Background
He studied with his father (piano, violin, cello and contrabass) and with the Hamburg cantor Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke.
He studied with his father (piano, violin, cello and contrabass) and with the Hamburg cantor Christian Friedrich Gottlieb Schwencke.
In 1819, he abandoned his career as a concert virtuoso because of the nerve disease of his right hand and he started to compose and teach. In the same year, he co-founded and led Gesellschaft der Freunde des religiösen Gesangs (later Hamburger Singakademie). He also co-founded Hamburger Tonkünstlervereins.