Charles Oberthür (composer)

The son of a violin maker, Oberthür was born in Munich and studied the harp there with Elisa Brauchle and composition with Georg Valentin Röder (1776–1848), music director at the Bavarian court.

He was successively employed at theatres in Zürich (1837), Wiesbaden (1839), and Mannheim (1842), before he settled in London in 1844, initially as harpist at the Royal Italian Opera House.

In 1861, he became the first Professor of Harp at the Royal Academy of Music, London.

His large-scale works have not been performed for many years and included the opera Floris de Namur (performed at Wiesbaden) and the cantatas The Pilgrim Queen, The Red Cross Knight, and Lady Jane Grey.

[1] A contemporary source described him as "the leading harpist in Britain, and on the Continent he is held in the highest esteem.