To celebrate Father’s Day, the Frederick Symphony Orchestra is taking a look at some of the most famous father figures that helped shape the greatest classical composers of all time:

• Adam Liszt: As a cellist and pianist, Adam began teaching his son Franz as a mere child. Unfortunately, this father-son duo of musical genius lasted only nine years due to Adam’s death from typhoid fever.
• Alessandro Scarlatti: Is it any surprise that one great composer came from another? Alessandro and his son Domenico dominated classical music during the late 1600s to the early 1700s.
• Alexander Grieg: As a merchant and vice consul, Alexander had a son who became a history-making composer, but his mother, a music teacher, probably made Edvard so gifted.
• Alfred Newman: The nine-time Oscar winner was the beginning of a film score dynasty that went on to include his sons Thomas and David and his daughter Maria.
• Bernhard Mahler: Many parents can attest to chasing their child’s dreams alongside them, and Bernhard was no exception. As a coachman and innkeeper coming from a street-peddling past, he encouraged his son Gustav to tryout for the Vienna Conservatory even as his academics fell short.
• Franz Theodor Schubert: While he wasn’t an accomplished musician like his son, he taught the composer most of what he knew. As a schoolmaster, Franz Theodor taught one of his 19 kids the basics of the violin until he hired an organist to provide advanced musical instruction.
• Friedrich Wieck: His daughter Clara was his brightest piano student, but his disapproval of her marriage to Robert Schumann created family tension. Though, both talents credited Friedrich to their musical successes.
• Georg Handel: The father of George Handel, Georg was never keen on his son composing music. As a barber and surgeon, he wanted his son to be practical and study civic law, banning him from playing musical instruments. It wasn’t until Duke Johann Adolf I noticed how well George played a church organ that his father permitted him to take music lessons.
• George Ives: As a marching bandleader, George passed down the musical genetics to his composer son Charles, who credited his father for teaching him the cacophony.
• Giovanni Battista Vivaldi: Life as a barber wasn’t suitable for Giovanni, so he left the hair industry and became a professional violinist. His passion for music helped his son Antonio follow his dreams of composing.
• Ilya Petrovich Tchaikovsky: Ilya worked as an engineer and lieutenant colonel in the Department of Mines to support his ever-growing family. Though he paid for his son Pytor’s music lessons, he also enrolled him in law school in hopes that he’d be more financially secure.
• Johann Ambrosius Bach: Thanks to Johann Ambrosius’ gift for music, his son Johann Sebastian was able to swiftly follow in his footsteps. As a former court trumpeter and director of town musicians, it’s clear that his musical talent was genetic.
• Johann Strauss I: Being a famous composer ran in the family. Johann Strauss and his son, Johann Strauss II, were both kings of classical music. However, the elder wanted his son to become a banker.
• Johann van Beethoven: Though he was known as a great musician, teacher, and singer, Johann’s greatest accomplishment was instructing his son Ludwig, who changed music forever.
• Leopold Mozart: Leopold wowed crowds as a professional violinist in the court of the Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg. His talents took him and his son Wolfgang around the world as touring musicians.
• Ludwig Geyer: Richard Wagner’s biological father, Carl Friedrich, died six months after the composer was born. His mother began living with her late spouse’s friend Ludwig Geyer, who became Wagner’s stepfather. Geyer’s own creative talents in acting, writing, and painting encouraged Wagner to go after his own artistic dreams.
• Manuel Achille Debussy: Claude Debussy’s father wore many hats, including china shop owner, traveling salesman, printer’s assistant, and clerk, but despite his best efforts to support his son’s musical aspirations, it was his sister that paid for Claude’s violin lessons.
• Nicolas Chopin: As a French teacher who migrated to Poland, Nicolas (or Mikolaj in Polish) helped raise one of the most masterful composers, Frederic.

From all of us at the Frederick Symphony Orchestra, happy father’s day. If you want more fun information like this, subscribe to our weekly blog: