Eduard Lassen facts for kids
Eduard Lassen (born April 13, 1830 – died January 15, 1904) was a talented composer and conductor. He was born in Denmark but spent most of his life working in Weimar, Germany. There, he was the music director for the court. Lassen wrote many different kinds of music, including operas, symphonies, piano pieces, and songs. His most famous works were his beautiful songs for a single singer and piano. These songs often used ideas from German and Belgian folk music.
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Lassen's Early Life and Career
Eduard Lassen was born in Copenhagen, Denmark. When he was a child, his family moved to Brussels, Belgium. His father was an important leader in the Jewish community there. Eduard studied music at the Brussels Conservatory. He won awards for playing the piano in 1844 and for composing music in 1847.
In 1851, he won a special award called the Prix de Rome. This award allowed him to travel around Germany and Italy for a long time. During his travels, he met famous composers like Louis Spohr and Franz Liszt. He also started writing his first opera, called Le roi Edgard.
Becoming a Music Director
After returning to Brussels in 1855, Lassen tried to get his opera performed, but he couldn't find a theater to do it. Luckily, Franz Liszt, a very famous composer, agreed to help. Liszt arranged for Lassen's opera to be performed in Weimar, Germany, in 1857.
The next year, Liszt suggested that Lassen take his place as the court music director in Weimar. This was a big job! It meant Lassen would conduct both the opera and the court orchestra. Lassen was very happy to take the job. He stayed in that important role until he retired in 1895.
While he was the music director, Lassen conducted many important first performances. For example, he led the very first show of Camille Saint-Saëns's opera Samson et Dalila in 1877. He also conducted the first performance in Weimar of Richard Wagner's opera Tristan und Isolde in 1874. This was the first time that opera was performed outside of Munich.
Lassen stayed in Weimar after he retired. He passed away there in 1904. Shortly before he died, he received an honorary doctorate from the University of Jena.
What Music Did Lassen Write?
Eduard Lassen was a composer who wrote a good amount of music. He created four operas and a lot of instrumental music for plays. He also wrote two symphonies, a violin concerto, and a festival march for an orchestra. Besides these, he composed two overtures and eleven special pieces for the piano.
Lassen also wrote many choral pieces (music for choirs) and songs for a single voice with piano. His operas, like Landgraf Ludwig's Brautfahrt and Frauenlob, were not famous for a long time. However, his music for Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's play Faust became very popular. Even Franz Liszt praised it! Lassen's music for Christian Friedrich Hebbel's play Die Nibelungen was also well-known.
Lassen's solo songs and duets (songs for two voices) were very varied. Some sounded like folk songs, while others had dance rhythms. Many of his songs, such as Vöglein wohin so schnell, were translated into English and French. They were quite popular at the end of the 1800s.
See also
In Spanish: Eduard Lassen para niños
