HILLER, FERDINAND (1811-1885), German composer, was born at Frankfort-on-Main, on Oct. 24, 1811, and studied first under Aloys Schmitt and then under Hummel in Weimar. There he devoted himself to composition, among his work being the entr'actes to Maria Stuart, through which he made Goethe's acquaintance. With Hummel he went in 1827 to Vienna, where he met Beethoven and produced his pianoforte quartet. Later he went to Paris where he spent seven years and did good work in making the works of Beethoven and Bach known in French musical circles. Subsequently he joined his friend Mendelssohn in Leipzig, where in 1843-1844 he conducted a number of the Gewandhaus concerts and produced his oratorio, Die Zerstorung Jerusalems, one of his best works. Later he became a power at Cologne as conductor of the Giirzenich concerts and head of the Conservatorium. He retired in 1884, and died May 12, 1885 in the following year. Hiller frequently visited England. He com posed a work for the opening of the Royal Albert Hall, his Nala and Damayanti was performed at Birmingham, and he gave a series of pianoforte recitals of his own compositions at the Hanover Square Rooms in 1871. His compositions, numbering about two hundred, include six operas, two oratorios, six or seven cantatas, much chamber music and a once-popular pianaforte concerto.