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(b Dobrova, nr Ljubljana, Slovenia; Dec 25, 1877; d Ljubljana, Dec 6, 1936). Slovenian music educator, conductor, and writer on music. Uncle of composer Bojan Adamič. He received his first musical education at the Ljubljana Glasbena Matica society music school, from 1911 to 1912 he studied at the Conservatory in Trieste, and in 1912 he passed the national examination at the Ljubljana Conservatory. During World War I he joined the Austrian Army, and from 1915 to 1920 was a prisoner of war at Tashkent. In 1920 he returned to Ljubljana, where he taught music at the teacher’s college and at the classical gymnasium until his retirement in 1932. From 1925 to 1928 he was conductor of the Orchestral Society at the Glasbena Matica music society, and from January 1928 to December 1929 editor of the Nova muzika (‘New Music’) magazine. He was also active as a music critic and reviewer for the magazines ...

(b Tobol′sk, 31 Dec/Jan 12, 1821; d St Petersburg, 22 May/June 3, 1898). Russian violinist and composer. He received his musical education from his father, the violinist Yakov Ivanovich Afanas′yev, an illegitimate son of the writer and poet Prince Ivan Dolgorukov. In 1836 he made his début as a violinist in Moscow, and two years later was appointed leader of the Bol′shoy Theatre Orchestra. He resigned in 1841 to become conductor of the serf orchestra maintained by the wealthy landowner I.D. Shepelyov at Vïksa, near St Petersburg. In 1846 he decided to pursue a career as a solo violinist and toured the major provincial cities of Russia, settling in St Petersburg in 1851. There he made occasional appearances as a soloist, and also led the orchestra of the Italian Opera, sometimes deputizing for the regular conductor. In 1853 he became a piano teacher at the Smol′nïy Institute and relinquished his orchestral post. He visited western Europe in ...

(b Puerto Príncipe, Cuba, ?Nov 28, 1844; d Havana, ?Dec 31, 1918). Pianist, music teacher, arranger, conductor, composer, and lawyer of Cuban birth, naturalized American. Born into a prominent family in Puerto Príncipe, Cuba (present-day Camagüey), Agramonte strongly supported the movement for independence from Spain. He studied music and the law in Cuba, Spain, and France. After vocal studies with Enrico Delle Sedie (1822–1907) and François Delsarte (1811–71) at the Paris Conservatory, he immigrated to the United States, settling in New York in 1869, where he remained until after Cuban independence in 1898. He became a US citizen in 1886.

In the 1870s and 1880s, Agramonte taught music at the Academy of Mount Saint Vincent in the Bronx. In the 1890s he taught with Dudley Buck and William Mason at the Metropolitan College of Music and ran his own School of Opera and Oratorio at his home, teaching singers such as ...

(b Visby, June 5, 1805; d Stockholm, May 4, 1857). Swedish composer, conductor and organist. He studied music at the University of Uppsala and became the musical director of E.V. Djurstrms theatre company in 1828. From 1832 to 1842 he was a teacher at the Gymnasium in Vsterå and the city’s cathedral organist. He then moved to Stockholm, where he was a conductor of various theatre orchestras, for which he composed the music for about 100 productions, often in collaboration with August Blanche. His only full-length opera, Alfred den store (Alfred the Great), based on a text of Theodor Krner, was written in 1848 but never performed; another opera, Abu Hassan, was not finished. His other compositions include about 300 entractes, a vocal symphony, some orchestral works, a piano concerto and solo piano pieces. He also edited collections of Swedish and Nordic folksongs and folkdances and compiled a pocket dictionary of music (...

(François)

(b L’Isle, nr Avignon, Oct 4, 1779; d Paris, Feb 2, 1866). French conductor and composer. He became conductor at the theatre at Marseilles when he was 17. He moved to Paris in 1817, where his opera Les jeux floraux was performed, with little success, in 1818. He was conductor at the Théâtre du Gymnase from 1820 to 1821 and at the Théâtre Français from 1822 to 1832. He composed various songs, of which Michel et Christine (1821) was particularly popular. Aimon later turned to teaching: his Abécédaire musical appeared in 11 editions by 1866. (DBF; G. d'Orgeval)

(selective list)

(Emanuel)

(b Stockholm, Jan 19, 1860; d Stockholm, Jan 20, 1938). Swedish composer, organist and conductor. He attended the Swedish Royal Academy of Music (1882–6), studying counterpoint and composition with J. Dente, and was a pupil of Franck in Paris (1887–8). In Stockholm he was coach at the Royal Opera (1888–90), organist at the synagogue (1890–1928), music teacher at Norrmalm’s grammar school (1895–1923) and teacher at Richard Anderssons Musikskola (1897–1909). From 1886 he conducted several choirs, including the Bellman Choir (1895–1926), which he also founded, and the Philharmonic Society (1900–03). Åkerberg’s compositions often approach the style of Swedish folk music, especially the ballads Kung Svegder and Prinsessan och Svennen. They are technically sound but conventional.

MSS in S-Skma, Svenska Tonsättares Internationella Musikbyrå

(Karlovich )

(b S. Ukraine, 15/May 27, 1846; d Moscow, Feb 17, 1919). Ukrainian conductor . He studied at the St Petersburg Conservatory with Anton Rubinstein and Nikolay Zaremba. He was chorus master at the Kiev Opera from 1868 and conducted Tchaikovsky’s Oprichnik there shortly after its St Petersburg première in ...

(Franzovich)

Member of Albrecht family

(b Posen [now Poznań], Aug 27, 1807; d Gatchina, nr St Petersburg, Feb 24/March 8, 1863). German, active in Russia, conductor and composer. He began his musical career in Breslau, where from 1823 he studied harmony and counterpoint with Joseph Schnabel. From 1825 he played first violin in the Breslau theatre orchestra, and ten years later took up an appointment as répétiteur in Düsseldorf. At about this time he produced several compositions, including a ballet, Der Berggeist (in Russian, Gornïy dukh, ‘The Spirit of the Mountains’, 1825), a mass, three string quartets, and a number of vocal pieces. After directing a travelling opera company, he decided to leave Germany and move to Russia, where he was engaged as conductor of the St Petersburg theatre orchestra in 1838. Subsequently he directed the German opera in St Petersburg before becoming director of the Russian opera; there he conducted the first performance of Glinka’s ...

(b Lima, Aug 20, 1788; d Lima, Dec 28, 1878). Peruvian composer. He received his musical education in the convents of S Agustín and S Domingo of Lima, as was customary during the vice-regal period. Thus from the beginning of his career he inclined towards sacred music. In 1821 he took part in a contest for the composition of a national march. Thanks to General San Martín’s enthusiasm his work was selected and it soon became the Peruvian national anthem. As a result Alcedo has not suffered the oblivion of some of his contemporaries. A strong supporter of the independence movement, he served in the army as músico mayor (1823–8) and was stationed in Chile. There he remained, providing music for Santiago Cathedral (1829–41) and becoming maestro de capilla at the cathedral in 1846. On his return to Peru in 1864 he was appointed general director of the army bands....

(b Centre Township, nr Reading, PA, May 26, 1853; d Reading, Oct 12, 1924). American conductor and composer. After playing violin and, later, trombone in local organizations, he decided on a musical career and left Reading, touring with various bands, one of which accompanied Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show. In 1872 he returned to Reading, worked in a hat factory, and played with local bands and orchestras. In 1886 he organized a ten-piece pit orchestra at the Reading Academy of Music, later renamed the Rajah Theater; for the next 20 years this ensemble accompanied all the legitimate theatrical productions there. He revived the Germania Orchestra, and in 1887 organized the Germania Band, which achieved some popularity and an excellent reputation. He assumed leadership of the Ringgold Band of Reading on the death of its bandmaster in 1900. The Germania Band was then effectively dissolved, its members joining the Ringgold Band; under Althouse’s direction (until ...

(b Visby, Feb 19, 1841; d Göteborg, Jan 11, 1929). Swedish composer, conductor and organist. She was the first woman organist and telegraphist in Sweden, the first to compose chamber and orchestral music and the first to conduct a symphony orchestra. Initially taught music by her father, in 1855 Andrée went to Stockholm and in 1857 passed her examination as the first woman organist in Sweden. In 1860 she studied composition with Ludvig Norman and in 1870 with Niels Gade in Copenhagen. She brought about the revision of a law enabling women to hold the office of organist, and in 1861 became an organist in Stockholm. In 1867 she moved to Göteborg, where she was organist at the cathedral until she died. She performed frequently and conducted performances of her works for choir and orchestra. In 1897 she took charge of the so-called Labour Concerts, for which she organized about 800 concerts. She became a member of the Swedish Royal Academy of Music in ...

Member of Andreoli family

(b Mirandola, Jan 8, 1840; d Reggio nell’Emilia, Jan 22, 1908). Italian pianist, composer and conductor, son of Evangelista Andreoli (i). The most celebrated member of the family, he studied with his father and with Angeleri at the Milan Conservatory (1852–8), where he received a piano diploma. In December 1858 he made his début as a concert artist in the Teatro di S Radegonda in Milan. He made successful tours of Italy and gave concerts in England, France, Germany and Austria with such artists as Piatti, Bazzini, Bottesini, Alard, Borghi Mamo, Joachim and Sivori. From 1871 he taught the piano at the Milan Conservatory. He founded the Società dei Concerti Sinfonici Popolari (1877), which he and his younger brother Guglielmo Andreoli (ii) directed for ten years, giving 96 concerts altogether. He became insane in 1891 and four years later was committed to an asylum in Reggio nell’Emilia, where he died. A bust of him, with an epigraph by Boito, was placed in the Milan Conservatory in ...

Member of Andreoli family

(b Mirandola, Jan 9, 1862; d Modena, April 26, 1932). Italian pianist, violinist, conductor and composer, son of Evangelista Andreoli (i). He received his first musical instruction from his father, and from 1876 studied the organ with Polibio Fumagalli, the violin with G. Rampazzini and composition with Bazzini at the Milan Conservatory. He taught harmony, counterpoint and (from 1900) the piano at the conservatory, where his pupils included Victor De Sabata and Franco Vittadini. From 1878 to 1886 he took an active part in the Società dei Concerti Sinfonici Popolari and directed the concerts of the Società del Quartetto; he was a member of the Campanari Quartet for three years. His works include a Fantasia sinfonica and two overtures for orchestra, a requiem, a string quartet, short piano pieces, and songs. He also published Manuale d’armonia (with Edgardo Codazzi, Milan, 1898) and prepared editions of piano music of Beethoven, Chopin, Heller, Mendelssohn, Moscheles, Raff and Weber....

(b São Paulo, 1892; d Rio de Janeiro, 1979). Brazilian bandleader, violinist, and saxophonist. He studied music in Rio de Janeiro (1917–19) and directed his own dance orchestra, gradually changing its repertory from Latin American music to jazz. He recorded prolifically on the Odeon label (1919–24) and although he did not perform as a soloist he became one of the pioneers of jazz in Brazil. While touring Europe (1924–34) he played for a time with the dancer and bandleader Grégor Kélékian. He made several recordings for Grammophon in Berlin (including Everything is hotsy totsy now, 20338, and Big Bad Bill, 20340, both 1926), some of which show to advantage the hot trumpet playing of Mickey Diamond and the blue blowing on kazoo of Sydney Sterling. (R. E. Lotz: “Eduardo Andreozzi: the Jazz Pioneer from Brazil,” Sv, no.122 (1985–6), 62 [incl. discography])...

(b Sanahuja, Lérida, Nov 7, 1786; d Barcelona, Nov 23, 1853). Spanish choirmaster and composer. He began his musical studies in the cathedral at Seo de Urgel, where he was a choirboy for nine years. Later he moved to Barcelona for advanced study with Juan Quintana (organ) and Francisco Queralt (composition). In 1808 he entered the competition for choirmaster of Tarragona Cathedral; although he was ranked first by the examining tribunal, the chapter of the cathedral did not grant him the position. On 1 June of the same year he won the post of choirmaster of Tafalla, but turned it down to take an identical position at Segorbe Cathedral, where he remained until 1814, when he was appointed choirmaster of S María del Mar in Barcelona. In 1819 he was named choirmaster of Valencia Cathedral and in 1830 advanced to the same post at Seville Cathedral. All of these appointments were obtained by competitions. In ...

(b Wayne, OH, Jan 19, 1862; d Honolulu, HI, Aug 18, 1932). American organist, conductor, teacher, and composer. His family moved to Oberlin when Andrews was six; two years later he began study at what was then a department of music of Oberlin College. He graduated from what had become a Conservatory of Music in 1879 and only three years later joined its faculty, where he spent the rest of his career until retirement in 1931. He took two leaves for further study in Leipzig, Munich, and Paris and eventually became a nationally known organ recitalist. He was a founding member of the American Guild of Organists and later an honorary president of that organization. He was named organist and later director of Oberlin’s Musical Union and also of the Conservatory Orchestra, serving the former for thirty years, the latter for two decades. He also conducted choruses in Akron and elsewhere in northern Ohio. Oberlin conferred an honorary Master of Arts degree on Andrews in ...

(b Koblenz, Germany, Feb 1813; d New York, NY, 30 Dec, 1870). American conductor and composer of German birth. He studied with his father in Koblenz and Frederick Schneider in Dessau. He conducted in Koblenz at the Royal Musical Institution before moving to Nuremberg in 1848 to conduct its orchestra. He took a position in 1849 conducting the German opera at Amsterdam and traveled to London with a German opera troupe the same year. By 1857 Anschütz had become a conductor of great renown throughout the British Isles, and he traveled with Bernard Ullman’s Italian opera troupe to the United States. He conducted this group from 1857 through 1860, bringing Italian opera to American audiences while establishing himself as the most respected conductor in America during this era. In 1862 he founded the German Opera Company in New York. He also played an active role in establishing the New York Conservatory of Music. In addition to his conducting career, Anschütz composed noteworthy music of his own and transcribed Beethoven’s nine symphonies into arrangements for brass band....

(b Palermo, June 25, 1801; d Trieste, Aug 18, 1859). Italian composer and conductor. His grandfather and father, both composers and conductors, gave him his first instruction in music, and at the age of 12 he conducted his own mass for St Cecilia's Day. In 1817 he made his début in Palermo, as both conductor and composer, with the dramma giocoso Un duello per equivoco, ossia Gli amanti in disturbo. He subsequently travelled for a number of years, as a conductor and an impresario, in Italy, France and England, and was in Venice as conductor of a regimental band in the Austrian army. In 1824 he moved to Trieste to conduct another military band; there his opera semiseria Amina, ovvero L'innocenza perseguitata was successfully given the following year. The libretto, written in 1824 by Felice Romani for Giuseppe Rastrelli, is not the same as that of Bellini's La sonnambula...

[Aspri, Orsola]

(b Rome, c1807; d Rome, Sept 30, 1884). Italian composer, singer and conductor. After her father’s death, her mother married the violinist Andrea Aspri and Appignani adopted her stepfather’s surname and used Orsola as her first name. She studied with Valentino Fioravanti. In 1833 she sang Smeton in a performance of Donizetti’s Anna Bolena, given by the Roman Accademia Filarmonica at Palazzo Lancellotti; already a member of that academy, she was offered honorary membership of the Accademia di S Cecilia, Rome, in 1842. As a conductor she was active in Rome and Florence (1839). She was also a singing teacher and had among her pupils the tenor Settimio Malvezzi. She married Count Girolamo Cenci-Bolognetti. Her melodrammi include Le avventure di una giornata (1827), I pirati (1843) and Clara di Clevers (1876); she also wrote a Sinfonia, a cantata La redenzione di Roma...

(b Philadelphia, c1808; d New York State, after 1871). American composer, horn player and conductor. One of the earliest black American composers, he worked in New York, as teacher and performer, and Philadelphia, where he played with the Walnut Street Theater Orchestra (1826) and was a member of the Frank Johnson band (1830s), with which he toured England. He conducted the first performance of instrumental music in the African Methodist Episcopal Church (1848) and was described by Bishop Alexander Payne as ‘the most learned musician of the race’. His best-known compositions are an anthem, Sing unto God, and John Tyler’s Lamentation, commissioned by the Utica (New York) Glee Club, probably with reference to the presidential election campaign of 1844.