Lux, Friedrich
(1820 -1895)
Andante über die Choralmelodie
"Wie schön leucht' uns der Morgenstern"
(Op. 60)
SERIES ROMANTIC HORN
Horn in F und Orgel (2 Manuale)
Orgelpartitur und Stimme
© 2022
ee 222040
ISMN 979-0-700415-22-8
Friedrich Lux was born on November 24, 1820, in Ruhla (Thuringia), the youngest son of the church cantor Georg Heinrich Lux (1779-1861). His father, a composer and organist, gave Friedrich his first music lessons. By the age of seven Friedrich was playing the organ in the Trinitatiskirche for services, and at twelve he gave his first concerts in Gotha and Eisenach. In 1834 he began attending the Gymnasium in Gotha. At the age of sixteen he journeyed on foot to Frankfurt (a distance of 130 miles) in order to play on the new organ in the Paulskirche (even giving two concerts on the instrument). By 1837 Lux was judged one of the important organ virtuosos of his time. At a court concert in Gotha, he attracted the attention of Duke Ernst I of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha, who financed further musical studies. After time in Dessau studying with Friedrich Schneider, an important conductor and music theorist, Lux was ready for what would prove to be an extensive professional career.
In 1841 Lux was appointed Music Director of the Court Theater in Dessau, and moved to Mainz a decade later where he was Kapellmeister at the Municipal Theater until 1853. He then taught music theory, piano and singing and became the conductor of the Mainz Liedertafel in 1864, performing classics such as Paulus, Messiah, The Creation and the St. Matthew Passion, but also new works by the likes of Liszt, Brahms and Verdi (concurrently establishing what would be the prestigious Middle Rhine Music Festival). Albert Hall in London saw a week of Lux concerts on the largest organ in the world in 1871. Friedrich Lux died in Mainz on July 9, 1895, beloved (thousands waited outside at his funeral) and having accumulated honors: six Gold Medals in Art and Science (from the Kaiser of Austria and 5 lesser rulers), two Orders of Merit, a Mainz postage stamp with his portrait, several Lux-streets, multiple honorary citizenships, and since 2013, the summer Lux Festspiel concerts at venues around Ruhla.
