Editing Carl Maria von Weber (section)

===Childhood===
Carl Maria Friedrich Ernst von Weber was born around 18 November 1786 in [[Eutin]], [[Bishopric of Lübeck]].{{sfn|Brown|2002a}}{{sfn|von Weber|1864|pp=[https://archive.org/stream/carlmariavonweb02webegoog#page/n67/mode/2up 19–20]}} He was the eldest of the three children of Franz Anton von Weber and his second wife, [[Genovefa Weber]], a Viennese singer. He was baptized [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] on 20 November 1786 with the name Carl Friedrich Ernst; the alternative second name Maria appeared only later. His brother and sister died in infancy.{{sfn|Carl-Maria-von-Weber-Gesamtausgabe – Biographie}} Both parents were Catholic and originally came from the far south of Germany. The "[[von]]" was an affectation of his father's, who was not an aristocrat and who claimed descent from a south German noble family which was already extinct at the time.

In April 1779, Franz Anton had been appointed director of the prince-bishopric orchestra, Eutin, which, however, was dissolved in 1781 because of spending cuts. He then took the position of Eutin's municipal music director. Dissatisfied with this position, he resigned in 1787 and founded a theatre company in Hamburg. After a brief stay in Vienna, he joined the theatre company of Johann Friedrich Toscani (husband of [[Elisabeth Toscani]]) and Peter Carl Santorini, who performed in [[Kassel]], [[Marburg]], and [[Hofgeismar]]. He tried repeatedly to establish a lasting company of his own but had only intermittent success.{{sfn|Carl-Maria-von-Weber-Gesamtausgabe – Biographie}}

Franz Anton's half-brother, {{Ill|Franz Fridolin Weber|de|Franz Fridolin Weber|fr}}, married [[Cäcilia Weber|Cäcilia Stamm]] and had four daughters—[[Josepha Weber|Josepha]], [[Aloysia Weber|Aloysia]], [[Constanze Mozart|Constanze]], and [[Sophie Weber|Sophie]]—all of whom became notable singers. [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] attempted to woo Aloysia, composing several pieces for her. After she rejected his advances, Mozart went on to marry Constanze; thus Mozart's wife was a cousin of Carl Maria von Weber.

A gifted violinist, Franz Anton had ambitions of turning Weber into a [[child prodigy]] like Mozart. Weber was born with a congenital hip disorder and did not begin to walk until he was four. But by then, he was already a capable singer and pianist.