Engelbert Humperdinck

Born in Siegburg, Prussia, in 1854, Engelbert Humperdinck studied in Cologne and Munich and became one of the notable German composers of the late Romantic period. He is most widely known for Hansel and Gretel, first performed in 1893, a work that blends folk-like melody, theatrical charm, and lush orchestration.

Humperdinck also had an important connection to Richard Wagner early in his career, assisting at Bayreuth and absorbing some of Wagner’s dramatic and musical influence. Even so, his own best-known music has a gentler, more accessible character, which helped Hansel and Gretel remain a lasting favorite with opera audiences.

He continued composing and teaching in the years that followed, but no later work matched the enduring popularity of his fairy-tale opera. Humperdinck died in Neustrelitz, Germany, in 1921, and he is still remembered above all for giving one of the Grimm brothers’ stories its most famous musical life.