Ferdinand Hiller was born to a wealthy
Jewish family in
Frankfurt am Main, where his father Justus (originally Isaac Hildesheim, a name that he changed late in the 18th century to conceal his Jewish origins) was a merchant in English textiles – a business eventually continued by Ferdinand’s brother Joseph. Hiller’s talent was discovered early and he was taught piano by the leading Frankfurt musician Alois Schmitt, violin by Hofmann, and harmony and counterpoint by Vollweiler; at 10 he performed a
Mozart concerto in public; and two years later, he produced his first composition.
In 1822 the 13-year old
Felix Mendelssohn entered his life. The Mendelssohn family was at that time staying briefly in Frankfurt and the young Hiller visited them where he was immensely impressed by the playing of Felix (and even more so by that of his sister
Fanny Mendelssohn). When their acquaintance was renewed in 1825 the two boys found an immediate close friendship, which was to last until 1843. Hiller tactfully describes their falling out as arising from "social, and not from personal susceptibilities." But in fact it seems to have been more to do with Hiller’s succession to Mendelssohn as director of the
Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in 1843.
From 1828 to 1835 Hiller based himself in
Paris, where he was engaged as teacher of composition at Choron's School of Music. He eventually gave up his position so that he might better equip himself as a pianist and composer.
He spent time in Italy, hoping that this would assist him to write a successful opera (a hope which was never fulfilled). In 1836, he was in
Frankfurt devoting himself to composition. His abilities were recognized, and although but 25, he was asked to act as conductor of the Cäcilienverein during the illness of its conductor Schelble.
In addition to Mendelssohn, he attracted the attention of
Rossini who assisted him to launch his first opera,
Romilda (which was a failure), at
Milan. Mendelssohn obtained for Hiller an entrée to the Gewandhaus, and afforded an opportunity for the public presentation of Hiller's oratorio
Die Zerstörung Jerusalems (The destruction of Jerusalem, 1840). After a year of study in Church music at
Rome, Hiller returned to Leipzig, and during the season of 1843-44 conducted the Gewandhaus concerts. By this time his position in the musical world was established, and honors and appointments were showered upon him. In 1845
Robert Schumann dedicated to Hiller his
piano concerto. Hiller became municipal kapellmeister of
Düsseldorf in 1847, and in 1850 received a similar appointment at
Cologne,
where he founded
Cologne Conservatoire that year and remained as
Kapellmeister until 1884. During this time, he was twelve times festival director of the
Lower Rhenish Music Festival, and conducted the
Gürzenich concerts. He worked in
Dresden as well. Thus he played a leading part in Germany's musical life. And he was conductor at the Italian Opera in Paris during the season of 1852-53.
During Hiller’s long reign in Cologne, which earned him a ‘von’ to precede his surname, his star pupil was
Max Bruch, the composer of the cello elegy
Kol Nidrei, based on the synagogue hymn sung at
Yom Kippur. Bruch was not Jewish; his knowledge of the theme of Kol Nidrei came through Hiller, who introduced him to the
Berlin chazan, Lichtenstein. Hiller’s regime at Cologne was strongly marked by his conservative tastes, which he attempted to prolong by recommending, as his successor in 1884, either
Brahms or Bruch. The appointment went however to a "modernist",
Franz Wüllner, who, according to
Grove "initiated his term [...] with concerts of works by
Wagner,
Liszt and
Richard Strauss, all of whom Hiller had avoided."
