Wilm, Peter Nicolai von

Composer, Conductor, Poet

born: 04.03.1834 (20.02.1834 jul. calendar) in Riga

died: 19.02.1911 in Wiesbaden

Wilm studied at the Leipzig Conservatory and took up the post of 2nd Kapellmeister at the municipal theater in his native city in 1857. At this time, Wilm was already known for performances of his piano and song compositions.

In 1858, he moved to St. Petersburg and took up a teaching position for music theory and piano at the Imperial Nikolai Institute, one of the country's leading teaching institutes; he held this position until 1875. Wilm then returned to Germany and initially settled in Dresden. In 1878, he moved to Wiesbaden, where he devoted himself exclusively to his compositional work.

Wilm achieved particular significance with his pedagogical piano literature. His chamber music (Nonet for Strings op. 150, Sextet for Strings op. 27, Quartet op. 4, etc.) is influenced by late German Romanticism. Wilm's long stay in Russia found its compositional expression in his arrangements of Russian folk songs for piano. Among other things, he published a collection of "Moscow Gypsy Songs" and thus contributed to their popularization in Germany. He also penned many choral pieces, which is why he was made an honorary member of the "Concordia" male choral society in Wiesbaden. Wilm also left behind a volume of poetry entitled "A greeting from afar".

Nicolai von Wilm's grave is located in the North Cemetery. His white marble tomb is inscribed with his portrait and shows an open book with the opening bars of his Fantasie op. 68.