(b Frankfurt, 24 Oct 1811; d Cologne, 11 May 1885). German conductor and composer. After studying the piano with Alois Schmitt and with Hummel (1825-7) he made sojourns in Paris and Italy, eventually replacing his friend Mendelssohn as conductor of the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra (1843-4). From 1844 he was in Dresden, from 1847 Düsseldorf and from 1850 Cologne, where he reorganized the music school, conducted concerts and assisted at the Rhenish festivals. Though at first in sympathy with progressive composers, he drifted towards conservative circles and was esteemed as a Mozart interpreter. A productive composer of operas, oratorios, chamber, orchestral and choral works, he was at his best in his songs and in the piano pieces that are still in the teaching repertory.

The Concise Grove Dictionary of Music. Copyright © 1994 by Oxford University Press, Inc.. All rights reserved.