Ferdinand Möhring (18 January 1816 – 1 May 1887) was a German composer, poet, conductor and organist.

Personal life

Möhring was born in

Alt Ruppin Neuruppin (; North Brandenburgisch Brandenburgian,e.g. Michael .Clyne: ''The German language in a changing Europe.'' 1995, p. XV Brandenburgish or Brandenburgisch is a dialect spoken in Germany in the northern and western parts of Brandenburg ...

as the son of the master carpenter Johann Friedrich Möhring and spent his childhood and youth in

Neuruppin Neuruppin (; North Brandenburgisch: ''Reppin'') is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, the administrative seat of Ostprignitz-Ruppin district. It is the birthplace of the novelist Theodor Fontane (1819–1898) and therefore also referred to as ''Fonta ...

, where he attended the Gymnasium. In 1857 he married Hedwig Schulz, the daughter of a painter. and from 1873 he lived as a freelance artist. Möhring died in 1887 in Wiesbaden at the age of 71, where he found his final resting place at the Nordfriedhof.

Career in music

In 1830, he entered the trade school in Berlin, where he completed a

Baumeister Baumeister is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Alfred Baumeister (1934–2011), American psychologist * Christian Baumeister (born 1971), German cinematographer * Edward Baumeister (1848–1933), American politician ...

apprenticeship at his father's express wish. He broke off this apprenticeship and joined the

Royal Music Institute of Berlin The Königliches Musik-Institut Berlin (Royal Music Institute of Berlin) was a training centre for musicians and a predecessor of today's Institute for Church Music at the Berlin University of the Arts. History The institute was founded in 1822 ...

. His first

motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

was performed in 1835. His striving for all-round musical education led him to join the music department of the Academy of Arts, where he studied from 1837 to 1840. There, he mainly composed instrumental music, including his Symphony in B flat major, which was premiered by

Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sy ...

in the

Gewandhaus Gewandhaus is a concert hall in Leipzig, the home of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra. Today's hall is the third to bear this name; like the second, it is noted for its fine acoustics. History The first Gewandhaus (''Altes Gewandhaus'') The fi ...

in 1838. On 26 January 1840, he gave his final concert together with a fellow student in the hall of the Berlin Singakademie. He then moved to

Saarbrücken Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...

, where he was appointed director of the male choral society and organist at the

Ludwigskirche Ludwigskirche in Old Saarbrücken, Germany, is a Lutheran baroque-style church. It is the symbol of the city and is considered to be one of the most important Protestant churches in Germany, along with the Dresden Frauenkirche and the St. Mich ...

. From 1842 he travelled to Paris, where he met

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

. In 1844 he was appointed royal music director and in 1845 he was appointed organist at the parish church of St Mary and music teacher at the grammar school in Neuruppin. From 1845 to 1874, he was music director of the male choral society Altruppin, which since 1904 bears the name of its long-time leader. From 1873 he lived as a freelance artist. In 1876 he moved to Wiesbaden, where he made friends with the artists

Gustav Freytag Gustav Freytag (; 13 July 1816 – 30 April 1895) was a German novelist and playwright. Life Freytag was born in Kreuzburg (Kluczbork) in Silesia. After attending the school at Oels (Oleśnica), he studied philology at the universities of ...

Franz Abt Franz Wilhelm Abt (22 December 1819 – 31 March 1885) was a German composer and choral conductor. He composed roughly 3,000 individual works mostly in the area of vocal music. Several of his songs were at one time universally sung, and have obta ...

and

Friedrich von Bodenstedt Friedrich Martin von Bodenstedt (22 April 1819 – 19 April 1892) was a German author. Biography Bodenstedt was born at Peine, in the Kingdom of Hanover. He was trained as a merchant in Braunschweig and studied in Göttingen, Munich and Berlin. ...

Work

Nordfriedhof-Wiesbaden-2016-WI-Ferdinand-Moehring-848

Motet In Western classical music, a motet is mainly a vocal musical composition, of highly diverse form and style, from high medieval music to the present. The motet was one of the pre-eminent polyphonic forms of Renaissance music. According to Margar ...

s * Sinfonie B-Dur * Lieder wie Elslein von Kaub * Drei Psalmen für Soli und Chor: op. 32. No. 2:

Psalm 137 Psalm 137 is the 137th psalm of the Book of Psalms in the Tanakh. In English it is generally known as "By the rivers of Babylon", which is how its first words are translated in the King James Version of the Bible. Its Latin title is "Super flum ...

„An den Wassern zu Babel“ * Herr, herr, wir danken dirThis hymn was published in 1872 in the hymnal ''Lieder für Jung und Alt'', zweites Bändchen from J.J. Schäublin (1822-1901)

Honours

The music teacher and composer Möhring is commemorated by a monument by

Max Wiese Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (English Springer Spaniel), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

in his birthplace, Alt Ruppin. It was unveiled in 1897.

Student

Paul Bulß Paul Bulß (19 December 1847 – 19 March 1902) was a German baritone, mostly in opera but also in concert and recital, who appeared at leading court opera houses including Dresden, Berlin and Vienna. He appeared in title roles such as Mozart's ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mohring, Ferdinand German Romantic composers German composers 1816 births 1887 deaths People from Neuruppin