Kalkbrenner, Friedrich Wilhelm

PIANIST, COMPOSER, PIANO TEACHER, PIANO MANUFACTURER (HOLY ROMAN EMPIRE)
BORN 7 Nov 1785, Kassel/Berlin (in between) - DIED 10 Jun 1849, Enghien-les-Bains, Val d'Oise
BIRTH NAME Kalkbrenner, Friedrich Wilhelm Michael
CAUSE OF DEATH cholera
GRAVE LOCATION Paris: Cimetière de Montmartre, 20 Avenue Rachel (division 25)

Friedrich Kalkbrenner was born at the time his parents moved from Kassel to Berlin. In Berlin his father Christian Kalkbrenner was engaged as musical director for queen Frederica Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt. He was taught by his father before he entered the Conservatory in Paris in 1799. In 1803 he went to Vienna where Antonio Salieri and Johann Georg Albrechtsberger were his teachers.

From 1805 onwards he appeared as a concert pianist in Berlin, Munich and Stuttgart. From 1814 to 1823 he lived in England where he gave numerous concerts and became a successful music teacher as well. In 1825 and 1825 he toured in Germany and Austria.

By the time he returned to Paris in 1825 he was a wealthy man and he became a partner in Pleyel's piano factory. In the 1830s he was still very popular as a pianist. After that he was overshadowed by Liszt and Thalberg. He married a much younger French heiress and lived with her in style until his death from cholera in 1849.

Related persons
• was pupil of Albrechtsberger, Johann Georg
• knew Chopin, Frédéric
• was teacher of Mathias, Georges
• was teacher of Pleyel-Moke, Marie Félicité
• was pupil of Salieri, Antonio
• was teacher of Schuncke, Ludwig
• was teacher of Stamaty, Camille-Marie

Images

The mausoleum of Friedrich Wilhelm Kalkbrenner at the Montmartre Cimetière, Paris.
Picture by Androom (05 Nov 2017)

 

The mausoleum of Friedrich Wilhelm Kalkbrenner at the Montmartre Cimetière, Paris.
Picture by Androom (05 Nov 2017)

 

Sources
Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig., 1912
Friedrich Kalkbrenner - Wikipedia


Kalkschmidt, Eugen

Published: 12 Oct 2019
Last update: 22 Dec 2019