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Scan 591
A biographical dictionary of musicians, 1900
10 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. Printed page 579. See the scan on archive.org.
1of his own orch. at Berlin, and in 1871 of the concerts at the Zoological Gardens.
3Thal'berg [tahl-], Sigismund, renowned piano-virtuoso and composer; b. Geneva, Jan. 7, 1812; d. Naples, Apr. 27, 1871. The natural son of Prince Moritz Dietrichstein and the Baroness von Wetzlar, his father took charge of his education, at Vienna, from 1822. Hummel and Sechter were nominally his teachers; but he himself gives the credit for his pianistic training to Mittag, the 1st bassoonist in the Vienna Court Opera. At 14 he already had success in private circles; in 1828 his first three works (Fantaisie and variations on Euryanthe; do. on a Scotch theme; Impromptu on Le Siège de Corinthe) appeared, followed in 1830 by the pf.-concerto in F minor, op. 5. In 1830 he also made a concert-tour through Southern Germany, winning great applause. In 1834 he was app. court pianist at Vienna; in 1835 he excited intense enthusiasm in Paris, and continued his triumphs through Belgium, England, Holland, and Russia. In 1843 he married Mme. Boucher, the daughter of Luigi Lablache, in Paris; in 1845 he undertook a tournée in Spain; in 1851 his first operatic venture, Florinda, failed completely in London, and a second, Cristina di Svezia, met a similar fate in Vienna, 1855; he then set out on a tour through Brazil (1855) and the United States (1856), retiring in 1858 to his villa at Posilippo, near Naples. In 1862 he revisited Paris and London; made a second Brazilian tour in 1863; and in 1864 withdrew permanently to Posilippo.—T. was an executant of the highest rank, unexcelled as an interpreter of salon-music, with a complete command of tone-effect, and a wonderful legato, eliciting from Liszt the remark, "Thalberg is the only artist who can play the violin on the keyboard." His technical specialty, since widely imitated, was to play a central melody with the thumb of either hand, surrounding it with brilliant arpeggios and arabesques. He was the leader of the Vienna school of brilliant piano-playing, the glittering superficiality of which has succumbed to modern Romanticism.—Published works: Op. 5, Gran concerto f. pf.; op. 7, divertissement; op. 15, 19, Caprices; op. 16, 21, 28, 6 nocturnes; op. 31, Scherzo; op. 32, Andante; op. 35, Grand nocturne; op. 35bis, Étrennes aux jeunes pianistes; op. 36, 6 pieces (La Cadence, a study, is No. 1); op. 38, Romance et étude; op. 41, 2 Romances sans paroles; op. 45, Thème orig. et étude; op. 47, Grandes valses brillantes; op. 55, Le Départ, varié en forme d'étude; op. 57, 10 morceaux (école préparatoire); op. 56, Grande sonate; op. 59, Marche funèbre variée; op. 60, Barcarolle; op. 62, Valse mélodique; op. 64, Les Capricieuses; op. 65, Tarentelle; Souvenir de Pesth; etc. Among many brilliant transcriptions and fantasias are op. 20 (Huguenots), op. 33 (Moïse), op. 66 (L'elisir d'amore).
5Thallon, Robert, b. Liverpool, Mar. 18, 1852; was taken to New York in 1854; studied 1864-76 at Stuttgart, Leipzig, Paris, and Florence; is now (1899) living in Brooklyn, N. Y., as a well-known organist and music-teacher.
7Thayer, Alexander Wheelock, b. South Natick, Mass., Oct. 22, 1817; d. Trieste, July 15, 1897. After graduation at Harvard Univ. in 1843, he became asst.-librarian there; during 6 years' work in the library, he matured a plan for writing a detailed and trustworthy biography of Beethoven. For preliminary study, and to collect material, he first spent 2 years (1849-51) in Germany, also writing letters for newspapers; in 1852 he joined the staff of the New York "Tribune," and returned to Europe in 1854, where, excepting 2 years (1856-8) spent in Boston, he remained. Dr. Lowell Mason, and Mrs. Mehitable Adams (of Cambridge, Mass.), gave generous and disinterested aid at this juncture. In 1862 T. was attached to the American embassy at Vienna; in 1865, Abraham Lincoln appointed him consul at Trieste, a post held during life. He now publ. a "Chronologisches Verzeichniss der Werke Ludwig van Beethovens" (Berlin, 1865); in 1866 Vol. i of his life-work, "Ludwig van Beethovens Leben," appeared in German, translated from the English MS. by Dr. Hermann Deiters, followed (1872) by Vol. ii, and (1878) by Vol. iii. In 1877 he also publ. "Ein kritischer Beitrag zur Beethoven-Litteratur." Unhappily, his wonderful capacity for work was overtaxed, and Vol. iv of his nobly conceived work, executed with a painstaking thoroughness and scrupulous fidelity beyond praise, was left unfinished [cf. Beethoven]. Though he lived for years in straitened circumstances, he resolutely refused offers from firms like Novello & Co., and G. Schirmer, hoping to recast entirely the English version of his "Beethoven."
9Thayer, (Whitney) Eugene, b. Mendon, Mass., Dec. 11, 1838; d. Burlington, Vermont, Jan. 27, 1889. Distinguished organist; began study at 14; in 1862 assisted at the opening of the great organ in the Music Hall, Boston, where he became regular organist after study (1865-6) under Haupt, Wieprecht, etc., in Germany; also editor of the "Organist's Journal," and the "Choir Journal," cond. of the Boston Choral Union, the N. E. Church-Music Assoc., etc. Gave free organ-recitals in Boston from 1869; played in the chief cities of America and Europe; and lectured. From 1881-8, organist of the Fifth Av. Presb. Ch., New York. For a Festival Cantata (f. soli and 8-part ch. w, orch.) he received the
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