Johann Friedrich Franz Burgmüller, generally known as Friedrich Burgmuller (4 December 1806 – 13 February 1874) was a German pianist and composerPhilip J. Bone
''The Guitar and Mandolin. Biographies of celebrated players and composers for these instruments'' (London: Schott and Co., 1914).
/ref> during the Romantic period. He is perhaps best known for his three collections of children's etudes (or "teaching pieces") for the piano, particularly his Op. 100 "25 Études faciles et progressives" (25 Easy and Progressive Studies) for early intermediate students. The other two collections, for more advanced students, were Op. 105 and 109.

Life

Friedrich Burgmüller was born in Ratisbon (at that time part of the Principality of Regensburg, Confederation of the Rhine). His father Friedrich August Burgmüller and his younger brother Norbert Burgmüller were also composers. His mother was pianist and singer Therese von Zandt. He moved to

Kassel Kassel (; in Germany, spelled Cassel until 1926) is a city on the Fulda River in North Hesse, northern Hesse, in Central Germany (geography), central Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Kassel (region), Kassel and the d ...

in 1829 to study with

Ludwig 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, ...

and

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, particu ...

. There he appeared as a pianist for his first concert, January 14, 1830. Burgmüller moved to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

in 1832 (at age 26 ), where he stayed until his death. Norbert Burgmüller, his brother, made plans to join him in Paris, in 1835. However, he drowned in a

spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa health treatments are known as balneotherapy. The belief in the curative powers of mineral waters and hot springs goes back to pre ...

Aachen Aachen is the List of cities in North Rhine-Westphalia by population, 13th-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, 27th-largest city of Germany, with around 261,000 inhabitants. Aachen is locat ...

during an epileptic seizure a year later. In Paris, Burgmüller adopted Parisian music and developed his trademark (light) style of playing. He wrote many pieces of

salon music Salon music was a popular music genre in Europe during the 19th century. It was usually written for solo piano in the Romantic music, romantic style, and is often performed by the composer at events known as "Salon (gathering), Salons". Salon compo ...

for the piano and published several albums. Burgmüller also went on to compose piano

étude An étude (; ) or study is an instrumental musical composition, designed to provide practice material for perfecting a particular musical skill. The tradition of writing études emerged in the early 19th century with the rapidly growing popu ...

s intended for children. He died in Paris on February 13, 1874.

Works

Burgmüller composed piano pieces,

waltzes The waltz ( , meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom dance, ballroom and folk dance, in triple (3/4 time, time), performed primarily in closed position. Along with the ländler and allemande, the waltz was sometimes referred to by the ...

nocturnes A nocturne is a musical composition that is inspired by, or evocative of, the night. History The term ''nocturne'' (from French '' nocturne'' "of the night") was first applied to musical pieces in the 18th century, when it indicated an ensembl ...

polonaises The polonaise (, ; , ) is a dance originating in Poland, and one of the five Polish national dances in time. The original Polish-language name of the dance is ''chodzony'' (), denoting a walking dance. The polonaise dance influenced Europea ...

and two

ballets Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

. His ''Peasant Pas de Deux'' was added to Adolphe Adam's ballet ''

Giselle ''Giselle'' ( , ), originally titled ''Giselle, ou les Wilis'' (; ''Giselle, or The Wilis''), is a romantic ballet () in two acts with music by Adolphe Adam. Considered a masterwork in the classical ballet performance canon, it was first perfor ...

'' for its 1841 premiere. This

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

was originally titled ''Souvenirs de Ratisbonne''.

Ballets

* '' La Péri'' * ''Lady Harriet''

With opus numbers

* ''6 Mélodies gracieuses de Bellini'', Op. 26 * ''Souvenir de Bellini'', Op. 27 * ''Souvenir de Schönbrunn'', Op. 32 * '' La Cachucha'', Op. 36 * ''Murmures du Rhone'', Op. 66 * ''Corbeille de roses'', Op. 68 * ''Fleurs mélodiques'', Op. 82 * ''Fantaisie brillante sur "Ernani" de Verdi'', Op. 92 * ''Blaue Äuglein'', Op. 93 * ''Les Étincelles'', Op. 97 * ''25 Études faciles et progressives'', Op. 100 * ''12 Études'', Op. 105 * ''18 Études'', Op. 109

Without opus numbers

* ''L'Ange consolateur'' * ''Ay Chiquita'' * ''3 Nocturnes'', for cello and guitar * ''Le Pardon de Ploërmel'' * ''La Péri'' * ''Souvenirs de Londres'' * ''Ballade''

References

External links

* *
Free scores

Mutopia Project The Mutopia Project is a volunteer-run effort to create a library of free content sheet music, in a way similar to Project Gutenberg's library of public domain books. It started in 2000. The music is reproduced from old scores that are in th ...

Link to Recording of the Opus 100 Etudes at the Piano Society Website

* * 1806 births 1874 deaths 19th-century German classical composers 19th-century German male musicians German ballet composers Composers for piano German male classical composers German Romantic composers German male classical pianists Musicians from Regensburg Musicians from the Kingdom of Bavaria German piano educators {{Germany-composer-stub