Philipp Scharwenka

Philipp Scharwenka
(b Samter [now Szamotuły], 16 Feb 1847; d Bad Nauheim, 16 July 1917). Polish-German composer and teacher, brother of Xaver Scharwenka.

His early musical training was at the secondary school in Posen. In 1865 his family moved to Berlin, where he studied composition with Richard Wüerst and Heinrich Dorn at Kullak's Neue Akademie der Tonkunst. In 1868 he began his long teaching career as an instructor at the academy. Six years later, his orchestral works began to be performed, and in 1880 he married the violinist Marianne Stresow (b 25 Feb 1856; d 24 Oct 1918). When his younger brother Xaver founded the Scharwenka Conservatory in Berlin (1881) he joined its staff, teaching theory and composition. He became its co-director, with Hugo Goldschmidt, in 1891, when Xaver emigrated temporarily to the USA. Philipp was a competent, dedicated composer and teacher; his own career, however, was overshadowed by that of his forceful, energetic brother.