Biography
Nikolaus Freiherr von Krufft was born on February 1, 1779, in Vienna, the son of a State Minister. He received his first piano lessons from his mother and later studied composition with Albrechtsberger. At the University of Vienna, he studied philosophy (1774-1779) and law (1779-1800).
He worked as a civil servant for the secret Court- and State secretary from 1801. In this capacity he accompanied Count Klemens Wenzel Lothar von Metternich to Paris, and in 1817 to Italy. At the same time he remained thoroughly dedicated to his musical activities.
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Krufft died of exhaustion on April 16,1818, at the age of 39, according to his biographer. He apparently sacrificed so many nights to composing that this eventually led to his untimely death. The Allgemeine Musikalische Zeitung described him in 1818 in an obituary as follows: “as a pianist he glittered through rare talent and precision and as a composer through spirit and study” (“ als Clavierspieler durch seltene Fertigkeit und Präcision, als Componist durch Geist und Studium ausgezeichnet"). He apparently also had an extraordinary musical memory.
Biography text from Last.fm, available under CC BY-SA.