Friedrich Kiel owed his early training to the patronage of Prince Albrecht I von Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, serving as violinist in the court musical establishment and then as Kapellmeister, before further study of composition and a move to Berlin, where Friedrich Wilhelm IV gave him a three-year composition scholarship, allowing him study with Siegfried Dehn. His Requiem, heard in Berlin in 1862, secured his reputation. He taught for many years in Berlin, where his pupils included Paderewski and Stanford.

Instrumental Music

Kiel remained independent of the rival schools of composition of his time: the ‘Music of the Future’ of Liszt and Wagner, and the traditional path chosen by others, such as Brahms. He was, however, an admirer of Brahms, with whom he had more in common, and a colleague of Joachim at the Royal Musikhochschule in Berlin. His compositions include orchestral works, a quantity of chamber music, and works for the piano and for the organ.