Fröhlich, Friedrich Theodor

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Fröhlich, Friedrich Theodor

Fröhlich, Friedrich Theodor, Swiss composer;b. Brugg, Feb. 20, 1803; d. (suicide) Aarau, Oct. 16, 1836. He studied composition before going to Berlin in 1826 as a student of Zelter and B. Klein. In 1830 he settled in Aarau as a prof. of music at the cantonal school; he also was an instructor at the teachers’s college and director of the Singakademie. The lack of recognition of his considerable talent led Fröhlich to take his own life during a fit of depression. His choral works and songs, all in a Romantic vein, are particularly noteworthy. He also composed 2 syms., overtures, much chamber music, and piano pieces.

Bibliography

E. Regardt, T. F., ein schweitzer Musiker der Romantik (Basel, 1947).

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire