Baron Theodor Döhler (20 April 181421 February 1856) was a German composer and a notable piano

virtuoso A virtuoso (from Italian ''virtuoso'', or ; Late Latin ''virtuosus''; Latin ''virtus''; 'virtue', 'excellence' or 'skill') is an individual who possesses outstanding talent and technical ability in a particular art or field such as fine arts, ...

of the

Romantic period Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...

. He studied under Julius Benedict, Carl Czerny, and Simon Sechter.Henri Bertini (1798-1876) & Theodore Dohler (1814-1856), by Jeffrey Kallberg, 1993.

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Biography

Life

Döhler was born in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, where his father (d. 1843 in

Lucca Città di Lucca ( ; ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Central Italy, on the Serchio River, in a fertile plain near the Ligurian Sea. The city has a population of about 89,000, while its Province of Lucca, province has a population of 383,9 ...

) lived and worked as

Kapellmeister ( , , ), from German (chapel) and (master), literally "master of the chapel choir", designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term has evolved considerably in i ...

. Döhler was a child prodigy and received his first musical education in Naples from the conductor Julius Benedict. He began performing in public concerts there at the age of 13. In 1827, he moved to Lucca when his father received a new appointment there. From 1829 to 1834 Döhler lived in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, where he studied piano under Carl Czerny. At the same time, he studied composition with Simon Sechter. He appeared on the scene in 1838, when

Liszt Franz Liszt (22 October 1811 – 31 July 1886) was a Hungarian composer, virtuoso pianist, conductor and teacher of the Romantic period. With a diverse body of work spanning more than six decades, he is considered to be one of the most pro ...

in Vienna and Thalberg were again in Paris. In 1846, Döhler's patron, the

Duke of Lucca The Duchy of Lucca () was a small Italian state existing from 1815 to 1847. It was centered on the city of Lucca. History The Duchy was formed in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna, out of the former Republic of Lucca and the Principality of Lucca ...

, elevated Döhler to the rank of

Baron Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often Hereditary title, hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than ...

. Now a member of the nobility, Döhler was able to marry a Russian Princess, Countess Elise Sheremeteff in that year. Following this, Döhler gave up public performance and settled for a while in Moscow. In 1848 he moved back to Naples where he composed piano pieces and one opera, ''Tancreda'', which was first produced in 1880, 24 years after his death, which occurred in Florence in 1856.

Career

In 1832, he was taken under the musical patronage of the Duke of Lucca. From 1834 until 1845 he toured Europe as a concert pianist, performing in Italy, France, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

, Denmark,

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, and Russia. He was considered a very successful and fashionable piano virtuoso.

Compositions

* ''Piano Concerto in A+'' Op. 7 * ''Nocturne'' Op. 24 * ''Nocturne No. 1 in C major'' Op. 25 * ''Tarantella'' Op. 39 * ''Andante for piano left hand No. 33'' Op. 42 * ''Romance sans paroles'' (''Romance Without Words'') Concerto pour piano et orchestre (Howard Shelley piano/conductor, with Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra) Hyperion CDA67950

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dohler, Theodor 1814 births 1856 deaths 19th-century Neapolitan people German Romantic composers German male classical pianists 19th-century German classical composers German male classical composers 19th-century German classical pianists German pianists German male pianists 19th-century German male musicians