Wilhelm Kuhe
(1823-1912)

Volume 1, page 164, sitting number 858.

The composer and pianist Wilhelm Kuhe was born in Prague in 1823; he studied with Proksch and Tomasek, and had some lessons with Thalberg. In 1844 he began a successful concert tour throughout Germany, which he followed with a visit to London in 1845, where he played at the Musical Union in a trio by Mayseder on 13 May. From 1847 he lived in England (London and Brighton), attaining great popularity as a teacher, performer and promoter of concerts. He organized an enterprising festival at Brighton (1870-1882), where he commissioned and performed many new works. His programmes became famous both for their high quality and their extreme length. He was appointed a professor at the Royal Academy of Music in 1886 (retired 1904).

In 1896 he published My Musical Recollections, a lively and entertaining picture of the many musicians with whom he had personal and professional contact during his long career. It includes vivid accounts of many of the leading singers of the day (especially Jenny Lind), and of Liszt, Rossini, Chopin, Berlioz and Rubenstein, among many others.

His son Ernest (1870-1936) worked as a music critic, especially for the Daily Telegraph.

[Source: The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd edition, 2001.]