Julius Eichberg (13 June 1824 – 19 January 1893) was a German-born composer, musical director and educator who worked mostly in Boston, Massachusetts.

Biography

Julius Eichberg was born in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

to a Jewish family. His first musical instruction came from his father whose pupil was an acceptable violin player by his seventh year. He also received instruction outside the family. He attended the Musical Academy of Würzburg as a child. Upon the recommendation of

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...

, he entered the

Brussels Conservatoire The Royal Conservatory of Brussels (french: Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles, nl, Koninklijk Conservatorium Brussel) is a historic conservatory in Brussels, Belgium. Starting its activities in 1813, it received its official name in 1832. Provid ...

at the age of nineteen, where he took first prizes for

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

playing and composition. He was a pupil of

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Def ...

Charles Auguste de Bériot Charles Auguste de Bériot (20 February 18028 April 1870) was a Belgian violinist, artist and composer. Biography Charles de Bériot was born in 1802 in Leuven, Belgium (then under French rule) into a noble family but was orphaned at the age ...

, studied composition under

François-Joseph Fétis François-Joseph Fétis (; 25 March 1784 – 26 March 1871) was a Belgian musicologist, composer, teacher, and one of the most influential music critics of the 19th century. His enormous compilation of biographical data in the ''Biographie univer ...

, and studied violin under Lambert Joseph Meerts. For eleven years he occupied the post of professor in the Conservatoire of

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Situa ...

. In 1857, he came to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

, staying two years in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

and then proceeding to

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, where he became the chef d'orchestre at the Boston Museum. In 1867 he founded and directed the

Boston Conservatory of Music Boston Conservatory at Berklee (formerly The Boston Conservatory) is a private performing arts conservatory in Boston, Massachusetts. It grants undergraduate and graduate degrees in dance, music, and theater. Boston Conservatory was founded ...

, and in the same year he was elected superintendent of music in the

Boston Public Schools Boston Public Schools (BPS) is a school district serving the city of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is the largest public school district in the state of Massachusetts. Leadership The district is led by a Superintendent, hired by the ...

, which position he long held. He also founded the Eichberg Violin School. He later composed symphonies and piano pieces. Julius Eichberg died in Boston on January 19, 1893; his obituary gives January 18. He was interred at Mount Auburn cemetery, the first burial there of an identifiable Jew.

Family

He married Sophie Mertens, and they had one child, Annie Philippine Eichberg, who was born in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, c. 1856. Annie married twice, first to Tyler Batcheller King on 26 February 1884, and following his death to the English publisher John Lane on 13 August 1898. Annie Eichberg Lane was author of ''To Thee, O Country'' (national hymn) and of the books ''Brown's Retreat'', ''Kitwyk'', ''The Champagne Standard'', ''Talk of the Town'' and ''According to Maria''. She died in London.

Works

Eichberg published several educational works on music. As a composer he is particularly known for his three

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its ...

s, ''The Rose of Tyrol'' (1865), ''The Two Cadis'' (1868) and ''A Night in Rome'', and with Benjamin Edward Woolf the

opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

''The Doctor of Alcantara'' (1862).

Notes

References

* * * *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eichberg, Julius 1824 births 1893 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century German composers 19th-century American composers 19th-century American male musicians American Romantic composers American opera composers American male classical composers Classical musicians from Massachusetts German male classical composers German opera composers German Romantic composers Jewish American classical composers Jewish classical composers Jewish opera composers Male opera composers Musicians from Boston