Selmar Bagge (30 June 1823 – 16 July 1896) was a German composer, music journalist and academic.

Biography

Bagge was born in Coburg in 1823; his father Johann Bagge was rector of the Latin school there. In 1837 he went to Prague Conservatory, studying composition with

Friedrich Dionys Weber Friedrich may refer to: Names *Friedrich (surname), people with the surname ''Friedrich'' *Friedrich (given name), people with the given name ''Friedrich'' Other *Friedrich (board game), a board game about Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' ...

and cello with Johann Hüttner. For two years from 1840 he was first cello in the municipal theatre in Lemberg (present-day Lviv). He moved to Vienna, where he met the musical circle of Princes Adam Jerzy Czartoryski and Konstanty Adam Czartoryski, and he studied music theory with

Simon Sechter Simon Sechter (11 October 1788 – 10 September 1867) was an Austrian music theorist, teacher, organist, conductor and composer. He was one of the most prolific composers who ever lived, although his music is largely forgotten and he is now mainl ...

. In 1851, through Sechter, he became Professor of Composition at Vienna Conservatory. In 1853 he became organist at the Protestant church in

Gumpendorf Mariahilf (; Central Bavarian: ''Mariahüf'') is the 6th municipal district of Vienna, Austria (german: 6. Bezirk). It is near the center of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850. Mariahilf is a heavily populated urban area with many re ...

near Vienna."Bagge, Selmar"
''

Neue Deutsche Biographie ''Neue Deutsche Biographie'' (''NDB''; literally ''New German Biography'') is a biographical reference work. It is the successor to the ''Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie'' (ADB, Universal German Biography). The 26 volumes published thus far cover ...

'', Volume 1 (1953). He resigned his professorship in 1855. He began to write about music; in 1855 in ''Monatsschrift für Theater und Musik'' he wrote articles critical of Vienna Conservatory, later dealing with general musical topics. In 1859 he became editor of ''Deutsche Musikzeitung'', in which he was one of the first in Vienna to promote the music of Schumann and Brahms. In 1863 he moved to Leipzig, and took over the editorship of the '' Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung''. He left in 1868 to become director of the Allgemeine Musikschule in Basel, where he provided lectures in musicology. He remained there until his death in 1896. George Grove wrote in ''

A Dictionary of Music and Musicians ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

'': "Bagge is a strong conservative and an able writer. Beethoven and Schumann are his models in art, and he has no mercy on those who differ from him.... His music is correct and fluent, but poor in invention and melody."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bagge, Selmar 1823 births 1896 deaths People from Coburg 19th-century German composers German music journalists