Moritz Moszkowski was born in 1854 in Wroclaw, Poland (then Breslau, the capital of Silesia in East Prussia), into a wealthy Jewish family. In 1865 the family moved to Dresden where Moszkowski, having shown early musical talent at home, was accepted at the conservatory. His first attempts at composition date from this time and he produced a piano quintet at the age of only thirteen. Moving to Berlin in 1869, he continued his studies firstly at Julius Stern’s Conservatory under Eduard Frank (piano) and Friedrich Kiel (composition), and finally at Theodor Kullak’s Neue Akademie der Tonkunst where the Scharwenka brothers, Xaver and Philipp, were among his fellow students. All three later joined Kullak’s teaching staff, with Moszkowski retaining his post for over twenty-five years.