generally emphasizing some of its characteristic 'motives.' Purely orchestral numbers in the course of the play became rare, simply because not dramatically germane, but, instead, the functions of the 'accompaniment' were freely expanded, bringing it into full coördination with the vocal elements.
In all these regards we see the working of the same ideas for which Gluck contended and which Mozart exemplified, but the application was now in the hands of leaders more enterprising than either, working with technical methods more elaborate and unfettered than had been possible a generation earlier. At every point we note the beginnings of the monumental type of musical drama later to be illustrated by Wagner and his contemporaries.
As a help to appreciating the extensive drift toward the romantic opera, a number of writers should be named who were popular for the time, though several of them dropped out of sight later.
Joseph Weigl (d. 1846), a pupil of Albrechtsberger and Salieri, was from before 1800 theatre-choirmaster at Vienna and from 1825 Salieri's successor. He was a favorite of Maria Theresa, an agreeable man and a smooth melodist. Of his about 30 operas (from 1782, '89) some were in Italian. La Principessa d'Amalfi was praised by Haydn. Others were Gli amori marinari or Der Corsair (1797), Die Uniform (1798), Das Waisenhaus, Die Schweizer-Familie, his strongest work (1809), Die Jugend Peters des Grossen (1815), Der Bergstürz, Nachtigall und Rabe (1818), etc. He also wrote a Passion (1804), an Easter oratorio, and, in later life, church music.
Friedrich Heinrich Himmel (d. 1814), the pianist, studied in Italy, in 1795 succeeded Reichardt as choirmaster at Berlin and traveled widely as player and composer. Besides Italian operas, like Semiramide (1795, Naples), Alessandro (1798, St. Petersburg), Vasco da Gama (1801, Berlin), he was prompt to seize the new opening for German romances, as in Fanchon (1804), Die Sylphen (1806), and Der Kobold (1811). In spite of his dissipated habits, he was popular as a player and especially as a song-writer.
Ignaz von Seyfried (d. 1841), trained by Mozart, Haydn, Albrechtsberger and especially Winter, from 1797 was theatre-choirmaster at Vienna, producing over 100 stage-works of unoriginal but pleasing quality, and considerable church music. Among his operas may be named Der Wundermann am Rheinfall (1799), Die Druiden (1801), Feodora (1812), Ugolino (1821), etc. After 1828 he devoted himself to literary work.
At about this point in the series Weber entered the field with Das Waldmädchen (1800), followed at intervals by other operas, of which Silvana (1810), Der Freischütz (1821), Euryanthe (1823) and Oberon (1826, London) are historically the chief. Of these, Euryanthe was the only one in which there is not some spoken dialogue.
Konradin Kreutzer (d. 1849), a good pianist and clarinettist, about 1804 came to Vienna, studied with Albrechtsberger, in 1812 went to Stuttgart and thence to Donaueschingen, returned in 1822 to Vienna, working at two different theatres, and in 1840-6 was at Cologne. He was a gifted composer and enjoyed great popularity. Besides his 30 operas (from 1800), he wrote
