Karl Höller

Karl Höller (25 July 1907 – 14 April 1987) was a German composer of the late Romantic tradition. Biography Karl Höller was born in Bamberg, Bavaria. He came from a musical family on both sides: his father Valentin Höller was the Bamberg Cathedral organist for 40 years, and his grandfather and great-grandfather were organists at Würzburg Cathedral. His aunt Gretchen was the first female organist at Würzburg. His mother was a singer, whose father had been a choir director and musician. He showed aptitude for the organ at an early age. He was a choirboy from age six, and he studied piano, organ and cello in Bamberg. He went to the Würzburg Conservatory where he studied composition under Hermann Zilcher; and to the Munich Academy of Music, where he studied composition with Joseph Haas and Waltershausen, organ with Gatscher, and conducting with Siegfried von Hausegger. After taking his composition and organ examinations in 1929, he became a master-class student of Haas. He taught at the Munich Academy (1933–1937), from 1937 in Frankfurt at the Hoch Conservatory and Hochschule für Musik (1938–1946), and the Munich Conservatory (Hochschule für Musik) (1949–1972; taking over the compositio