Norbert Burgmüller

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Norbert Burgmüller (Düsseldorf, February 8, 1810 – Aachen, May 7, 1836) was a German composer.

[edit] Life

Norbert was the youngest son in a musical family. His father, August Burgmüller, was the director of a theater. His mother, Therese von Zandt, was a singer and piano teacher. He had two brothers, Franz and Friedrich, who was a composer too. After the death of the father the family had financial problems, but they got support from count Franz von Nesselrode-Ehreshoven.

Norbert studied with Louis Spohr and his pupil Moritz Hauptmann in Kassel. After his study he became there piano teacher. He got engaged with Sophia Roland, but in 1830 the relationship ended to the distress of Norbert. He became epileptic and started to drink excessively.

In the same year he went back to Düsseldorf to live with his mother. Here he befriended Felix Mendelssohn. He got engaged with Josephine Collin, but this relationship ended too. After Mendelssohn had left for Leipzig in 1835 he made plans to leave for Paris, where his brother Friedrich had gone. In 1836 he went to a spa in Aachen, where he drowned during an epileptic seizure.

[edit] Works

Orchestral works
- Symphony Nr.1 C minor op.2 (1831-33)
- Symphony Nr.2 D major op.11 (1834/35, unfinished)
- Ouvertüre F minor op.5 (1825)
- 4 Entr'actes op.17 (1827/28)
- Piano Concerto in F sharp minor op.1 (1828/29)
Vocal works
- "Dionys", Opera after Schiller's Ballad "Die Bürgschaft" (1832/34, Fragment)
- 23 Songs
Chamber music
- String quartet Nr.1 D minor op.4 (1825)
- String quartet Nr.2 D minor op.7 (1825/26)
- String quartet Nr.3 A flat major op.9 (1826)
- String quartet Nr.4 A minor op.14 (1835)
- Duo in E flat major op.15 for clarinet and piano (1834)
Piano music
- Sonata in F minor op.8 (1826)
- Waltz in E flat major (1827)
- Polonaise in F major op.16 (1832)
- Rhapsody in B minor op.13 (1834)