Gustav Lange (13 August 1830 – 20 July 1889) was a German composer known mainly for his melodious

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 ...

for the piano.

Life

Lange was born in Schwerstedt, near

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital and largest city in the Central German state of Thuringia. It is located in the wide valley of the Gera river (progression: ), in the southern part of the Thuringian Basin, north of the Thuringian Forest. It sits i ...

Prussian Saxony The Province of Saxony (german: link=no, Provinz Sachsen), also known as Prussian Saxony () was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia and later the Free State of Prussia from 1816 until 1944. Its capital was Magdeburg. It was formed by the merge ...

, in 1830. He received initial musical training from his father on the piano and organ, followed by conservatory studies in piano, organ, thorough bass, and composition – probably at the Royal Institute for Church Music in Berlin. His teachers included August Wilhelm Bach,

Eduard Grell Eduard Grell or August Eduard Grell (6 November 1800 – 10 August 1886) was a German composer, organist, and music teacher. Grell was born in Berlin. Among his early teachers were Carl Friedrich Zelter and Carl Friedrich Rungenhagen. On Zelt ...

, and

Albert Löschhorn Albert may refer to: Companies * Albert (supermarket), a supermarket chain in the Czech Republic * Albert Heijn, a supermarket chain in the Netherlands * Albert Market, a street market in The Gambia * Albert Productions, a record label * Alber ...

. He lived for many years in Berlin and died at

Wernigerode Wernigerode () is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode. Its population was 35,041 in 2012. Wernigerode is located southwest of Halberstadt, and is picturesquely s ...

in 1889.

Music

Encouraged by the success of some 1860s compositions, Lange produced a large number of works, most of which were light and popular piano pieces of which he wrote around 500. ''Edelweiss'' op. 31 and ''Blumenlied'' op. 39 (alternatively known as ''Flower Song'' in English) are perhaps two of his best-known works today. A contemporary English source says: "Many of these pieces are very pleasing and pretty in character, but they are not marked by any very striking features".Brown, James Duff: ''Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'' (Paisley and London: Alexander Gardner, 1886; reprint Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 1970), p. 374.

Selected compositions (piano)

*''Lamentation d'une jeunne fille'' op. 10 *''Farewell!'' op. 15 *''Prière à la Madonne'' op. 17 *''Fête militaire'' op. 18 *''Le Retour de soldat'' op. 19 *''Sehnsuchtsklänge'' op. 20 *''Die Libelle'' op. 24 *''Jägerfahrt'' op. 26 *''Dolorosa'' op. 28 *''Edelweiß'' op. 31 *''Blumenlied'' op. 39 *''Fischerlied'' op. 43 *''Langage d'amour'' op. 45 *''Au bivouac'' op. 47 *''Fleurs fanées'' op. 48 *''Minnelied'' op. 51 *''Einsame Tränen'' op. 52 *''Hortensia'' op. 53 *''Dein Eigen'' op. 54 *''Liebesahnung'' op. 75 *''Heidenröslein'' op. 78 *''Aus Herzensgrunde'' op. 85 *''Blumenmärchen'' op. 93 *''Immortellen'' op. 94 *''Mein Sohn, wo willst du hin so spät? Op.165'' :(Arrangement of Felix Mendelssohn's Winterlied (No.3) from 6 Gesänge, Op.19a for single piano) *''Drei Fantasie-Transkriptionen über Opernarien von G. Meyerbeer'' op. 207 *''Offenbach-Fantasien'' op. 208 *''Valse mélancholique'' op. 210 *''Zwei Waldidyllen'' op. 211 *''Vier Lieder von Anton Rubinstein frei übertragen'' op. 212 *''Fantasie-Transkriptionen über drei Lieder von Franz Abt'' op. 213 *''Paraphrase über die Schlummerarie aus der Oper 'Die Stumme von Portici' von D.F.E. Auber'' op. 214 *''Paraphrase über die Romanze der Ines aus der Oper 'Die Afrikanerin' von G. Meyerbeer'' op. 215 *''Fantasie-Polonaise nach Motiven von B. Bilses beliebter Königs-Polonaise'' op. 216 *''Drei Fantasie-Transkriptionen über Lieder und Arien von W.A. Mozart'' op. 217 *''Die Maccabäer'' op. 237 *''Das goldene Kreuz'' op. 254 *''Der Landfriede'' op. 255 *''Sérénade irlandaise'' op. 409 *''Melitta'' op. 417 *''Almröschen'' op. 418 *''Im Ahnenschloss'' op. 419 *''Blumenklage'' op. 420 *''Begegnung auf der Alm'' op. 421 *''Les Pages de la Reine'' op. 422 *''Aus der Kindheit frohen Tagen'' op. 427 *''Frohes Wandern'' op. 428 *''Die Lotosblume'' op. 429 *''Marguerite'' op. 430 *''Lieb' Mütterlein'' op. 431 *''Marcella'' op. 432 *''L'Adieu'' op. 433 *''Gitanella'' op. 434 *''La Danse au Tyrol'' op. 435 *''Après le travail'' op. 436 *''Plaisirs de l'automne'' op. 437 *''Im Zwielicht'' op. 445 *''Von Zweig zu Zweig'' op. 447 *''Graziosa'' op. 448 *''Sérénade du gondolier'' op. 451 *''La jeunne fille de Pologne'' op. 453 *''Liebesreigen'' op. 455 *''Gavotte favorite'' op. 457 *''Heckenrosen'' op. 462 *''Les Grenadiers du Roi'' op. 464 *''Marche des Mineurs'' op. 474 *''Calme-toi!'' op. 475 *''La Petite flatteuse'' op. 480 *''Jour de répos'' op. 485 *''Fleur printanière'' op. 487 *''Danse des fleurs'' op. 489 *''Folâtrerie'' op. 491 *''Les Mois de roses'' op. 493

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lange, Gustav 1830 births 1889 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century German composers Composers for piano German male classical composers German Romantic composers 19th-century German male musicians