Background
The son of a violin maker, Oberthür was born in Munich and studied the harp there with Elisa Brauchle and composition with Georg Valentin Röder (1776–1848), music director at the Bavarian court.
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Karl Oberthur
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Career
He was successively employed at theatres in Zürich (1837), Wiesbaden (1839), and Mannheim (1842), before he settled in London in 1844, initially as harpist at the Royal Italian Opera House. In 1861, he became the first Professor of Harp at the Royal Academy of Music, London. He died in London in 1895.
Oberthür was the composer of over 450 works, most for or including the harp.
He also published a useful harp method, his opus 36. His large-scale works have not been performed for many years and included the opera Floris de Namur (performed at Wiesbaden) and the cantatas The Pilgrim Queen, The Red Cross Knight, and Lady Jane Grey.
As a harpist, he became "unrivalled as a virtuoso and teacher". A contemporary source described him as "the leading harpist in Britain, and on the Continent he is held in the highest esteem." 3 4 5 25 26 28 30 51 52 54 61 65 68 91 93 99 110 114 116 127 149 150 158 181 182 183 187 221 285 314 180 181.
