Pott, August Friedrich

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Pott, August Friedrich

Pott, August Friedrich , German violinist and composer; b. Nordheim, Nov. 7, 1806; d. Graz, Aug. 27, 1883. He received training in violin from K. Reisewetter in Hannover, where he became a member of the court orch. Following further studies with Spohr (violin) and Hauptmann (composition) in Kassel, he was made Kammermusicus in Hannover in 1827. From 1829 he made tours as a virtuoso. During a visit to Denmark, he dedicated his concerto Les adieux de Copenhague to King Frederick VI, who, in turn, appointed Pott prof. of music at the Univ. of Copenhagen in 1831. From 1832 to 1848 and again from 1850 to 1861 he served as Hofkapellmeister in Oldenburg. He also continued to make tours, and played in Dresden, Berlin, and Vienna in 1834 and in London in 1838. He gave a series of benefit concerts to raise funds for a Mozart memorial in Salzburg, which was dedicated in 1842.

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire