BurgmÜller

BurgmÜller, family of German musicians:

(1) Johann August Franz BurgmÜller , organist and conductor; b. Magdeburg, April 28, 1766; d. Dusseldorf, Aug. 21, 1824. After touring as a theater conductor, he settled in Düsseldorf. In 1818 he founded the Lower Rhine Music Festival, which he served as director. He also was the first music director of Düsseldorf. He had two sons:

(2) (Johann) Friedrich (Franz) BurgmÜller , composer; b. Regensburg, Dec. 4, 1806; d. Beaulieu, near Paris, Feb. 13, 1874. He studied with Spohr in Kassel, and then settled in Paris and adopted a light style of composition. His ballet La Peri (Paris, Feb. 22, 1843) won great popularity. With Flotow and Delvedez, he wrote the ballet Lady Henriette (Paris, Feb. 21, 1844). Among his other works were many salon pieces and didactic studies.

(3) (August Joseph) Norbert BurgmÜller , composer; b. Düsseldorf, Feb. 8, 1810; d. Aachen, May 7, 1836. He was a child prodigy who began composing at an early age. He received training from his father, and in Kassel with Spohr and Hauptmann. BurgmÜller composed a Sym., a Piano Concerto, chamber music, piano pieces, and songs. A second Sym., in B minor, the same key as Schubert’s Eighth Sym., was left unfinished. Schumann thought highly of Burgmüller’s talent and completed the third movement, a scherzo, of the score, which received many performances in this form.

Bibliography

H. Eckert, N. B.(Augsburg, 1932).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire