gustav heinrich ernst martin wilhelm furtwängler

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Definition of gustav heinrich ernst martin wilhelm furtwängler in English English dictionary

born Jan. 25, 1886, Berlin died Nov. 30, 1954, near Baden-Baden, W.Ger. German conductor and composer. After private composition studies with Joseph Rheinberger (1839-1901), he debuted in 1906. His revised Te Deum (1910) established him as a composer, and in 1917 his work as a guest conductor in Berlin earned him high praise. He succeeded Richard Strauss at the Berlin State Opera, and Arthur Nikisch (1855-1922) at the Leipzig Gewandhaus and Berlin Philharmonic, becoming especially associated with the music of Ludwig van Beethoven and Richard Wagner. Though criticized for staying in Germany during the Nazi era, he was no friend of the regime, continuing to program modern music and helping Jewish musicians to escape. He was formally exonerated of complicity with the Nazis, but public hostility dogged his later years