Heinrich Esser

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Heinrich Esser, lithograph by Josef Kriehuber , 1863
Heinrich Esser 1869

Heinrich Joseph Esser (born July 15, 1818 in Mannheim , † June 3, 1872 in Salzburg ) was a German violinist , conductor and composer .

Life

Initially intended for law studies, he switched to music after just six months. Early on he took lessons from the orchestra musicians of the Mannheim orchestra. He continued his studies with Franz Lachner , who was Mannheim court conductor from 1834, and followed him to Munich in 1836. In 1839/40 Esser was a student of Simon Sechter in Vienna . In 1840 he was Kapellmeister at the Mannheim National Theater , but in 1841 he took up a position as conductor of the Liedertafel in Mainz, where in 1845 he also became Kapellmeister at the theater . During his time in Mainz, Esser also taught composition to Peter Cornelius . In 1847 he switched to the Hofopertheater in Vienna as Kapellmeister, of which he was interim director in 1860/61. Esser created his most important works as a composer in Vienna. In 1859 he became an honorary member of the Vienna men's choir and in 1862 board member of the "Tonkünstler-Societät". He also conducted philharmonic concerts. Esser also worked as a music advisor for the Franz Schott publishing house , where he made contact with Richard Wagner in 1859 , for whose operas he was particularly active in Vienna (he conducted the Vienna premiere of Lohengrin in 1858 ). At the end of 1869, Esser withdrew with his family to Salzburg, where he died of pulmonary consumption ( tuberculosis ) at the age of 53 .

Esser was an honorary member of the Society of Friends of Music in Vienna and a knight of the Franz Joseph Order .

Works

In addition to operas , Esser wrote five symphonies , two orchestral suites and many songs, ballads and male quartets that were well known at the time. His two best-known operas are: Thomas Riquiqui or The Political Heirath ( op.10 , text by Carl Gollmick , opera in three acts, premiered in Frankfurt am Main in 1843) and Die Zwei Prinzen ( op.15 , text by Carl Gollmick, opera in three acts, first performed in Munich in 1845). His Fourth Symphony in D minor, Op. 44 (1853) and his Second Suite in A minor, Op. 75 (1866) , were also notable successes .

literature

Web links

Commons : Heinrich Esser  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Death notification in the Wiener Zeitung from June 5, 1872.
  2. ↑ Despite a moderate assessment, the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik [Jhrg. 42 (1855), pp. 273-275] their wide space for a meeting.
  3. ↑ See Hermann Kretzschmar: Guide through the concert hall , Vol. 1, Leipzig 1913, p. 665.
personal data
SURNAME Esser, Heinrich
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Esser, Heinrich Joseph (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-Austrian composer
DATE OF BIRTH July 15, 1818
PLACE OF BIRTH Mannheim
DATE OF DEATH June 3, 1872
Place of death Salzburg