Voting Station

Hans von Bulow

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Composer

The Resume

    (June 8, 1830-February 12, 1894)
    Born in Dresden, Germany
    Pianist, conductor and composer
    Conducted the premiers of Wagner’s ‘Tristan und Isolde’ (1865) and ‘Die Meistersinger von Nurmberg’ (1868)
    Compositions included ‘Die Entsagende: A Song Cycle from Carl Beck,’ ‘Three Scottish Folksongs’ and ‘Six Songs from Heinrich Heine’
    Son-in-law of Franz Liszt

Why he might be annoying:

    His acerbic personality frequently alienated other musicians and cost him jobs.
    For instance, he was fired as a conductor in Hanover after calling the tenor who sang the role ‘the Knight of the Swan’ in ‘Lohegren’ ‘the Knight of the Swine.’
    His main reason for marrying his second wife was to keep his first wife from getting custody of their children.
    He supported legislation to prevent the immigration of ‘uncivilized Jews’ from Eastern Europe to Germany.

Why he might not be annoying:

    He had a phenomenal memory, becoming the first person to play the complete cycle of Beethoven’s piano sonatas without a score.
    He used his influence to get Richard Strauss his first job as a conductor.
    His first wife, Cosima, left him for Richard Wagner.
    Despite that, he continued conducting Wagner’s operas (although he would never speak to Wagner again).
    He coined the phrase ‘the three B’s’ for Bach, Beethoven and Brahms.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 10 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying