Litolff, Henry (Charles) (1818–1891)

Anglo-Alsatian composer, pianist, and publisher. He travelled widely as a concert pianist until 1851, and produced his finest opera, Les Templiers, in Brussels, Belgium, in 1886.

His father was Alsatian, his mother English. As a boy of 13 he became a pupil of Ignaz Moscheles for piano, made his first appearance in 1832, and at 17 left for France, having married against his parents' wishes. He was a concert pianist until 1851, when he acquired a music publishing business in Brunswick, Germany, marrying as his second wife the widow of the former owner. But he soon left his adopted son Theodor Litolff in charge and settled in Paris, where later he married again, a comtesse de la Rochefoucauld.

Works Opera Les Templiers (1886) and Héloïse et Abelard (1872).

Oratorio Ruth and Boaz.

Orchestral and chamber five piano concertos including no. 4 (1852) with the popular Scherzo, violin concerto; overture Robespierre and others; chamber music; piano works.