Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (German: [ˈjoːhan ˈkʁɪstɔf ˈfʁiːdʁɪç fɔn ˈʃɪlɐ], short: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈʃɪlɐ] ⓘ; 10 November 1759 – 9 May 1805) was a German polymath and poet, playwright, historian, philosopher, physician, lawyer. Schiller is considered by most Germans to be Germany's most important classical playwright.
"Schiller" redirects here. For other uses, see Schiller (disambiguation).
Hofrat (Saxe-Meiningen)
Friedrich Schiller
Johann Christoph Friedrich Schiller
10 November 1759
Marbach am Neckar, Duchy of Württemberg
9 May 1805
Weimar, Duchy of Saxe-Weimar
Physician, poet, playwright, writer, historian, philosopher
- Karl Ludwig Friedrich (1793–1857)
- Ernst Friedrich Wilhelm (1796–1841)
- Karoline Luise Friederike (1799–1850)
- Emilie Henriette Luise (1804–1872)
- Johann Kaspar Schiller (father)
- Elisabetha Dorothea Schiller, born Kodweiß (mother)
- Christophine Reinwald (sister)
He was born in Marbach to a devoutly Protestant family. Initially intended for the priesthood, in 1773 he entered a military academy in Stuttgart and ended up studying medicine. His first play, The Robbers, was written at this time and proved very successful. After a brief stint as a regimental doctor, he left Stuttgart and eventually wound up in Weimar. In 1789, he became professor of History and Philosophy at Jena, where he wrote historical works.
During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendship with the already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. They frequently discussed issues concerning aesthetics, and Schiller encouraged Goethe to finish works that he had left as sketches. This relationship and these discussions led to a period now referred to as Weimar Classicism. Together they founded the Weimar Theater.
They also worked together on Xenien, a collection of short satirical poems in which both Schiller and Goethe challenge opponents of their philosophical vision.
Weimar and later career[edit]
Schiller returned with his family to Weimar from Jena in 1799. Goethe convinced him to return to playwriting. He and Goethe founded the Weimar Theater, which became the leading theater in Germany. Their collaboration helped lead to a renaissance of drama in Germany.
For his achievements, Schiller was ennobled in 1802 by the Duke of Saxe-Weimar, adding the nobiliary particle "von" to his name.[12] He remained in Weimar, Saxe-Weimar until his death at 45 from tuberculosis in 1805.
Friedrich Schiller had five sisters, two of whom died in childhood and three of whom lived to adulthood:
Ludwig van Beethoven said that a great poem is more difficult to set to music than a merely good one because the composer must rise higher than the poet – "who can do that in the case of Schiller? In this respect Goethe is much easier," wrote Beethoven.[37]
There are relatively few famous musical settings of Schiller's poems. Notable exceptions are Beethoven's setting of "An die Freude" (Ode to Joy)[31] in the final movement of his Ninth Symphony, Johannes Brahms' choral setting of "Nänie", and "Des Mädchens Klage" by Franz Schubert, who set 44 of Schiller's poems[38] as Lieder, mostly for voice and piano, also including "Die Bürgschaft".
The Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi admired Schiller greatly and adapted several of his stage plays for his operas:
Donizetti's Maria Stuarda is based on Mary Stuart; Rossini's Guillaume Tell is an adaptation of William Tell. Nicola Vaccai's Giovanna d'Arco (1827) is based on The Maid of Orleans, and his La sposa di Messina (1839) on The Bride of Messina. Bruch’s The Lay of the Bell is also based on a poem by Schiller.[39][40] Elise Schmezer (1810–1856) used Schiller’s text for her Lied “Das Geheimnis”.[41] Tchaikovsky's 1881 opera The Maid of Orleans is partly based on Schiller's work. In 1923, German composer Frieda Schmitt-Lermann wrote the music for a theatre production (Das Lied von der Glocke) based on Schiller's text. German-Russian composer Zinaida Petrovna Ziberova created a musical setting for Schiler's William Tell in 1935.[42] The 20th-century composer Giselher Klebe adapted The Robbers for his first opera of the same name, which premiered in 1957.
Plays
Histories
Translations
Prose
Poems
Sources
Biographical
Editions
Other valuable editions are:
Translations of Schiller's works:
Documents and other memorials of Schiller are in the Goethe and Schiller Archive in Weimar.