Robert Fischhof (31 October 1856 – 31 March 1918Stieger, Franz. ''Opernlexikon.'' Teil II: Komponisten. Tutzing: Hans Schneider, 1977.) was an Austrian pianist, composer, and professor at the Vienna Music Conservatoire.

Biography

Robert Fischhof was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

to Julius Fischhof, a successful Austrian banker, and Louise Fischhof (née Strakosch), who had been trained as a pianist by

Clara Schumann Clara Josephine Schumann (; née Wieck; 13 September 1819 – 20 May 1896) was a German pianist, composer, and piano teacher. Regarded as one of the most distinguished pianists of the Romantic era, she exerted her influence over the course of a ...

, the famous performer and wife of composer

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 ...

. The Fischhof home in Vienna was a well-known center for celebrated musicians, composers and singers arriving from all over the world. Fischhof had musical uncles: his father was the youngest brother of Joseph Fischhof, who became Professor of Piano at the Vienna Conservatoire in 1833; and his mother's brother was

Maurice Strakosch Maurice Strakosch (probably 15 January 1825 – 9 October 1887) was an American musician and impresario of Czech origin. Biography Strakosch was born in Gross-Seelowitz (today Židlochovice), Moravia. He made his debut as a pianist at the age of ...

, also an excellent pianist, who later became a vocal instructor and international impresario working with the soprano

Adelina Patti Adelina Patti (19 February 184327 September 1919) was an Italian 19th-century opera singer, earning huge fees at the height of her career in the music capitals of Europe and America. She first sang in public as a child in 1851, and gave her la ...

. Fischhof started his piano studies at the age of five under the supervision of his mother. Later, at the Conservatoire of Vienna, he was taught piano technique by

Anton Door Anton Door (20 June 18337 November 1919) was an Austrian pianist and music educator, also known in Russia as Anton Andreyevich Door. Biography Anton Door was born in Vienna and studied piano with Carl Czerny and theory with Simon Sechter. He beg ...

and composition by

Anton Bruckner Josef Anton Bruckner (; 4 September 182411 October 1896) was an Austrian composer, organist, and music theorist best known for his symphonies, masses, Te Deum and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-Germ ...

and

Franz Krenn Franz Krenn (26 February 1816 – 18 June 1897) was an Austrian composer and composition teacher born in Droß. He studied under Ignaz von Seyfried in Vienna, and served as organist in a number of Viennese churches, becoming Kapellmeister of St. ...

. After completing his courses at the Conservatoire, he continued his piano studies with Theodor Leschetitzky and

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

. Fischhof made his debut at age seventeen, and toured almost uninterruptedly for several years, playing concerts in Europe under the direction of celebrated musicians such as Abt, Dessof, Reinecke and Gade. He also performed for Emperor Franz Josef in Vienna, for Emperor Friedrich III in Berlin, for King Christian of Denmark, and for King Oscar of Sweden in Stockholm. All his concerts were organized by his brother, impresario Alfred Fischhof. In 1884 Fischhof was appointed Professor for the class of finished pianists at the

Vienna Conservatoire The Music and Arts University of the City of Vienna ( (MUK)) in Vienna, Austria, is a university of music and the arts. It was previously (2005−2015) named (KONSuni, Konservatorium Wien University), and before that (Conservatory of Vienna). ...

, a position he held until his death. In later years as a pianist, Fischhof performed only his own compositions in public. His many compositions include: a piano concerto, two violin sonatas, the Variations for Two Pianos, and at least one opera, "''Ingeborg''", which was premiered in Graz in 1904. In addition to his native German, he spoke French, English and Italian fluently. In 1916, Fischhof wrote ''Begegnungen auf meinem Lebensweg'' ("Encounters In My Life") about

Brahms Johannes Brahms (; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, pianist, and conductor of the mid-Romantic period. Born in Hamburg into a Lutheran family, he spent much of his professional life in Vienna. He is sometimes grouped with ...

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and the modernism ...

Pablo de Sarasate Pablo Martín Melitón de Sarasate y Navascués (; 10 March 1844 – 20 September 1908), commonly known as Pablo de Sarasate, was a Spanish (Navarrese) violin virtuoso, composer and conductor of the Romantic period. His best known works include ...

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 ...

Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod (; ; 17 June 181818 October 1893), usually known as Charles Gounod, was a French composer. He wrote twelve operas, of which the most popular has always been ''Faust (opera), Faust'' (1859); his ''Roméo et Juliette'' (18 ...

Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (; 9 October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano C ...

Leoncavallo Ruggero (or Ruggiero) Leoncavallo ( , , ; 23 April 18579 August 1919) was an Italian opera composer and librettist. Although he produced numerous operas and other songs throughout his career it is his opera ''Pagliacci'' (1892) that remained his ...

Alexander Dumas Alexandre Dumas (, ; ; born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie (), 24 July 1802 – 5 December 1870), also known as Alexandre Dumas père (where '' '' is French for 'father', to distinguish him from his son Alexandre Dumas fils), was a French writer. ...

Guy de Maupassant Henri René Albert Guy de Maupassant (, ; ; 5 August 1850 – 6 July 1893) was a 19th-century French author, remembered as a master of the short story form, as well as a representative of the Naturalist school, who depicted human lives, destin ...

and

Émile Zola Émile Édouard Charles Antoine Zola (, also , ; 2 April 184029 September 1902) was a French novelist, journalist, playwright, the best-known practitioner of the literary school of naturalism, and an important contributor to the development of ...

and other people involved in public life, opera and the theater. It was published by Hugo Heller in Vienna. Fischhof died on 31 March 1918 and is buried in Vienna.

Notes and references

Sources

*''Celebrated pianists of the past and present'' written by A. Ehrlich, Philadelphia: Theodor Presser, 1894 *''Begegnungen auf meinem Lebensweg'' by Robert Fischhof, Vienna: Hugo Heller, 1916

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fischhof, Robert 1857 births 1918 deaths 19th-century classical composers 20th-century classical composers Austrian classical pianists Male classical pianists Academics of the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna Austrian Romantic composers Austrian male classical composers 19th-century classical pianists 20th-century male musicians 19th-century male musicians