Nationality: German

BACH, Carl Philipp Emanuel

Born in Weimar, March 8, 1714
Died in Hamburg, Dec 14, 1788

Fun fact: C.P.E. Bach was given the name Philipp after his godfather Georg Philipp Telemann.
Young C.P.E. Bach attended the Thomasschule where J.S. Bach taught in Leipzig. One of J.S.’s reasons for working in Leipzig was to obtain better educational opportunities for his children. It worked: C.P.E. Bach was able to attend the University of Leipzig and the University at Frankfurt an der Oder.
After university, C.P.E. Bach entered the employment of Frederick II of Prussia (Frederick the Great). Later in life he worked as a Kapellmeister in Hamburg.
C.P.E. Bach is considered a transitional figure between the Baroque and the Classical periods. In his time (the second half of the 18^th century), he was the most prominent German composer. ¹

Biography from Leipzig Bach Archive

A quick description of C.P.E. Bach’s empfindsamer Stil from NPR

There are a couple catalogues of C.P.E. Bach’s works.
- “W” or “Wq” stands for A. Wotquenne’s Thematisches Verzeichnis der Werke von Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (1714–1788) (Leipzig, 1905)
- “H” stands for E.E. Helm’sThematic Catalogue of the Works of Carl Philipp Emanuel Bach (New Haven, CT, 1989).

Pieces

Baroque German

BACH, Johann Bernhard

Born in Erfurt, bap. Nov 25, 1676
Died in Eisenach, June 11, 1749

J.B. Bach was an organist and composer who worked in Erfurt, Magdeburg, and Eisenach. In Eisenach, he was court harpsichordist and was a member the court Kapelle directed by Georg Philipp Telemann.²
All of J.B. Bach’s surviving works are instrumental.³
J.B. Bach was a second cousin of Johann Sebastian. They shared a great-grandfather, Hans Bach.

Bach family tree

Biography from Carus Verlag

Pieces

Overture-Suite No. 3 in e minor

Baroque Classical German

BACH, Johann Christian

Born in Leipzig, Sept 5, 1735
Died in London, Jan 1, 1782

Johann Christian (JC) Bach was the seventh and last son of Johann Sebastian Bach and Anna Magdalena Bach. While several of JS Bach’s sons went on to become composers, JC is viewed as the most varied and inventive (and the most traveled).
JS Bach supervised much of JC’s early musical education. After his father’s death, JC moved to Berlin to continue studies with his half-brother, Carl Philipp Emanuel (CPE) Bach.
- Around the age of 20, JC took a turn from family tradition and moved to Italy, where he not only converted to Catholicism but became the first in his family to delve into writing opera.
- In 1762, JC was invited to London to write an opera. He would be based in London for the rest of his life, eventually earning the nickname “The English Bach” or “The London Bach.” JC was also appointed Music Master to Queen Charlotte, and his duties included giving music lessons to the queen and her children, organizing chamber concerts, directing the queen’s band, and accompanying the flute-playing of the king.”
  - Fun fact – JC was often referred to as “John” Bach in London.
In London, JC became close friends with composer and viol de gamba player Carl Friedrich Abel. The two collaborated on a series of concerts known as the “Bach-Abel Concerts.” Wildly popular, these concerts became the basic template for the classical concert series most performing arts organizations use today.
As a composer, JC wrote symphonies, opera, church music, chamber music, and keyboard works.
- His Op. 5 sonatas were the first pieces published in London using the word “piano” on the title page. JC was also the first to perform publicly at the new keyboard instrument.
  - “After the arrival of John Chr. Bach in this country, and the establishment of his concert[s] … all the harpsichord makers tried their mechanical powers at piano-fortes.”
- JC was a significant musical influence for a young Mozart, who visited London in 1964. The two became well acquainted and even improvised on the harpsichord together.⁴

Learn More
Biography from the Philharmonia Orchestra

Pieces

Baroque German

BACH, Johann Ludwig

Born in Thal, near Eisenach, Feb 4, 1677
Died in Meiningen, bur. May 1, 1731

Johann Ludwig Bach was one of the many members of J.S. Bach’s extended family. J.S. preserved and performed several of J.L.’s choral works.
Johann Ludwig Bach spent most of his career as a court composer and Kapellmeister at the court of Meinigen.⁵

Biography from Carus Verlag

Pieces

Ouverture (Suite) in G Major, JLB 20

Baroque German

BACH, Johann Sebastian

Born in Eisenach, March 21, 1685
Died in Leipzig, July 28, 1750

Short biography from Brittanica

A Bach chronology from Bach-Leipzig.de

Quick guide to Bach’s life and style from the British Library

Pieces

Baroque German

BACH, Wilhelm Friedemann

Portrait of W.F. Bach (ca. 1725) by Gottlieb Friedrich Bach, from the Bachhaus Eisenach.

Born in Weimar, Nov 22, 1710
Died in Berlin, July 1, 1784

W.F. Bach was the eldest son of J.S. Bach and Maria Barbara Bach.⁶

Biography from Naxos

Pieces

Classical German

BECK, Franz Ignaz

Born in Mannheim, Feb 20, 1734
Died in Bordeaux, Dec 31, 1809

Beck was a German composer, conductor, violinist and organist, who studied with Johann Stamitz.⁷
- Johann Stamitz was director of the Mannheim orchestra, which pioneered the genre of Symphony. Beck was one of the first composers in this new genre.
Weird Anecdote: According to one of his students, Beck’s studies with Stamitz ended abruptly when he got into a duel, thought he killed his opponent, and fled to Italy, only to meet the man he supposedly killed a year later – apparently the duel opponent faked his own death.⁸
Beck spent most of his career in France, directing theater orchestras and working as a church organist.⁹
Beck managed to maintain his career during the French Revolution, composing patriotic music and gaining recognition from First French Republic government under Napoleon Bonaparte. ¹⁰

Short biography from Naxos

Pieces

Symphony in C Major, Op. 1, No. 6

Classical German

BEETHOVEN, Ludwig van

Portrait of Beethoven, 1804 or 1805, by Josef Willibrord Mähler

Born in Bonn, baptized Dec 17, 1770
Died in Vienna, March 26, 1827

Short biography

Biography, timeline, images and more available from the Beethoven Haus, Bonn

Pieces

20th Century German

BIEBL, Franz

Born in Pursruck [Oberfalz], Sept 1, 1906
Died in Munich, Oct 2, 2001

Franz Biebl [“BEE-bull”; PRONUNCIATION] was a choral conductor, educator, recording engineer, and composer of primarily choral music.
In 1939, Biebl began teaching at the Mozarteum in Salsburg. In 1943, he was drafted into military service and became a prisoner of war from 1944-46. During this time, he developed an appreciation for American folk songs and spirituals.
Following the war, Biebl worked as a church choir director and as a recording engineer for Bavarian Broadcasting.
As a composer, Biebl wrote over 2000 original works and arrangements. His most well-known piece is Ave Maria (Angelus Domini), which became particularly popular in the U.S. following a 1990 recording by Chanticleer.⁹

Learn More

Short biography from the Philadelphia Chamber Music Society

Pieces

Romantic German

BRAHMS, Johannes

Born in Hamburg, May 7, 1833
Died in Vienna, April 3, 1897

Short biography

Pieces

Romantic German

BRUCH, Max

Born in Cologne, Jan 6, 1838
Died in Friedenau, Berlin, Oct 2, 1920

Max Bruch’s first music lessons were given by his mother, an accomplished pianist and singer. He first began composing around age nine, and by 14, he was awarded the Frankfurt Mozart Scholarship, enabling Bruch to travel around Germany and study with distinguished composers.
- One of these distinguished mentors was Ferdinand Hiller, a close friend of Felix Mendelssohn. Hiller strongly influenced Bruch’s inclination for conservative musical language – the young composer idolized both Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann.
As a composer, Bruch ardently embraced Romantic musical language cultivated by his predecessors and rejected more progressive ideas, as seen in the music of Liszt and Wagner.
- Bruch was a folk music enthusiast and drew upon an eclectic range of traditional tunes, including Russian, Swedish, and Scottish (ex: Scottish Fantasy, Op. 46).
- In all his works, Bruch’s compositional superpower was his ability to write stunningly beautiful melodies.
Fun fact – Bruch strongly disliked the piano and preferred to write for string instruments (most famous, the violin).
Much to his chagrin, Bruch became a “one-hit-wonder” of sorts during his lifetime due to the colossal success of his first violin concerto.¹⁰

Learn More

Biography from Interlude
Short biography from Britannica

Pieces

Baroque Danish German

BUXTEHUDE, Dieterich

(Probably) born in Helsingborg, ca. 1637
Died in Lübeck, May 9, 1707

PRONUNCIATION

No documents exist verifying Dieterich Buxtehude’s nationality or birth date, though musicologists speculate the composer was either Danish or German.¹¹
Buxtehude is most famous for his contributions to organ music. J.S. Bach and Handel were both known to have made pilgrimages to witness Buxtehude’s performances in Lübeck.
- Fun fact – both Bach and Handel wanted to succeed Buxtehude in his position at St. Mary’s Church in Lübeck. However, there was one condition – whoever took over the role had to marry Buxtehude’s daughter. Neither Bach nor Handel agreed to the terms.
Buxtehude became particularly well-known in Germany for directing Abendmusiken, concerts containing a mix of vocal and instrumental music held at St. Mary’s Church in Lübeck.
In addition to organ music, the composer wrote a considerable amount of instrumental music and sacred cantatas.¹²

Biography

Pieces

Baroque German

FASCH, Johann Friedrich

Born in Buttelstädt, near Weimar, April 15, 1688
Died in Zerbst, Dec 5, 1758

Fasch was a contemporary of Bach who studied in Leipzig and spent most of his career at the court of Anhalt-Zerbst, writing sacred music for the court chapel and instrumental music to be performed in the palace for his aristocratic employers.
In the penultimate year of his life, Fasch wrote an autobiography of his early life (Lebenslauf).
- One of the interesting things we learn from this document is that as a student at the University of Leipzig, he could not afford composition lessons, so he taught himself by studying the works of Telemann (who also lived in Leipzig).
- Fasch called Telemann a “most beloved” friend.¹³

Biography

Pieces

Concerto for Trumpet, 2 Oboes, and Strings in D Major

Romantic German

GOETZ, Hermann

Born in Königsberg [now Kaliningrad], Dec 7, 1840
Died in Hottingen, near Zürich, Dec 3, 1876¹⁴

Hermann Goetz was born in (then) East Prussia, receiving his formal musical training in Berlin and settling in Switzerland for much of his adult life.
Goetz is best known today for his opera, Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung (“Taming of the Shrew”), though his compositional output included symphonic works, chamber music, choral works, Lieder, and pieces for piano.
Goetz contracted tuberculous during childhood and consequently developed severe depression that plagued him throughout his short adult life.
- Sad/ morbid fact – Like Mozart, Goetz died just shy of his 36th birthday.
George Bernard Shaw wrote the following of the composer:

“You have to go to Mozart’s finest quartets and quintets on the one hand, and to Die Meistersinger on the other, for work of the quality we find, not here and there, but continuously, in the [Second] Symphony and in [Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung], two masterpieces which place him securely above all other German composers of the last hundred years, save only Mozart and Beethoven, Weber and Wagner.”¹⁵

Short biography

Pieces

Der Widerspenstigen Zähmung (“Taming of the Shrew”)

Baroque German

GRAUPNER, Christoph

Born in Kirchberg, Saxony, Jan 13, 1683
Died in Darmstadt, May 10, 1760

A contemporary of J. S. Bach, Christoph Graupner was an incredibly prolific Baroque composer best known for his 1400+ church cantatas as well as his symphonies and operas.
From 1712 until his death in 1760, Graupner served as Kapellmeister to the Landgrave of Hessen-Darmstadt.¹⁵

Short biography

Pieces

Symphony for 2 Horns, Timpani, 2 Violins, Viola, and basso continuo

Contemporary German

GUNDERMANN, Karsten

Gundermann is a German composer born in 1966 in Dresden.
In addition to studing composition in Dresden, Gundermann studied Chinese theater in Peking, and studied Film and Theater at New York Univeristy.¹⁶
Gundermann has collaborated with ensembles including the Dresden Kammerchor and the Rias Kammerchor.¹⁷

Pieces

Faust – Episode 2 – Nachspiel (Postlude)

Baroque German

HANDEL, George Frideric

Portrait of Handel, attr. Balthasar Denner

Born Georg Friedrich Händel

Born in Halle, Feb 23, 1685
Died in London, April 14, 1759

Biographical timeline

Handel Anecdotes

Baroque German

HASSE, Johann Adolf

Born in Bergedorf, near Hamburg, bap. March 25, 1699
Died in Venice, Dec 16, 1783¹⁸

Biography from Naxos

Pieces

Baroque German

HEINICHEN, Johann David

Born in Krössuln, near Weissenfels, April 17, 1683
Died in Dresden, July 16, 1729

Heinichen was a composer and music theorist. He studied with Johann Kuhnau at the Leipzig Thomasschule. Though Heinichen studied law at university of Leipzig, he quickly gained success as a composer of opera instead, working in Leipzig and Italy. Eventually he became Kapellmeister to the Prince-Elector of Saxony in Dresden.¹⁹
Heinichen’s music theory treatise, Der General-Bass in der Composition (“Figured Bass in Composition”) (Dresden, 1728), is one of the most important Baroque theory documents. It contains valuable information for historic performance practice, as well as insight into the philosophy and theory of German baroque composition.²⁰
Fun facts: As a child, Heinichen studied at the Thomasschule in Leipzig, enrolling in 1695. Bach would later teach there, starting in 1723.²¹ Heinichen also taught the young Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cöthen during a visit to Italy in 1712;²² the Prince would hire Bach as his court composer in 1717.²³

Short Biography

Pieces

Concerto in F Major S. 231

Baroque Classical German

HERTEL, Johann Wilhelm

Born in Eisenach, Oct 9, 1727
Died in Schwerin, June 14, 1789²⁰

Biography from AllMusic

Pieces

Medieval German

HILDEGARD of Bingen

Illustration from Hildegard's Scivias, depicting her receiving and dictating a vision.

Born in Bermersheim, nearr Alzey, 1098
Died in Rupertsberg, near Bingen, Sept 17, 1179

Hildegard was a Medieval German Benedictine abbess and polymath. In addition to composing monophonic sacred music, she also wrote poetry, scientific works, visionary and theological works, and corresponded with political and church leaders.
Hildegard experienced visions from the age of five, and her visions were deeply influential parts of her writing and teaching.
Hildegard entered a Benedictine order as a young teenager. She was educated by a nun named Jutta, and then became prioress of her convent at a young age.
In 1152, Hildegard made the unprecedented move (for a woman) of founding her own convent, which was so influential that she also established a daughter house.²⁴
Hildegard’s collected individual works are known as the Symphonia armonie celestium revelationum (Symphony of the Harmony of Heavenly Revelations). She did not choose this title; in her lifetime, her works were written individually and preserved in anthologized manuscripts.
- These songs set the composer’s own texts on a wide range of religious subjects, including the Virgin Mary, angels, saints, martyrs, confessors, and feast days.
- She also wrote a morality play with music called Ordo virtutum.
Hildegard’s music is distinctive to listeners for its rhapsodic passages, upward leaps, and a sense of improvisation.
Fun fact – in 2012, over 800 years after her death, Hildegard was canonized.
Historical context – Hildegard’s lifetime overlapped with several significant Medieval historical events, such as the first and second Crusades, the founding of the Knights Templar, the lives of Eleanor of Aquitaine and Saladin, and much more.²⁵

Biography and discussion of her works from Fordham University

FAQ from the International Society of Hildegard von Bingen Studies

Pieces

20th Century German

HINDEMITH, Paul

Born in Hanau, nr Frankfurt, Nov 16, 1895
Died in Frankfurt, Dec 28, 1963

Paul Hindemith was the foremost German composer of his generation, in addition to being a respected theorist, violist, educator, and conductor.²⁶
In 1921, Hindemith founded the Amar Quartet so that he would have a group that was able and willing to play his own (extremely difficult) music. The ensemble was named after its first violinist, Licco Amar. Hindemith’s brother, Rudolf, played cello.²⁷
Hindemith’s music was tonal but not based on the traditional scale. He ranked the 12 tones from most consonant to most dissonant and sought to blend tradition and modernity.
He was also a big proponent of utility music (Gebrauchsmusik), music composed to serve a specific purpose. He considered composing music as craftsmanship to meet social needs rather than a practice to satisfy one’s artistic expression.
Hindemith’s music was grounded in the tradition of Bach’s counterpoint. One clear example is his massive Ludus Tonalis (“Game of Tones”), comprising interludes and fugues in all 24 keys and an apparent reference to Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier.
A description of Hindemith by the composer’s friend, conductor and arts patron, Paul Sacher:

“…the bad boy of contemporary music. His early music was really impudent, without consideration for his listeners, outside the tradition. In contrast to that of the Second Viennese School, his music – like Stravinsky’s – had a strong rhythmic element, and that appealed to me greatly. And he could be merry and humorous.”
BBC Music Magazine

Fun Fact – Glenn Gould was one of the composer’s greatest admirers. Gould wrote that Hindemith’s music represented a “true amalgam of ecstasy and reason.” Not only did Gould record many of his works, but he also won his only Grammy for his liner notes accompanying a recording of Hindemith’s piano sonatas.²⁸

Learn More

Biography from the Hindemith Foundation
Biography from Deutsche Grammophon

Pieces

Romantic German

HUMPERDINCK, Engelbert

Engelbert Humperdinck with his wife Hedwig Taxer, portrait (1893) by Christian Wilhelm Allers

Born in Siegburg, Sept 1, 1854
Died in Neustrelitz, Sept 27, 1921

Despite being talented enough to compose his first piece at the age of 7, Humperdinck’s parents insisted he study architecture, and he was only able to enroll instead at the Colonge Conservatory with the intervention of conservatory director Ferdinand Hiller.
Humperdinck was a friend of Wagner, working with him at Bayreuth and teaching Wagner’s son Siegfried.
In addition to writing operas and songs, Humperdinck taught at the conservatories at Barcelona and Frankfurt, and worked as a music critic for the Frankfurter Zeitung.²⁹

Biography

Pieces

Contemporary German Russian

IGUDESMAN, Aleksey

Born in 1973

Aleksey Igudesman is a multifacted artist: violinist, composer, comedian, actor, writer. His website features a charming biography which includes the following:

“He has never won any competitions, mainly because he never entered any.”
Igudesman’s website biography

“Igudesman writes a lot of music. He has [been] known to start and finish works before breakfast. Which may be less impressive in light of the fact that he sometimes eats breakfast in the evening.”
Igudesman’s website biography

Igudesman is part of the violin and piano comedy duo, Igudesman & Joo.

Pieces

Lento

Romantic German

JADASSOHN, Salomon

Born in Breslau [now Wrocław], Aug 13, 1831
Died in Leipzig, Feb 1, 1902³⁰

Biography from the Jewish Virtual Library

Pieces

20th Century German

KLEMPERER, Otto

Born in Breslau, May 14, 1885
Died in Zürich, July 6, 1973

Klemperer was one of the leading German conductors of his generation, and was considered an authority on the Austro-German repertoire, especially Beethoven.
He received one of his first major appointments at the Neues Deutches Theater in Prague in 1907 thanks to a recommendation from Mahler, and went on to become an important opera conductor.
In the 1930s Klemperer emigrated to avoid antisemitic oppression in Nazi Germany.
In 1954 Klemperer was appointed director of the Philharmonia Orchestra, but in 1964 Walter Legge, the orchestra’s founder, chose to disband it. The musicians rebelled, reformed as The New Philharmonia Orchestra with Klemperer’s support, and he remained with the group for the rest of his career.
Klemperer studied composition with Schoenberg in the 1930s in Los Angeles. His music is also influenced by Mahler’s.³¹

Biography

Pieces

Merry Waltz

Classical German

LEBRUN, Ludwig August

Lebrun’s father was an oboist with the Mannheim Orchestra, the court orchestra of Mannheim pioneered many of the sounds and techniques which would become the integral to the Classical orchestral style.
Ludwig August Lebrun took after his father, becoming a court oboist in Mannheim at age 15. In addition to his court position, he and his wife, soprano and composer Franziska Danzi Lebrun, performed together in frequent concert tours.³²

Pieces

Oboe Concerto No. 1

Romantic German

MAYER, Emilie

Born in Friedland, Mecklenburg, May 14, 1812
Died in Berlin, April 10, 1883

Mayer studied composition with Carl Loewe and Adolf Bernhard Marx.

Mayer composed works in most of the major genres of her day, including songs, chamber music, symphonies, sonatas, and a Singspiel.
Mayer was the “most prolific German woman composer of the Romantic period” (Grove Music Online), and during her lifetime her music was performed in Brussels, Budapest, Leipzig, Munich, and many other European cities. Mayer also promoted her work through home concerts, as many middle-class women composers did in Europe in the 19^th century.
Mayer was also a professional sculptor.³³

Biographical sketch from Furore

Biography from FemBio

Pieces

String Quartet in g minor, Op. 14

Romantic German

MENDELSSOHN HENSEL, Fanny

Portrait of Fanny Hensel (1847) by her husband, Wilhelm Hensel

Born in Hamburg, 14 Nov 1805
Died in Berlin, 14 May 1847

Baptized Fanny Cäcilie Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

Regarding how to refer to the composer: “Fanny Mendelssohn,” “Fanny Hensel,” and “Fanny Mendelssohn Hensel” are all used. In her published works, the composer had her name printed as “Fanny Hensel, née Mendelssohn-Bartholdy”, or “Fanny Cäcilia Hensel, geb. (“geboren,” i.e. “born”) Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.”

Hensel received a thorough training in piano and counterpoint as a child, along with her brother Felix Mendelssohn. At age 13, she was able to play the entirety of Bach’s Well-Tempered Clavier from memory.
In addition to composing, Hensel was a salon hostess whose private concert series was one of the most sought-after musical events in Berlin.
Hensel’s status as an upper-class lady made professional work socially taboo for her. Despite objections from her father (and some from her brother Felix) she finally decided to publish compositions at the age of 41, the year before her sudden death from a stroke.³⁴

Illustrated Biography from the Mendelssohn-Gesellschaft

Catalogue

Hensel’s works that were published during her lifetime were assigned opus numbers when published. Works that were not published during Hensel’s lifetime may be identified by their assigned number in R. Hellwig-Unruh’s catalogue of Hensel’s works (abbreviated H or H-U).³⁵

Pieces

Romantic German

MENDELSSOHN, Felix

Portrait of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy (1847) by Wilhelm Hensel (his brother-in-law, husband of Fanny Mendelssohn-Bartholdy)

Born in Hamburg, Feb 3, 1809
Died in Leipzig, Nov 4, 1847

Full name given upon baptism in 1816: Jacob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

Short biography

Pieces

Romantic German

MEYERBEER, Giacomo

Born in Vogelsdorf, near Berlin, Germany, Sept 5, 1791
Died in Paris, France, May 2, 1864

Meyerbeer was the 19^th century’s most performed opera composer. He was also known as a piano virtuoso.³⁵
Though born in Germany, Meyerbeer spent much of his career composing French opera for Parisian productions.³⁶
His birth name was Jakob Liebmann Meyer. As adult he added his mother’s maiden name to his surname. His mother Amalia [Beer] Meyer hosted an influential artistic salon where young Meyerbeer met many of the artistic stars of the day.³⁷
Amalia Meyer and Lea Mendelssohn (mother of Felix & Fanny) were cousins.³⁸
Meyerbeer and the Mendelssohns both studied with the same composition teacher, Friedrich Zelter, but took divergent creative directions: Felix’s music was deemed more conservative and historically-influenced and Meyerbeer’s was more designed for popular appeal.³⁹
Apparently Felix Mendelssohn and Giacomo Meyerbeer had a family resemblance. During a visit to Paris in 1831, where Meyerbeer was a celebrity opera composer, Mendelssohn’s friend Ferdinand Hiller told him he looked like Meyerbeer, so Felix got a haircut.⁴⁰
- I can definitely see the resemblance in these portraits of Meyerbeer and Mendelssohn.

Pieces

Le Prophète: “Coronation March”

Baroque German

MOLTER, Johann Melchior

Portrait of Johann Melchior Molter by Pier Leone Ghezzi

Born in Tiefenort, nr Eisenach, Feb 10, 1696
Died in Karlsruhe, Jan 12, 1765

Molter was employed as a court musician by the Margrave Carl Wilhelm of Baden-Durlach, who paid for Molter to study in Italy.
After the Margrave’s death, he served in a succession of court positions, composing in nearly every contemporary genre.
Fun fact: as a child Molter attended the same school (Gymnasium) where J.S. Bach had been a student.³⁶

Pieces

Concerto Pastorale in G Major

Romantic German Polish

MOSZKOWSKI, Moritz

Born in Breslau [now Wrocław], Aug 23, 1854
Died in Paris, March 4, 1925

Moritz Moszkowski (pronounced “mosh-kov-ski”) was a pianist, composer, and conductor who first gained renown as a touring virtuoso on the keyboard instrument, making his debut in 1873.
In the 1880s, Moszkowski began suffering from a nervous disorder which forced him to retire from touring. Consequently, he began focusing more seriously on composition and conducting.
In 1897, at the height of his fame, Moszkowski permanently moved to Paris after marrying the sister of Cécile Chaminade.
As a composer, Moszkowski was most famous for his piano music. His early influences included Chopin, Mendelssohn, and Schumann, though his mature musical voice was highly distinctive and original, showcasing his intimate knowledge of the piano.
In addition to his composing and conducting, Moszkowski was in high demand as a piano teacher and taught Josef Hofmann, Wanda Landowska, and Joaquin Turina, among others.³⁷

Learn More

Biography from Hyperion Records

Pieces

8 Morceaux caractèristiques (8 Characteristic Pieces), Op. 36

Classical German

MOZART, Leopold

Born in Augsburg, Nov 14, 1719
Died in Salzburg, May 28, 1787

While best known as the father/ teacher of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Leopold was an accomplished composer and violinist in his own right.
In 1743, Leopold was appointed as a violinist in the court of the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg, where he eventually worked his way up to deputy Kapellmeister.
In 1756 (the same year that Wolfgang Amadeus was born), Leopold published an important treatise called Versuch einer gründlichen Violinschule (“A Treatise on the Fundamental Principles of Violin Playing”).
As a composer, Leopold wrote symphonies, concertos, cantatas, masses, keyboard pieces, and many other works, though many have since been lost.
- Leopold called himself a “modern” composer, and his music aligns more closely with the music of younger generations. Consequently, some of Leopold’s music had previously been ascribed to Wolfgang.
- Interestingly, despite his notoriety as a violin teacher at the time, Leopold wrote very little music for the instrument.
On a sad personal note, Leopold Mozart and his wife, Anna Maria Pertl, had seven children together; however, only two (Wolfgang Amadeus and Maria Anna “Nannerl”) survived.⁴¹

Learn More

Biography

Pieces

Symphony in G Major, “Neue Lambacher”

Romantic German

NICOLAI, Otto

Born in Königsberg [now Kaliningrad], June 9, 1810
Died in Berlin, May 11, 1849⁴²

Short Biographies via Naxos and Encyclopedia Britannica

Pieces

Die lustigen Weiber von Windsor (“Merry Wives of Windsor”)

Romantic French German

OFFENBACH, Jacques

Born in Cologne, June 20, 1819
Died in Paris, Oct 5, 1880

Though he was born in Germany, Offenbach’s father took him and his brother Jules to Paris as a child to study music, and Offenbach spent his career based in France.
The widespread success of Offenbach’s operettas helped establish operetta as an internationally popular genre.
In addition to composing operetta, Offenbach was also a cellist and a conductor of operetta.⁴³

Composer biography

Pieces

20th Century German

ORFF, Carl

Born in Munich, July 10, 1895
Died in Munich, March 29, 1982⁴⁴

Biography from the American Orff-Schulwerk Association (Organization dedicated to Orff’s music education techniques)

Pieces

Carmina Burana

Baroque German

PACHELBEL, Johann

Born in Nuremberg, baptized Sept 1, 1653
Died in Nuremberg, buried March 9, 1706

Pachelbel was an organist and a composer of choral, organ and chamber music.
Fun fact: Pachelbel was friends with J.S. Bach’s father Ambrosius Bach. He was godfather to Bach’s sister Johanna Judith Bach and taught music to Bach’s elder brother Johann Christoph, who later taught Johann Sebastian.

“A perfect and rare virtuoso.”
Kapellmeister Daniel Eberlin, on Pachelbel. Pachelbel had worked under Eberlin as an organist. This quote comes from a 1740 letter of recommendation that Eberlin wrote for Pachelbel. ⁴⁵

Short biography

Pieces

Canon and Gigue in D Major

Baroque German

PEZEL, Johann Christoph

We don't have an authenticated picture of Pezel, but this is a painting of a Baroque Stadtpfeifer group in action!

Pezel was a town bandsman or Ratsmusiker (Council Musician). The Ratsmusiken were employed by German town councils and performed for civic functions.
Pezel held the title of Stadtpfeifer (City Piper), which was the top title available in his craft.
The town bands in which Pezel played consisted of both string and brass instruments. Pezel was orignally hired as a string player, and he likely played the trumpet as well.⁴⁶

Short biography

Pieces

Sonata No. 1 for brass

20th Century Late Romantic German

PFITZNER, Hans

Portrait of Hans Pfitzner (1910) by Lothar von Seebach

Born in Moscow, May 5, 1869
Died in Salzburg, May 22, 1949

Pfitzner was a conservatory professor, conductor and a composer of late Romantic, anti-modernist theatrical music (mostly opera and incidental music).
Pfitzner’s musical conservatism (a dedication to the German Classical and Romantic tradition) caused him to vocally oppose the modernist and popular styles of his time, in a pro-German xenophobic manner that make him sympathetic to the Nazis when they rose to power in the 1930s.
- Pfitzner’s political relationship with the Nazi party was complicated. He tried to use his influence to save a Jewish friend from a concentration camp and failed.⁴⁷

Biography