Der Freischütz was inspired by a newly-published book of ghost stories, the Gespensterbuch by Johann August Apel, which Weber happened to come across in his wanderings with a cellist friend, Alexander von Dusch, in 1810. Der Freischütz was the first tale in the book, and it instantly seized their imagination, Dusch even sitting up all night sketching a possible libretto. But both men had other tasks which kept them from completing the task, and it was shelved. Only in 1819, when Weber happened to light upon the book once again, did the idea revive in his mind, and now he was experienced enough and ready to compose what became his greatest masterpiece. The triumph of Der Freischütz at its premiere in Berlin in June 1821 pitchforked German opera into the Romantic era at one fell swoop, rescuing it from the doldrums of second-rate efforts by such as E.T.A. Hoffmann, Mosel, Spohr and Poissl, while its continued and phenomenal success in opera houses of all sizes across the length and breadth of Europe became one of the sensations of operatic history. It had all the popular attractions: an ancient German legend full of supernatural thrills and horrors, and plenty of popular songs, dances and choruses. The overture, which had actually been first performed some months previously, at a concert in Copenhagen in October 1820, is a perfect model in miniature of the story of the opera – it is made up almost entirely of melodies from the opera – and proved so powerful at the opera's premiere that it had to be encored before the drama could proceed.

sources

A  Autograph score (1820), in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin, published in facsimile by Peters, Leipzig in 1979, viewable online at IMSLP

P  First edition, published in parts by Schlesinger, Berlin in 1822

Pe  Full score, published by Peters, Leipzig in 1871

Br  Full score, published by Breitkopf & Härtel, Leipzig c.1903; even the most recent Wiesbaden printings are identical