Franz Liszt considered Wilhelm Posse the greatest harpist after Parish-Alvars, and consulted him on the harp parts of his later orchestral works. He was born in Bromberg in 1852 and, after early musical training from his father, taught himself to play the harp. At the age of eight he appeared at the Italian Opera in Berlin accompanying Adelina Patti. He was solo harpist with the Berlin Philharmonic and Berlin Opera from 1872 to 1903, and taught at the Charlottenburger Hochschule in Berlin from 1890 to 1923, becoming ‘Royal Professor’ in 1910. He died in Berlin in 1925.
from notes by Susan Drake © 1983
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