Notable South Australians/Herr Linger
Herr Linger,
A NATIVE of Berlin, where he was born in March 1810. His father was an engraver of some eminence, and observing that he early manifested great taste for music, had him taught its rudiments. So rapid was young Linger's progress that, at the age of twelve, he had obtained sufficient proficiency to be able to give lessons on the pianoforte. Placed under Beissiger and Klein, from whom he obtained a thorough insight into the theory of counterpoint and the general principles of composition, he made rapid strides, and soon was almost the equal of his teachers. He then commenced his career as a composer, and amongst the first-fruits of his genius were six sacred songs, dedicated to the Princess Royal of Prussia. These established his reputation in his native land, and induced him to aim at higher attainments. He visited Milan, Venice, and other cities in Italy for the purpose of obtaining practical acquaintance with the Italian school of music, and then returned to Berlin, where he composed various musical pieces, regarded by competent judges as possessing great merit. Amongst these were two entire operas, entitled, "The fight with the Dragon" and "Alfred the Great," three or four masses, several symphonies cantatas, and other concerted pieces. His extreme modesty led to a tendency in him to depreciate his own attainments, and thus deprived the musical world of many of the fruits of his genius. He arrived in South Australia in 1849, and was induced to invest the savings of years in farming, in which, as he was unsuccessful, he sold out, and established himself in Adelaide as a music teacher. By his active exertions he created a taste for music. He was for several years leader of the Adelaide Choral Society, one of the originators of the Liedertafel, and always ready to assist any undertaking having for its object the cultivation of an art in which he pre-eminently excelled. As a composer he was probably unequalled here, and his "Song of Australia," which took the prize given by the Committee of the Gawler Institute, is likely to live long as a national air. Herr Linger died in Adelaide, February 16, 1862, aged 52 years.