Frank Valentine Van der Stucken (October 15, 1858 – August 16, 1929) was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 composer

Composer

A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...

 and conductor

Conducting

Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...

, and founder of the Cincinnati Symphony in 1895.

Biography

Van der Stucken was born in Fredericksburg, Texas

Fredericksburg, Texas

Fredericksburg is the seat of Gillespie County, in the U.S. state of Texas. As of the 2010 Census estimate, the city had a population of 10, 530...

, to Frank and Sophie Van der Stucken, née

NEE

NEE is a political protest group whose goal was to provide an alternative for voters who are unhappy with all political parties at hand in Belgium, where voting is compulsory.The NEE party was founded in 2005 in Antwerp...

 Schönewolf. He received his musical education at the conservatory of music conducted by Peter Benoit in Antwerp, Holland. He was kapellmeister of the city theatre of Breslau, later giving concerts of his own compositions, in Weimar

Weimar

Weimar is a city in Germany famous for its cultural heritage. It is located in the federal state of Thuringia , north of the Thüringer Wald, east of Erfurt, and southwest of Halle and Leipzig. Its current population is approximately 65,000. The oldest record of the city dates from the year 899...

 and elsewhere in Germany, under the patronage of Liszt

Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...

.

He returned to the United States in 1884, and became the leader of the Arion society of New York, conducting novelty concerts in Steinway hall and symphonic concerts in Chickering hall. Van der Stucken gave a series of American concerts at the Paris exposition of 1889, made a concert tour in Europe with the Arion Society in 1892, and after 1895 conducted the symphony concerts in Cincinnati, in which city he was the dean of the college of music.

He is particularly remembered for his symphonic prologue to Heinrich Heine

Heinrich Heine

Christian Johann Heinrich Heine was one of the most significant German poets of the 19th century. He was also a journalist, essayist, and literary critic. He is best known outside Germany for his early lyric poetry, which was set to music in the form of Lieder by composers such as Robert Schumann...

's tragedy William Ratcliffe. He was elected an honorary member of the Eta Chapter of Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity in 1906.

He died in Hamburg

Hamburg

-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 at age 70.

External links

• Sheet Music for "O come with me in the summer-night", written by Frank Van der Stucken, Harold Flammer, Inc., 1907.