Louis Philipp Otto Maas ( June 21, 1852, Wiesbaden – September 18 , 1889 , Boston ) was a German -American pianist and composer.
He was born into a family of musicians. He grew up in London , where his father worked, and in 1867 he was sent to study at the Leipzig Conservatory , where he studied with Carl Reinecke and Robert Papperitz . In Leipzig, he made his debut as a composer, presenting his first symphony in 1872 (and conducting the Gewandhaus Orchestra himself ) [ 2 ] . In 1873–1874 he taught piano in Berlin at the Kullak Academy , then, after a tour of Germany in 1875–1880, professor of piano at the Leipzig Conservatory. In 1880, he went on a tour of the United States, which was interrupted by illness; after recovering, he decided not to return to Europe and taught at the New England Conservatory for the rest of his life . In 1881–1882 He also served as conductor of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra, which competed with the Boston Symphony .
He wrote the American Symphony "On the Prairies, an American Symphony " (1883, not preserved), dedicated to US President Chester Arthur and representing an expanded sound description of the nature of the USA, organized using leitmotifs and thematic transformations according to the model of Joachim Raff (Symphony No. 3 "In the Woods"); the symphony met with mixed reviews, but Calix Lavallee saw in it a possible perspective for the development of truly American music [ 3 ] . Maas also wrote symphonic overtures, a piano concerto, a string quartet, piano and violin sonatas, and various piano pieces. (Hide extended text)...(Read all)