One Maestro’s Journey: A Celebrated Life of Music & Ingenuity

Shot by a cannon as a child, Heinrich Hammer’s nearly century-long life was anything but typical right from the outset. Beginning with his often troubled childhood in Germany, he had to fight from a young age with a recalcitrant uncle (his guardian) to pursue his musical goals academically. Once an adult though, his path brightened and, over the years, he encountered a seemingly endless parade of noteworthy composers, musicians, painters, and nobility—he even witnessed the infamous Wright Brothers testing their new flying machine as well as other historic “firsts” along the way.