August Wilhelm Ambros
August Wilhelm Ambros (17 November 1816 – 28 June 1876)[1] was an Austrian composer and music historian of Czech descent.
Life[]
He was born in Mýto, Rokycany District, Bohemia.[1] His father was a cultured man, and his mother was the sister of [2] (1773–1850), the musical archaeologist and collector. Ambros studied at the University of Prague[1] and was well-educated in music and the arts, which were his abiding passion. He was, however, destined for the law and an official career in the Austrian civil service, and he occupied various important posts under the ministry of justice, music being an avocation.[3]
From 1850 onwards, he became well known as a critic and essay-writer, and in 1860 he began working on his magnum opus, his History of Music, which was published at intervals from 1862[4] in five volumes, the last two (1878, 1882) being edited and completed by Otto Kade and .[3]
Ambros was a professor of the history of music at Prague from 1869 to 1871.[5] Also in Prague, he sat on the board of governors in the Prague Royal Conservatory. By 1872, he was living in Vienna and was employed by the Department of Justice as an officer and by Prince Rudolf's family as his tutor. Through his work in Vienna, he was given a leave of absence for half the year in order to let him travel the world to collect musical information to include in his History of Music book.[6] He was an excellent pianist, and the author of numerous compositions reminiscent of Felix Mendelssohn.[3]
Ambros died at Vienna, Austria at the age of 59.[6]
Notes[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b c Blom, Eric (2005) Everyman's Dictionary of Music, Kessinger Publishing. p. 15. ISBN 1-4179-8918-1.
- ^ Todd. R. Larry. (1991) Mendelssohn and His World, Princeton University Press. p. 304. ISBN 0-691-02715-3.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Ambros, August Wilhelm". Encyclopædia Britannica. 1 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 798. One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the
- ^ Lang, Paul Henry. (1997) Music in Western Civilization, W. W. Norton & Company. p. 987. ISBN 0-393-04074-7.
- ^ Meinong, Alexius & Adler, Guido (1995) Eine Freundschaft in Briefen Alexius, Rodopi. p. 8. ISBN 90-5183-867-0.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. .
- 1816 births
- 1876 deaths
- People from Mýto
- People from the Kingdom of Bohemia
- 19th-century Austrian musicians
- 19th-century classical composers
- 19th-century Czech musicians
- Austrian classical composers
- Austrian male classical composers
- Austrian people of German Bohemian descent
- Charles University alumni
- Czech classical composers
- Czech male classical composers
- German Bohemian people
- Czech Romantic composers
- 19th-century male musicians