Baron Theodor Döhler (20 April 181421 February 1856) was a German composer and a notable piano

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'' or , "virtuous", Late Latin ''virtuosus'', Latin ''virtus'', "virtue", "excellence" or "skill") is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as ...

of the

Romantic period Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic, literary, musical, and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century, and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate ...

. He studied under

Julius Benedict Sir Julius Benedict (27 November 1804 – 5 June 1885) was a German-born composer and conductor, resident in England for most of his career. Life and music Benedict was born in Stuttgart, the son of a Jewish banker, and in 1820 learnt compo ...

Carl Czerny Carl Czerny (; 21 February 1791 – 15 July 1857) was an Austrian composer, teacher, and pianist of Czech origin whose music spanned the late Classical and early Romantic eras. His vast musical production amounted to over a thousand works and ...

, and

Simon Sechter Simon Sechter (11 October 1788 – 10 September 1867) was an Austrian music theorist, teacher, organist, conductor and composer. He was one of the most prolific composers who ever lived, although his music is largely forgotten and he is now mainl ...

.Henri Bertini (1798-1876) & Theodore Dohler (1814-1856), by

Jeffrey Kallberg Jeffrey Kallberg (born 17 October 1954) is an American musicologist, who specializes 19th and 20th-century classical music, as well as topics in critical theory and gender studies related to music. He has written numerous articles and studies ...

, 1993.

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law, and ...

Biography

Life

Döhler was born in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, where his father (d. 1843 in

Lucca Lucca ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its province has a population of 383,957. Lucca is known as one o ...

) lived and worked as

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

. Döhler was a child prodigy and received his first musical education in Naples from the conductor

. He began performing in public concerts there at the age of 13. In 1827, he moved to Lucca when his father received a new appointment there. From 1829 to 1834 Döhler lived 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 ...

, where he studied piano under

. At the same time, he studied composition with

. He appeared on the scene in 1838, when

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 ...

in Vienna and

Thalberg Thalberg or Talberg is a surname of German origin, which means "valley hill". It may refer to: *Irving Thalberg (1899–1936), American film producer * Irving Thalberg Jr. (1930–1988), American philosopher * Norma Thalberg (1902–1983), Canadian ...

were again in Paris. In 1846, Döhler's patron, the

Duke of Lucca The Duchy of Lucca was a small Italian state existing from 1815 to 1847. It was centered on the city of Lucca. By the Congress of Vienna of 1815 the Duchy was to revert to Tuscany on the end of its Bourbon-Parma line of rulers or when the line wou ...

, elevated Döhler to the rank of

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knig ...

. Now a member of the nobility, Döhler was able to marry a Russian Princess, Countess Elise Sheremeteff in that year. Following this, Döhler gave up public performance and settled for a while in Moscow. In 1848 he moved back to Naples where he composed piano pieces and one opera, ''Tancreda'', which was first produced in 1880, 24 years after his death, which occurred in Florence in 1856.

Career

In 1832, he was taken under the musical patronage of the Duke of Lucca. From 1834 until 1845 he toured Europe as a concert pianist, performing in Italy, France, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, Denmark,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

, and Russia. He was considered a very successful and fashionable piano virtuoso.

Compositions

* ''Piano Concerto in A+ Op. 7 * ''Nocturne'' Op. 24 * ''Nocturne No. 1 in C major'' Op. 25 * ''Tarantella'' Op. 39 * ''Andante for piano left hand No. 33'' Op. 42 * ''Romance sans paroles'' (''Romance Without Words'') Concerto pour piano et orchestre (Howard Shelley piano/conductor, with Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra) Hyperion CDA67950

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dohler, Theodor 1814 births 1856 deaths 19th-century Neapolitan people German Romantic composers German classical pianists Male classical pianists 19th-century classical composers German male classical composers 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century German composers German pianists German male pianists 19th-century German male musicians