Rellstab, Heinrich Friedrich Ludwig

1799-1860

 

Novelist and musical critic; born in Berlin; son of Johann Karl; was destined for the musical profession, but, like his father, was prevented by war, which consumed the resources of the elder Rellstab and claimed the younger as a recruit. In 1816 he began piano lessons with Berger, and later studied theory under Klein. After short periods of residence in various other places he returned to Berlin in 1823, and from 1826 was editor and musical critic of the Vossische Zeitung. He was an enthusiastic advocate of classical music, with strong personal opinions, and a satirical pamphlet on Mme. Sontag caused his imprisonment for a short time. He also engaged in a controversy with Spontini, in which he condemned the latter's catering to the admiration of mere technical display. In 1830 he started a musical journal, which existed some eleven or twelve years. His novels and essays were collected and published in a twenty-four-volume work, Gesammelte Werke. He also wrote biographies of Liszt, Berger, Klein and other musicians.