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PAN PIPES SummER 2014 Sai-natiOnal.ORg 16 Chu's 2002 children's book which she wrote and illustrated. a world oF MusIc By Jayne l. hanlin O n a cold and rainy Sunday aernoon in the village of Hosterwitz on the outskirts of Dresden, Germany, I visited the Carl Maria von Weber Museum. During most summers between 1818-1824, the Romantic composer rented an apartment in this building. ere von Weber (1786-1826) wrote his famous piano composition Aufforderung zum Tanz (Invitation to the Dance), dedicated to his wife and later orchestrated by Berlioz, and also completed Oberon and Euryanthe, two of the most famous of his ten operas. e museum is housed in von Weber's only remaining residence in the vicinity. He worked and lived on the second floor with his family, their hunting dog, a cat, a capuchin monkey, and a tame robin. Because of its connection with his life and work, this charming building, formerly belonging to a winemaker, is a fitting place to honor the Father of Romantic Music. Besides, the surrounding locale is the setting for Der Freischütz, his third most famous opera. At the museum, along with his compositions on exhibit upstairs, are portraits, documents, caricatures, programs, flyers, and posters. e room furnishings, though typical of his time, never belonged to him. ere are a couple of rooms to see, and although the information is in German, some displays, including his music, which already is in the universal language, do not need translation. It was fascinating to learn that several of his compositions are very difficult to play; von Weber had very long fingers that enabled him to reach keyboard distances that most pianists find problematic. In spite of the rather small space of the rooms, there is a lot to see because the display cases, each focused on a different aspect of the composer's life and career, have five drawers with glass overlays; this means there is much more to view than if the items were just in single display cases covered with glass. I recommend taking the time to open every single drawer. Today there are concerts and lectures on the lower level and in the garden. But the garden is more important for a historical reason: there in a small open-air building, von Weber and his wife ate breakfast together daily. e rain during my visit prevented me from being nostalgic and eating my sandwich there — but not from seeing in my imagination the couple enjoying the morning sunshine in this spot. Even before the museum was officially opened, it became a repository of von Weber memorabilia. Admirers came to the site, sometimes signing a guestbook and occasionally leaving a von Weber manuscript. Von Weber's career was multi-faceted; he was a masterful pianist, a fine composer, a music critic, and for a time a singer. He is also remembered as one of the first maestros to use a baton rather than conduct the orchestra with hand signals while playing either the piano or violin. On display — totally unlike a pointy stick with a cork handle — is von Weber's baton, an 1824 gi from members of Dresden's Royal Orchestra. Its thicker diameter is uniform, its white ivory surface embellished with black staff and notes, the music of an aria Carl maria von Weber museum Museen der Stadt Dresden Photos A World of Music A World of Music WORLD continued on page 23

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