Moritz Fürstenau

Moritz Ludwig Carl Ignaz Franz August Fürstenau (born 26 July 1824 and died on 27 March 1889, also in Dresden) was a German flautist and music historian. He left only a few works that gained little significance, but was extremely helpful as a theater historian.

With his former conductor Richard Wagner, he remained on friendly terms, standing by him even after his departure from Dresden. As an early admirer of him, he was in the 1870s with the founding of the Dresden Wagner Society and as early as 1854, he was already involved in the establishment of the Musicians Association, remaining chairman until his death. He also served as a delegate of the General German Musician Association. For his services he was granted the title of professor of music from the king. At the request of Saxon King Frederick Augustus III of Saxony, Fürstenau was granted permanent position as flutist at the Royal Chapel of Dresden in 1842, being later promoted to royal chamber musician in 1844.

With the singer Jenny Lind, Fürstenau traveled in 1855 on a grand tour through the Netherlands, while they appeared together as soloists. Frederick Tröstl and Fürstenau were the first instructors at the newly founded private conservatory in 1856. There, besides composition, he gave mostly flute lessons. After the war of 1870, Fürstenau gave up all offices and slowly retired to private life.

Musical works The Concorde - Introduction and Rondo Brilliant on Themes from the Opera for flute, clarinet, piano and orchestra in A-flat major 12 pieces of Richard Wagner's opera Rienzi, The Flying Dutchman and Tannhauser for flute with piano accompaniment

Selected works Fürstenau, Moritz: The deed of foundation of the Royal Saxon musical chapel, Dresden 1848 Fürstenau, Moritz: Contributions to the History of the Royal Saxon musical chapel, Dresden 1849 Fürstenau, Moritz: Two documents relating to Johann Sebastian Bach, in: Journal of New Music 35 / 1853, No. 17, p. 175 f Fürstenau, Moritz: On the history of music and theater at the court of Dresden, 2 vols, Dresden 1861/62 Fürstenau, Moritz: "Communications on the music collections of the Kingdom of Saxony", in Proceedings of the royal Saxon antiquity association 23/1873, pp. 41–58 Fürstenau, Moritz: The Musical Activities of the Princess Amalia, Duchess of Saxony, Dresden, 1874; Fürstenau, Moritz: "Theaters in Dresden from 1763 to 1777", in Proceedings of the Royal Saxon antiquity association 25/1875, pp. 44–78; Fürstenau, Moritz: The Conservatorium of Music in Dresden from 1856 to 1881. Festschrift for the 25th jubilee on 26 January 1881, Dresden 1881

Literature Eitner, Robert: Fürstenau, Moritz. In: General German Biography (ADB). Volume 49, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1904, p. 214 Schneeberger, Bernhard H.: The musical family Fürstenau. Studies on the life and work. Lit Verlag, Münster 1991. Volume 1 - Life and Work Volume 2 - Thematic-Bibliographic lists of works