Page Category: Composer Biographies
Joachim Raff
Joseph Joachim Raff was born in Lachen, near Zurich, Switzerland in 1822. He died aged only 60 in June 1882, in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. Curiously, the New Groves says of his death-date, and I quote, "? 24 or 25 June 1882": the vagueness appears to have arisen because he died on the night of the 24th, and no-one is apparently sure whether his last breath was taken before or after midnight!
The 'Joseph' first name is bracketed in New Groves, indicating its optionality: like Haydn before him and Britten after him, one or more saints' names were commonly given at baptism, only never to be used again! [...]
