Wilhelm Middelschulte was a German

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...

 organist

Organist

An organist is a musician who plays any type of organ. An organist may play solo organ works, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers or instrumental soloists...

 and 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...

 who resided in America for most of his career.

Life

Middelschulte initially studied organ with August Knabe. He later attended the Royal Academic Institute for Church Music, where he studied organ and theory with August Haupt. After briefly holding a position at the Royal Institute and acquiring a post at the Lukaskirche in Berlin, he moved to Chicago in 1891. In 1893, he gave three performances entirely from memory at the Columbian Exposition. From 1896 - 1918 he was organist for what would later become the Chicago Symphony Orchestra

Chicago Symphony Orchestra

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1891, the Symphony makes its home at Orchestra Hall in Chicago and plays a summer season at the Ravinia Festival...

. During the 1920s, he regularly returned to his native Germany to give performances. He is regarded as one of the most significant organists of his time, and was critically acclaimed for his performances of Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach

Johann Sebastian Bach was a German composer, organist, harpsichordist, violist, and violinist whose sacred and secular works for choir, orchestra, and solo instruments drew together the strands of the Baroque period and brought it to its ultimate maturity...

. In 1939, after nearly fifty years in America, Middelschulte returned to Germany, where he died only four years later.

His students included Virgil Fox

Virgil Fox

Virgil Keel Fox was an American organist, known especially for his flamboyant "Heavy Organ" concerts of the music of Bach. These events appealed to audiences in the 1970s who were more familiar with rock 'n' roll music and were staged complete with light shows...

 and Cecilia Clare Bocard

Cecilia Clare Bocard

Sister Cecilia Clare Bocard was an American musician and composer of works for organ, piano, and chorus.Born Frances Ada Bocard in New Albany, Indiana, she began studying piano in first grade and organ in third grade. Bocard began as her parish's organist at the early age of nine...

.
Fox frequently used as an encore to his performances Middelschulte's "Perpetuum Mobile

Perpetuum mobile

Perpetuum mobile , moto perpetuo , mouvement perpétuel , movimiento perpetuo , literally meaning "perpetual motion", means two distinct things:#pieces of music, or parts of pieces, characterised by a continuous steady stream of notes, usually at a...

", an elaborate piece played completely on the pedals.

Ferruccio Busoni

Ferruccio Busoni

Ferruccio Busoni was an Italian composer, pianist, editor, writer, piano and composition teacher, and conductor.-Biography:...

's Fantasia contrappuntistica

Fantasia Contrappuntistica

Fantasia contrappuntistica is a solo piano piece composed by Ferruccio Busoni in 1910. Busoni created several versions of the work including several for solo piano, and one for two pianos. It has been arranged for organ and for orchestra since the composer's death.The work is in large part a...

was dedicated to "Wilhelm Middelschulte, Meister der Kontrapunkte".

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