Louis Köhler

Born

5 September 1820, Braunschweig, Germany

Died

16 February 1886, Königsberg, Prussia

Life

Köhler was born in Braunschweig on 5 September 1820. As a young man he went to Vienna to study with Carl Czerny, who passed him on to the pianist Carl Maria von Bocklet, and he studied theory and composition there too.

He settled in Königsberg as a theatre conductor and choir leader, and from 1847 worked only as a piano teacher and writer on music. His lessons were so popular that from 1856 he taught in groups, and his pupils included the composers Adolf Jensen and Hermann Goetz. He wrote 314 opus numbers, most of them for teaching the piano. He died in Königsberg on 16 February 1886.

Why play Köhler

His Op. 190, Die allerleichtesten Übungsstücke (the very easiest practice pieces), is a set of 36 little pieces first published in 1871. Most of the ones here are in C major and sit in the easiest levels, which makes them ideal first studies: start with No. 1 and work your way up.

When Köhler lived