Alexander Winterberger
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Alexander Winterberger, by Sergey Lvovich Levitsky Alexander Winterberger (14 August 183423 September 1914) was a German organist and composer. He is mostly remembered for his association with
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
, in particular his close involvement with the two great organ fantasies Liszt wrote for the Merseburg Cathedral organ, the '' Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale "Ad nos ad salutarem undam"'' and the '' Fantasy and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H''.


Biography

Alexander Winterberger was born in 1834. He studied at
Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), German state of Thuringia, in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt to the west and Jena to the east, southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg and west of Dresden. Together w ...
with the Weimar Municipal Organist Johann Gottlob Töpfer (1791-1870).Ben Arnold, The Liszt Companion
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/ref> Although he also studied under
Franz Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic music, Romantic period. With a diverse List of compositions by Franz Liszt, body of work spanning more than six ...
until 1853, he was in the 'outer circle' of students, that is, not among those with whom Liszt spent most time and was on most intimate personal terms. He displayed a mastery of novel registrations, which in some cases Liszt and he worked out together. Winterberger had been a classmate of Julius Reubke in Berlin, and he was instrumental in Reubke deciding to come to Weimar to study with Liszt. In 1855 Liszt inspected the construction of the new organ at Merseburg Cathedral, and resolved to write (some sources say he was commissioned by Winterberger) a grand piece for the official opening: his '' Fantasy and Fugue on the Theme B-A-C-H''. The date was set for 26 September 1855, but by 22 September the Fantasy was still not ready. Instead, he decided to have Winterberger premiere the revised version of the '' Fantasy and Fugue on the chorale "Ad nos ad salutarem undam"'' (it had been published in 1852, but Liszt revised it more than once, most recently in 1855). They rehearsed the work together a few days before the official opening. The ''B-A-C-H Fantasy and Fugue'', dedicated to Winterberger, finally had its premiere on 13 May 1856, again at Merseburg Cathedral. On the same occasion Winterberger also played Liszt's arrangement of the Church Festive Overture on the chorale " Ein feste Burg" ("A Mighty Fortress") by Otto Nicolai. Winterberger toured the Netherlands in 1856, receiving much praise for his performances of the two Liszt fantasies and fugues. On 31 August 1856 he played the organ part in the premiere of Liszt's ''Missa solennis zur Einweihung der Basilika in Gran'' (Gran Mass), at the inauguration of Esztergom Basilica, conducted by the composer, in the presence of Emperor
Franz Joseph I of Austria Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I ( ; ; 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the ruler of the Grand title of the emperor of Austria, other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 1848 until his death ...
and his Viennese court. Winterberger arranged for the organ Liszt's 1859 Prelude on Bach's Cantata ''Weinen, Klagen, Sorgen, Zagen'', originally written for piano. In 1886-87 he compiled and published 12 volumes of technical exercises composed by Liszt. Winterberger edited the piano sonatas by Beethoven, with preface and annotations, Edition "Musikwoche", printed Leipzig, Bibliographische Anstalt Adolph Schumann. He lived at various times in Vienna, St Petersburg and Leipzig; his pupils in Vienna included Samuel de Lange jr. Alexander Winterberger's photographic portrait by Sergey Lvovich Levitsky is housed at the State P. I. Tchaikovsky Memorial Museum at
Klin KLIN (1400 kHz) is a commercial AM radio station broadcasting a talk radio format. It is licensed to Lincoln, Nebraska, and is owned by NRG Media. The studios are in Broadcast House at 44th Street and East O Street ( U.S. Route 34). KLIN i ...
, Russia. He died in 1914, aged 80.


Works

Winterberger's own compositions include: * ''Lieder für Singstimme und Klavier (oder Orgel, oder Harmonium)'', Op. 58 (texts by Julius Sturm) * ''Dreissig Lieder und Gesänge'', Op. 91 * Neun leichte Sonatinen für Pianoforte, Op. 104 * ''Fünf Geistliche Gesänge für Singstimme und Klavier (oder Orgel, oder Harmonium)'', Op. 119 (texts by Johann Friedrich Räder)load.cd
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Winterberger, Alexander 1834 births 1914 deaths 19th-century German musicians 19th-century German male musicians German composers German classical organists German male classical organists