Heinrich Joseph Wassermann (3 April 1791 – 3 September 1838) was a German-Swiss violinist, composer and conductor.

Life and career

Wassermann was born in Schwarzbach near

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. History ...

, the son of the village musician Johann Wassermann (1757-1815). After he was first taught in 1802 by Michael Henkel in Fulda, he held teaching positions and subsequently played in several spa orchestras. In 1810 he was trained by the violinist

Louis Spohr Louis Spohr (, 5 April 178422 October 1859), baptized Ludewig Spohr, later often in the modern German form of the name Ludwig, was a German composer, violinist and conductor. Highly regarded during his lifetime, Spohr composed ten symphonies, ...

Gotha Gotha () is the fifth-largest city in Thuringia, Germany, west of Erfurt and east of Eisenach with a population of 44,000. The city is the capital of the district of Gotha and was also a residence of the Ernestine Wettins from 1640 until the ...

. His good testimony earned him a position as chamber musician in the

Meiningen Court Orchestra The Meiningen Court Orchestra (german: Meininger Hofkapelle) is one of the oldest and most traditional orchestras in Europe. Since 1952 the now 68-member orchestra has been affiliated to the Meiningen Court Theatre and in addition to their opera ...

in 1811. In 1817 he followed the call as music director of the . From 1820 to 1829 he was 1st violinist at the court chapel in

Donaueschingen Donaueschingen (; Low Alemannic: ''Eschinge'') is a German town in the Black Forest in the southwest of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg in the Schwarzwald-Baar '' Kreis''. It stands near the confluence of the two sources of the river Da ...

. This position allowed him to undertake concert and study trips, among others to Darmstadt to the court organist Johann Christian Heinrich Rinck. In 1829 he became

music director A music(al) director or director of music is the person responsible for the musical aspects of a performance, production, or organization. This would include the artistic director and usually chief conductor of an orchestra or concert band, the d ...

of the "Société de musique" in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

, in the same year he got a job in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

. He died in

Riehen Riehen (Swiss German: ''Rieche'') is a municipality in the canton of Basel-Stadt in Switzerland. Together with the city of Basel and Bettingen, Riehen is one of three municipalities in the canton. Riehen hosts the Fondation Beyeler (a privately ...

near Basel at age 47.

References

External links

*
Wassermann, Heinrich Joseph
on Munich University {{DEFAULTSORT:Wassermann, Heinrich Joseph 1791 births 1838 deaths People from Fulda 19th-century German composers German Romantic composers 20th-century Swiss composers

Life and career

Further reading

References

External links