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Julius Eichberg (13 June 1824 – 19 January 1893) was a German-born composer, musical director and educator who worked mostly in
Boston, Massachusetts Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
.


Biography

Julius Eichberg was born in
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, Germany to a Jewish family. His first musical instruction came from his father whose pupil was an acceptable violin player by his seventh year. He had further early violin instruction with F. W. Eichler, Julius Rietz, and with Johannes Fröhlich at the Musical Academy of Würzburg. Upon the recommendation of
Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...
, he entered the Brussels Conservatoire at the age of nineteen, where he took first prizes for violin playing and composition. He was a pupil of Belgian composer Charles Auguste de Bériot, studied composition under
François-Joseph Fétis François-Joseph Fétis (; 25 March 1784 – 26 March 1871) was a Belgian musicologist, critic, teacher and composer. He was among the most influential music intellectuals in continental Europe. His enormous compilation of biographical data in the ...
, and studied violin under Lambert Joseph Meerts. For eleven years he occupied the post of professor in the Conservatoire of
Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
, in Switzerland, and directed an opera troupe. In 1857, he went to the United States, staying two years in New York City and then proceeding to
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, Massachusetts, where he became the chef d'orchestre at the Boston Museum, directing the Boston Museum Concerts until 1866. These concerts were a major fixture in the Boston musical scene, showcasing light and popular music as well as choral and orchestral works. It afforded Eichberg an opportunity to play his own compositions, including his operettas ''A Night in Rome'' and ''Rose of Tyrol''. His most successful work, ''The Doctor of Alcantara'', was premiered at the Boston Museum at the April 7, 1862 concert, and ran throughout the country for 20 years. The piece was, according to
Kurt Gänzl Kurt-Friedrich Gänzl (born 15 February 1946) is a New Zealand writer, historian and former casting director and singer best known for his books about musical theatre. After a decade-long playwriting, acting and singing career, and a second car ...
, the "first American musical". He formed a trio with cellist August Kreissmann and pianist Hugo Leonhard, who played in a series of "Musical Soirées" in Boston in the early 1860s. Gottschalk accompanied Eichberg in a series of concerts in Boston in 1862. In 1867 he founded and directed the Boston Conservatory of Music, 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 t ...
, which position he long held. He also founded the Eichberg Violin School; Marietta Sherman Raymond and Arma Senkrah were students. He later composed symphonies and piano pieces. 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
Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...
, Switzerland, c. 1856. Her second husband was the English publisher John Lane.


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 including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...
s, ''The Rose of Tyrol'' (1865), ''The Two Cadis'' (1868) and ''A Night in Rome'', and the
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
''The Doctor of Alcantara'' (1862) to an English libretto by Benjamin Edward Woolf.


Notes


References

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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 opera composers German Romantic composers Jewish American classical composers Jewish classical composers Jewish opera composers German male opera composers Musicians from Boston