Ernst Rudorff

Ernst Friedrich Karl Rudorff (January 18, 1840 – December 31, 1916) was a German composer and music teacher.

Born in Berlin, Rudorff studied piano under Woldemar Bargiel from 1852 to 1857, before enrolling at the Leipzig Conservatory in 1859, where he studied under Ignaz Moscheles, Louis Plaidy, and Julius Rietz. He was also a private pupil of Moritz Hauptmann and Carl Reinecke. In 1865 he became a piano teacher at the Cologne Conservatory, and he founded the Bach-Verein Köln in 1867. He moved to Berlin in 1869, and for four decades, to his retirement in 1910, was the head piano teacher at the Berlin Hochschule. He also conducted the Stern Gesangverein from 1880–90, succeeding Max Bruch.

Among his works are: Symphony No. 1, op. 31, in B flat; No. 2, op. 40, in G minor; No. 3, op. 50, in B minor; serenades for orchestra (op. 20 in A; op. 20 in G); three overtures, to Ludwig Tieck's "Märchen vom blonden Ekbert" (op. 8); to "Otto der Schütz" (op. 12); "Romantische Ouv." (op. 45); "Ballade" in 3 movements for orchestra (op. 15); "Variationen" for orchestra (op. 24); "Romanze" for violin and orchestra (op. 41); "Der Aufzug der Romanze" (libretto by Ludwig Tieck) for solo, choir, and orchestra (op. 18); "Gesang an die Sterne" (libretto by Friedrich Rückert) for six voices with orchestra; "Herbstlied" (op. 43); string sextet in A (op. 5); and many songs.

Rudorff also orchestrated Franz Schubert's "Phantasie" in F minor; edited the full score of Carl Maria von Weber's "Euryanthe" and the piano concertos and piano sonatas of Wolfgang Mozart; and published Weber's letters to Heinrich Lichtenstein (1900). His correspondence with Johannes Brahms and Joseph Joachim has also been published in collections of the latter two's letters.

References

*cite encyclopedia | title = Rudorff, Ernst Friedrich Karl | encyclopedia = Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians | editor = Nicolas Slonimsky | edition = 5th edition | year = 1958 | pages = p. 1388 | url = http://www.archive.org/details/bakersbiographic005877mbp

Note

*"This article or an earlier version incorporates text from the 3rd edition (1919) of "Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians", a publication now in the public domain."