Mikuli, Karl (Karol)

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Mikuli, Karl (Karol)

Mikuli, Karl (Karol), Polish pianist, conductor, teacher, and composer of Moldavian descent; b. Czernowitz, Oct. 20, 1819; d. Lemberg, May 21, 1897. He first studied medicine in Vienna, but his pronounced talent for music made him decide to go to Paris for serious study There he became a pupil of Chopin (1844), and he also studied composition with Reicha. After the outbreak of the Revolution of 1848, he left Paris and made several tours in Russia and Austria. He was appointed director of the Lemberg Cons. (1858), and 30 years later he established a music school of his own there. His ed. of Chopin’s works contains numerous emendations made by Chopin himself as marginal remarks in Miku-li’s student copies. He wrote choral works, chamber music, songs, and piano pieces, the latter greatly influenced by Chopin’s style.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire