Bülow, Hans Guido Freiherr von (1830-1894)

German conductor and pianist. He studied with Wagner and Liszt and in 1857 married Liszt's daughter Cosima. From 1864 he served Ludwig II of Bavaria, conducting first performances of Wagner's Tristan und Isolde and Die Meistersinger. His wife left him and married Wagner in 1870.

He studied law at Leipzig University and piano with Friedrich Wieck there. At first he was exclusively a Wagnerian as a conductor and gave the first performances of Tristan und Isolde (1865) and Die Meistersinger (1868), but after his wife went to live with Wagner became more enthusiastic about Brahms without abandoning Wagner. He conducted the first performance of Brahms's fourth symphony in 1885. He made many tours both as a conductor and as a pianist; as a soloist he gave the first performance of Tchaikovsky's first piano concerto in Boston, USA, in 1875.