Introduction

Biography

Methfessel be­gan at­tend­ing the Gym­na­si­um in Ru­dol­stadt in 1801. He stu­died theo­lo­gy and class­ic­al li­te­ra­ture in Leip­zig (1807–10). But as he real­ized his gift in mu­sic, with the fi­nan­cial sup­port of the re­gent of Schwarz­burg-Ru­dol­stadt, Ca­ro­line of Hesse-Hom­burg, he be­gan stu­dy­ing voice in Dres­den.

From 1810–11 he was an op­era sing­er at the court the­ater in Ru­dol­stadt, and worked as a vo­cal and in­stru­ment­al teach­er. He knew Jo­hann Wolf­gang von Goethe, and taught sing­ing to Fried­rich Schill­er’s daugh­ter Em­i­lie. Meth­fes­sel lived in Ru­dol­stadt un­til 1816.

In 1818, he pub­lished his All­ge­meine Com­mers- und Lied­er­buch. Be­gin­ning in 1823, he taught mu­sic and con­duct­ed in Ham­burg, and in 1823 found­ed the Ham­burg­er Lied­er­ta­fel.

During this time he com­posed the Ham­burg an­them Ham­mo­nia which was pre­sent­ed pub­lic­ly on Ap­ril 19, 1828, the five-year an­ni­ver­sa­ry of the Ham­burg­er Lied­er­ta­fel.

In 1832 he suc­ceed­ed Got­tlob Wie­de­bein as Ka­pell­meis­ter at the op­era house in Braun­schweig. Hear­ing prob­lems led to his re­tire­ment in 1841, and end­ed his pro­fess­ion­al cre­at­ive pe­ri­od.

Methfessel re­ceived an hon­or­ary Doc­tor of the Fa­cul­ty of Arts from the Uni­ver­si­ty of Je­na in 1865.