Hummel, Ferdinand

1855

Harp virtuoso; appearing in public when only seven years old. He was born in Berlin and studied first with his father, who was a musician. When nine years of age he toured Europe with his father, his performance winning for him a royal grant which assisted him to further study. He entered Kullak's Academy, going to the Royal High School of Music in 1871. In the Academy he studied piano under Rudorff and Grabau, and composition under Kiel and Bargiel. Hummel is a very prolific writer, a concert-fantasia for harp and orchestra and a symphony though still in manuscript have been frequently performed. Among his compositions are three one-act operas, Mara, Ein treuer Schelm, and Augla; one threeact opera, Assarpai; four cello sonatas; a fantasy for cello and piano; a nocturne for cello, harp and harmonium; many pieces for piano and violin and some songs. A specialty of Hummel's is the setting to music for solo and three-part female chorus the fairy tales Rumpelstilzchen, Frau Holle, Hansel und Gretel, Die Meerkonigin, and Die Nayaden.