Carl Maria von Weber was a German composer, conductor, pianist and music critic. He is known as the creator of the German Romantic Opera, as he was one of the first composers to write popular romantic German operas, and best remembered for composing the opera, Der Freischutz (The Marksman (1821). Weber was born into a musical family; both his parents were musicians. He was the eldest son born to Franz Anton von Weber and his second wife, Genovefa Brenner. He was born with a congenital hip disease and did not begin to walk until he was four years old, but was already a talented singer and pianist. His father dreamt of turning his son into a child prodigy like his nephew by marriage, Mozart. In 1796 his mother died of tuberculosis and he went to Salzburg to study with Michael Haydn who taught him free of charge. When his family moved to Munich, he studied piano and composition with Johann Nepomuk Kalcher. While there he also took voice lessons with a renowned German singer, Johann Evangelist Wallishauser and organist J. N. Kalcher. He continued studying even in Vienna with Abbe Georg Vogler. He was appointed conductor of the Breslau theatre from 1804-1806. Between 1807- 1810 he served an appointment at the court of the duke's brother Ludwig in Stuttgart but was expelled from Wurtt berg for a minor offense. Weber became music director of the Opera at Prague (1813-1816) and Dresden in 1816-1826. In 1826 he moved to London to accept an invitation to compose and produce a commissioned opera for Covent Garden. He died shortly after its premiere from tuberculosis on 4 June 1826 at age 39 and was survived by his wife singer, Caroline Brandt.