Joachim Raff
1822 — 1882
Joseph Joachim Raff was a Swiss composer, pedagogue and pianist.
Adapted from the Wikipedia article on Joachim Raff.
From the period sources
Joachim Raff, whose compositions were issued by the prominent German music-publishing firm Breitkopf & Härtel (1886), was recognized by contemporaries as a significant figure. Selmar Bagge, a German critic, judged Raff’s compositions to be superior to his own, though he found his own works “all that can be desired” for educational purposes (Brown’s Biographical Dictionary, 1886). Raff’s influence extended to teaching, as Algernon Ashton studied composition with him at Frankfort in 1886 (A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1900). The renowned pianist and conductor Hans von Bülow also dedicated considerable time to teaching at the Raff Conservatorium in Frankfort from 1885 to 1888, spending a month there each year (A Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, 1905). Raff’s work was known internationally, with French publisher M. Durand issuing French editions of his important compositions (Biographie universelle des musiciens, 1880). Notably, Raff drew inspiration from literature, producing a symphony of “considerable power” based on Gottfried August Bürger’s ballad “Lenore” (Brown’s Biographical Dictionary, 1886).