Otto Goldschmidt

A student of piano with Friedrich Wilhelm Grund and Jakob Schmitt, Otto Goldschmidt later studied as one of the first pupils in the Leipzig Conservatory with Mendelssohn, von Bulow, and Hauptmann. He worked in Hamburg, playing and teaching, and then traveled to Paris, where he hoped to study with Chopin. This having failed, Goldschmidt moved to London, where he had some success as the organist for two churches in the vicinity of Wimbledon. He met and traveled with Jenny Lind, whom he married (1852) and settled with in London in 1858. Goldschmidt's founding of the London Bach Choir was perhaps his most important contribution to the history of music. The compositions that he scored include the oratorio "Ruth" (composed for Lind), songs, chamber music, and a piano concerto. ~ Keith Johnson, Rovi