Francis Hueffer

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Francis Hueffer , actually Franz Carl Christoph Johann Hüffer (born May 23, 1845 in Münster , † January 19, 1889 in London , England ), was a German-English music writer and music critic.

Origin and education

Franz Carl Christoph Johann Hüffer came from a family that had lived in Münster for generations and was born as the son of the publisher and Lord Mayor of Münster, Johann Hermann Hüffer and his second wife Julia, née. Merchant, born. (Half) brothers were among others the co-founder of the Center Party , Alfred Hüffer , the founder of the Hüfferstiftung , Wilhelm Hüffer (1821–1895), and the lawyer and historian Hermann Hüffer (1830–1905). One of his mother's brothers was the future mayor of Bonn , Leopold Kaufmann .

After graduating from the High School Paulinum Franz Hüffer studied at the Royal Catholic Academy in Münster , then at the universities of Berlin , Leipzig and Göttingen , where he was in 1869 with a thesis on the troubadour Guillem de Cabestanh to Dr. phil. PhD .

Live and act

In the same year he moved to London, where he worked for leading English newspapers such as the North British Review , the Fortnightly Review and the Academy . In 1872 he married the painter Katharina Brown, the younger daughter of the history painter Ford Madox Brown . The later writer Ford Madox Ford came from this marriage . Hueffer had been a music critic for the Times since 1878 and thereby had a significant influence on British musical tastes. He was a follower of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt and translated their correspondence. He also edited the artist biographies of Great Musicians and wrote opera text books on Alexander Mackenzie and Frederic Hymen Cowen . In 1882 he took British citizenship . After a brief illness, Francis Hueffer died on January 19, 1889.

Works (selection)

  • 1874: Richard Wagner and the Music of the future.
  • 1878: The Troubadours; a history of provençal life and litterature in the middle ages.
  • 1880: Musical Studies.
  • 1883: Italian Studies.
  • 1886: With William Morris : A Selection from the poems.
  • 1889: Half a century of English Music in England: 1837–1887. Essays Towards a History.

literature

  • Johann Hermann Hüffer : Experienced. Printed as a manuscript for his children , Aschendorff, Münster 1854 (Online: ULB Münster )
  • German Biographical Encyclopedia (DBE), 1st edition, Vol. 5, Munich 1997, p. 208.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hueffer, Francis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hüffer, Franz Carl Christoph Johann (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-English music writer and music critic
DATE OF BIRTH May 23, 1845
PLACE OF BIRTH Muenster
DATE OF DEATH January 19, 1889
Place of death London , England