Karl Edmund Booth (1842-1923)

[giles.enders]

Karl Edmund Otto von Booth   Born 13.3.1842  Weinheim, Baden   Died  1.10.1923 Tuffontein, South Africa

A composer, pianist, violinist and organist.   One of four sons¹ of Wilhelm and Elizabeth Booth², he was born at Schloss Weinheim, Weinheim. He studied music at Carlsruhe Conservatory and violin with Concert-Meister Will. He made his debut as a violinist in Birmingham, England aged 11, in 1853. From 1856 he settled permanently in London and  it was there that he studied composition under Bernhard Molique and organ under Charles Steggall.

He held the post of organist at St. Matthew's, Bayswater, London, between 1868-75

He married in 1863 ³ and there were four children⁴

Orchestral

Symphony in C minor
'Godiva' overture for orchestra
Marchia funebre
'Victoria' orchestral march

Chamber

String Quintet
String Quartet
Violin Sonata in A
Violin Sonata in D
Romance in F for violin and piano
Ten easy pieces for violin and piano

Piano

Gavotte and Bouree
Wanderlieder - sketches

Song

Fancies
The Star Angel
Break, break, break
Autumn Leaflets
The Broken Tryst
Greeting
Pretty Little Warbler, stay
The Fisher
Beautiful May

Organ

Sonata quasi Fantasia

Te Deum in D

Operetta

'Prizes and Blanks'

1.
Albert Booth 1840-1906
Karl Edmund Otto Booth 1842-1923
Conrad Thomas Wilhelm Booth 1844-1863
Ferdinand Alexander Theodore Booth 1845-1869. Professor of Music.

2.
Wilhelm Booth 1803-1884 born Vienna, wife Elizabeth 1821-1877

3.
Eliza Margaret Jane Holland married 1872 divorced 1893
She wrote a book under the name of 'Rita' called 'The Doctor's Secret'

4.
Carl Wilhelm Booth 1873-1932
Florence  Booth 1874-5
Percy Alexander Brooke Booth 22.6.1876-?
Ferdinando Robert Booth 24.6.1878-?

[semloh]

I checked  for his name in several old books and all I could find was a simple but rather intriguing one-line entry as follows in The Dictionary-Catalogue of Operas and Operettas (Towers 1910):
Title - Traveller's Rest (?) - K. E. Booth (?)  - German - dob. 1842.

[nielk]

Booth has an entry in J. D. Brown's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians (London, 1886; reprint Hildesheim, 1970), p. 106. This is probably where giles.enders has his information from. His place of birth was Weinheim, not Wernheim (correct in the headline, misspelled in the first paragraph).

[semloh]

I failed to check Brown - usually my first resort! [shakes head in disbelief!]