Perfall, Karl Freiherr von

1824-1907

 

German conductor and composer; born at Munich. He studied law and held a government position in Bavaria. Then, deciding upon music as a career, he finished his studies under Hauptmann at Leipsic, and resigning his position in 1850, became conductor of the Liedertafel in his native city. Four years later he founded the Oratorio Society there, a society which is still flourishing, although he gave up the conductorship in 1864 to become Court conductor to King Ludwig II., and in 1867 director of the Court Theatre, a position which he resigned in 1893. He was an honorary member of the German Actors' National Association, and president of the Munich Royal Academy of Tonal Art. Among his compositions are some excellent songs and partsongs; the cantatas, Dornroschen, Undine, and Rübezahl, and operas for the Royal Theatre, of which Sakuntula, Raimondin, and Junker Heinz are the most important; also the melodramas Barbarossa, Der Friede, and Prinz Karneval. He also published a History of the Munich Theatre.