ABSTRACT
Henry Hugo Pierson lived almost continually in Germany from 1839, and is defined by Nicholas Temperley in New Grove as a 'German composer of English origin'. Born in Oxford, educated at Harrow and Trinity, and a student of Thomas Attwood, he is more accurately described as an English composer who found in Germany a satisfaction – including marriage, performance opportunities, and critical support – greater than would probably have been his lot had he remained in Britain. He returned as Reid Professor in Edinburgh in 1844, but quickly left, the experience apparently making him a still more confirmed exile. His works include songs, operas, an oratorio Jerusalem, and incidental music for no lesser work than Goethe's Faust undertaken in 1854, about the time that Schumann's Faust scenes were becoming known. Pierson's Faust is ambitious and was widely praised, but only the vocal score has been published.
