Felix Woyrsch

Woyrsch was born in Troppau, just over the Prussian border in Austrian Silesia (now Opava in the Czech Republic).

He was raised in Dresden and later Altona, a suburb of Hamburg, in a lower middle class family of limited means.

Largely self-taught in music, he did study for some time with Ernst August Heinrich Chevallier.

His main influences included his friend Brahms as well as Bach, Palestrina, Lassus, and Heinrich Schütz.

Woyrsch's compositions include seven symphonies, five further works for orchestra, three operas, 100 songs, and a violin concerto.