At seventeen, his
virtuosity was such that he was engaged for the Concerts Spirituels at
Paris. Some years later he journeyed to Bonn to be near his cousin
Bernhard, with whom he was intimate, and accepted a position in the
Elector's orchestra as violinist. He later went to Vienna, then Hamburg,
and afterward became Kapellmeister at Gotha. He composed all kinds of
music, instrumental and vocal, symphonies, operas, etc. His setting of
Schiller's "Song of the Bell" is well known at the present day, as well
as the oratorio, "The Transient and the Eternal." He was made Doctor of
Music by Kiel University. Bernhard Romberg was a distinguished
violoncellist. When his connection with the Elector's orchestra ceased,
he made a professional tour to Italy and Spain with his more famous
cousin Andreas and was very successful. In 1796 they came to Vienna and
gave a concert at which Beethoven assisted. Bernhard afterward was a
professor in the Paris Conservatoire and later became Kapellmeister at
Berlin. He was a composer of operas, concertos, etc.
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