Ferdinand Hiller was a German pianist,
teacher, and composer born October 24, 1811 and died may 11, 1885. His family
was of Jewish descent, however, his father changed his name in order to hide
their Jewish ties. At an early age Hiller began to learn piano and violin, and
quickly was set apart as a talented musician. At the age of 10, Hiller made his
concert debut doing a public performance of a Mozart concerto. Only two years
later Hiller composed his first work. In 1822, Hiller became long-time friends
with Felix Mendelssohn, as the Mendelssohn family lived with the Hillers for a
while. Later on, at the recommendation of Mendelssohn himself, Hiller became a pupil
of Johann Nepomuk Hummel—a pupil of Mozart and a foremost pianist and composer
in Europe. Fun fact: Hummel and Hiller attended the premiere of Schubert’s Winterreise, which was performed by Schubert
himself.
The next milestone of Hiller’s life
came when he moved to Paris in 1828 where he became a pupil of many notable
names including Rossini and Cherubini. While in Paris, Miller was a teacher of
composition at Charon’s School of Music. He also spent some time in Italy, in
hopes of becoming and established opera composer. With the help of Rossini,
Hiller composed the opera Romilda—which
ended up being a total flop. In 1836, Hiller returned to Frankfurt were his
spent the majority of the remainder of his career before his death in 1885.
In 1840,
Hiller composed his oratorio Die
Zerstörung Jerusalems (The Destruction of Jerusalem). The libretto which
was written by Salomon Steinheim, Is based on the biblical story of the siege of
Jerusalem. The premiere of Hiller’s work was at the Leipzig Gewandhaus, again
under the recommendation of Mendelssohn. The premiere was well-received, and often
was compared to Mendelssohn’s Paulus (American
Symphony). The goal of Hiller’s oratorio was to please the present time. His
conservative nature in regard to music is evident in his very traditionally classic
music, which is noticeable throughout the oratorio, especially in the Duett. Simple in texture, with clear
melodic lines and simple harmonies, Hiller’s work is more focused on the
classical ideals than the forward-progressing music of the New German School.
Ferdinand Hiller
(1811-1885) on Hyperion Records. Retrieved from http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/c.asp?c=C1251
The Destruction of
Jerusalem. Retrieved from http://americansymphony.org/the-destruction-of-jerusalem_2/
His background story is similar to that of Mendelssohn's, and I thought that was interesting. It is also interesting that he composed an oratorio which was compared to that of Mendelssohn's.
ReplyDeleteI really think it's cool how many of the famous composers we learn about knew each other or were connected somehow. I wonder if Hiller's Jewish origin effected his career the same way it did Mendelssohn's?
ReplyDeleteI, too, have the same question. I read on wiki that Wagner actually patronized Hiller. Perhaps, because of his flattery, Hiller's own affability and his relationship with Wagner and other composer's in Europe this was overlooked by the New German School.
DeleteThat's so cool that he and Mendelsshon were buds! It's interesting how different composers tried to please audiences by either being progressive or looking to the past.
ReplyDeleteSpinning off Tori's comment, since Hiller and Mendelssohn were long-time friends would their compositional styles end up crossing and showing signs of each others styles? Did it work like that or am I just thinking that if it works for spoken accents it'll work for anything? Also, like friends would do, I wonder if they ever shared, or stolen, ideas with each other?
ReplyDelete