Biographical Sketches

From "The Worlds Best Music" © 1908

Leybach, Ignace
Born in Gambsheim, Alsace, July 17, 1817.
He was a teacher, and also composed numerous pianoforte pieces of a popular character; likewise organ and church music, and music of other forms.
He died in Toulouse, May 23, 1891.

Liadow, Anatole
Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, May 11, 1855.
He was a pupil of Johansen and Rimsky-Korsakoff at the St. Petersburg conservatory, and subsequently became professor of harmony in that institution. His brilliant pianoforte pieces are his principal compositions.

Lichner, Heinrich
Born in Harpersdorf (Silesia), Germany, March 6, 1829.
He was cantor, organist, and director of the Sangerbund at Breslau, and wrote overtures, symphonies, songs, choruses for male voices, and pianoforte pieces.
He died in Breslau in 1898.

Liszt, Franz
Born in Raiding, Hungary, October 22, 1811.
His father instructed him till he was nine years old, when he made his first public appearance as a pianist, playing a concerto. At this and subsequent concerts he performed with such success that several Hungarian noblemen guaranteed the expenses of his further education. He went to Vienna and studied with Czerny (piano) and Salieri (theory). Later he studied in Paris under Paer and Reicha. Before 1830 he was said by critics to be the most extraordinary pianist ever known. His real career began about 1839, when he made an extended tour through Europe, arousing great enthusiasm.

In 1849 Liszt settled at Weimar and accepted the conductorship of the court theater, a position that he retained till 1861. He established himself as the advocate of the young generation by staging modern works of real value, "Lohengrin" and "Tannhauser" being among those he brought out. Weimar soon became a great musical cneter, young and enthusiastic men coming from all sides to hear the company of singers inspired by the genius of their leader.

Liszt's residence at Weimar was also notable for his best known compositions. The include: "Faust" and the "Divina Commedia", grand symphonies; "Hungarian Rhapsodies"; the oratorio "St. Elizabeth"; the "Grand Mass"; the oratorio "Christus"; and numerous other works. Liszt took minor orders in the Catholic Church in 1865, and soon after received the title of Abbe. He published monographs on Chopin and Franz, essays on Wagner's operas, and other writings.

As a composer, Liszt developed the symphony and gave to music the sympohic poem; as a pianist, he held the highest rank; and as a conductor he won well earned fame and many friends. His interpretation of Wagner exceeded the fondest hopes of that composer. His influence upon the rising generation was unbounded.
He died in Bayreuth, Bavaria, July 31, 1886.

Louis Ferdinand (Friedrich Christian Ludwig), Prince
Born near Berlin, November 18, 1772.
He was the son of Prince August Ferdinand of Prussia, and a nephew of Frederick the Great. He was an amateur pianist and composer of real talent. His nocturnes, especially that entitled "Departed Days", are known by many musicians. His quartet in F minor is another of his most familiar works.
He was killed at the battle of Saalfeld, October 10, 1806

Lysberg (Charles Samuel Bovy)
Born in Lysberg, near Geneva, Switzerland, March 1, 1821.
He studied in Paris under Chopin and Delaire. When he returned to Geneva he was appointed professor of pianoforte at the Geneva Conservatoire. The name Lysberg, under which he published his compositions, was used by Bovy in order that he might hide his failure if they did not succeed. His writings, numbering more than 350, are mainly pianoforte pieces.
He died in Geneva, February 15, 1873.

Macbeth, Allan
Born in Greenock, Scotland, March 13, 1856.
His musical instruction was received mainly in Germany. From 1880 to 1887 he was conductor of the Glasgow Choral Union. From 1890 he was principal of the school of music at the Glasgow Athenaeum. Among his compositions are various piano and orchestral pieces, chamber music, cantatas, an operetta, and songs.

Mac Dowell, Edward Alexander
Born in New York City, December 18, 1861.
In 1876-79 he studied at the Paris Conservatory and with Heymann (pianoforte) and Raff (composition) at Franfort-on-the-Main. IN 1881-84 he was head of the piano department of the Darmstadt Conservatory; and in 1884-88 resided at Wiesbaden, devoting himself to composition. He returned to America in 1888 and settled in Boston as a teacher and concert pianist. From 1896 until his retirement in 1904 he was professor of music in Columbia University. He was also director of the Mendelssohn Glee Club in 1896-98 and president of the American Society of Musicians and Composers in 1897-98. In 1905 ill health compelled him to abandon all work. He was a pianist of distinction and for a time appeared frequently with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and other organizations. But he was better known as one of the most important composers of recent times. Among his works are four symphonic poems for orchestra and two orchestral suites, one of them the "Indian Suite", based on themes from the music of the Sioux; two piano concertos, four sonatas, several groups of pianoforte pieces, and over fifty songs.

Martini, Giovanni Battista
(called Padre Martini)
Born in bologna, Italy, April 25, 1706
His father, also a musician, instructed his son upon the violin and pianoforte. He joined the Franciscans, and was appointed maestro de cappella in 1725. In order to become acquainted with the theory and history of music, he collected books and manuscripts dealing with every phase of the subject, gathering the richest private library of its kind in the world. Noted musicians came to him as an authority on unsettled questions. He was a teacher and a composer of church music, and published various treatises, also collections of ancient and medieval music, and of example from the Italian and Spanish schools.
He died in Bologna, August 3, 1784.

Mascagni, Pietro
Born in Leghorn, Italy, December 7, 1863.
He studied secretly with Soffredini, and afterward became a pupil at the Milan Conservatory under Ponchielli and Saladino. He conducted the orchestra in various minor troupes, meanwhile teaching and composing several fairly successful works. When Sonzogno, the Milan music publisher, offered prizes for one-act operas, Mascagni wrote and submitted his "Cavalleria Rusticana" (1890), which won for him the first prize, and upon its first presentation made him famous. Its success throughout the world brought him a reputation that only a work of equal merit could have maintained. Such a work he ahs not thus far succeeded in producing, his "L'Amico Fritz" (1891), "I Rantzau" (1892), "Guglielmo Ratcliff", "Zanetto" (1896), "Iris" (1898), and other compositions, in various styles, suffering by comparison with the standard he himself has established. In 1895 he became director of the Rossin Conservatory at Pesaro. After several European tours, in 1902 he brought his own troupe to American, but various unfortunate circumstances contributed to make his visit to the New World a disappointment.