Ferdinand Hiller
Encyclopedia
Ferdinand Hiller (24 October 1811 – 11 May 1885) was a German composer
, conductor, writer and music-director.
in public; and two years later, he produced his first composition.
In 1822 the 13-year old Felix Mendelssohn
entered his life. The Mendelssohn family was at that time staying briefly in Frankfurt and the young Hiller visited them where he was immensely impressed by the playing of Felix (and even more so by that of his sister Fanny Mendelssohn
). When their acquaintance was renewed in 1825 the two boys found an immediate close friendship, which was to last until 1843. Hiller tactfully describes their falling out as arising from "social, and not from personal susceptibilities." But in fact it seems to have been more to do with Hiller’s succession to Mendelssohn as director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
in 1843.
From 1825 to 1827 Hiller was a pupil of Johann Nepomuk Hummel
in Weimar
; while he was with Hummel at Beethoven
’s deathbed, Hiller secured a lock of Beethoven's hair. This lock is now at the San Jose State University
, after having been sold at Sotheby’s in 1994.
From 1828 to 1835 Hiller based himself in Paris
, where he was engaged as teacher of composition at Choron's School of Music. He eventually gave up his position so that he might better equip himself as a pianist and composer. He spent time in Italy, hoping that this would assist him to write a successful opera (a hope which was never fulfilled). In 1836, he was in Frankfurt devoting himself to composition. His abilities were recognized, and although but 25, he was asked to act as conductor of the Cäcilienverein during the illness of Schelble.
In addition to Mendelssohn, he attracted the attention of Rossini who assisted him to launch his first opera, Romilda (which was a failure), at Milan
. Mendelssohn obtained for Hiller an entrée to the Gewandhaus, and afforded an opportunity for the public presentation of Hiller's oratorio Die Zerstörung Jerusalems (The destruction of Jerusalem, 1840). After a year of study in Church music at Rome
, Hiller returned to Leipzig, and during the season of 1843-44 conducted the Gewandhaus concerts. By this time his position in the musical world was established, and honors and appointments were showered upon him. He became municipal kapellmeister of Düsseldorf
in 1847, and in 1850 received a similar appointment at Cologne, where he founded Conservatorium der Musik in Coeln
that year and remained as Kapellmeister
until 1884. During this time, he was twelve times festival director of the Lower Rhenish Music Festival, and conducted the Gürzenich
concerts. He worked in Dresden
as well. Thus he played a leading part in Germany's musical life. And he was conductor at the Italian Opera in Paris during the season of 1852-53.
During Hiller’s long reign in Cologne, which earned him a ‘von’ to precede his surname, his star pupil was Max Bruch
, the composer of the cello elegy Kol Nidrei, based on the synagogue hymn sung at Yom Kippur
. Bruch incidentally was not Jewish, although he has often been claimed as Jewish; his knowledge of the theme of Kol Nidrei came through Hiller, who introduced him to the Berlin
chazan, Lichtenstein. Hiller’s regime at Cologne was strongly marked by his conservative tastes, which he attempted to prolong by recommending, as his successor in 1884, either Brahms or Bruch. The appointment went however to a "modernist", Franz Wüllner
, who, according to Grove
"initiated his term [...] with concerts of works by Wagner
, Liszt
and Richard Strauss
, all of whom Hiller had avoided."
Hiller was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Berlin
, in 1849, and in 1868 received the title of doctor from the University of Bonn
.
(staged in Dresden the previous year). In his autobiography, written during 1865-70 when he was settling scores, real and imaginary, following the death of Giacomo Meyerbeer
, Wagner is typically patronising about Hiller at this period, who, we are told, "behaved in a particularly charming and agreeable manner during those days." Antonka is described as "an extraordinary Polish Jewess who had caused herself to be baptised a Protestant together with her husband"; she is later shown as "enlist[ing] the support of a large number of her compatriots [...] for the opera of her husband." (The opera was Hiller’s Konradin).
Wagner’s dismissive remarks on Hiller throughout his autobiography Mein Leben and in his later review of Hiller’s autobiography are not however representative of his relationship with Hiller as revealed through other documents. Wagner features quite frequently in Hiller’s diary for the period. Amongst such notes are:
and so forth. Hiller assisted with the staging of Tannhäuser in Dresden in October 1845. In November 1846 Hiller went to see Tannhäuser and notes "Mendelssohn is sitting in front of us" (but presumably no conversation took place). In 1847 he discusses his draft of Konradin with Wagner.
The discussion about Wagner’s "affairs" and religion in 1845 must have been interesting; we know from correspondence that in the same month, Wagner attempted to borrow 2,000 thaler
s from Hiller; Hiller’s apparent demurral did not however prevent Wagner recommending Hiller in June to the Dresden Court official Klemm as a potential composer to a libretto.
. He is also the dedicatee of the three Nocturne
s, Op. 15, by Chopin.
He composed among other works six operas between 1839 and 1865, and a violin concerto.
His large output of chamber music includes several quartets for strings with and without piano beginning with his piano quartet opus 1 in B minor, published by Haslinger of Vienna in the 1830s, and at least three string quartets, a string trio his opus 207 published in 1886 as (Nachgelassenes Werk No. 2) by Rieter-Biedermann of Leipzig, sonatas for solo piano (opus 47, published in 1852 by Schuberth of Hamburg) and opus 59 and for piano with cello (at least two - opus 22, published by Simrock and opus 174, published by Cranz ), and a piano quintet (opus 156), among other works. The fourth of his piano trios has been recorded along with the early piano trio of Max Bruch.
Hiller's three piano concertos have been recorded by Hyperion with Howard Shelley as pianist/conductor and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. They are No. 1 in F minor, Op. 5 (Allegro moderato; Adagio; Allegro moderato e con grazia), No. 2 in F sharp minor, Op. 69 (Moderato, ma con energia e con fuoco; Andante espressivo; Allegro con fuoco), and No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 170 ('Concerto Espressivo': Allegro con anima; Andante quasi adagio; Allegro con spirito).
Hiller wrote at least four symphonies; one by 1831, another, in A minor also by 1831; also Im Freien in G major, given in London June 28 1852, and one in E minor published by Schott
as his opus 67 in Mainz in 1865.
He was also a very successful lecturer and a forceful writer, his contributions to reviews and newspapers having been since collected in book form. He also published among others: Musikalisches und Persönliches (1870), Wie hören wir Musik? (How do we hear music?, 1880); Goethes musikalisches Leben (Goethe's musical life, 1880); and Erinnerungsblätter (Reminiscences, 1884). He published an account of his friendship with Mendelssohn in 1874. Part of his vast correspondence with other musicians and artists of his period, which is in itself an important historical archive, has been published in seven volumes.
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, conductor, writer and music-director.
Biography
Ferdinand Hiller was born to a wealthy Jewish family in Frankfurt am Main, where his father Justus (originally Isaac Hildesheim) was a merchant in English textiles – a business eventually continued by Ferdinand’s brother Joseph. Hiller’s talent was discovered early and he was taught piano by the leading Frankfurt musician Alois Schmitt, violin by Hofmann, and harmony and counterpoint by Vollweiler; at 10 he performed a Mozart concertoConcerto
A concerto is a musical work usually composed in three parts or movements, in which one solo instrument is accompanied by an orchestra.The etymology is uncertain, but the word seems to have originated from the conjunction of the two Latin words...
in public; and two years later, he produced his first composition.
In 1822 the 13-year old Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
entered his life. The Mendelssohn family was at that time staying briefly in Frankfurt and the young Hiller visited them where he was immensely impressed by the playing of Felix (and even more so by that of his sister Fanny Mendelssohn
Fanny Mendelssohn
Fanny Cäcilie Mendelssohn , later Fanny Hensel, was a German pianist and composer, the sister of the composer Felix Mendelssohn and granddaughter of the philosopher Moses Mendelssohn...
). When their acquaintance was renewed in 1825 the two boys found an immediate close friendship, which was to last until 1843. Hiller tactfully describes their falling out as arising from "social, and not from personal susceptibilities." But in fact it seems to have been more to do with Hiller’s succession to Mendelssohn as director of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra
The Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra is one of the the oldest symphony orchestras in the world...
in 1843.
From 1825 to 1827 Hiller was a pupil of Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Johann Nepomuk Hummel
Johann Nepomuk Hummel or Jan Nepomuk Hummel was an Austrian composer and virtuoso pianist. His music reflects the transition from the Classical to the Romantic musical era.- Life :...
in Weimar
Weimar
Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...
; while he was with Hummel at Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven
Ludwig van Beethoven was a German composer and pianist. A crucial figure in the transition between the Classical and Romantic eras in Western art music, he remains one of the most famous and influential composers of all time.Born in Bonn, then the capital of the Electorate of Cologne and part of...
’s deathbed, Hiller secured a lock of Beethoven's hair. This lock is now at the San Jose State University
San José State University
San Jose State University is a public university located in San Jose, California, United States...
, after having been sold at Sotheby’s in 1994.
From 1828 to 1835 Hiller based himself in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, where he was engaged as teacher of composition at Choron's School of Music. He eventually gave up his position so that he might better equip himself as a pianist and composer. He spent time in Italy, hoping that this would assist him to write a successful opera (a hope which was never fulfilled). In 1836, he was in Frankfurt devoting himself to composition. His abilities were recognized, and although but 25, he was asked to act as conductor of the Cäcilienverein during the illness of Schelble.
In addition to Mendelssohn, he attracted the attention of Rossini who assisted him to launch his first opera, Romilda (which was a failure), at Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...
. Mendelssohn obtained for Hiller an entrée to the Gewandhaus, and afforded an opportunity for the public presentation of Hiller's oratorio Die Zerstörung Jerusalems (The destruction of Jerusalem, 1840). After a year of study in Church music at Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Hiller returned to Leipzig, and during the season of 1843-44 conducted the Gewandhaus concerts. By this time his position in the musical world was established, and honors and appointments were showered upon him. He became municipal kapellmeister of Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf
Düsseldorf is the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and centre of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.Düsseldorf is an important international business and financial centre and renowned for its fashion and trade fairs. Located centrally within the European Megalopolis, the...
in 1847, and in 1850 received a similar appointment at Cologne, where he founded Conservatorium der Musik in Coeln
Hochschule für Musik Köln
The Cologne University of Music is a music college in Cologne, and Germany's largest academy of music.-History:The academy was founded by Ferdinand Hiller in 1850 as Conservatorium der Musik in Coeln...
that year and remained as Kapellmeister
Kapellmeister
Kapellmeister is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making. The word is a compound, consisting of the roots Kapelle and Meister . The words Kapelle and Meister derive from the Latin: capella and magister...
until 1884. During this time, he was twelve times festival director of the Lower Rhenish Music Festival, and conducted the Gürzenich
Gürzenich Orchestra
The Gürzenich-Orchester Köln is a symphony orchestra based in Cologne, Germany. On some recordings, the orchestra goes under the name "Gürzenich-Orchester Kölner Philharmoniker"...
concerts. He worked in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....
as well. Thus he played a leading part in Germany's musical life. And he was conductor at the Italian Opera in Paris during the season of 1852-53.
During Hiller’s long reign in Cologne, which earned him a ‘von’ to precede his surname, his star pupil was Max Bruch
Max Bruch
Max Christian Friedrich Bruch , also known as Max Karl August Bruch, was a German Romantic composer and conductor who wrote over 200 works, including three violin concertos, the first of which has become a staple of the violin repertoire.-Life:Bruch was born in Cologne, Rhine Province, where he...
, the composer of the cello elegy Kol Nidrei, based on the synagogue hymn sung at Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur
Yom Kippur , also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest and most solemn day of the year for the Jews. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue...
. Bruch incidentally was not Jewish, although he has often been claimed as Jewish; his knowledge of the theme of Kol Nidrei came through Hiller, who introduced him to the Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
chazan, Lichtenstein. Hiller’s regime at Cologne was strongly marked by his conservative tastes, which he attempted to prolong by recommending, as his successor in 1884, either Brahms or Bruch. The appointment went however to a "modernist", Franz Wüllner
Franz Wüllner
Franz Wüllner was a German composer and conductor. He led the premieres of Richard Wagner's operas Das Rheingold and Die Walküre, but was much criticized by Wagner himself, who greatly preferred the more celebrated conductors Hans von Bülow and Hermann Levi.Wüllner was born in Münster and studied...
, who, according to Grove
Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians
The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart, it is the largest single reference work on Western music. The dictionary has gone through several editions since the 19th century...
"initiated his term [...] with concerts of works by Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
, Liszt
Franz Liszt
Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
and Richard Strauss
Richard Strauss
Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
, all of whom Hiller had avoided."
Hiller was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Arts, Berlin
Akademie der Künste
The Akademie der Künste, Berlin is an arts institution in Berlin, Germany. It was founded in 1696 by Elector Frederick III of Brandenburg as the Prussian Academy of Arts, an academic institution where members could meet and discuss and share ideas...
, in 1849, and in 1868 received the title of doctor from the University of Bonn
University of Bonn
The University of Bonn is a public research university located in Bonn, Germany. Founded in its present form in 1818, as the linear successor of earlier academic institutions, the University of Bonn is today one of the leading universities in Germany. The University of Bonn offers a large number...
.
Personality
Hiller’s affability was one of his strongest assets; he made innumerable friends and his very extensive correspondence with all the leading musicians in Europe, still only partly published, is an important source for the musical history of his era. Yet another asset was his very beautiful wife Antonka, by profession a singer, whom he married in Italy in 1840, and who made their home a magnet for the intelligentsia wherever they settled.Hiller and Wagner
Hiller’s time in Dresden marked his initial encounters with Richard Wagner, who had become deputy Kapellmeister there in 1843, following the success of the premiere of his RienziRienzi
Rienzi, der Letzte der Tribunen is an early opera by Richard Wagner in five acts, with the libretto written by the composer after Bulwer-Lytton's novel of the same name . The title is commonly shortened to Rienzi...
(staged in Dresden the previous year). In his autobiography, written during 1865-70 when he was settling scores, real and imaginary, following the death of Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer
Giacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
, Wagner is typically patronising about Hiller at this period, who, we are told, "behaved in a particularly charming and agreeable manner during those days." Antonka is described as "an extraordinary Polish Jewess who had caused herself to be baptised a Protestant together with her husband"; she is later shown as "enlist[ing] the support of a large number of her compatriots [...] for the opera of her husband." (The opera was Hiller’s Konradin).
Wagner’s dismissive remarks on Hiller throughout his autobiography Mein Leben and in his later review of Hiller’s autobiography are not however representative of his relationship with Hiller as revealed through other documents. Wagner features quite frequently in Hiller’s diary for the period. Amongst such notes are:
and so forth. Hiller assisted with the staging of Tannhäuser in Dresden in October 1845. In November 1846 Hiller went to see Tannhäuser and notes "Mendelssohn is sitting in front of us" (but presumably no conversation took place). In 1847 he discusses his draft of Konradin with Wagner.
The discussion about Wagner’s "affairs" and religion in 1845 must have been interesting; we know from correspondence that in the same month, Wagner attempted to borrow 2,000 thaler
Thaler
The Thaler was a silver coin used throughout Europe for almost four hundred years. Its name lives on in various currencies as the dollar or tolar. Etymologically, "Thaler" is an abbreviation of "Joachimsthaler", a coin type from the city of Joachimsthal in Bohemia, where some of the first such...
s from Hiller; Hiller’s apparent demurral did not however prevent Wagner recommending Hiller in June to the Dresden Court official Klemm as a potential composer to a libretto.
Work
Hiller’s vast musical output is now more or less forgotten. It contained works in virtually every genre, vocal, choral, chamber and orchestral. Musically he is perhaps best remembered as the dedicatee of Schumann’s Piano ConcertoPiano Concerto (Schumann)
The Piano Concerto in A minor, Op.54, is a famous Romantic concerto by Robert Schumann, completed in 1845.Schumann had begun several piano concerti before this one: In 1828, he had begun one in E-flat major; from 1829-31 he worked on one in F major, and in 1839, he wrote one movement of a concerto...
. He is also the dedicatee of the three Nocturne
Nocturne
A nocturne is usually a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night...
s, Op. 15, by Chopin.
He composed among other works six operas between 1839 and 1865, and a violin concerto.
His large output of chamber music includes several quartets for strings with and without piano beginning with his piano quartet opus 1 in B minor, published by Haslinger of Vienna in the 1830s, and at least three string quartets, a string trio his opus 207 published in 1886 as (Nachgelassenes Werk No. 2) by Rieter-Biedermann of Leipzig, sonatas for solo piano (opus 47, published in 1852 by Schuberth of Hamburg) and opus 59 and for piano with cello (at least two - opus 22, published by Simrock and opus 174, published by Cranz ), and a piano quintet (opus 156), among other works. The fourth of his piano trios has been recorded along with the early piano trio of Max Bruch.
Hiller's three piano concertos have been recorded by Hyperion with Howard Shelley as pianist/conductor and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. They are No. 1 in F minor, Op. 5 (Allegro moderato; Adagio; Allegro moderato e con grazia), No. 2 in F sharp minor, Op. 69 (Moderato, ma con energia e con fuoco; Andante espressivo; Allegro con fuoco), and No. 3 in A flat major, Op. 170 ('Concerto Espressivo': Allegro con anima; Andante quasi adagio; Allegro con spirito).
Hiller wrote at least four symphonies; one by 1831, another, in A minor also by 1831; also Im Freien in G major, given in London June 28 1852, and one in E minor published by Schott
Schott Music
Schott Music is one of the oldest German music publishers. It is also one of the largest music publishing houses in Europe and is currently the second oldest music publishing house. The company headquarters of Schott Music was founded by Bernhard Schott in Mainz, Germany in 1770.Established in...
as his opus 67 in Mainz in 1865.
He was also a very successful lecturer and a forceful writer, his contributions to reviews and newspapers having been since collected in book form. He also published among others: Musikalisches und Persönliches (1870), Wie hören wir Musik? (How do we hear music?, 1880); Goethes musikalisches Leben (Goethe's musical life, 1880); and Erinnerungsblätter (Reminiscences, 1884). He published an account of his friendship with Mendelssohn in 1874. Part of his vast correspondence with other musicians and artists of his period, which is in itself an important historical archive, has been published in seven volumes.