Theodor Kirchner

Fürchtegott Theodor Kirchner (10 December 1823 – 18 September 1903) was a German composer and pianist of the Romantic era. He was born at Neukirchen near Chemnitz and at the age of eight was already an accomplished organist and pianist. From 1838 to 1842, he studied in Leipzig under Julius Knorr [ru] (piano) and Karl Ferdinand Becker (organ and theory). Kirchner subsequently was a pupil of Johann Gottlob Schneider [de] in Dresden and attended the Leipzig Conservatory for a short time.[1] In 1843, he became organist in Winterthur, Switzerland on the recommendation of Mendelssohn. He remained there for nearly 20 years, but travelled much in Germany, befriending Robert and Clara Schumann and Brahms. Clara Schumann was very fond of him, though she wrote that ‘in his character there is no stability’, and it appears they had a discreet affair in the early 1860s. In 1862, Kirchner moved to Zürich as the director of the subscription concerts there. This only lasted three years.

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Theodor Kirchner was a composer during the 19th century. He hobnobbed with all of the era’s luminaries, but he never achieved any great success of his own, despite being a very prolific composer. He gambled frequently and was always in debt. His friends usually bailed him out, but he was right back at the tables shortly thereafter. Clara Schumann helped him out a number of times, but finally gave up, calling him a “big rascal”. Later, he abandoned his family and moved on his own to where he was supported by Hans von Bülow and Brahms. He was struck blind towards the end of his life, and died in poverty.

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