Theodore Eisfeld (April 11, 1816,

Wolfenbüttel Wolfenbüttel (; nds, Wulfenbüddel) is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, the administrative capital of Wolfenbüttel District. It is best known as the location of the internationally renowned Herzog August Library and for having the largest ...

Duchy of Brunswick The Duchy of Brunswick (german: Herzogtum Braunschweig) was a historical German state. Its capital was the city of Brunswick (). It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by the Congress of Vienna ...

– 16 September 1882,

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) was a conductor, most notably of the

New York Philharmonic Society The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

, which became the New York Philharmonic.

Biography

Eisfeld's chief instructor in musical composition was

Carl Gottlieb Reissiger Carl Gottlieb Reißiger (also ''Karl Reissiger'', ''Carl Reissiger'', ''Karl Reißiger'') (31 January 1798 – 7 November 1859) was a German Kapellmeister and composer. Biography Born in Belzig, Reissiger attended the Thomasschule zu Leipzig an ...

, of

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. Between 1839 and 1843 he served as Kapellmeister of the Court Theatre at Wiesbaden.Thomas (1905), p. 35 He came to New York in 1848, and in 1849 was the first man chosen by the New York Philharmonic Society to be sole conductor for an entire season (prior to this time it had been customary for several musicians to share the conducting duties). He began the custom of giving an annual Christmas performance of Handel's ''

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''. He also introduced the first regular concerts of chamber music in New York. From 1849 through the 1865/1866 season, when he resigned, Eisfeld often served as conductor of the New York Philharmonic Society.Thomas (1905), p. 149 In this period it was customary for the conductor to change from season to season, sometimes with two men sharing the duties. On 18 February 1851, he began a series of quartet concerts, the first being given at Hope Chapel. Eisfeld was also the first conductor of the

Brooklyn Philharmonic There have been several organisations referred to as the Brooklyn Philharmonic. The most recent one was the now-defunct Brooklyn Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra, an American orchestra based in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in existence fr ...

Society, which was founded in 1857. He continued in this position, alternating with Theodore Thomas between 1862 and 1865, before Thomas took over. This period also saw the composition of some brief works by Eisfeld.see Library of Congress scans under his name, some reproduced at IMSLP On Eisfeld's return trip from a visit to Europe in September 1858, he was one of the few survivors of the burning of the steamship where he was lashed to a platform and so drifted on the ocean, without food, for nearly two days and nights. Eisfeld never recovered from this extraordinary prostration, returning to Germany in 1866, and remained there until his death in Wiesbaden at 66. In his autobiography, Theodore Thomas described Eisfeld as follows:

Conductors of the New York Philharmonic Society, 1849 - 1865

* 1849-1854 EisfeldRitter (1883), p. 348 * 1854-1855 Eisfeld and Henry Timm * 1855-1856 Carl Bergmann * 1856-1858 Eisfeld * 1858-1859 Bergmann * 1859-1865 Bergmann and Eisfeld

Notes

References

*
''Opera Almanac''

External links

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eisfeld, Theodore 1816 births 1882 deaths American conductors (music) American male conductors (music) German conductors (music) German male conductors (music) German emigrants to the United States Music directors of the New York Philharmonic 19th-century conductors (music) 19th-century American musicians People from Wolfenbüttel People from the Duchy of Brunswick 19th-century German musicians