Hiller

Hiller, F'erdinand von, was born at Frankfort of Jewish parents in 1811, and, showing an early aptitude for music, was put under the tuition of Hummel at Weimar. After spending seven or eight years in Paris, he went to Italy in 1836, and composed his first great work, an oratorio entitled The Destruction of Jerusalem. On his return to Germany in 1840 he produced two operas, A Christmas Night's Dream and Conradin. Among his many works, all examples of the classical style, may be mentioned Saul, an oratorio, the Spring Symphony in E, Nala and Damajanti, a cantata composed for the Birmingham Festival of 1871, and a volume of songs. He wrote well and copiously on musical subjects, his Reminiscences and Letters of Mendelssohn, Records of Modern Musical Life, Goethe as a Musician, and An Artist's Life being admirable contributions to this branch of literature. He died in 1885.