Goldschmidt, Otto

1829-1907

German pianist, composer and conductor; born at Hamburg. Was a pupil of F. W. Grund and Jacob Schmitt, of Mendelssohn at the Leipsic Conservatory from 1843 to 1846, and went to Paris in 1848 for study with Chopin. In 1849 he played in London at a concert in which Jenny Lind was the star, and in 1851 accompanied her to America, acting as a conductor in a number of her concerts. The following year he married her, and for three years they lived in Dresden. From 1858 to her death they resided in or near London. Goldschmidt conducted musical festivals in Düsseldorf in 1863, and in Hamburg in 1866. In 1863 he became viceprincipal of the Royal Academy of Music, London, and in 1875 founded the Bach Choir, an amateur musical union which introduced some of the works of that master into England, and owed much to its devoted and persevering leader. In 1861 he was elected an honorary member of the London Philharmonic Society, and in 1864 of the Swedish Royal Academy of Music. In 1876 the King of Sweden made him a recipient of the royal order of Wasa; and he was also a member of several other musical associations of importance. His compositions include Ruth, an oratorio; a piano concerto; trio for piano, violin, and violoncello; twelve studies for piano; two piano duos; songs and part-songs; besides additional accompaniments to works by Handel and Bach.