Page:Pratt - The history of music (1907).djvu/597



Wilhelm Taubert (d. 1891) was born at Berlin in 1811 and spent his whole life there, first as pianist and teacher, from 1831 as court-accompanist, in 1842-69 as court-conductor (choirmaster from 1845), and after that as head of the musical division of the Akademie. He was intimate with Mendelssohn and belonged to the same general group, emphasizing as conductor a strict conservatism. His works include 4 symphonies (1831-55), 3 overtures, chamber music, 6 operas (1832-74) and successful incidental music to plays (till 1891). (See also sec. 205.)

Karl Grädener (d. 1883), born in 1812 at Rostock, beginning as a 'cellist at Helsingfors, was in 1841-51 musical director at Kiel University, and then, except for 3 years (1862-5) at the Vienna conservatory, prominent at Hamburg. Best known by his able choral works and by piano-pieces after the manner of Schumann, he also wrote 2 symphonies, a piano-concerto and much chamber music, including fine violin- and 'cello-sonatas, with a keen sense of form and harmonic richness.

Théodore Gouvy (d. 1898), though of French descent and from 1846 living much at Paris, belonged with the milder romanticists and his works received special attention in Germany. They include 7 symphonies, 2 overtures, a variety of chamber pieces, 2 masses, 6 effective dramatic scenas and the opera Der Cid (1863, accepted at Dresden, but not given), besides lesser works for the piano or the voice.

Friedrich Kiel (d. 1885), born in Rhenish Prussia in 1821, was at first self-taught, but later studied with Kummer and Dehn. His coming to Berlin in 1844 distinctly furthered the cause of instrumental music, though his eminence was not fully recognized until after 1860. From 1866 he taught at the Stern conservatory, later at the Hochschule. His many chamber works, with his better-known choral ones, display a dignified command of the technique of construction in a style akin to that of the Leipsic masters and not without warmth.

The direct impress of the Leipsic circle upon that of Berlin was strengthened by Richard Wüerst (d. 1881), from 1846 a teacher in Kullak's Academy and later a prominent critic, with 2 symphonies, overtures, a violin-concerto, quartets, 6 operas, including A-ing-fo-hi (1875); and still more by Bargiel (d. 1897), the step-brother of Mme. Schumann, who began teaching at Berlin, thence went to Cologne and Amsterdam, and in 1874 returned to Berlin, where, as a striking exemplar of the Schumann traditions, he became highly regarded (see sec. 191). The subsequently famous Albert Becker (d. 1899), born in 1834 and trained by Dehn, began teaching at Berlin in 1856, entering the field of composition about 1860, most notably in sacred music. The Silesian Eduard Franck (d. 1893), trained at Breslau and for many years at Cologne and Berne, came to Berlin in 1867, first in the Stern conservatory, then at Breslaur's. The older Ludwig Meinardus (d. 1896), a pupil at Leipsic and for a time of Liszt, as well as of Marx, after serving as chorus-leader at Glogau from 1853, as teacher at the Dresden conservatory from 1865 and as critic at Hamburg from 1874, spent his last years at Bielefeld. He is notable as one of the few pupils of Liszt who remained a strong conservative. Though best known for his choral works and his critical writings, he also wrote 2 symphonies and much chamber music.