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The Digital Baermann

Erinnerungen eines alten Musikanten. von Karl Baermann sen. (Schluß.), 3 November 1882

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Erinnerungen eines alten Musikanten, 1882 Following on from the stand-alone memoir in February 1882, Baermann published a further six-part set of recollections of his life and career under the title "‘Erinnerungen eines alten Musikanten". The memoirs contain many important and interesting details, but are at times frustratingly superficial, hinting at but not detailing his impressions and encounters with many of the leading musicians, writers and other personalities of the 19th century (particularly those detailed in his lost 1839 travel diary). Baermann's writing is humorous and self-depreciating and gives a strong impression of his extrovert and whimsical personality.

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Baermann, Carl. "Erinnerungen eines alten Musikanten". Neueste Nachrichten und Münchener Anzeiger, October 28, 1882, 1.
Summary Baermann recalls his early life up to age 16, including his participation in a pageant for the opening of the National-Theater at the age of 6, his first encounter with Maximilian I, his early schooling and years at the Königliches Erziehungsinstitut für Studierende (Hollandeum).

Baermann, Carl. "Erinnerungen eines alten Musikanten (Fortsetzung)". Neueste Nachrichten und Münchener Anzeiger, October 29, 1882, 1.
Summary Baermann recalls his first tour with his father, 1827–8 to Berlin, Lübeck and Copenhagen (including his first meeting with Mendelssohn), and his second tour in 1832–3 to Berlin, Königsberg, Riga, Mitau and St Petersburg, already discussed in the February 1825 article. Baermann also mentions his admission to the court orchestra in 1822 and the challenges of being in his father's shadow as a young man.

Baermann, Carl. "Erinnerungen eines alten Musikanten (Fortsetzung)". Neueste Nachrichten und Münchener Anzeiger, October 31, 1882, 1.
Summary Baermann discusses his formal appointment to a salaried position in the Court Orchestra in 1834, his marriage the same year, his service under Franz Lachner's direction from 1836, and his musical impressions of Paris in 1839. He lists a large number of musicians he met or heard there including Cherubini, Berlioz, Adam, Halévy, Paganini, Baillot, Lafont, Allard, Artôt, Beriot, Doehler, Kalkbrenner, Habeneck, Chopin, Paer, Donizetti, Heller, Panofka, Rosenhain; the Italian opera singers Rubini, Lablache, Grisi, Albertazzi, Garcia, Tamburini; and French singers Duprez, Roger, Mario, Doris Grâce, Levasseur, and the ballet dancer Fanny Elsler; also the writers Victor Hugo, Eugène Scribe, Heinrich Heine, Eugène Sue, and Jules Janin. He discusses an experience of Paris audiences and his first impressions of a masked ball.

Baermann, Carl. "Erinnerungen eines alten Musikanten (Fortsetzung)". Neueste Nachrichten und Münchener Anzeiger, November 1, 1882, 1.
Summary Baermann recounts a lengthy anecdote about attending a masked ball at the Opera and receiving the attentions of a sailor, to which he was not entirely averse. He then briefly mentions performing at the Opera and in the hall of the Conservatoire, assisted by Döhler, Rosenhain, Panofka, Levasseur, Madame Doris Grâce and Demoiselle Nau, with financial support from Meyerbeer. He also refers again to his impressions of Cherubini, Auber, Victor Hugo, Eugen Sue, Berlioz and Heine.

Baermann, Carl. "Erinnerungen eines alten Musikanten (Fortsetzung)". Neueste Nachrichten und Münchener Anzeiger, November 2, 1882, 1.
Summary Baermann refers to but does not discuss his touring in the 1840s and 1850s to Austria, Germany and Hungary. He refers to the death of his father and of Mendelssohn in 1847, and his assuming his father's 'position and salary' in the court orchestra the same year. He then tells a lengthy anecdote about King Ludwig I being accosted by a farmer in the street to ask for directions and Baermann assisting him in understanding the man's thick dialect. He then recalls Meyerbeer's last visit to Munich in 1861, where Carl arranged an introduction to Franz Lachner.
Baermann, Carl. "Erinnerungen eines alten Musikanten (Schluß)". Neueste Nachrichten und Münchener Anzeiger, November 3, 1882, 1.
Summary Carl concludes his story of Meybeer's visit to Munich in 1861. He closes by relating the circumstances of his retirement, mentioning the strain of performing Wagner operas during the latter part of his career, and his hearing problems that led to him retiring from teaching.