Charles Almenraeder

Carl Almenräder (3 October 1786 in Ronsdorf (Wuppertal) – 14 September 1846 in Biebrich) was a German performer, teacher and composer. Carl Almenräder was the son of a teacher: he taught himself to play the bassoon after he was given one when aged just 13. He started out in 1810 playing in a theatre orchestra in Cologne, but he switched to an orchestral position in Frankfurt in 1812 where by 1814 he was also obtaining solo work. He studied composition with Aloys Schmitt, and in 1814 he gave a public performance in Frankfurt of a rondo which he had himself written.