Born in Dublin, Victor Herbert was a cellist, conductor and composer who wrote operettas, comic operas, and many other songs. It was at his grandfather, Samuel Lover’s home that Herbert heard a great cellist, Alfredo Carlo Piatti perform. Piatti’s performance inspired Herbert to learn an instrument of his own. Herbert's father died and afterwards his mother remarried a German physician the family moved to Stuttgart, Germany. It was there that he was trained in music at the Stuttgart Conservatory. By age 17 he was making a living as a musician. He spent one year as a member of Paul von Derwies' private orchestra. The next year was spent in the orchestra of Eduard Strauss. Strauss was the brother of Johann Strauss, Jr., the famous waltz king of Vienna. During this experience he was able to take in the Viennese music style and waltz songs. At the age of 22 Victor Herbert returned to the Stuttgart Conservatory to study composition. He worked as a cellist in Germany and Austria.