In researching the biography of Charles Nicholas Weiss, I am putting together a list of all his known compositions.
I have found though, that the British Museum has 15 of his works in their collection, but they are listed under the name of Carl N Weiss. Perhaps in his compositions he gave his name as Carl, however, in every reference to him in the newspapers of the time, he was known as Charles N Weiss or CN Weiss. I even have a copy of a letter he sent to the music dictionary compiler John Sainsbury, in which he refers to himself as Charles N Weiss, and it even lists some of the works held by the British Library. I have not yet found him referred to as Carl in any historical documents of the time.
I wonder if I can convince the British Library to change it? Probably not - I'm an upstart (a blogger, no less) from the colonies.
How intriguing to find all those compositions. Perhaps he never felt that his real name was Charles, not Carl, hence his usage of that on his formal work. Best bet might be to get them to double reference it under Charles as well as Carl. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteI'd say the difference in name of Carl/Charles has a lot to do with being born in Mulhouse, France/Switzerland/Germany, and then working in England...
ReplyDeleteThat's a good idea to see if they will double reference it. Of course, I not sure how to go about doing that!