Isidor Wilhelm Seiss (23 December 184025 September 1905) was a German composer, conductor, pianist, piano pedagogue and philanthropist. His surname also appears as Seiß, and his first name also appears as Isidore.

Biography

Isidor Wilhelm Seiss was born in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label= Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth ...

in 1840. His first musical studies were under

Friedrich Wieck Johann Gottlob Friedrich Wieck (18 August 1785 – 6 October 1873) was a noted German 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 hamme ...

(piano) and Julius Otto (theory), before going to

Moritz Hauptmann Moritz Hauptmann (13 October 1792, Dresden – 3 January 1868, Leipzig), was a German music theorist, teacher and composer. His principal theoretical work is the 1853 ''Die Natur der Harmonie und der Metrik'' explores numerous topics, particular ...

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

from 1858 to 1860. He did some performing in Germany and Belgium, then became a piano teacher at the

Cologne Conservatory 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 million ...

in 1871, where he had a long career. He conducted the Cologne Musical Society.Grove’s Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed, 1954, Vol. VII, p. 691 His notable students included Engelbert Humperdinck,Guy Wagner
''A Master from Liechtenstein: Josef Gabriel Rheinberger''
/ref>

Elly Ney Elly Ney (27 September 1882 – 31 March 1968) was a German romantic pianist who specialized in Beethoven, and was especially popular in Germany. Career She was born in Düsseldorf, where her mother was a music instructor and her father was a r ...

(for nine years before she moved on to Leschetizky and

Sauer The Sauer (German and Luxembourgish, , ) or Sûre ( French, ) is a river in Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany. A left tributary of the Moselle, its total length is . Rising near Vaux-sur-Sûre in the Ardennes in southeastern Belgium, the Sauer ...

Willem Mengelberg Joseph Wilhelm Mengelberg (28 March 1871 – 21 March 1951) was a Dutch conductor, famous for his performances of Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler and Strauss with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest s ...

, Carl Lachmund, Frederick Corder,

Volkmar Andreae Volkmar Andreae (5 July 1879 – 18 June 1962) was a Swiss conductor and composer. Life and career Andreae was born in Bern. He received piano instruction as a child and his first lessons in composition with Karl Munzinger. From 1897 to 1900, ...

, Maurits Leefson,

Henri Weil Henri Weil (August 27, 1818 – November 5, 1909) was a French philologist. Biography Born to a Jewish family in Frankfurt, he was educated at the universities of Bonn, Berlin, and Leipzig. He went to France, and continued his studies at Paris, ...

, Karl Krill and others. Dedications to Isidor Seiss included: *

Edvard Grieg Edvard Hagerup Grieg ( , ; 15 June 18434 September 1907) was a Norwegian composer and pianist. He is widely considered one of the foremost Romantic era composers, and his music is part of the standard classical repertoire worldwide. His use of ...

: Book III (Op. 43) of the ''

Lyric Pieces ''Lyric Pieces'' ( no, Lyriske stykker) is a collection of 66 short pieces for solo piano written by Edvard Grieg. They were published in 10 volumes, from 1867 ( Op. 12) to 1901 (Op. 71). The collection includes several of his best known pieces, ...

'' *

Josef Rheinberger Josef Gabriel Rheinberger (17 March 1839 – 25 November 1901) was a Liechtensteiner organist and composer, residing in Bavaria for most of his life. Life Josef Gabriel Rheinberger, whose father was the treasurer for Aloys II, Prince of Liech ...

: Toccata in C minor, Op. 115 * August Winding: Preludes in All the Keys, Op. 26. He wrote some educational pieces for piano and other minor works. He also arranged some of

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

's Contredanses and German Dances for piano.IMSLP
Seiss
/ref> He also revised Weber's Piano Concerto No. 2 in E-flat, and published editions of

Mendelssohn 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 sym ...

's ''Capriccio brillante'' in B minor, and other works. Isidor Seiss died by his own hand in

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 ...

in 1905, having suffered increasing blindness that had forced him to retire from his teaching position. Although aged only 64, he had outlived his entire family, and in his will he endowed the Conservatory with a pension and cash grants for the four oldest teachers. He also bequeathed over half a million marks to the city of Cologne.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seiss, Isidor 1840 births 1905 suicides 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century German musicians 19th-century German male musicians 19th-century philanthropists German composers German classical pianists German conductors (music) German male conductors (music) German music educators German philanthropists Male classical pianists Musicians from Dresden Musicians from Cologne Piano pedagogues Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln alumni Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln faculty Pupils of Friedrich Wieck Suicides in Germany