A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Kücken, Friedrich

KÜCKEN, Friedrich Wilhelm, born at Bleckede, Hanover, Nov. 16, 1810. His father, a country gentleman, was averse to the musical proclivities of his son, and the boy had to thank his brother-in-law, Lürss, music-director and organist of Schwerin, for being allowed to follow his bent, which he did under Lürss and Aron in Schwerin, and as flute, viola, and violin player in the Duke's orchestra there. His early compositions, 'Ach wie wärs möglich dann' and others, became so popular that he was taken into the palace as teacher and player. But this did not satisfy him, and he made his way to Berlin, where, while studying hard at counterpoint under Birnbach, he gradually composed the songs which rendered him so famous, and have made his name a household word in his own and other countries. His opera, 'Die Flucht nach den Schweiz' (the Flight to Switzerland) was produced at Berlin in 1839, and proved very successful throughout Germany. In 1841 he went to Vienna to study under Sechter. In 1843 he conducted the great festival of male singers at St. Gall and Appenzel. Thence he went to Paris, where, with characteristic zeal and desire to learn, he studied orchestration with Halévy, and writing for the voice with Bordogni. His stay in Paris lasted for 3½ years; thence he went to Stuttgart, and brought out (April 21, 1847) a new opera, 'Der Prätendent' (the Pretender), with the greatest success, which followed it to Hamburg and elsewhere in Germany. In 1851 he received a call to Stuttgart as joint Kapellmeister with Lindpaintner, filling the place alone after Lindpaintner's death (Aug. 21, 1856) till 1861, when he resigned. In 1863 he joined Abt and Berlioz as judges of a competition in Strassburg, and had an extraordinary reception. He composed sonatas for pianoforte and violin, pianoforte and cello, etc., but his immense popularity sprang from his songs and duets, some of which, such as 'Das Sternelein' and 'O weine nicht,' were extraordinarily beloved in their time. Almost exclusively however by amateurs and the masses; among musicians they found no favour, and are already almost forgotten. They were also very popular in England ('Trab, trab,' 'The Maid of Judah,' 'The Swallows,' duet, etc., etc.), and Kücken had an arrangement with Messrs. Wessel & Co. for the exclusive publication of them. [App. p.693 "date of death, April 3, 1882."]

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