Grenadier Regiment Kaiser Franz ) a fantasy from the opera The Prophet of Giacomo Meyerbeer, and was unanimously awarded the 1st prize. Many saw this success, the consecration of his developed instrumentation system. Napoléon III. Wieprecht has invited twice to his Versailles and awarded him the Cross of Honor of the French Legion of Honour.

Back in Berlin, he was enthusiastically received. Wieprecht composed and produced 52 works of 58 works transcriptions for military music. His direct descendants include the famous Berlin radio presenter Volker Wieprecht (Radio One ).

Works

Works for wind band ( military band )

• Army March No. 133
• Three Marches for obtaining the Prince and Princess Frederick William of Prussia
• Obtaining march (for the commencement of Friedrich Wilhelm IV on 21 September 1840 in Berlin)
• Friedrike - Gossmann Polka
• Grand Pas- Redoublé I and II
• Huldigungsmarsch
• Concerto for Clarinet
• March for cavalry No. 21
• March for cavalry No. 30
• My first Defiliermarsch
• Militairische mourning parade
• Musical memories of the war in 1813, 1814, 1815
• Overture Militair
• Pastillons Polka
• Six Marches for cavalry Music
• Triumphal March by theme of the 5th Piano Concerto in E flat major by Ludwig van Beethoven
• Wilhelm march
• 40 Parade marches for cavalry
• 31 Defiliermärsche for infantry

Books and writings

• Letters on the Prussian Militairmusik: The instrument maker Sax in Paris as the inventor