Carl Siegemund Schönebeck

Carl Siegemund Schönebeck (26 October 1758 in Lübben, Germany – early 1800s) was a German composer and cellist. Few of his works have survived. The compositions attributed to him show features of originality and have been compared to Ludwig van Beethoven’s. Biography Schönebeck, in line with his parents’ wishes, aspired to become a surgeon, but felt so drawn to music that at age 14 he decided to have lessons from a musician in his home town of Lübben. He had some years of study in Lübben, and later in the Silesian city of Grünberg, but was largely self-taught as a violinist and as a player of several wind instruments. However, when a cello virtuoso arrived in Grünberg, he was so fascinated by the instrument that he taught himself to play it. Two years later he was invited to join the Duke of Dohna’s orchestra in the Saxon province of Kotzenau. Then in 1780, Schönebeck became a town musician in Sorau, Lower Lusatia (now Żary, Poland). In order to continue perfecting his music, Schönebeck travelled to Potsdam, where he met the cello virtuoso Jean-Louis Duport. He also travelled to Dresden to play alongside the French cellist Jean Balthasar Tricklir. In 1787, Schönebeck joined the Duk