Hans von Koessler

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Hans von Koessler (1 January 1853 – 23 May 1926) was a German composer and music teacher.

Koessler was taught the organ from 1874 to 1877 by Joseph Rheinberger and attended the Choir lessons of Franz Wüllner in Munich. After that, he was a teacher for Theory and Choir Songs at Dresden School of Music and conductor of the Dresden Orchestra. From 1882 to 1908, he initially taught Organ and Choir at the National Music Academy of Budapest. Later, he also became Professor for composition and was also given a peerage.

His students became some of the best Hungarian composers of the time: Zoltán Kodály, Béla Bartók, Emmerich Kálmán, Ernst von Dohnányi and Leó Weiner. After his retirement in 1908, he returned to Germany, but became appointed to the agency of Kálmán and Dohnányi in order to ensure that he received a moderate income.

Koessler composed over 130 works, including an opera, two symphonies, symphonic variation for Orchestra, a Violin Concert, two string quartets, a string quintet, a string sextet, a piano quintet, a suite for piano, violin and viola, an exhibition for Female Choir and Organ. He also put psalms to music. However, as a result of his erratic way of living, lots of his compositions were lost, or found themselves only being played in private hands.

Koessler's chamber music has been highly praised by several commentators, including the eminent chamber music scholar Wilhelm Altmann who has singled out Koessler's Second String Quartet and his Trio Suite for Piano, Violin & Viola for especial praise.

[edit] References

The New Grove Dictionary of Music & Musicians, Macmillan 1980
Cobbett's Cyclopedic Survey of Chamber Music, Oxford University Press 1963
Handbuch für Streichquartettspieler, Wilhelm Altmann, Heinrichshofen Verlag 1972