- Wilhelm Müller
Wilhelm Müller (
October 7 ,1794 -September 30 ,1827 ), German lyricpoet , was born atDessau , the son of a shoemaker.He was educated at the gymnasium of his native town and at the
university of Berlin , where he devoted himself to philological and historical studies. In 1813-1814 he took part, as a volunteer, in the national rising againstNapoleon . In 1817 he visitedItaly , and in 1820 published his impressions in "Rom, Römer und Römerinnen". In 1818 he was appointed teacher of classics in the Dessau school, and in 1820 librarian to the ducal library.Müller's earliest lyrics are contained in a volume of poems, "Bundesbluten", by several friends, which was published in 1816. His literary reputation was made by the "Gedichte aus den hinterlassenen Papieren eines reisenden Waldhornisten" (2vols., 1821-1824), and the "Lieder der Griechen" (1821-1824). The latter collection was Germany's chief tribute of sympathy to the Greeks in their struggle against the Turkish yoke, a theme which inspired many poets of the time. Two volumes of "Neugriechische Volkslieder", and "Lyrische Reisen und epigrammatische Spaziergänge", followed in 1825 and 1827. Müller also wrote a book on the "Homerische Vorschule" (1824; 2nd. ed., 1836), translated Marlowe's "Faustus", and edited a "Bibliothek der Dichtungen des 17 Jahrhunderts" (1825-1827; 10 vols.).
Müller and Schubert
Rightly or wrongly, Müller is not considered a major figure of German literature, and his work would probably be even less well known if his contemporary, the composer
Franz Schubert , had not set a substantial amount of his poetry to music. Schubert's twosong cycle s, "Die schöne Müllerin " and "Die Winterreise ", are based on collections by Müller.Müller's son was the Orientalist scholar and founder of comparative religion
Friedrich Max Müller and his grandson wasWilhelm Max Müller .References
*Wilhelm Müller's "Gedichte" were first collected in 1837 (4th ed., 1858); edited by his son, Friedrich Max Müller (1868)
*numerous other editions, notably one inReclam 's "Universalbibliothek" (1894)
*critical edition byJ. T. Hatfield (1906)
*Müller's "Vermischte Schriften" edited with a biography byGustav Schwab (3 vols., 1830).
*F. Max Müller 's article in the "Allgemeine deutsche Biographie"
*O. Franck , "Zur Biographie des Dichters W. Müller" ("Mittellungen des Vereins fur anhaltische Geschichte", 1887)
*JT Hatfield, "W. Müllers unveröffentlichtes Tagebuch und seine ungedruckten Briefe" (Deutsche Rundschau , 1902).References
*1911
External links
* [http://gutenberg.spiegel.de/autoren/muellerw.htm Biography and works at Project Gutenberg] (German)
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