Arnold Gabriel Holland Sartorio (30 March 1853, in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

– 15 February 1936 in

Krefeld Krefeld ( , ; li, Krieëvel ), also spelled Crefeld until 1925 (though the spelling was still being used in British papers throughout the Second World War), is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located northwest of Düsseldorf, i ...

) was a German composer, choral conductor, and

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

of the

Romantic period Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

. His musical output lay almost entirely in the

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

salon music Salon music was a popular music genre in Europe during the 19th century. It was usually written for solo piano in the romantic style, and often performed by the composer at events known as "Salons". Salon compositions are usually fairly short and ...

pioneered by

Sigismond Thalberg Sigismond Thalberg (8 January 1812 – 27 April 1871) was an Austrian composer and one of the most distinguished virtuoso pianists of the 19th century. Family He was born in Pâquis near Geneva on 8 January 1812. According to his own account, h ...

among others and transcended by Frédéric Chopin and Franz Liszt. Exceptionally prolific, Sartorio composed works for over 1,200

opus number In musicology, the opus number is the "work number" that is assigned to a musical composition, or to a set of compositions, to indicate the chronological order of the composer's production. Opus numbers are used to distinguish among composit ...

s, his reaching of Opus 1,000 being documented in the magazine ''

The Etude ''The Etude'' was an American print magazine dedicated to music founded by Theodore Presser (1848–1925) at Lynchburg, Virginia, and first published in October 1883. Presser, who had also founded the Music Teachers National Association, moved ...

''. While virtually unknown today, he was remembered by past audiences chiefly for

pedagogical Pedagogy (), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as ...

pieces written for his piano students to play. Many of these were issued under

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

s, which include Felix Durand, T. Devrient, Arthur Dana, Carlotta Bocca, Christian Schäfer, and Victor Abelle.

Life

Early years

Of Italian descent, Sartorio was born in Frankfurt to Joseph Sartorio and Charlotte Wilhelmine Marie Sophie Katharine Ruegemer. His siblings included Gaetans Carl Alexander (born 1846), Clara Felicie Octavia (1856–1936), and Adolphine Josephine Felicie (1856–1936). Sartorio's teachers were August Buhl (1824–1868) and Eduard Mertke (1833–1895).

Career

According to Cooke (1912, p. 628), Sartorio was "a choir conductor in

Strassburg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label= Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label= Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the E ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

and

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...

. He also taught many successful pupils." Sartorio died in Krefeld, Germany in 1936.

Music

Among Sartorio's most popular compositions were the ''Drei Jagdszenen'' 'Three Hunting Scenes'' Op. 173 (published 1894); ''Vierzehn Melodische Etüden'' 'Fourteen Melodic Studies'' Op. 214 (published 1895); ''Bilder aus der Märchenwelt'' 'Pictures from the Fairy World'' Op. 205 (published 1896); and ''Bilder aus der Jugendzeit'' 'Pictures from Youth'' Op. 233 (published 1896).

Reception

Contemporaneous critical opinions of Sartorio's music were that it was attractive and cleverly written.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * *

External links

* * German composers German pianists 1853 births 1936 deaths {{Germany-composer-stub