Willmers, Rudolf

views updated

Willmers, Rudolf

Willmers, Rudolf Danish pianist and composer; b. Copenhagen, Oct. 31, 1821; d. Vienna, Aug. 24, 1878. His father, a Danish agriculturist, sent him to Germany at the age of 13 to study science, but Willmers turned to music. He took lessons with Hummel for 2 years and with Friedrich Schneider for a year, becoming a concert pianist and touring successfully in Germany and Austria; he was much acclaimed in Paris and London (1846-47). In 1866 he settled in Vienna. His technical specialty was the performance of “chains of trills” for which he was famous. He wrote a number of brilliant piano solos: 6 études, Sérénade erotique (for the left hand), Sehnsucht am Meere, Un Jour d’été en Norvège, 2 études de concert (La pompa di festa and La danza delle Baccanti), Sonata héroïque, Tarantella giocosa, La Sylphide, Trillerketten, Aus der Geisterwelt, tremolo-caprice, and Allegro symphonique. He also composed some chamber music.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire