Perger, Richard Von

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Perger, Richard Von

Perger, Richard Von , Austrian composer and conductor; b. Vienna, Jan. 10, 1854; d. there, Jan. 11, 1911. He studied cello and theory. After serving in the Austrian army during the campaign in Bosnia (1878), he received a stipend and took lessons with Brahms (1880–82). He was director of the Rotterdam Cons. (1890–95). Returning to Vienna, he conducted the Gesellschaftskonzerte, and from 1899 to 1907 he was director of the Vienna Cons. His music bears unmistakable evidence of the profound influence of Brahms. Among his works are the text and music of a comic opera, Der Richter von Granada (Cologne, 1889), a Sing-spiel, Die 14 Nothhelfer (Vienna, 1891), a musical fairy tale, Das stählerne Schloss (Vienna, 1904). a Violin Concerto, some chamber music, and songs. He also publ. a biography of Brahms (1908; new ed. by Hernried, 1934). His Geschichte der K. K. Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in Wien was publ. posthumously (1912).

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kaun/Dennis McIntire