A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Hesse, Adolph

by George Grove

HESSE, Adolph Friedrich, great organ-player and composer, son of an organ-builder, born Aug. 30, 1809, at Breslau. His masters in the pianoforte, composition, and the organ, were Berner and E. Köhler. His talent was sufficiently remarkable to induce the authorities of Breslau to grant him an allowance, which enabled him to visit Leipzig, Cassel, Hamburg, Berlin, and Weimar, in each of which he played his own and other compositions, and enjoyed the instruction and acquaintance of Hummel, Rinck, and Spohr. In 1831 he obtained the post which he kept till his death, that of organist to the church of the Bernhardins, Breslau. In 1844 he opened the organ at S. Eustache in Paris, and astonished the Parisians by his pedal playing. In 1851 he was in London, and played on several of the organs in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park—protesting much against the unequal temperament in some of them. But his home was Breslau, where he was visited by a constant stream of admirers from far and near up to his death, Aug. 5, 1863. Hesse was director of the Symphony-Concerts at Breslau, and left behind him a mass of compositions of all classes. But it is by his organ works that he will be remembered. His 'Practical Organist,' containing 29 pieces—amongst them the well-known variations on 'God save the King'—has been edited by Lincoln and published by Novello. A complete collection of his organ works was edited by Steggall and published by Boosey.

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