Louis Ehlert (23 January 1825 – 4 January 1884) was a German composer and music critic.

Life

Born in

Königsberg Königsberg (, ) was the historic Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. Königsberg was founded in 1255 on the site of the ancient Old Prussian settlement ''Twangste'' by the Teutonic Knights during the Northern Crusades, and was named ...

, Ehlert entered the Leipzig Conservatory in 1845, where he studied under

Robert Schumann Robert Schumann (; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and influential music critic. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest composers of the Romantic era. Schumann left the study of law, intending to pursue a career a ...

and

Felix 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 sy ...

. In 1850 he moved to

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

where he was a critic and teacher. From 1869 until 1871 he taught at the Schule des höheren Klavierspiels founded by

Carl Tausig Karl Tausig (sometimes "Carl"; born Karol Tausig; 4 November 184117 July 1871) was a Polish virtuoso pianist, arranger and composer. He is generally regarded as Franz Liszt's most esteemed pupil, and one of the greatest pianists of all time. L ...

. Later he taught in

Meiningen Meiningen () is a town in the southern part of the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in the region of Franconia and has a population of around 25,000 (2021).

where he tutored the princes, and finally in Wiesbaden. While in Berlin, Amy Fay studied with Ehlert from November 1869 until April 1870, when Ehlert and Tausig broke off their partnership. Ehlert composed a ''Spring

Symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning com ...

'', an

overture Overture (from French ''ouverture'', "opening") in music was originally the instrumental introduction to a ballet, opera, or oratorio in the 17th century. During the early Romantic era, composers such as Beethoven and Mendelssohn composed overt ...

, and a ''

Requiem A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

for a Child'', as well as numerous pieces for

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 keyboa ...

choral A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

works, and

lied In Western classical music tradition, (, plural ; , plural , ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music to create a piece of polyphonic music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German, but among English and French s ...

er. His book of essays, ''From the Tone World'', was translated into English by Helen Tretbar. Ehlert wrote a very positive article about Dvořák's Slavonic Dances which helped making them popular in Germany. As a token of his gratitude Dvořák dedicated to Ehlert the Serenade for Wind Instruments Op. 44. He died in

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

References

External links

* 1825 births 1884 deaths Musicians from Königsberg 19th-century classical composers 19th-century German composers 19th-century German journalists 19th-century German male writers 19th-century German male musicians German male classical composers German male journalists German music critics German music educators German Romantic composers {{Germany-composer-stub