Adolf von Henselt

@Pianists, Timeline and Facts

Adolf von Henselt was a German composer and pianist, considered to be one of the greatest virtuosos of his time

May 12, 1814

GermanMusiciansPianistsComposersTaurus Celebrities
Biography

Personal Details

  • Birthday: May 12, 1814
  • Died on: October 10, 1889
  • Nationality: German
  • Famous: Musicians, Pianists, Composers
  • Known as: Henselt, Adolf von
  • Birth Place: Schwabach
  • Gender: Male

Adolf von Henselt born at

Schwabach

Unsplash
Birth Place

On a visit to Weimar in the 1830s, Adolf von Henselt fell in love with the wife of a physician to the court, Rosalie Vogel. Eventually Rosalie divorced the physician and married Henselt on October 24, 1837 at Bad Salzbrunn, Silesia.

Unsplash
Personal Life

Despite his relatively long life, he stopped producing compositions in his thirties for unknown reasons. It was later rumored that chronic stage fright caused him to withdraw from concert appearances by the age of 33.

Unsplash
Personal Life

Adolf von Henselt died on October 10, 1889, due to cardiac disease, during a stay at Bad Warmbrunn, Germany (now in Poland).

Unsplash
Personal Life

Adolf von Henselt was born on May 12, 1814, at Schwabach, in Bavaria, Germany. When he was three, the family moved from Schwabach to Munich where he commenced his music studies, firstly in violin and then in piano.

Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life

Henselt had valuable connections with people who helped him achieve success. With financial help from King Ludwig I of Bavaria, he went to study under Johann Hummel in Weimar for some months.

Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life

Later, he made his public concert debut in Munich in the November of 1832 and was highly successful as a concert pianist.

Unsplash
Childhood & Early Life

After earning much appreciation for his public début in Munich, he traveled to Vienna in 1832 to study with Simon Sechter for a couple of years.

Unsplash
Career

After studying with Sechter, Henselt trained for two years in solitude during which he evolved his unique style of extending the stretch of the hands to a degree which gave him a command of the keyboard.

Unsplash
Career

Adolf von Henselt had a nervous breakdown in 1836 and embarked on a prolonged tour through the major German towns in order to improve his health.

Unsplash
Career

In 1837, he got married and settled at Breslau but in 1838, he moved to St. Petersburg, Russia, where he conducted several successful concerts which dazed the audiences.

Unsplash
Career

Later, he was appointed as the court pianist to Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna and was also made inspector of musical studies in the Imperial Institute of Female Education. During this time, he used to spend his summer holidays in his homeland Germany.

Unsplash
Career

Adolf von Henselt’s composition, 'Studies', which he played in St. Petersburg in 1838, was one of his most acclaimed works and created such an impression that he was immediately hired by the royal court as a pianist.

Unsplash
Major Works

In 1846, his only major orchestral work, the ‘Piano Concerto in F Minor’, was composed, which was performed regularly in Europe over the following decades. It proved to be one of the last works he produced.

Unsplash
Major Works

The main characteristic of his playing was that it was full of poetry. He is considered remarkable for his great use of extended chords, and for his perfect technique

Unsplash
Major Works