Jensen, Adolf 01/12/1837 - 01/23/1879

Adolf Jensen was born 1837 in Königsberg (Prussia). He discovered his musical talent through self-education. In 1852 he studied Berlin under Louis Ehlert and Friedrich Marpurg (1825-1884) who was the great grandson of the music theorist Friedrich Wilhelm Marpurg. Franz Liszt (1811-1886) took notice of him and advanced his pianistic talent. After completing his music studies he went to Russia in 1856 initially as a music teacher. In 1857 he became a music director at the State Theater in Posen (Prussia) and studied afterwards for two years in Copenhagen, Denmark, under Niels Wilhelm Gade. In 1860 he reutrn to Königsberg and quickly achieved a reputation as a composert and teacher. In 1866 he became a professor for piano in Berlin at Tausig's ''Schule für das höhere Klavierspiel'' (School for Advanced Piano Studies). He taught there until 1868 and then relocated to Dresden (Kingdom of Saxony). In 1870 he moved to Graz (Styria), Austro-Hungarian Empire.

He spent the last four years of his life in Baden-Baden (now in the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg, Germany) where he maintained continuous contact with his friend Johannes Brahms (1833-1897) He died on January 23, 1879, at the age of 42 in Baden-Baden as a result of a serious lung infection.