Goldmark, Karl 05/18/1830 - 01/02/1915

Born as the son of a Jewish Chormaster and organist in Keszthely near Lake Balaton, Hungary, he moved at the age of four to Deutschkreutz in the later Burgenland which was as the time part of Western Hungary and largely settled by Germans. He grew up in a poor German-Jewish family. At the age of eleven he received his first violin lesson and at 14 years of age moved to Vienna, Austria, giving his first solo performance as a violinst at the age of eighteen.
He was musically orientated towards Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy, Robert Schumann and later also Richard Wagner. His only encounter with Wagner was documented in 1860. Around 1900, along with Gustav Mahler and Ludwig Bösendorfer, he was a member of committee for the procurement of a new organ for the Wiener Musikvereinsaal (Wien Music Concert Hall). In later years he received along with other honors an honorary doctor title from Budapest University.

In addition to symphonies, other orchestral works, chamber music, choir works and songs, he also composed a series of operas.