Name Francis Hueffer Role Writer | Died January 19, 1889 | |
Children Ford Madox Ford, Oliver Madox Hueffer Books Correspondence Of Wagner And Liszt, The Troubadours, Richard Wagner and the M, Half a century of music in, Musical Studies Similar People Ford Madox Ford, Ford Madox Brown, William Michael Rossetti | ||
Francis Hueffer (born Hüffer; 22 May 1845 – 19 January 1889) was a German–English writer on music, music critic, and librettist.
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Biography
Hueffer was born in Münster, Germany, on 22 May 1845. He studied modern philology and music in London, Paris, Berlin, and Leipzig, and earned a Ph.D. in 1869 from the University of Göttingen for a critical edition of the works of Guillem de Cabestant, a 12th-century troubadour.
Following his studies, he moved to London in 1869 as a writer on music, and from 1878 worked as music critic for The Times, succeeding James William Davison. He wrote a number of books on music, especially on music history and biography; edited the Great Musicians series for Novello & Co; and translated the correspondence of Richard Wagner and Franz Liszt to English. He also wrote the libretti for several English operas: Alexander Mackenzie's Colomba and The Troubadour, and Frederic Hymen Cowen's Sleeping Beauty.
Hueffer's wife, Catherine Madox Brown, was an artist and model associated with the Pre-Raphaelites. Their sons, Ford Madox Hueffer (better known as Ford Madox Ford) and Oliver Madox Hueffer, were writers.
Hueffer died on 19 January 1889.