Biographical Sketches

From "The Worlds Best Music" © 1908

Strauss, Johann
Born in Vienna, Austria, October, 25, 1825.
He studied the violin and composition in Vienna, became an orchestral conductor, and made a tour of the principal capitals of Europe. In 1872 he visited the United States, where he conducted an orchestra of a thousand pieces at the World's Peace Jubilee in Boston, and also gave several concerts in New York. Besides about four hundred compositions of dance music, he wrote a number of operettas that met with great success.
He died in Vienna, June 3, 1899.

Streabbog (an anagram for Gobbaerts), Jean Louis
Born in Antwerp, Switzerland, September 28, 1835.
He was a pianist who wrote a great number of popular pianoforte compositions.
He died in Saint Gilles, near Brussels, April 28, 1886.

Thalberg, Sigismund
Born in Geneva, Switzerland, January 7, 1812.
After study in Vienna with Hummel, Sechter, and Mittag, he first appeared as a pianoforte virtuoso in 1830. He then made a triumphal tour of Europe, and visited Brazil (1855) and the United States (1856). Other concert tours were to Paris and London in 1862 and again to Brazil in 1863. As a pianist he was known for his "singing tone". His compositions include several transcriptions of peratic airs, six nocturnes, and a grand concerto.
He died in Posilippo, near Naples, Italy, April 27, 1871.

Tours, Berthold
Born in Rotterdam, December 17, 1838.
He studied music at Brussels and Leipzig, and was known as a violinist, editor, and composer. Among his published works are many very popular songs and numerous pieces for the piano.
He died in London, March 11, 1897.

Tschaikowski, Peter Ilyitch
Born in Votinsk, Russia, May 7, 1840.
He studied jurisprudence in St. Petersburg, and in 1859 was appointed to a position in the Ministry of Justice. In 1862 he left the service of the state and entered the newly founded Conservatory of Music in St. Petersburg, where he studied under Anton Rubinstein and Zaremba. From 1866 to 1878 he was teacher of harmony at the Moscow Conservatory, resigning in order to devote himself to original work. He retired to Klin and for years worked almost in seclusion. In 1891 he gave concerts in New York and other American cities; and at Oxford, England, in 1893, he conducted some of his own compositions, and from the University received the degree of Doctor of Music.

All of Tschaikowski's works bear the imprint of the Slavonic temperament - fiery exaltation on a basis of languid melancholy. He like huge and fantastic outlines, strongly marked rhythms, subtle melodic turns, and exuberant figuration. He makes frequent use of the songs and dances of the Russian people. Everywhere his music makes the impression of genuine spontaneous originality. His works include several important operas, little known outside of Russian; symphonies, wherein some of his best orchestral composition, in which he was greatest, is shown; symphonic poems, overtures, orchestral suites, concertos, and many pianoforte pieces.
He died in St. Petersburg, November 7, 1893.

Valentine, Thomas
Born in England in 1790.
For many years he was a successful teacher and instrumental composer. The aria "Alla Scozzese" is the best known of his pianoforte pieces.
He died near Birmingham, January 11, 1878.

Verdi, Giuseppe
Born in Roncole, Italy, October 9, 1813.
At ten he was organist of the church in his native village; for three years he studied with Provesi at Busseto; in 1831 he went to Milan to enter the conservatory, but, for supposed lack of musical promise, was not admitted. For two years he pursued his studies under Vincenzo Lavigna at La Scala. then he returned to Busseto to take the place of Provesi, deceased, as conductor of the Philharmonic Society. In 1838 he returned to Milan. His first opera, "Oberto, Conte di San Bonifacio", was produced there with som esuccess in 1839, but the next, "Un Giorno de Regno" (1840), failed. "Nabucodonosor" (1842) was his first pronounced success; "I Lombardi" (1843) was even more successful; and "Ernani" (1844) scored a great triumph.

Not till later, however, did Verdi win final supremacy when there were no longer and living competitors. "Rigoletto" (1851), "Il Trovatore" (1853), and "La Traviata" (1853) must be called the best, as they are the last of the distinctively Italian opera school. But when "Aida" was produced at Cairo (1871), it was at once acknowledged that a revolution had taken place in Verdi's mind and method. The influence of Wagner and the music drama was distinctly felt. But Verdi was apparently not yet satisfied. For sixteen years he maintained silence in opera. The whispers of a great music drama roused anticipations that were not disappointed when "Otello" was produced at Milan in 1887. The surrender of the old Italian opera was now complete, and Verdi took his place at the head of a vigorous new school. His last (comic) opera "Falstaff" (1893), by many considered his greatest work, led Italian musicians in his own direction. Verdi's sacred works include the "Manzoni Requiem" (1874) and "Quattro Pezzi Sacri" (1898), his final composition.
He died in Milan, January 27, 1901.

Voss, Karl
Born in Schmarsow (Pomerania), Prussia, September 20, 1815.
His musical studies were carried on in Berlin until 1840, when he removed to Paris. Here he made a reputation as an instructor and performer. His compositions are in greater part salon pieces, but include also concertos and etudes.
He died in Verona, Italy, August 28, 1882.

Wagner, (Wilhelm) Richard
Born in Leipzig, Germany, May 22, 1813.
In 1834-36 he was conductor at Magdeburg, and after similar engagements (1836-39) in Konigsberg and Riga he went to Paris, where he remained from 1839 to 1842. Here he composed or completed his "Rienze" and "Der fliegendge Hollander" (Flying Dutchman). "Rienzi" obtained for him the post of assistant conductor (with Reissiger) at Dresden. His "Tannhauser" was produced there in 1845. He spent the season of 1855 in London as conductor of the Philharmonic Society's concerts. In all his operas the words of the libretto are of his own composition, and far superior, from the poetic standpoint, to the majority of works intended for such use. They are treated in a declamatory style, supported by most original harmonies and instrumentation in accordance with their dramatic significance. He advanced the importance of the orchestral accompaniment till it became almost the prime factor in the performance of his works. He was acknowledged supreme master of instrumental effects. It must be admitted, however, that, in his later works especially, his scoring is not infrequently cruel to the human voice. Wagner was a musical revolutionist and reformer in many ways affecting the opera. As with reformers and iconoclasts in other spheres and times, his methods and theories will doubtless be modified by the future. Meantime he may safely be ranked as the greatest musician who has risen since Beethoven, and his probable influence on future operatic compositions can scarcely be overestimated. The following is a list of dates of the first performances of his remaining dramatic works:

• "Lohengrin" (1850)

• "Tristan and Isolde" (1865)

• "Die Meistersinger" (1868)

• "Das Rheingold" (1869)

• "Die Walkure" (1870)

• "Siegfried" (1876)

• "Gotterdammerung" (Twilight of the Gods) (1876)

• "Parsifal" (1882)

Of the above "Die Walkure", "Siegfried" and "Gotterdammerung" together constitute Wagner's greatest work, the "Trillogie" - three chapters of one story, each for a separate evening. "Das Rheingold" is the preface to these three, wherein occur the events whose far reaching consequences are developed in the subsequent evenings. The four works constitute the "Ring of the Nibelungen". Wagner's ambition was to produce a distinctively national (German) music drama; hence his choice and adaptation of scenes from the great epic of the "Nibelungenlied", the German "Iliad". The first distinctively German opera ("Der Freischtz") was composed by Weber. Wagner followed this nation school, but he gave to it an entirely new and greater significance, terminating the dramatic opera (which he called "music drama") with his "Trilogie" and other works. Through Wagner the course even of Italian opera was changed. His influence in the direction of freedom of modulation and of form has led to remarkable experimenting in the most modern music.
He died in Venice, February 13, 1883.