Ignaz Brüll facts for kids
Ignaz Brüll (born November 7, 1846 – died September 17, 1907) was a talented pianist and composer from Moravia. He spent most of his life living and working in Vienna, Austria.
One of his most famous works was the opera Das goldene Kreuz (The Golden Cross). It became very popular after it first appeared in 1875 and was performed for many years. However, it later became less known, partly because of the difficult times for Jewish artists. Brüll also wrote many beautiful pieces for concerts and recitals. His music had a lively but classic sound, similar to composers like Felix Mendelssohn and Robert Schumann.
Ignaz Brüll was also known as a wonderful concert pianist. The famous composer Johannes Brahms often chose Brüll to play piano duets with him. Brüll was a close friend of Brahms and part of his group of musician and writer friends. Brüll and his wife often hosted these friends at their home.
Recently, Brüll's concert music has been rediscovered and recorded on CDs. You can now find recordings of his piano concertos and other works, which have been well-received. In 1872, he became a professor at the Horak Institute in Vienna.
Contents
Biography
Early Life and Musical Talent
Ignaz Brüll was born in Prostějov, a town in Moravia. He was the oldest son of Katharina Schreiber and Siegmund Brüll. His parents were successful merchants and loved music. His mother played the piano, and his father sang. In 1848, when Ignaz was young, his family moved their business to Vienna. He lived and worked there for the rest of his life.
Brüll started learning piano from his mother when he was about eight years old. He quickly showed a lot of musical talent. Even though he was supposed to take over the family business, his parents saw his promise. They decided to give him serious music lessons. By age ten, he was taking piano lessons from Julius Epstein, a professor at the Vienna Conservatory. Epstein was also a friend of Johannes Brahms. A year later, in 1857, Brüll began studying how to compose music with Johann Rufinatscha. He also learned about instruments from Felix Otto Dessoff.
In 1860, when Brüll was just fourteen, he started writing his first Piano Concerto. It was performed publicly the next year in Vienna, with his teacher Epstein as the soloist. The famous pianist and composer Anton Rubinstein also encouraged Brüll to continue his musical career.
Success with The Golden Cross
Brüll had another success with his Serenade No. 1 for Orchestra. It was first performed in Stuttgart in 1864. By this time, Brüll was 18 years old. He had just finished writing his first opera, Die Bettler von Samarkand (The Beggars of Samarkand). Unfortunately, this opera was never performed.
However, Brüll's second opera, Das goldene Kreuz (The Golden Cross), was a huge success. It stayed popular for many decades and made him famous almost overnight. When it first opened in Berlin in December 1875, the emperor, Wilhelm I, personally praised Brüll. The story of the opera was about mistaken identities during the Napoleonic wars.
At the same time, Brüll was also a busy concert pianist. He performed as a popular soloist and recitalist across German-speaking countries. The first performance of Das goldene Kreuz in London in 1878 happened during his first long concert tour of England. During this tour, he played his Piano Concerto No. 2, which he had written when he was younger. He also arranged performances of some of his other pieces. Brüll also toured with another musician named George Henschel.
Friendship with Brahms and Later Life
In 1882, Brüll married Marie Schosberg. She was the daughter of a banker and became a popular host for Vienna's musicians and artists. After marrying, Brüll focused more on composing music. He performed fewer concerts and stopped touring. He also became a host for Johannes Brahms's friends. This group included the important music critic Eduard Hanslick, the famous surgeon Theodor Billroth, and composers like Karl Goldmark, Robert Fuchs, and even Gustav Mahler. Brahms often liked to test out his new orchestral pieces by playing them on two pianos with four hands. Brüll regularly played alongside Brahms for these private performances. From 1890, Brüll's new holiday home in Unterach am Attersee also became a popular place for social gatherings.
Unlike Brahms, Brüll loved the theater. He went on to compose at least seven more operas. However, none of them became as popular as Das goldene Kreuz. His last opera, a two-act comedy called Der Hussar, was well-received when it was performed in Vienna in 1898.
Brüll was also given an honorary title as a British consul in Budapest. He was also made an Honorary Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in 1902.
Brüll's Music
Brüll wrote many different types of music. Besides Das goldene Kreuz, his other operas include Der Landfriede (1877), Bianca (1879), and Der Hussar (1898). For ballet, he wrote an orchestral dance-suite called Ein Märchen aus der Champagne (1896).
His orchestral works include overtures like Im Walde and Macbeth, a symphony, and three serenades. He also wrote a violin concerto and two piano concertos. For smaller groups of instruments, he composed a suite and three sonatas for piano and violin, a trio, a cello sonata, and a sonata for two pianos. He also wrote many other piano pieces, as well as songs.
Recordings of Brüll's Music
Today, you can find many of Brüll's concert and recital works on CD. However, his vocal music is less common to find recorded. In 1999, Hyperion Records released a popular recording of his two piano concertos. These were played by Martin Roscoe with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra. Brüll's piano sonata has also been recorded by Alexandra Oehler.
For the 100th anniversary of Brüll's death in 2007, the Cameo Classics record label started a project to record his orchestral works. This helped more people discover his music. His Symphony op. 31 and Serenade No. 1, op. 29 were recorded. Other recordings include his Piano Sonata No. 3 and Serenade No. 2. In 2011, the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra recorded Brüll's Violin Concerto. The Macbeth overture was also recorded.
