Berens, (Johann) Hermann
Berens, (Johann) Hermann
Berens, (Johann) Hermann, German pianist and pedagogue; b. Hamburg, April 7, 1826; d. Stockholm, May 9, 1880. He studied with his father, Karl Berens of Hamburg, then had instruction with Reissiger in Dresden, and later with Czerny in Vienna. In 1847 he emigrated to Sweden. After serving as music director to the Hussar regiment in Orebro (1849–60), he was music director at Mindre Teatern in Stockholm (from 1860). In 1861 he was appointed to the staff of the Stockholm Cons.; in 1868 was named prof. there. He wrote an operetta, En sommarnattsdrö’m (1856), and the operas Violetta (1855), Lully och Quinault (1859), En utflykt i det gröne (1862), and Riccardo (1869), which sank without a trace. But his collection of piano studies, Neueste Schule der Geläufigkeit, modeled after Czerny’s studies, remained popular with piano students and teachers for many years.
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire