Ferdinand Hiller @ RISM
Martina Falletta
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Ferdinand Hiller (October 24, 1811 – May 10, 1885) was born only two days after Franz Liszt (October 22, 1811 – July 31, 1886). Since Hiller is from Frankfurt am Main, maintained contact with his hometown throughout his life, and because his musical Nachlass is housed at the university library, an exhibit in his honor has been set up. Its contents and structure were developed by professors and students from the Institute for Musicology at the University of Frankfurt. The exhibit Ferdinand Hiller (1811-1885) aus Frankfurt am Main will be on display from October 26 to November 30, 2011 on the third floor of the university library (Bockenheimer Landstraße 134-138). A digital version of the exhibit is available online.
In addition, an international symposium in honor of Hiller called Ferdinand Hiller (1811-1885): Komponist - Interpret - Musikvermittler will take place from 27-29 October 2011 at the Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts and the Cologne University of Music. Furthermore, there are numerous concerts as well as several radio broadcasts with music to celebrate Hiller.
Around the middle of the 19th century, Ferdinand Hiller was among the most versatile, influential and renowned artistic personalities in German and international musical life. He because known as a pianist at a young age, then left his hometown of Frankfurt and kept company with the greatest musicians of his time (including Berlioz, Chopin, Mendelssohn Bartholdy, and Robert and Clara Schumann). In the second half of his life, he mainly acted as a conductor and music critic. He achieved fame through his important role of reorganizing and directing the University of Music in Cologne. Throughout his life he was also active as a composer.
The compositions in the Hiller collection at the university library in Frankfurt include 95% of his over 200 works. In addition to the still largely unpublished 74 music manuscripts and 21 composite manuscripts are 278 printed pieces with annotations in Hiller’s hand. Also in the collection are many sketches, fragments and counterpoint studies. The correspondence of Ferdinand Hiller can be found at the Historical Archive of the City of Cologne and a large part of the early autographs are at the archive of the Robert Schumann House in Zwickau.
Approximately 130 titles by Ferdinand Hiller are recorded in RISM’s online catalog. His manuscripts that are in the university library in Frankfurt are not (yet) in RISM. Of special note are some sources from Poland, Switzerland, and Belgium that are indexed in addition to the titles found in Germany. In the latter are 59 autographs at the archive of the Schumann House, mentioned above.
Due to the time period limit of the A/II project, sources of Hiller’s works have only been sporadically recorded in RISM. This would be an area to expand.
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