Anton Herzberg (1825–?1) of Galicia, Composer, Pianist

Abstract

Anton Herzberg (1825–?) was sufficiently noted in his day to be included in the chronological table of famous pianists in Famous Pianists of To-day and Yesterday: Illustrated. He shares 1825 with Schulhoff and Charles Wehle (both born in Prague), and with Moritz Strakosch (born Lemburg/Lviv), all of them Jewish. There are good reasons to believe that Herzberg2 is Jewish as well. The basic details of Herzberg’s early career are well established in the numerous brief biographies published between 1871, when he appears in the Kleines musikalisches Conversations- Lexikon of Julius Schuberth: Herzberg Ant, born June 4, 1825, in Tarnow, studied piano with Bocklet and theory with Preyer in Vienna; then went to Poland, Hungary, toured southern Russia, and has settled in Moscow as teacher since 1866. Then once more successfully toured Germany and France. He has published many piano pieces which show a routine approach. Virtually all other encyclopedias agree on Schuberth’s details for Herzberg: (1) born in Tarnow on June 4, 1825; (2) studies with Bocklet (piano) and Preyer (theory, composition) in Vienna; (3) tours of Poland, Hungary, Russia; (4) settles in Moscow, 1866; and (5) subsequent tour of Germany and France in 1868. The article traces the details of Herzberg’s career and provides an annotated list of works.