Hans Guido Freiherr von Bülow (January 8, 1830 – February 12, 1894) was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era.
As one of the most distinguished conductors of the 19th century, his activity was critical for establishing the successes of several major composers of the time, especially Richard Wagner and Johannes Brahms.
Alongside Carl Tausig, Bülow was perhaps the most prominent of the early students of the Hungarian virtuoso pianist, conductor and composer Franz Liszt; he gave the first public performance of Liszt’s Sonata in B minor in 1857. He became acquainted with, fell in love with and eventually married Liszt’s daughter Cosima, who later left him for Wagner. Noted for his interpretation of the works of Ludwig van Beethoven, he was one of the earliest European musicians to tour the United States.
Hans von Bülow was close to some of the musicians that made the history of Classical Music like Franz Liszt, Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms and Friedrich Wieck (the father of Clara Schumann).
He served as Chief Conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in late XIX Century and his memory is still very alive in Berlin, so that the Hans von Bülow Medal is awarded by the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra to outstanding musicians close to the orchestra.
AMong the recipients of the award there are conductors such as: Mariss Jansons, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Claudio Abbado, Georg Solti, Herbert von Karajan, Zubin Mehta, Daniel Barenboim, Seiji Ozawa, Lorin Maazel.
