Ambrosweg (Rodaun), named in 1954 after the music historian and composer August Wilhelm Ambros (November 11, 1816 – June 28, 1876).
He lived in Prague and Vienna and wrote a five-volume “History of Music” (1862–1882, completed posthumously). He also composed songs and chamber music, as well as numerous operas that have never been published.
Even in his youth, Ambros was encouraged musically by his mother. During his high school years in Prague he learned both painting and music both practically and theoretically.
As a member of the Prague Davidic Society, which he co-founded, he found his musical and journalistic role model particularly in Robert Schumann, with whom he also corresponded from 1845 to 1850. His compositions were also influenced by the style of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy.
In addition to his work as a composer, Ambros was particularly known to his contemporaries as a music writer and critic.
His book The Limits of Music and Poetry (1856) and works such as Cultural-Historical Images from Contemporary Musical Life (1860) and Colorful Leaves (1872/1874) as well as a large number of newspaper publications, including in the Wiener Zeitung, nevertheless earned him his reputation as one of the most important music critics of his time.
In 1859 the Breslau publishing house Leuckart (Constantin Sander) commissioned him to write a comprehensive music history. The result was his three-volume History of Music. The first volume dealt with the music of non-European cultures and the music of antiquity (with a special focus on Greek music), the second volume with the music from the 4th to the early 15th century (with a focus on Gregorian chant, Guido von Arezzo, Antoine Busnoys and Guillaume Du Fay) and the third volume with the music of the Franco-Flemish school (focus on Josquin Desprez).
Ambros died before he could complete the fourth volume, which was to cover the age of Palestrina. The work was published in 1878 by Otto Kade and Hugo Leichtentritt. A fifth volume with musical examples for the third volume of the History of Music appeared in 1882 under the direction of Kades. Wilhelm Langhans continued the work in “chronological order”, but was unable to reach Ambros’ level.
The alley was previously called Jägerweg.
