Ferdinand Hiller (1811-1885), German composer, pianist, and conductor, studied with Johann Nepomuk Hummel in Weimar and lived in Paris from 1838 to 1835 as a piano virtuoso and acclaimed Beethoven interpreter. There he performed Bach's concerti for three pianos with Liszt and Chopin. In 1836 he directed the St. Cecilia Society in his native city. After a trip to Italy (Milan, Florence, and Rome) and stays in Leipzig, Dresden and Düsseldorf he became director of the Conservatory in Cologne in 1850. He had close friendships with Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Robert Schumann, who dedicated his piano concerto in A minor to him. Max Bruch was one of his students.



His compositions include six operas, two oratorios, four symphonies, three piano concerti, numerous choral works with and without instrumental accompaniment, chamber music and over one hundred songs.