Hüttenbrenner, Anselm

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Hüttenbrenner, Anselm

Hüttenbrenner, Anselm, Austrian composer; b. Graz, Oct. 13, 1794; d. Ober-Andritz, near Graz, June 5, 1868. At the age of 7, he studied with the organist Gell. After law studies at the Univ. of Graz, he went to Vienna in 1815 to study with Salieri, whose pupil he remained until 1818. Schubert was his fellow student, and they became close friends. Hüttenbrenner also knew Beethoven, and was present at his death. After serving as director of the Steiermarkischer Musikverein (1825–39), he retired to his estate near Graz. He was an excellent pianist and a prolific composer; Schubert praised his works. He wrote 6 operas, an operetta, 8 syms., many overtures, 10 masses, 4 Requiems, 3 funeral marches, 2 string quartets, a String Quintet, piano sonatas, 24 fugues, and other piano pieces, some 300 male quartets and 200 songs. His unreliable reminiscences of Schubert (1854) were publ, by Otto Deutsch in 1906. Hüttenbrenner came into the possession of many Schubert MSS after Schubert’s death, among them the Unfinished Symphony, which he gave to Herbeck in 1865 so that its premiere could finally be given in Vienna.

Bibliography

K. Kurth, A. H. als Liederkomponist (diss., Univ. of Cologne, 1932).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire

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