Engelbert Humperdinck

Engelbert Humperdinck was born in Siegburg on 01.09.1854. After receiving piano lessons at a very early age, he began composing at the age of 12. In 1872 he began studying at the Cologne Conservatory, where he received lessons from Ferdinand Hiller. Four years later he won the Mozart Prize of the city of Frankfurt. The scholarship that came with it allowed him to continue his studies in Munich. In 1879 he was awarded the I prize of the Mendelssohn Foundation. During the associated trip to Italy, he visited Richard Wagner in Naples who offered him the opportunity to collaborate on the premiere of “Parsifal”.

Humperdinck accepted Wagner's offer and worked with him until his death in 1883. In the same year, Humperdinck became Kapellmeister in Cologne. After teaching posts in Barcelona and Frankfurt, he completed his most famous work in 1893: “Hänsel und Gretel”. Of the five operas he subsequently composed, none was able to follow up on this success. In December 1900, he moved to Berlin, where he taught a master class in composition at the Berlin Musikhochschule. There he devoted himself to a new genre: drama music. His collaboration with Max Reinhardt, who worked at the Deutsches Theater, was particularly intensive. On 1 October 1921, Humperdinck died of pneumonia caused by a stroke.