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Born: December 10, 1868 - Rotterdam, the Netherlands
Died: Nov. 23, 1937 - St. Louis, Missouri, USA |
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The Dutch-born American pianist, teacher, and composer, Louis Victor (Franz) Saar, attended high school and university in Strassburg, graduating with a degree in history and literature in 1885. From 1886 to 1889 he studied piano and composition at the Royal Academy of Music in Munich, where his principal teachers were Josef Rheinberger and Bussmeyer. He continued his studies in Vienna, Leipzig, and Berlin, including one winter with Johannes Brahms. His compositions earned him the Mendelssohn prize in Berlin (1891) and the Tonkünstlerpreis in Vienna (1892).
In 1894 Louis Victor Saar settled in the USA, where began a three-year stint as an accompanist at the Metropolitan Opera Company in New York. He was engaged by Antonín Dvorák to teach harmony and counterpoint at the National Conservatory from 1896 to 1898, and later served in a similar capacity at the New York College of Music, Institute of Musical Art of New York from 1898 to 1906. From 1906 to 1917 he was head of the Department of Theory and Composition at the College of Music of Cincinnati. In 1917 he joined the faculty of the Chicago Musical College and served there until 1934, when he moved to St. Louis to join the faculty of the St. Louis Institute of Music, where he remained until his death in 1937.
Louis Victor Saar wrote in all major forms. His published works comprise some 150 opus numbers. He wrote the orchestral pieces From the Mountain Kingdom of the Great Northwest (1922) and Along the Columbia River (1924), but became best known for his choral works, songs, and violin and piano pieces. |
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Orchestral:
Rococo, suite, Op. 27 (1915)
From the Mountain Kingdom of the Great Northwest, suite (1922)
Along the Columbia River (1924)
Three Silhouettes
other orchestral pieces
Choral:
Song of Consolation (1912)
128th Psalm
songs
Chamber:
Piano quartet, Op. 39
Violin sonata, Op. 44
Piano trio, Op. 97
Cello sonata, Op. 121
violin and piano pieces |
