Gumbert, Ferdinand

1818-1896

German tenor, composer, teacher and critic; born in Berlin, where he was a pupil of E. Fischer and Clapius, and in 1839 was engaged as tenor singer at the Sondershausen Theatre. The next year he changed to a barytone and sang in the Cologne Theatre until 1842, when, on the advice of Constantin Kreutzer, of whom he had been receiving lessons in composition, he left the stage to devote himself to the work of composer and vocal teacher, in which double capacity he again settled in Berlin. Here he composed about five hundred songs, which brought him extreme popularity, and a number of operettas, produced in Berlin, but secondary in success to his songs. These operettas include Die schone Schustenn; Die Kunst, geliebt zer werden; Der kleine Ziegenhirt; Bis der Rechte kommt; and Karolina. He also translated into German a number of French and Italian operas and songs. He then entered the field of musical criticism, contributing to various musical periodicals, and published in 1860 a work enitled Musik, Gelesenes und Gesammeltes.