Hans Rott

Johann Nepomuk Karl Maria Rott (1 August 1858 – 25 June 1884) was an Austrian composer and organist. His music is little-known today, though he received high praise in his time from Gustav Mahler and Anton Bruckner. He left a symphony and Lieder, among other works. Life Rott was born in Braunhirschengrund, a suburb of Vienna. His mother Maria Rosalia (1840–1872; née Lutz) was an actress and singer. His father Carl Mathias Rott, who married her in 1862 (born 1807; né Roth), was a famous comic actor in Vienna who was crippled in 1874 by a stage accident which led to his death two years later. Studies Hans was left alone to continue his studies at the Conservatory. Fortunately, both his skill and financial need were recognized and he was excused from paying tuition. While studying, he briefly roomed with Gustav Mahler and . He studied piano with Leopold Landskron and Josef Dachs, harmony with Hermann Graedener, counterpoint and composition—like Mahler—with Franz Krenn. He studied organ with Bruckner, starting in 1874, and graduating from Bruckner’s organ class in 1877, with honors. Bruckner said that Rott played Bach very well, and even improvised wonderfully (a high compliment since