A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Meinardus, Ludwig

MEINARDUS, Ludwig Siegfried, born Sept. 17, 1827, at Hooksiel (Oldenburg), was at first educated at the Gymnasium at Jever, where his father held an official post. He was intended to study theology, but his musical inclinations could not be resisted, and he was at length allowed to devote himself to the art, his parents imposing the curious condition that he was to become a public performer on some instrument. To this end he took up the violoncello, learning what he could from the Stadtmusikus of the place, who was a violinist. After making himself ill with excessive practice, he returned to school, and it was not till he had finished his studies there that he finally determined, on the advice of Schumann, who had seen some of his compositions, to embrace the profession of a composer. At Christmas, 1846, he entered the Leipzig Conservatorium, but after half a year, finding that private instruction from Riccius would be more to his advantage, he accordingly remained with him for two years. In 1850 he went to Berlin in order to study with A. B. Marx, but for some reason or other he fell under the suspicions of the police, and was not allowed to remain. He betook himself to Liszt at Weimar, where he stayed some months, after which he went to Erfurt as conductor of a small theatrical company, and subsequently in a similar capacity to Nordhausen. At last he was provided with better credentials, and succeeded in remaining in Berlin. In 1853, having finished his education with Marx, he was appointed conductor of the Singakademie at Glogau, where he remained until, in obedience to a call from Julius Rietz, he went to the Dresden Conservatorium as a teacher in 1865. In 1874 he settled in Hamburg, where he has since been continuously active as a composer and critic. His most prominent compositions are the oratorios 'Simon Petrus,' 'Gideon,' 'König Salomo,' 'Luther in Worms,' 'Ordrun'; an opera, 'Bahnesa' (three acts, finished 1881); 4 ballads for chorus, 'Roland's Schwanenlied,' 'Frau Hitt,' 'Die Nonne,' 'Jung Baldurs Sieg'; two symphonies, and many chamber compositions. A memoir of Mattheson, an autobiographical sketch, and collected criticisms, are his most important contributions to literature.

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