Karl Klindworth (25 September 183027 July 1916) was a German composer,

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 a ...

pianist, conductor, violinist and music publisher. He was one of

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 ...

's pupils and later one of his closest disciples and friends, being also on friendly terms with composer

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...

, of whom he was an admirer. He was highly praised by fellow musicians, including Wagner himself and

Edward Dannreuther Edward George Dannreuther (4 November 1844, Strasbourg – 12 February 1905, Hastings) was a German pianist and writer on music, resident from 1863 in England. His father had crossed the Atlantic, moving to Cincinnati, and there established a pi ...

. Among his pupils were

Hans von Bülow Freiherr Hans Guido von Bülow (8 January 1830 – 12 February 1894) was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for es ...

Georgy Catoire Georgy Lvovich Catoire (or ''Katuar'', russian: Гео́ргий Льво́вич Катуа́р, french: Georges Catoire) (Moscow 27 April 1861 – 21 May 1926) was a Russian composer of French heritage. Life Catoire studied piano in Berlin wit ...

, and

Ethelbert Nevin Ethelbert Woodbridge Nevin (November 25, 1862February 17, 1901) was an American pianist and composer. Early life Nevin was born on November 25, 1862, at Vineacre, on the banks of the Ohio River, in Edgeworth, Pennsylvania.Mulkearn, Lois, p. 62 ...

Biography

Family

Klindworth was born in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

in 1830 as the son of Carl August Klindworth and Dorothea Wilhelmine (1800–1853), née Lamminger, daughter of court printer Johann Thomas Lamminger (1757–1805). He was the nephew of politician and State Council

Georg Klindworth Georg Klindworth, born Johann Georg Heinrich Klindworth on 16 April 1798 in Göttingen, Germany, was a nineteenth-century German diplomat and intelligence agent employed by several European leaders and princes. He was a political exile from the 1 ...

and

clockmaker A clockmaker is an artisan who makes and/or repairs clocks. Since almost all clocks are now factory-made, most modern clockmakers only repair clocks. Modern clockmakers may be employed by jewellers, antique shops, and places devoted strictly to ...

Karl Friedrich Felix Klindworth (1788–1851). As a child, the young Klindworth received violin lessons and taught himself to play the piano. As he was not accepted as violin pupil of

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, t ...

, he then joined a traveling theater company as a successful violinist and conductor when he was only 17. In 1850 he took over the leadership of the ''Neue Liedertafel'' in

. In the summer of 1852 Klindworth went to

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together with the neighbouri ...

where he took piano lessons with

and was soon one of his closest disciples and friends. He also became on friendly terms with

Career

In 1854 Klindworth went to London, where he remained for fourteen years, studying, teaching and occasionally appearing in public. From London Klindworth went to Moscow in 1868, following

Nikolai Rubinstein Nikolai Grigoryevich Rubinstein (russian: Николай Григорьевич Рубинштейн; – ) was a Russian pianist, conductor, and composer. He was the younger brother of Anton Rubinstein and a close friend of Pyotr Ilyich Tc ...

's invitation to take up the position of professor of pianoforte at the

Moscow Conservatory The Moscow Conservatory, also officially Moscow State Tchaikovsky Conservatory (russian: Московская государственная консерватория им. П. И. Чайковского, link=no) is a musical educational inst ...

, where he first met

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

as professor of harmony. While in Russia he completed his pianoforte arrangements for Wagner's ''

Der Ring des Nibelungen (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the '' Nibe ...

'', which he had commenced during Wagner's visit to England in 1855,

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 sonatas and also his critical edition of

Frédéric Chopin Frédéric François Chopin (born Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin; 1 March 181017 October 1849) was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist of the Romantic period, who wrote primarily for solo piano. He has maintained worldwide renown as a leadin ...

's works. He then became conductor of the

Berlin Philharmonic The Berlin Philharmonic (german: Berliner Philharmoniker, links=no, italic=no) is a German orchestra based in Berlin. It is one of the most popular, acclaimed and well-respected orchestras in the world. History The Berlin Philharmonic was fo ...

in 1882, in association with

Joseph Joachim Joseph Joachim (28 June 1831 – 15 August 1907) was a Hungarian violinist, conductor, composer and teacher who made an international career, based in Hanover and Berlin. A close collaborator of Johannes Brahms, he is widely regarded as one of t ...

and

Franz Wüllner Franz Wüllner (28 January 1832 – 7 September 1902) was a German composer and conductor. He led the premieres of Wagner's ''Das Rheingold'' and ''Die Walküre'', but was much criticized by Wagner himself, who greatly preferred the more celebrate ...

, being also the conductor of the Berlin Wagner Society. At this time, he established the ''Klindworths Musikschule'', which later became the

Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory The Klindworth-Scharwenka Conservatory (german: Klindworth-Scharwenka-Konservatorium) was a music institute in Berlin, established in 1893, which for decades (until 1960) was one of the most internationally renowned schools of music. It was formed f ...

. Klindworth remained in Berlin until 1893, when he retired to

Potsdam Potsdam () is the capital and, with around 183,000 inhabitants, largest city of the German state of Brandenburg. It is part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. Potsdam sits on the River Havel, a tributary of the Elbe, downstream of ...

, practicing as a teacher. He earned his great reputation as an editor of musical works, having re-orchestrated Chopin's second piano concerto, adopted and raised Winifred Williams to be a perfect "Wagnerite" and made the orchestration of the first movement of Alkan's solo piano concerto, the eighth of the composer's etudes in all the minor keys, though others have since orchestrated all three movements. He died in 1916 in Stolpe, near

Oranienburg Oranienburg () is a town in Brandenburg, Germany. It is the capital of the district of Oberhavel. Geography Oranienburg is a town located on the banks of the Havel river, 35 km north of the centre of Berlin. Division of the town Oranienburg ...

, aged 85.

Works

Piano works

* ''Concert-Polonaise'' * ''Polonaise-Fantaisie'', dedicated to "mes amis de Londres"

Arrangements

Hector Berlioz In Greek mythology, Hector (; grc, Ἕκτωρ, Hektōr, label=none, ) is a character in Homer's Iliad. He was a Trojan prince and the greatest warrior for Troy during the Trojan War. Hector led the Trojans and their allies in the defense o ...

: ''Ballet of the Sylphs'' and ''Hungarian March'' from ''The Damnation of Faust'' *

: ''Roméo et Juliette'' for two pianos, ''Francesca da Rimini'', for piano for 4 hands and ''Andante cantabile'' from ''String Quartet No. 1'', Op. 11 *

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition r ...

: ''Requiem'', K626 for solo piano. *

Franz Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wo ...

's ''Great C major Symphony'' for two pianos *

: ''Rienzi'', ''The Flying Dutchman'', ''Tannhauser'', Prelude to act 3 of ''Lohengrin'', ''Tristan and Isolde'', ''The Mastersingers of Nuremberg'', ''Ring of the Nibelungen'', Prelude of ''Parsifal'' *

Charles-Valentin Alkan Charles-Valentin Alkan (; 30 November 1813 – 29 March 1888) was a French Jewish composer and virtuoso pianist. At the height of his fame in the 1830s and 1840s he was, alongside his friends and colleagues Frédéric Chopin and Franz Li ...

: ''Concerto for Piano and Orchestra, Op.39'' originally from ''Douze Études dans Tous les Tons Mineurs, Op.39'' no.8 1st movement from : ''Concerto for Solo Piano'' (Allegro Assai)

Editions

: ''Oeuvres completes'', 6 volumes. Moscow (1873–1876) *

Ludwig van 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 ...

: ''Sonatas'' for piano, 3 vols. Berlin (1884) *

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

: ''

The Well-Tempered Clavier ''The Well-Tempered Clavier'', BWV 846–893, consists of two sets of preludes and fugues in all 24 major and minor keys for keyboard by Johann Sebastian Bach. In the composer's time, ''clavier'', meaning keyboard, referred to a variety of i ...

'', Mainz (1894) *

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 sym ...

: ''Songs Without Words'', London (1898)

Piano schools

* ''The skill in playing the piano, 24 pieces of exercise in all major and minor keys. Mainz (1897) * '' Novello's School of Pianoforte''. London (1902) * ''Elementary Piano School. London, Mainz (1903) * ''24 pieces of exercise in all major and minor keys for the training of skill in playing the piano, latest magazine for Bertini's piano school''.

Letters and writings

* ''Then and now in England''. Bayreuth (1898) * ''Memory and thoughts of Karl Klindworth, letters to Wahnfried''. Bayreuth (1916) * ''Unpublished Karl Klindworth's letters to Tchaikovsky''. Berlin (1965)

References

Attribution *

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Klindworth, Karl 1830 births 1916 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century classical pianists 19th-century German composers 19th-century German male musicians 20th-century classical composers 20th-century classical pianists 20th-century German composers German Romantic composers German classical pianists German male classical composers German pianists German male pianists German music educators German music publishers (people) Male classical pianists Musicians from Hanover Piano pedagogues Pupils of Franz Liszt Richard Wagner 20th-century German male musicians