Beer , as he still named himself , studied with Antonio Salieri and the German master and friend of Goethe , Carl Friedrich Zelter . Louis Spohr organised a concert for Beer at Berlin in 1804 and continued his acquaintance with the lad later in Vienna and Rome . A portrait of Jacob commissioned by the family at this time show him ' confidently facing the viewer , his hair romantically dishevelled … his left hand rests on the keyboard , and his right hand grasp a musical manuscript … plac [ ing ] its subject in the tradition of the young Mozart ' . Beer 's first stage work , the ballet Der Fischer und das Milchmädchen ( The Fisherman and the Milkmaid ) was produced in March 1810 at the Court Opera in Berlin . His formal training with the Abbé Vogler at Darmstadt between 1810 and 1812 was , however , of crucial importance , and at around this time he begin to sign himself ' Meyer Beer ' . Here , with his fellow students ( who included Carl Maria von Weber ) , he learned not only the craft of composition but also the business of music ( organising concerts and dealing with publishers ) . Forming a close friendship with Weber and other pupils , Meyerbeer established the Harmonischer Verein ( Musical Union ) , whose members undertook to support each other with favourable press criticism and networking . On 12 February 1813 Beer received the first of the string of honours he was to accumulate throughout his life when he was appointed ' Court Composer ' by Grand Duke Ludwig of Hesse @-@ Darmstadt .