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Alles Gute zum Geburtstag Franz Wüllner! 🍻🎻 Composer: Franz Wüllner (1832-1902) Work: Te Deum (1888) Performers: Rodеnkirchener Choir and Orchestra; Harald Jеrs (conductor) Painting: Karl Karger (1848-1913) - Fronleichnam Prozession, Vienna, 1889 (1911) HD image: Further info: Listen free: No available --- Franz Wüllner [Wuellner] (Munster, 28 January 1832 - Braunfels-an-der-Lahn, 7 September 1902) German pianist, conductor and composer. Son of Franz Wüllner (1798-1842) and Josephina Winkelmann, he studied with Anton Felix Schindler and Carl Arnold in Munster and Frankfurt am Main (1846-50). From 1850 to 1854 he was active as a concert artist. He was a teacher at the Munich music school (1856-58), then music director in Aachen (1858-64). In 1864 he returned to Munich, where he became court music director of the church choir. He then taught at the music school (from 1867), and also conducted at the Court Opera. Under unfavorable conditions (against Wagner's wishes), he prepared and conducted the first performance of Das Rheingold (1869) and Die Walküre (1870), the success of which led to his appointment as principal conductor there in 1871. In 1877 he became court conductor at Dresden, and also director of the Conservatory. In 1882 Ernst von Schuch was promoted to take his place; thereafter Wullner was one of the conductors of the Berlin Philharmonic for the 1882-1885 seasons. In 1884 he became conductor of the Gurzenich Concerts in Cologne and director of the Cologne Conservatory, later becoming also municipal music director, posts he held until his death. He was awarded an honorary doctorate from the University of Munich in 1877 and he was highly regarded as a choral composer. Although he was chiefly remembered as a conductor, his musical achievements are many-faceted. His compositions, most of them unpublished, show that he was a prominent representative of the Mendelssohn tradition and Berlin academicism. His son Ludwig Wüllner (1858-1938) was a baritone and actor.
