Franz Ernst Otto who was the younger brother of Ernst Otto was born on June 3, 1809, in Königstein, Kingdom of Saxony. He received his scientific and musical education at the ''Thomasschule'' in Leipzig. There under the guidance of the then Cantor Schicht, he was already writing motets and church pieces as a choir student and prefect which were performed and received much applause. After leaving school, he switched from theology, which he initially devoted himself to the study of music again. Soon becoming trained as a singer and in possession of a beautiful bass voice, he wrote marches, songs, dances and the like. In particular, however, he devoted himself to the cultivation of the male voice for which he created a series of very noteworthy compositions from 1830 onwards, which were published by Breitkopf et Härtet, Hofmeister, Friese and Friedlein in Leipzig. In 1833 Otto and three other excellent singers went to London to introduce the German male voice by performing quartets. The artists received extraordinary acclaim. After his return, Otto devoted himself to the theater, was engaged from time to time or gave guest performances at the more important theaters in Germany, for example in Dresden in 1841. From here he accepted an engagement in Mainz, where he fell ill on arrival and died on April 30, 1842. In 1879 a complete edition (score) of all songs and chants for four male voices by Franz Otto, edited by Dr. Franztto Espagne was published by Alfred Coppenrath in Regensburg under the title "Otto Album", formerly ''Custos at the Royal Library'' in Berlin. This collection contains 75 songs, among which there are real gems. Someone no less than Robert Schumann was interested in Franz Otto. He had dedicated a collection of piano pieces (Phalenes. Oeuv. 15 Dresden, Thieme) to him. Schumann reviewed the work in the ''Neue Zeitschrift für Musik'' (1836 no. 38) with benevolence and interest. In the ''Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung'' (Leipzig, Breitkopf & Härtel), Otto's compositions from 1830 onwards are also very favourably reviewed.
