THE  PARENTS
 
 
 

 

The only known picture of both parents of Norbert Burgmüller shows them
during the entry of Napoleon into Düsseldorf in 1811. It depicts the pair under
an arch: the gentleman in the brown jacket and the lady in white with red stole.

August Burgmüller was born in 1766 in Magdeburg, and at an early age began a restless career as court conductor,  occasional composer (much in the tradition of the 18th century), pianist, and music teacher. This led him to Weimar, Cologne, Bonn, Aachen and Düsseldorf, where a pupil,  Therese von
Zandt (1771-1858), later became his wife. There were additional stops in Mainz, Aachen and Wetzlar, before he became Kapellmeister at Regensburg in 1804. Here he and Therese were married, and the first two sons were born. In 1807 Burgmüller found a position in Düsseldorf where, as conductor and teacher, he spent the remaining seventeen years of his life. In 1812 he became music director of the city. In 1818 with the assistance of the director of music in Elberfeld (Johannes Schornstein) he founded the Lower Rhine Music Festival.
 

At the height of his fame he directed music festivals in Düsseldorf (1820 and 1822) as well as in Cologne (1821). In 1819 he accompanied the famous singer Angelica Catalani on a tour through western and northern Germany as a conductor and pianist.

The following manuscript dates from that time, one of the few of August Burgmüller which has survived. It is dedicated to his friend Daniel Schütte in Bremen, who helped to organize the
Catalani concerts in the town.

            Of August Burgmüller's numerous compositions, only a handful of songs are extant. It is said
            that Norbert cherished the songs and sang them at the piano. Norbert's mother was a sought-after
            piano teacher and an accomplished singer. Her teaching provided much needed income for the
            family. For many years she preserved her son's manuscripts.
 

 

 

Of the few conserved compositions of August Burgmüllers some three are to be heard :
 

Arietta "In questa tomba oscura"  (approx. 1805) 
 

From "Vier Gesänge von Theodor von Haupt"  (approx. 1818)

Nr.1 

Nr.4