Karl Eduard Weber, How He was Known in Russia

Abstract

The article illustrates the life and creative
activity of German pianist and pedagogue
Karl Eduard Weber in Russia.
Weber received his education at the Leipzig
Conservatory. In 1854 he went to Russia,
where musicians of high professional level
were on demand, and taught for over 20 years
at the Tambov Music College.
However, having engaged in pedagogical
activity in various Russian cities,
Weber frequently experienced discontent.
Having observed the unsatisfactory level
of musical education, he began creating
methodological works. Among them,
those which became famous and were
disseminated were “Rukovodstvo
k sistematicheskomu obucheniyu
igre na fortepiano” [“A Manual
for the Systematic Instruction of Playing
the Piano”] (1866), and “Putevoditel' pri
obuchenii igre na fortepiano”
[“A Guide to Instruction of Piano Playing”]
(1876).
In 1881 Karl Eduard Weber received
the position of an instructor at the Tambov
Alexandrinsky Institute for Noble Girls.
In 1889 he switched to working at the Tambov
Musical Classes (since 1900 — the Tambov
Music College), where he worked until
the end of his life (1913).Weber brought up the talented student
Anna Gravert-Lavdovskaya (1881 – 1888).
She provided initial instruction to the future
outstanding pianist Victor Merzhanov. Therein,
undoubtedly, lies a great merit of the Weber
school. Many of the foundational traits of piano
pedagogy of Karl Eduard Weber are inherent
to the pedagogy of Victor K. Merzhanov.