Organist, Composer, Teacher. A prominent figure in Polish musical life for nearly 50 years. Born in Mildenau, Germany, he studied organ in Leipzig and music theory under Jozef Elsner at the Warsaw Conservatory (1827 to 1831). During that time he befriended Frederic Chopin and tutored the young Stanislaw Moniuszko, who would become the most important Polish composer of his generation. When the Russian Empire shut down the conservatory in the wake of the failed 1830 Uprising, Freyer went on an extended concert tour of Germany as an organist. Felix Mendelssohn was among the many who praised his skills. Returning to Warsaw in 1834, he founded one of the few private music schools permitted in the city, often taking on impecunious students free of charge. In 1837 he was named organist of Warsaw's Evangelical Church, a post he held for the rest of his life, turning the church into one of the city's foremost music centers. He is credited with reviving interest in organ music in Poland, which had declined since the early 1800s. With the reopening of the Warsaw Conservatory in 1861 Freyer joined the staff as professor of organ. A number of his compositions for the instrument - ranging from etudes for beginners to virtuoso pieces - are still in the repertory. He also wrote the textbooks "A Practical Organ Tutor" and "The Prinicples of Harmony". Freyer's original burial site, the Protestant Cemetery in Pilica, Poland, was closed in 1945. In 1976 his remains and his monument were transferred to Warsaw's Evangelical Cemetery.
Organist, Composer, Teacher. A prominent figure in Polish musical life for nearly 50 years. Born in Mildenau, Germany, he studied organ in Leipzig and music theory under Jozef Elsner at the Warsaw Conservatory (1827 to 1831). During that time he befriended Frederic Chopin and tutored the young Stanislaw Moniuszko, who would become the most important Polish composer of his generation. When the Russian Empire shut down the conservatory in the wake of the failed 1830 Uprising, Freyer went on an extended concert tour of Germany as an organist. Felix Mendelssohn was among the many who praised his skills. Returning to Warsaw in 1834, he founded one of the few private music schools permitted in the city, often taking on impecunious students free of charge. In 1837 he was named organist of Warsaw's Evangelical Church, a post he held for the rest of his life, turning the church into one of the city's foremost music centers. He is credited with reviving interest in organ music in Poland, which had declined since the early 1800s. With the reopening of the Warsaw Conservatory in 1861 Freyer joined the staff as professor of organ. A number of his compositions for the instrument - ranging from etudes for beginners to virtuoso pieces - are still in the repertory. He also wrote the textbooks "A Practical Organ Tutor" and "The Prinicples of Harmony". Freyer's original burial site, the Protestant Cemetery in Pilica, Poland, was closed in 1945. In 1976 his remains and his monument were transferred to Warsaw's Evangelical Cemetery.
Bio by: Bobb Edwards
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