in 1818 he moved to the berlin academy, but decided to study music in 1819. he became a pupil of bernhard klein in music theory and composition. as a member of the sing-akademie zu berlin (1819-1832) he co-founded the berliner liedertafel and soon attracted attention due to his well-trained bass voice. he turned entirely to composition and developed a fruitful activity in this area. after a number of years he acted as a singing teacher with extraordinary success. due to this he began to have access to aristocratic circles and the royal family of frederick william iii of prussia. as a popular teacher, he taught singing, including to the later emperor frederick iii. for his wedding in 1858, he composed a cantata festival. in 1850 he was appointed royal music director.