Felix Huch (6 September 1880 - 6 July 1952) was a German Physician who worked in the public health service. By the time he retired he had reached the level of an "Obermedizinalrat" (Loosely, "Chief Medical Consultant"). He was also a passionate amateur musician and musicologist: in middle age he embarked on a parallel second career as a writer of biographical novels about musicians. Huch was completely aware of the challenges involved for writers and readers (including critics) of biographical novels dealing with iconic figures from the past. But as he himself wrote in respect of his 1927 book on "The young Beethoven", "what is ... reported to us is relatively sparse. That is why the imagination has to do most of the work if the name is to become a living image of Beethoven's young manhood, along with a full and living picture of his human and artistic development are to emerge". Whatever reservations purists might harbour, Huch's "bio-novels" on Mozart and Beethoven were popular, reprinted a number of times during the author's lifetime and after his death. They remain available more than fifty years after his death. Languages into which his books have been translated include Dutch, Japanese, …
Felix Huch
Author details
- Born:
- Oct. 12, 1880
- Died:
- Oct. 12, 1952
External links
Felix Huch (6 September 1880 - 6 July 1952) was a German Physician who worked in the public health service. By the time he retired he had reached the level of an "Obermedizinalrat" (Loosely, "Chief Medical Consultant"). He was also a passionate amateur musician and musicologist: in middle age he embarked on a parallel second career as a writer of biographical novels about musicians. Huch was completely aware of the challenges involved for writers and readers (including critics) of biographical novels dealing with iconic figures from the past. But as he himself wrote in respect of his 1927 book on "The young Beethoven", "what is ... reported to us is relatively sparse. That is why the imagination has to do most of the work if the name is to become a living image of Beethoven's young manhood, along with a full and living picture of his human and artistic development are to emerge". Whatever reservations purists might harbour, Huch's "bio-novels" on Mozart and Beethoven were popular, reprinted a number of times during the author's lifetime and after his death. They remain available more than fifty years after his death. Languages into which his books have been translated include Dutch, Japanese, Russian and Turkish.
