Francis Hueffer

Francis Hueffer, born Franz Hüffer (22 May 1845^[1] – 19 January 1889), was a German-English writer on music, music critic, and librettist.

Biography

Hueffer was born in Münster, Germany on 22 May 1845. He studied modern philology and music in London, Paris, Berlin, and Leipzig. He earned a Ph.D. from the University of Göttingen in 1869 for a critical edition of the works of Guillem de Cabestant, a 12th-century troubadour.

He moved to London in 1869 as a writer on music, and from 1878 worked as music critic for The Times, succeeding James William Davison. He wrote a number of books on music, especially on music history and biography, edited the Great Musicians series for Novello & Co, and translated the correspondence of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt to English. He also wrote the libretti for several English operas: Alexander Mackenzie's Colomba and The Troubadour, and Frederic Hymen Cowen's Sleeping Beauty.

Hueffer's wife, Catherine (1850–1927), was the daughter of painter Ford Madox Brown and Emma Hill. Their sons, Ford Madox Hueffer--better known as Ford Madox Ford--and Oliver Madox Hueffer were writers.

He died on 19 January 1889.

Selected writings

• Richard Wagner and the Music of the Future (1874) (Google Books)
• The Troubadours: A History of Provençal Life and Literature in the Middle Ages (1878) (Google Books)
• Musical Studies, a collection of his articles from The Times and Fortnightly Review (1880) (Google Books)
• Wagner, in the Great Musicians series (1881) (Google Books)
• Italian and Other Studies (1883) (Google Books)
• Half a Century of Music in England (1889; 2nd ed. 1898) (Google Books)
• Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt (1889; as translator) (Project Gutenberg: vol. 1; vol. 2)

Notes

References

• J. A. F. Maitland and John Warrack (2004). "Hueffer, Francis". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography 28. pp. p. 597. 
• Theodore Baker and Alfred Remy, ed. (1919). "Hueffer, Francis". Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (3rd edition ed.). pp. pp. 419–420. 

• Hueffer, Francis. (1889). Half a Century of Music in England, 1837-1887: Essays Towards a History. Chapman & Hall (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009; ISBN 978-1-108-00472-5)
• Hueffer, Francis. (1888). Correspondence of Wagner and Liszt. Grevel (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009; ISBN 978-1-108-00474-9)
• Hueffer, Francis. (1881). Richard Wagner. Sampson Low (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009; ISBN 978-1-108-00475-6)
• Hueffer, Francis. (1880). Musical Studies: A Series of Contributions. A & C Black (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009; ISBN 978-1-108-00473-2)
• Hueffer, Francis. (1874). Richard Wagner and the Music of the Future: History and Aesthetics. Chapman and Hall (reissued by Cambridge University Press, 2009; ISBN 978-1-108-00474-9)

External links

• Works written by or about Francis Hueffer at Wikisource
• Works by Francis Hueffer at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Francis Hueffer in libraries (WorldCat catalog)