Carl Maria von Weber

A brilliant pianist himself Weber composed four sonatas two concertos and the Konzertstück (Concert Piece) in F minor which influenced composers such as Chopin Liszt and Mendelssohn. Nevertheless Carl remained prolific as a composer during this period writing a quantity of religious music mainly for the Catholic mass. Later career 1810–1826
In 1810 Weber visited several cities throughout Germany; from 1813 to 1816 he was director of the Opera in Prague; from 1816 to 1817 he worked in Berlin and from 1817 onwards he was director of the prestigious Opera in Dresden working hard to establish a German Opera in reaction to the Italian Opera which had dominated the European music scene since the 18th century.

Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber (18/19 November 1786 – 4/5 June 1826) was a German composer conductor pianist guitarist and critic one of the first significant composers of the Romantic school. Weber compositions for woodwind instruments occupy an important place in the musical repertoire. His bassoon concerto and the Andante e Rondo ungarese (a reworking of a piece originally for viola and orchestra) are also popular with bassoonists.