August Wilhelm Ambros

August Wilhelm Ambros (17 November 1816 – 28 June 1876)[1] was an Austrian music historian, critic and composer of Czech descent.

[1] His father was a cultured man, and his mother was the sister of Raphael Georg Kiesewetter [de][3] (1773–1850), the musical archaeologist and collector.

He was, however, destined for the law and an official career in the Austrian civil service, and from 1839 he occupied various important posts under the ministry of justice, music being an avocation.

[4] From 1850 onwards, he became well known as a critic and essay-writer, and in 1860 he began working on his magnum opus, his History of Music, which was published at intervals from 1862[5] in five volumes, the last two (1878, 1882) being edited and completed by Otto Kade and Friedrich Wilhelm Langhans [de].

By 1872, he was living in Vienna and was employed by the Department of Justice as an officer and by Prince Rudolf's family as his tutor.