1.
1875 in music
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This article is about music-related events in 1875. January 5 – Palais Garnier opera house in Paris, designed by Charles Garnier, march 3 – Georges Bizets opera Carmen debuts, at the Opéra-Comique in Paris. May 6 – Richard Wagner conducts portions of Götterdämmerung in concert in Vienna, october 25 – The first performance of Tchaikovskys Piano Concerto No.1 is given in Boston, Massachusetts, with Hans von Bülow as soloist. Robert Volkmann becomes professor of harmony and counterpoint at the National Academy of Music in Budapest, composer Zdeněk Fibich marries operatic contralto Betty Hanušová, sister of his first wife Růžena Hanušová. Angels, Meet Me At the Cross Road w. m, will Hays Carve Dat Possum by Sam Lucas & Herbert Hershy Dreaming Forever of Thee w. m. John Hill Hewitt Ill Take You Home Again, Kathleen w. m,3, ballet Swan Lake Camille Saint-Saëns – Piano Concerto No.4 Má vlast – Six symphonic poems by Bedřich Smetana Carmen first performed in Paris. Music by Georges Bizet and libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, die Königin von Saba, music by Karl Goldmark and libretto by Salomon Mosenthal
2.
1876 in music
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This article is about music-related events in 1876. February – Baritone Lithgow James joins the English Opera Company, where he begins a partnership with his future wife Florence St. John, february 24 – Incidental music composed by Edvard Grieg for Henrik Ibsens Peer Gynt premieres. May 17 – Antonín Dvořák begins composing his Moravian Duets, august 16 – Richard Wagners Siegfried debuts in the new Bayreuth Festspielhaus. August 17 – Richard Wagners Götterdämmerung debuts in the new Bayreuth Festspielhaus, soprano Rosa Hasselbeck marries the conductor and composer Josef Sucher. Gabriel Faure - Violin Sonata No
3.
1877 in music
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This article is about music-related events in 1877. December 30 The premiere of Brahms Symphony No.2 is given in Vienna by the Vienna Philharmonic under the direction of Hans Richter, peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky marries Antonina Milyukova. Ludwig Thuille and Richard Strauss meet as students at Innsbruck, G. W. Hunt Chopsticks m. Arthur de Lulli Dear Old Pals w. m. G. W. Hunt Early In De Mornin w. m, will Hays In The Gloaming w. Meta Orred m. Annie Fortescue Harrison Little Daisys Request by Arabella M. Root The Lost Chord w. Adelaide Anne Procter m, leon Minkus – La Bayadère Joachim Raff – Violin Concerto no.2 op.206 in A minor Josef Rheinberger – Violin Sonata no.2 op
4.
1886 in music
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March 21 - Anton Bruckners Symphony No.7 is performed for the first time publicly in Vienna, conducted by Hans Richter. May 1 - The final version of Tchaikovskys Romeo and Juliet is performed for the first time, in Tbilisi, Georgia, under Mikhail Ippolitov-Ivanov. June 9 - The centennial of the Stoughton Musical Society is celebrated in the United States, june - Soprano Adelina Patti marries tenor Ernesto Nicolini in south Wales. July 19 - Franz Liszt plays his last concert, in Luxembourg, December - Anton Seidl conducts the first American staging of Tristan und Isolde at the Metropolitan Opera. The celesta is invented by Auguste Mustel, John Philip Sousa Johnny Get Your Gun w. m. Monroe H. Rosenfeld Semper Fidelis m. John Philip Sousa Somebodys Mother by James W. Wheeler Two Lovely Black Eyes, Oh, What a Surprise w. Charles Coborn m. 2, op.54 John Philip Sousa - The Gladiator March Richard Strauss - Aus Italien Alfredo Catalani - Edmea Adonis, London production opened at the Gaiety Theatre on May 31, dorothy, London production opened at the Gaiety Theatre on September 25. It transferred to the Prince of Wales Theatre on December 20 and to the Lyric Theatre on December 17,1888, erminie - the Broadway production of this British show opened at the Casino Theatre on May 10 and ran for a very successful 571 performances. The Queen of Hearts, music by John Philip Sousa, January 22 - John J. Becker, American composer and editor January 25 - Wilhelm Furtwängler, conductor March 3 - R. O
5.
1889 in music
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Events in the year 1889 in music. January 4 - Anton Seidl conducts Das Rheingold at the Metropolitan Opera, november 20 - Gustav Mahler premieres his Symphony No. E. W. Rogers m. A. E. Duran Deau Down Went McGinty w. m, joseph Flynn Four Little Curly Headed Coons by James W. Wheeler Little Annie Rooney w. m. Michael Nolan Oh, Promise Me w. Clement Scott m, harry Dacre Slide Kelly Slide w. m. John W. Kelly Take A Pair Of Sparkling Eyes w. W. S. Gilbert m. Arthur Sullivan The Thunderer m, john Philip Sousa The Washington Post m. John Philip Sousa Edward Elgar - Queen Marys Song Enrique Granados - Danzas españolas Augusta Holmès - Ode triomphale Hubert Parry Ode on Saint Cecilias Day Symphony No,3, in C major, The English Symphony No
6.
1890 in music
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Events in the year 1890 in music. June 21 - Richard Strauss conducts the premiere of his symphonic poem Death, September 9 - Edward Elgars concert overture Froissart is premiered at the Three Choirs Festival in Worcester George W. The New York Phonograph Company opens the first recording studio, the Commodore Song Little Pig Went To Market by J. Cheever Goodwin & Gustave Kerker Maggie Murphys Home w. Edward Harrigan m. David Braham Passing By w. Robert Herrick m. Edward C. Purcell Star of the East w. George Cooper m, amanda Kennedy Throw Him Down McCloskey w. m. John W. Kelly Youll Miss Lots of Fun When Youre Married by John Philip Sousa & Edward M. Taber Ferruccio Busoni - Violin Sonata No. 1, Opus 29 Ernest Chausson - Chansons de Shakespeare Antonín Dvořák - Requiem,3, Opus 33 Armas Järnefelt - Ouverture Lyrique Carl Nielsen - String Quartet No
7.
1891 in music
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February 23 - Fourteen-year-old cellist Pablo Casals gives a solo recital in Barcelona. May 5 - The Music Hall in New York City has its opening and first public performance. October 16 - The Chicago Symphony Orchestra gives its inaugural concert, the Peabody Mason Concerts are inaugurated with a performance by Ferruccio Busoni. The ensemble attached to the Glasgow Choral Union is formally recognised as the Scottish Orchestra, actions Speak Louder Than Words w. George Horncastle m. Felix McGlennon Dont mind, my Darling, paul Steinmark Hey, Rube. w. J. Sherrie Matthews m. Harry Bulger High School Cadets March m. John Philip Sousa Little Boy Blue w. Eugene Field m, ethelbert Nevin The Man Who Broke The Bank At Monte Carlo w. m. Fred Gilbert The Miners Dream Of Home w. m, will Godwin & Leo Dryden Molly O. w. m. Ethelbert Nevin The Pardon Came Too Late w. m, paul Dresser The Picture Thats Turned To The Wall w. m. Charles Graham Reuben And Cynthia w. m, dodworth, bandmaster and conductor Fanny Salvini-Donatelli, operatic soprano
8.
1892 in music
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April 28 - Jean Sibeliuss symphonic suite Kullervo is premiered. May 26 - A statue of Felix Mendelssohn, by Werner Stein, is dedicated at St. Thomas Church, removed by the Nazis in the 1930s, it was re-dedicated in 2008. September 24 - Opening of the Theater Unter den Linden, Berlin with Adolf Ferrons operetta Daphne and Gaul, september 26 - Antonín Dvořák arrives in the United States to take up his post as artistic director of the National Conservatory of Music. December 18 Anton Bruckners Symphony No.8 in C minor is premiered by the Vienna Philharmonic with Hans Richter conducting at the Stadttheater, - Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovskys ballet The Nutcracker and opera Iolanta are premiered in a double bill at the Imperial Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Russia. After the Ball becomes the first sheet music to sell over 1 million copies, erik Satie composes his first pieces in his own compositional system. Sergei Diaghilev graduates from the Saint Petersburg Conservatory, ferdinand Praegers controversial biography Wagner As I Knew Him is published posthumously in London. Charles K. Harris The Bowery w. Charles H. Hoyt m, percy Gaunt Daddy Wouldnt Buy Me a Bow Wow w. m. C. W. Murphy & William Letters Future Mrs. Awkins by Albert Chevalier The Holy City w. Frederick Edward Weatherly m. Stephen Adams La Sultana Turkish March m, Virginia Field Molly And I And The Baby w. m. Harry Kennedy My Old Dutch w. Albert Chevalier m. Charles Ingle My Sweethearts The Man In The Moon w. m, james Thornton The Sweetest Story Ever Told w. m. R. M. Stults The Virginia Skedaddle w. m. Monroe H. Rosenfeld Daddy Wouldnt Buy Me a Bow-wow - Dan W. Quinn The Bowery - Dan W.1 in F-sharp minor, Op.1 Max Reger Cello Sonata No. 1, Op.5 Twelve Waltz-Caprices, Op.9, four-hand piano 20 German Dances, Op.10, four-hand piano Alexander Scriabin - Piano Sonata No
9.
1882 in art
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Events from the year 1882 in art. April 9 – English poet and artist Dante Gabriel Rossetti dies aged 53 of Brights disease at Birchington-on-Sea in the care of his brother, march 1 – Seventh Impressionist exhibition in Paris opens at 251 rue Saint-Honoré. August – Vincent van Gogh starts painting in oil on the sea coast at Scheveningen, walter Langley moves to Newlyn on the coast of Cornwall, becoming the first resident artist of the Newlyn School. The gallery of botanical illustrations made and donated by Marianne North is opened at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, the Royal Manchester Institution transfers its galleries and collections to Manchester Corporation as Manchester Art Gallery. Todor Švrakić, Serbian painter January 14 – Timothy H
10.
1882 in architecture
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The year 1882 in architecture involved some significant architectural events and new buildings. June 29 - Russian Monument, Sofia, unveiled, september 8 - St. Marys Basilica, Bangalore, India, designed by Rev. L. E. Kleiner, consecrated. October 10 - Selwyn College, Cambridge, England, designed by Arthur Blomfield, december 25 - Hotel Roanoke, a luxury hotel in Roanoke, Virginia, United States, built by the Norfolk and Western Railway. Hotel Gaillard, Paris, designed by Jules Février, pro-Cathedral of St. Vincent de Paul in Tunis. Thomas Crane Public Library in Quincy, Massachusetts, designed by Henry Hobson Richardson, a six-story architectural folly, Elephant Bazaar, later renamed as Lucy the Elephant, constructed by James V. Lafferty in Margate City, New Jersey, United States. Royal Gold Medal - Baron von Ferstel
11.
1882 in science
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The year 1882 in science and technology involved some significant events, listed below. September – Great Comet of 1882 sighted, december 6 – Transit of Venus,1882. March 24 – Robert Koch announces his discovery of the responsible for tuberculosis. Italian physicist Luigi Palmieri detects helium on Earth for the first time through its D3 spectral line when he analyzes the lava of Mount Vesuvius, clarence Duttons Tertiary History of the Grand Cañon District is published by the United States Geological Survey. German mathematician Ferdinand von Lindemann publishes proof that π is a transcendental number, december – Swedish mathematician Gösta Mittag-Leffler establishes the journal Acta Mathematica. March 28 – Paul Carl Beiersdorf patents an adhesive bandage in Germany, vladimir Bekhterev publishes Provodiashchie puti mozga, beginning to note the role of the hippocampus in memory. By March – Étienne-Jules Marey invents a chronophotographic gun capable of photographing 12 consecutive frames per second on the same plate, april 29 – Werner von Siemens demonstrates his Electromote, the first form of trolleybus, in Berlin. June 6 – Henry W. Seeley patents the electric clothes iron in the United States, september 4 – Thomas Edison starts the worlds first commercial electrical power plant, lighting one square mile of lower Manhattan. American electrical engineer Schuyler Wheeler produces an electric fan, alfred P. Southwick publishes his proposals for use of the electric chair as an execution method in the United States. First International Polar Year, a scientific program, begins. The Chartered Institute of Patent Agents, the modern-day Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, is founded in the United Kingdom, copley Medal, Arthur Cayley Wollaston Medal for Geology, Franz Ritter von Hauer March 14 – Wacław Sierpiński, Polish mathematician. March 23 – Emmy Noether, German mathematician, March 30 – Melanie Klein, Viennese-born psychoanalyst. June 17 – Harold Gillies, New Zealand-born plastic surgeon, july 21 – Herbert E. Ives, American optical engineer. September 30 – Johannes Hans Geiger, inventor of the Geiger counter, october 5 – Robert Goddard, American rocket scientist. October 26 – Marietta Pallis, Indian-born Graeco-British ecologist, december 11 – Max Born, physicist and recipient of the Nobel Prize in physics in 1954. December 28 – Arthur Eddington, astrophysicist, january 11 – Theodor Schwann, physiologist. April 19 – Charles Darwin, geologist and naturalist, september 23 – Friedrich Woehler, chemist. October 27 – Christian Heinrich von Nagel, geometer, november 20 – Henry Draper, doctor, astronomer
12.
Richard Wagner
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Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is primarily known for his operas. Unlike most opera composers, Wagner wrote both the libretto and the music for each of his stage works and he described this vision in a series of essays published between 1849 and 1852. Wagner realised these ideas most fully in the first half of the four-opera cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen and his advances in musical language, such as extreme chromaticism and quickly shifting tonal centres, greatly influenced the development of classical music. His Tristan und Isolde is sometimes described as marking the start of modern music, Wagner had his own opera house built, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, which embodied many novel design features. The Ring and Parsifal were premiered here and his most important stage works continue to be performed at the annual Bayreuth Festival, until his final years, Wagners life was characterised by political exile, turbulent love affairs, poverty and repeated flight from his creditors. His controversial writings on music, drama and politics have attracted extensive comment, notably, since the late 20th century, where they express antisemitic sentiments. The effect of his ideas can be traced in many of the arts throughout the 20th century, his influence spread beyond composition into conducting, philosophy, literature, Richard Wagner was born to an ethnic German family in Leipzig, where his family lived at No. 3, the Brühl in the Jewish quarter and he was baptized at St. Thomas Church. He was the child of Carl Friedrich Wagner, who was a clerk in the Leipzig police service, and his wife, Johanna Rosine. Wagners father Carl died of typhus six months after Richards birth, afterwards his mother Johanna lived with Carls friend, the actor and playwright Ludwig Geyer. In August 1814 Johanna and Geyer probably married—although no documentation of this has found in the Leipzig church registers. She and her family moved to Geyers residence in Dresden, until he was fourteen, Wagner was known as Wilhelm Richard Geyer. He almost certainly thought that Geyer was his biological father, Geyers love of the theatre came to be shared by his stepson, and Wagner took part in his performances. In his autobiography Mein Leben Wagner recalled once playing the part of an angel, in late 1820, Wagner was enrolled at Pastor Wetzels school at Possendorf, near Dresden, where he received some piano instruction from his Latin teacher. He struggled to play a scale at the keyboard and preferred playing theatre overtures by ear. Following Geyers death in 1821, Richard was sent to the Kreuzschule, at the age of nine he was hugely impressed by the Gothic elements of Carl Maria von Webers opera Der Freischütz, which he saw Weber conduct. At this period Wagner entertained ambitions as a playwright and his first creative effort, listed in the Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis as WWV1, was a tragedy called Leubald. Begun when he was in school in 1826, the play was influenced by Shakespeare
13.
Parsifal
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Parsifal is an opera in three acts by German composer Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach, a 13th-century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival, Wagner first conceived the work in April 1857 but did not finish it until twenty-five years later. It was Wagners last completed opera and in composing it he took advantage of the acoustics of his Bayreuth Festspielhaus. Parsifal was first produced at the second Bayreuth Festival in 1882, the Bayreuth Festival maintained a monopoly on Parsifal productions until 1903, when the opera was performed at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Wagner described Parsifal not as an opera, but as Ein Bühnenweihfestspiel, at Bayreuth a tradition has arisen that there be no applause after the first act of the opera. Wagner first read von Eschenbachs poem Parzival while taking the waters at Marienbad in 1845, after encountering Arthur Schopenhauers writings in 1854, Wagner became interested in oriental philosophies, especially Buddhism. Out of this interest came Die Sieger a sketch Wagner wrote for an opera based on a story from the life of Buddha, the themes which were later explored in Parsifal of self-renouncing, reincarnation, compassion, and even exclusive social groups were first introduced in Die Sieger. The composer and his wife Minna had moved into the cottage on 28 April, full of this sentiment, I suddenly remembered that the day was Good Friday, and I called to mind the significance this omen had already once assumed for me when I was reading Wolframs Parzival. The work may indeed have been conceived at Wesendoncks cottage in the last week of April 1857, but Good Friday that year fell on 10 April, when the Wagners were still living at Zeltweg 13 in Zürich. If the prose sketch which Wagner mentions in Mein Leben was accurately dated, it could settle the issue once and for all, Wagner did not resume work on Parsifal for eight years, during which time he completed Tristan und Isolde and began Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg. But once again the work was dropped and set aside for another eleven, during this time most of Wagners creative energy was devoted to the Ring cycle, which was finally completed in 1874 and given its first full performance at Bayreuth in August 1876. Only when this task had been accomplished did Wagner find the time to concentrate on Parsifal. By 23 February 1877 he had completed a second and more extensive prose draft of the work, in September 1877 he began the music by making two complete drafts of the score from beginning to end. The first of these was made in pencil on three staves, one for the voices and two for the instruments, the second complete draft was made in ink and on at least three, but sometimes as many as five, staves. This draft was more detailed than the first and contained a considerable degree of instrumental elaboration. The Gesamtentwurf of act 3 was completed on 16 April 1879, the full score was the final stage in the compositional process. It was made in ink and consisted of a copy of the entire opera, with all the voices. The prelude of act 1 was scored in August 1878, the rest of the opera was scored between August 1879 and 13 January 1882
14.
Bayreuth Festspielhaus
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The Bayreuth Festspielhaus or Bayreuth Festival Theatre is an opera house north of Bayreuth, Germany, dedicated solely to the performance of operas by the 19th-century German composer Richard Wagner. It is the venue for the annual Bayreuth Festival, for which it was specifically conceived, Wagner adapted the design of the Festspielhaus from an unrealised project by Gottfried Semper for an opera house in Munich, without the architects permission, and supervised its construction. Ludwig II of Bavaria provided the funding for the construction. The foundation stone was laid on 22 May 1872, Wagners 59th birthday, the building was first opened for the premiere of the complete four-opera cycle of Der Ring des Nibelungen, from 13 to 17 August 1876. Only the entry façade exhibits the typical late-19th-century ornamentation, while the remainder of the exterior is modest, the interior is mainly wood and has a reverberation time of 1.55 seconds. The Festspielhaus is a building, in fact, it is the largest free standing timber structure ever erected. This is also known as continental seating, many contemporary movie theaters have adopted this style of seating, which gives every seat an equal and uninterrupted view of the stage. The capacity of the Festspielhaus is 1,925 and has a volume of 10,000 cubic metres, the Festspielhaus features a double proscenium, which gives the audience the illusion that the stage is further away than it actually is. The double proscenium and the orchestra pit create – in Wagners term – a mystic gulf between the audience and the stage. This gives a character to performances, and provides a physical reinforcement of the mythic content of most of Wagners operas. The architecture of Festpielhaus accomplished many of Wagners goals and ideals for the performances of his operas including an improvement on the sound, feel, and overall look of the production. The Festpielhaus was originally planned to open in 1873, but by that time Wagner had barely raised enough money to put up the walls of his theatre and he began to raise money by traveling and putting on concerts in various cities and countries throughout Europe. There are, however, some documents concerning the donation and aid to Wagner for that matter by the Sultan Abdülaziz of the Ottoman Empire, even after Ludwig began funding the project, Wagner had to continue putting on concerts to keep the building project financially afloat. The tours were very taxing on Wagners health and would eventually be a key element to his death later on in 1883, a significant feature of the Festspielhaus is its unusual orchestra pit. It is recessed under the stage and covered by a hood and this feature was a central preoccupation for Wagner, since it made the audience concentrate on the drama onstage, rather than the distracting motion of the conductor and musicians. The design also corrected the balance of volume between singers and orchestra, creating ideal acoustics for Wagners operas, which are the operas performed at the Festspielhaus. However, this arrangement has made it the most challenging to conduct in. Not only is the crowded pit enveloped in darkness, but the acoustic reverberation makes it difficult to synchronise the orchestra with the singers, conductors must therefore retrain themselves to ignore cues from singers
15.
Hermann Levi
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Hermann Levi was a German Jewish orchestral conductor. Levi was born in Giessen, Germany, the son of a rabbi and he was educated at Giessen and Mannheim, and came to Vinzenz Lachners notice. From 1862 to 1864 he was conductor of the German Opera in Rotterdam, then till 1872 at Karlsruhe, when he went to Munich, a post he held until 1896. Levi also taught at the Leipzig Conservatory, where his pupils included the conductor Emil Steinbach, levis name is indissolubly connected with the increased public appreciation of Wagners music. He was a friend of Wagner, when preparing for the inaugural Bayreuth Festival. I thank God daily for the privilege to be close to such a man and it is the most beautiful experience of my life. He conducted the first performance of Parsifal at Bayreuth in 1882 and he visited London in 1895, and died in Munich in 1900 and was interred in a Mausoleum in the grounds of his villa later that year in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. During his early years, Levi also worked as a composer and his first opus number was a piano concerto published in Paris, besides which he also wrote a violin sonata. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh
16.
Hermann Winkelmann
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Hermann Winkelmann was a German Heldentenor, notable for creating the title role in Richard Wagners Parsifal in 1882. Hermann Winkelmann was born in Braunschweig in 1849 and his father, Theodore Christian Ludewig Winkelmann, was the founder of Zeitter & Winkelmann, piano manufacturers, and he himself planned to continue his fathers trade. He went to Paris to study piano construction, but while there he decided to become a singer and he had his initial training in Paris, and later with Koch in Hanover. Winkelmann made his debut as Manrico in Verdis Il trovatore in the Court Theatre of Sondershausen in 1875 and he then sang in such places as Altenburg, Darmstadt, and Leipzig. He joined the Hamburg State Opera in 1878, the first role he created was that of Anton Rubinsteins Néron, in a German translation at the Theater an Dammtor in Hamburg on 1 October 1879. He was seen at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, during the Hamburg Operas London visit in 1882, under Hans Richter. He created Tristan in London, in fact, he and Richter required so many rehearsals of Tristan und Isolde that this caused the postponement of the premiere of Hubert Parrys latest symphony and he was also the first Walther to be heard in London. He also sang Lohengrin and Tannhäuser there, and participated in a performance of Beethovens Choral Symphony. In 1883 Winkelmann became a member of the Vienna Court Opera and he was the first Tristan in Vienna, and also the first Otello in that city, where he remained until 1906. In 1884 he appeared in the United States at Wagner festivals in New York, Chicago, Boston and Cincinnati and he toured with Emil Scaria and Amalie Materna, with whom he had performed at the Vienna State Opera. He later sang in concert, oratorio and lieder and he retired from the stage in 1907, and died at Mauer, Vienna, in 1912, aged 62. Recordings exist of his voice in his career, and he appears in The Record of Singing. His son Hans Winkelmann was also an opera singer, media related to Hermann Winkelmann at Wikimedia Commons Hermann Winkelmann Recording from the Archive of the Austrian Mediathek
17.
Engelbert Humperdinck (composer)
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Engelbert Humperdinck was a German composer, best known for his opera Hansel and Gretel. Humperdinck was born at Siegburg in the Rhine Province in 1854, after receiving piano lessons, he produced his first composition at the age of seven. His first attempts at works for the stage were two singspiele written when he was 13 and his parents disapproved of his plans for a career in music and encouraged him to study architecture. Nevertheless, he began taking classes under Ferdinand Hiller and Isidor Seiss at the Cologne Conservatory in 1872. In 1876, he won a scholarship enabled him to go to Munich. In 1879, he won the first Mendelssohn Award given by the Mendelssohn Stiftung in Berlin and he went to Italy and became acquainted with Richard Wagner in Naples. Wagner invited him to him in Bayreuth, and during 1880 and 1881 Humperdinck assisted in the production of Parsifal. He also served as tutor to Wagners son, Siegfried. After winning another prize, Humperdinck traveled through Italy, France, in 1887, he returned to Cologne. He was appointed professor at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt in 1890, by this time he had composed several works for chorus and a Humoreske for small orchestra, which enjoyed a vogue in Germany. Humperdincks reputation rests chiefly on his opera Hänsel und Gretel, which he began work on in Frankfurt in 1890 and he first composed four songs to accompany a puppet show his nieces were giving at home. By January 1891 he had working on a complete orchestration. The opera premiered in Weimar on 23 December 1893, under the baton of Richard Strauss, with its highly original synthesis of Wagnerian techniques and traditional German folk songs, Hansel and Gretel was an instant and overwhelming success. Hansel and Gretel has always been Humperdincks most popular work, in 1923 the Royal Opera House chose it for their first complete radio opera broadcast. Eight years later, it was the first opera transmitted live from the Metropolitan Opera, in 1896, Kaiser Wilhelm II made Humperdinck a Professor and he went to live at Boppard. Four years later, however, he went to Berlin where he was appointed head of a Meister-Schule of composition and his students included the Basque composer Andrés Isasi. Also in 1914, Humperdinck signed the Manifesto of the Ninety-Three, on 5 January 1912 Humperdinck suffered a severe stroke. Although he recovered, his hand remained permanently paralyzed
18.
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
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He was the first Russian composer whose music made a lasting impression internationally, bolstered by his appearances as a guest conductor in Europe and the United States. Tchaikovsky was honored in 1884, by Emperor Alexander III, although musically precocious, Tchaikovsky was educated for a career as a civil servant. There was scant opportunity for a career in Russia at that time. When an opportunity for such an education arose, he entered the nascent Saint Petersburg Conservatory, Tchaikovskys training set him on a path to reconcile what he had learned with the native musical practices to which he had been exposed from childhood. From this reconciliation, he forged a personal but unmistakably Russian style—a task that did not prove easy, Russian culture exhibited a split personality, with its native and adopted elements having drifted apart increasingly since the time of Peter the Great. This resulted in uncertainty among the intelligentsia about the countrys national identity—an ambiguity mirrored in Tchaikovskys career, despite his many popular successes, Tchaikovskys life was punctuated by personal crises and depression. His homosexuality, which he kept private, has also been considered a major factor. Tchaikovskys sudden death at the age of 53 is generally ascribed to cholera, there is a debate as to whether cholera was indeed the cause of death. While his music has remained popular among audiences, critical opinions were initially mixed, some Russians did not feel it was sufficiently representative of native musical values and expressed suspicion that Europeans accepted the music for its Western elements. Others dismissed Tchaikovskys music as lacking in elevated thought, according to longtime New York Times music critic Harold C, schonberg, and derided its formal workings as deficient because they did not stringently follow Western principles. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky was born in Votkinsk, a town in Vyatka Governorate in the Russian Empire. His father, Ilya Petrovich Tchaikovsky, had served as a lieutenant colonel and engineer in the Department of Mines and his grandfather, Pyotr Fedorovich Tchaikovsky, served first as a physicians assistant in the army and later as city governor of Glazov in Viatka. His great-grandfather, a Ukrainian Cossack named Fyodor Chaika, distinguished himself under Peter the Great at the Battle of Poltava in 1709, Tchaikovskys mother, Alexandra Andreyevna, was the second of Ilyas three wives,18 years her husbands junior and French on her fathers side. Both Ilya and Alexandra were trained in the arts, including music—a necessity as a posting to an area of Russia also meant a need for entertainment. Of Tchaikovskys six siblings, he was close to his sister Alexandra and twin brothers Anatoly, alexandras marriage to Lev Davydov would produce seven children and lend Tchaikovsky the only real family life he would know as an adult, especially during his years of wandering. One of those children, Vladimir Davydov, whom the composer would nickname Bob, in 1844, the family hired Fanny Dürbach, a 22-year-old French governess. Four-and-a-half-year-old Tchaikovsky was initially too young to study alongside his older brother Nikolai. By the age of six, he had become fluent in French, Dürbach saved much of Tchaikovskys work from this period, which includes his earliest known compositions, and became a source of several childhood anecdotes
19.
1812 Overture
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The Year 1812, festival overture in E♭ major, Op. The overture was conducted by Tchaikovsky himself in 1891 at the dedication of Carnegie Hall, the overture is best known for its climactic volley of cannon fire, ringing chimes, and brass fanfare finale. It has also become a common accompaniment to fireworks displays at outdoor concerts throughout the world, the 1812 Overture went on to become one of Tchaikovskys most popular works, along with his ballet scores to The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake. The 1812 Overture is scored for an orchestra that consists of the following, in some indoor performances, the part may be played on an organ. Military or marching bands also play this part, note, the brass band or its substitute is meant to play during the finale only. This passage includes a Russian folk dance, At the Gate, at the turning point of the invasion—the Battle of Borodino—the score calls for five Russian cannon shots to counter a fragment of La Marseillaise, the French national anthem. A musical chase scene appears, out of which emerges the anthem God Save the Tsar, thundering with eleven more precisely scored shots. The overture utilizes counterpoint to reinforce the appearance of the leitmotif that represents the Russian forces throughout the piece, a total of 16 cannon shots are written into the score of the Overture. The Holy Synod, aware that the Russian Imperial Army could field a force only a fraction of this size, inexperienced, the Russian people responded en masse, gathering in churches all across the Empire and offering their heartfelt prayers for divine intervention. Skirmishes follow, and the battle back and forth, but the French continue to advance and La Marseillaise becomes more prominent. The Tsar desperately appeals to the spirit of the Russian people in an eloquent plea to come forward, as the people in their villages consider his impassioned plea, we hear traditional Russian folk music. La Marseillaise returns in force with great sounds of battle as the French reach Moscow. The Russian people now begin to stream out of their villages and towns toward Moscow to the strains of folk music and, as they gather together. Now, La Marseillaise is heard in counterpoint to the music as the great armies clash on the plains west of Moscow. The French attempt to retreat, but their guns, stuck in the ground, are captured by the Russians. Finally, the guns are fired in celebration and church bells all across the land peal in grateful honor of their deliverance from their treacherous, a childrens or womens choir is added to the flute and cor anglais duet rendition of At the Gate, at my Gate. The orchestra and chorus unite in the climax with a triumphant version of O Lord, Save Thy People and God Save the Tsar. On September 7,1812, at Borodino,120 km west of Moscow, the Battle of Borodino saw casualties estimated as high as 100,000 and the French were masters of the field
20.
Cathedral of Christ the Saviour
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The Cathedral of Christ the Saviour is a cathedral in Moscow, Russia, on the northern bank of the Moskva River, a few blocks southwest of the Kremlin. With an overall height of 103 metres, it is the tallest Orthodox Christian church in the world, the current church is the second to stand on this site. The original church, built during the 19th century, took more than 40 years to build and it was destroyed in 1931 on the order of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. The demolition was supposed to make way for a colossal Palace of the Soviets to house the countrys legislature, construction started in 1937 but was halted in 1941 when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union during World War II. Its steel frame was disassembled the year, and the Palace was never built. Following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the current church was rebuilt on the site during 1995–2000, the original church was the scene of the 1882 world premiere of the 1812 Overture composed by Tchaikovsky, which became internationally famous. It took some time for work on the cathedral to get started. The first finished architectural project, by Aleksandr Lavrentyevich Vitberg, was endorsed by the Tsar in 1817 and it was a flamboyant Neoclassical design full of Freemasonic symbolism. Construction work was begun on the Sparrow Hills, the highest point in Moscow, in the meantime Alexander I was succeeded by his brother Nicholas I. Profoundly Orthodox and patriotic, the new Tsar disliked the Neoclassicism and he commissioned his favorite architect Konstantin Thon to create a new design, taking as his model Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, Turkey. Thons Russian Revival design was approved in 1832, a new site closer to the Moscow Kremlin was chosen by the Tsar in 1837. A convent and church on the site had to be relocated, the cathedral took many decades to build, the scaffolding was not taken down until 1860. Its painting was overseen by Evgraf Sorokin, and thereafter some of the best Russian painters continued to embellish the interior for another twenty years, the cathedral was consecrated on 26 May 1883, the day before Alexander III was crowned. Although Tchaikovskys 1812 Overture was written with the completion in mind. The inner sanctum of the church was ringed by a gallery, its walls inlaid with rare sorts of marble, granite. The ground floor of the gallery was a dedicated to the Russian victory over Napoleon. The walls displayed more than 1,000 square metres of Carrara bianca marble plaques listing major commanders, regiments, the second floor of the gallery was occupied by church choirs. The giant dome of the cathedral was gilded using the new technique of electroplating, replacing the older
21.
Moscow
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Moscow is the capital and most populous city of Russia, with 13.2 million residents within the city limits and 17.8 million within the urban area. Moscow has the status of a Russian federal city, Moscow is a major political, economic, cultural, and scientific center of Russia and Eastern Europe, as well as the largest city entirely on the European continent. Moscow is the northernmost and coldest megacity and metropolis on Earth and it is home to the Ostankino Tower, the tallest free standing structure in Europe, the Federation Tower, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and the Moscow International Business Center. Moscow is situated on the Moskva River in the Central Federal District of European Russia, the city is well known for its architecture, particularly its historic buildings such as Saint Basils Cathedral with its brightly colored domes. Moscow is the seat of power of the Government of Russia, being the site of the Moscow Kremlin, the Moscow Kremlin and Red Square are also one of several World Heritage Sites in the city. Both chambers of the Russian parliament also sit in the city and it is recognized as one of the citys landmarks due to the rich architecture of its 200 stations. In old Russian the word also meant a church administrative district. The demonym for a Moscow resident is москвич for male or москвичка for female, the name of the city is thought to be derived from the name of the Moskva River. There have been proposed several theories of the origin of the name of the river and its cognates include Russian, музга, muzga pool, puddle, Lithuanian, mazgoti and Latvian, mazgāt to wash, Sanskrit, majjati to drown, Latin, mergō to dip, immerse. There exist as well similar place names in Poland like Mozgawa, the original Old Russian form of the name is reconstructed as *Москы, *Mosky, hence it was one of a few Slavic ū-stem nouns. From the latter forms came the modern Russian name Москва, Moskva, in a similar manner the Latin name Moscovia has been formed, later it became a colloquial name for Russia used in Western Europe in the 16th–17th centuries. From it as well came English Muscovy, various other theories, having little or no scientific ground, are now largely rejected by contemporary linguists. The surface similarity of the name Russia with Rosh, an obscure biblical tribe or country, the oldest evidence of humans on the territory of Moscow dates from the Neolithic. Within the modern bounds of the city other late evidence was discovered, on the territory of the Kremlin, Sparrow Hills, Setun River and Kuntsevskiy forest park, etc. The earliest East Slavic tribes recorded as having expanded to the upper Volga in the 9th to 10th centuries are the Vyatichi and Krivichi, the Moskva River was incorporated as part of Rostov-Suzdal into the Kievan Rus in the 11th century. By AD1100, a settlement had appeared on the mouth of the Neglinnaya River. The first known reference to Moscow dates from 1147 as a place of Yuri Dolgoruky. At the time it was a town on the western border of Vladimir-Suzdal Principality
22.
Gustav Mahler
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Gustav Mahler was an Austrian late-Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th century Austro-German tradition and the modernism of the early 20th century, born in Bohemia as a German-speaking Jew of humble circumstances, Mahler displayed his musical gifts at an early age. During his ten years in Vienna, Mahler—who had converted to Catholicism to secure the regular opposition. Late in his life he was director of New Yorks Metropolitan Opera. Mahlers œuvre is relatively limited, for much of his composing was necessarily a part-time activity while he earned his living as a conductor. Some of Mahlers immediate musical successors included the composers of the Second Viennese School, notably Arnold Schoenberg, Alban Berg, dmitri Shostakovich and Benjamin Britten are among later 20th-century composers who admired and were influenced by Mahler. The International Gustav Mahler Institute was established in 1955 to honour the composers life, the Mahler family came from eastern Bohemia and were of humble circumstances, the composers grandmother had been a street pedlar. Bohemia was then part of the Austrian Empire, the Mahler family belonged to a German-speaking minority among Bohemians, from this background the future composer developed early on a permanent sense of exile, always an intruder, never welcomed. Bernhard Mahler, the son and the composers father, elevated himself to the ranks of the petite bourgeoisie by becoming a coachman. He bought a modest house in the village of Kalischt, halfway between Prague in Bohemia and Brno in Moravia, in the center of todays Czech Republic. Bernhards wife, Marie, gave birth to the first of the couples 14 children, a son Isidor, two years later, on 7 July 1860, their second son, Gustav, was born. In December 1860, Bernhard Mahler moved with his wife and infant son, Gustav, to the town of Iglau,25 km to the south-east, the family grew rapidly, but of the 12 children born to the family in Iglau only six survived infancy. All of these elements would later contribute to his musical vocabulary. When he was four years old, Gustav discovered his grandparents piano and he developed his performing skills sufficiently to be considered a local Wunderkind and gave his first public performance at the town theatre when he was ten years old. Although Gustav loved making music, his reports from the Iglau Gymnasium portrayed him as absent-minded. In 1871, in the hope of improving the results, his father sent him to the New Town Gymnasium in Prague. In 1874 he suffered a personal loss when his younger brother Ernst died after a long illness. Mahler sought to express his feelings in music, with the help of a friend, Josef Steiner, he work on an opera
23.
Olomouc
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Olomouc is a city in Moravia, in the east of the Czech Republic. Located on the Morava River, the city is the ecclesiastical metropolis, today it is an administrative centre of the Olomouc Region and sixth largest city in the Czech Republic. The city has about 100,154 residents, and its urban zone has a population of about 480,000 people. Olomouc is said to occupy the site of a Roman fort founded in the imperial period, during the 6th century, Slavs migrated into the area. As early as the 7th century, a centre of power developed in the present-day quarter of Povel. Around 810 the local Slavonic ruler was defeated by troops of Great Moravian rulers, a new centre, where the Great Moravian governor resided, developed at the gord at Předhradí, a quarter of the inner city. This settlement survived the defeat of the Great Moravia and gradually became the capital of the province of Moravia, the bishopric of Olomouc was founded in 1063. Centuries later in 1777, it was raised to the rank of an archbishopric, the bishopric was moved from the church of St. Peter to the church of Saint Wenceslas in 1141 under bishop Jindřich Zdík. The bishops palace was built in the Romanesque architectural style, the bishopric acquired large tracts of land, especially in northern Moravia, and was one of the richest in the area. Olomouc became one of the most important settlements in Moravia and a seat of the Přemyslid government, in 1306 King Wenceslas III stopped here on his way to Poland. He was going to fight Władysław I the Elbow-high to claim his rights to the Polish crown and was assassinated, with his death, the whole Přemyslid dynasty died out. The city was founded in the mid-13th century and became one of the most important trade. In the Middle Ages, it was the biggest town in Moravia, Olomouc finally lost after the Swedes took the city and held it for eight years. In 1235, the Mongols launched an invasion of Europe, after the Battle of Legnica in Poland, the Mongols carried their raids into Moravia, but were defensively defeated at the fortified town of Olomouc. The Mongols subsequently invaded and defeated Hungary, in 1454 the city expelled its Jewish population as part of a wave of anti-Semitism, also seen in Spain and Portugal. The second half of the 15th century is considered the start of Olomoucs golden age and it hosted several royal meetings, and Matthias Corvinus was elected here as King of Bohemia by the estates in 1469. In 1479 two kings of Bohemia met here and concluded an agreement for splitting the country, participating in the Protestant Reformation, Moravia became mostly Protestant. During the Thirty Years War, in 1640 Olomouc was occupied by the Swedes for eight years and they left the city in ruins, and it became second to Brno
24.
Richard Strauss
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Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. Strauss was also a prominent conductor in Western Europe and the Americas, enjoying quasi-celebrity status as his compositions became standards of orchestral and operatic repertoire. Strauss was born on 11 June 1864 in Munich, the son of Josephine and Franz Strauss, in his youth, he received a thorough musical education from his father. He wrote his first composition at the age of six and continued to write music almost until his death, during his boyhood Strauss attended orchestra rehearsals of the Munich Court Orchestra, where he received private instruction in music theory and orchestration from an assistant conductor. In 1872 he started receiving violin instruction at the Royal School of Music from Benno Walter, in 1874 Strauss heard his first Wagner operas, Lohengrin and Tannhäuser. The influence of Wagners music on Strausss style was to be profound, but at first his musically conservative father forbade him to study it. Indeed, in the Strauss household, the music of Richard Wagner was viewed with deep suspicion, in later life, Strauss said that he deeply regretted the conservative hostility to Wagners progressive works. Nevertheless, Strausss father undoubtedly had a influence on his sons developing taste. In early 1882 in Vienna he gave the first performance of his Violin Concerto in D minor, playing a piano reduction of the part himself. The same year he entered Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, where he studied philosophy and art history, Strauss learned the art of conducting by observing Bülow in rehearsal. Bülow was very fond of the man and decided that Strauss should be his successor as conductor of the Meiningen Court Orchestra when Bülow resigned in 1885. Strausss compositions at time were indebted to the style of Robert Schumann or Felix Mendelssohn. 1, Op.11, is representative of this period and is a staple of modern horn repertoire, Strauss married soprano Pauline de Ahna on 10 September 1894. She was famous for being irascible, garrulous, eccentric and outspoken, throughout his life, from his earliest songs to the final Four Last Songs of 1948, he preferred the soprano voice to all others, and all his operas contain important soprano roles. The Strausses had one son, Franz, in 1897, Franz married Alice von Grab-Hermannswörth, daughter of a Jewish industrialist, in a Roman Catholic ceremony in 1924. Franz and Alice had two sons, Richard and Christian, some of Strausss first compositions were solo instrumental and chamber works. After 1890 Strauss composed very infrequently for chamber groups, his energies being almost completely absorbed with large-scale orchestral works and operas. Four of his pieces are actually arrangements of portions of his operas, including the Daphne-Etude for solo violin and the String Sextet
25.
Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
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Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich is a public research university located in Munich, Germany. The University of Munich is among Germanys oldest universities, in 1802, the university was officially named Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität by King Maximilian I of Bavaria in his as well as the universitys original founders honour. Among these were Wilhelm Röntgen, Max Planck, Werner Heisenberg, Otto Hahn, pope Benedict XVI was also a student and professor at the university. The LMU has recently been conferred the title of university under the German Universities Excellence Initiative. LMU is currently the second-largest university in Germany in terms of student population, in the semester of 2015/2016. Of these,8,671 were freshmen while international students totalled 7,812 or almost 15% of the student population, the university was founded with papal approval in 1472 as the University of Ingolstadt, with faculties of philosophy, medicine, jurisprudence and theology. Its first rector was Christopher Mendel of Steinfels, who became bishop of Chiemsee. In the period of German humanism, the universitys academics included names such as Conrad Celtes, the theologian Johann Eck also taught at the university. From 1549 to 1773, the university was influenced by the Jesuits, the Jesuit Petrus Canisius served as rector of the university. At the end of the 18th century, the university was influenced by the Enlightenment, in 1800, the Prince-Elector Maximilianv IV Joseph moved the university to Landshut, due to French aggression that threatened Ingolstadt during the Napoleonic Wars. In 1802, the university was renamed the Ludwig Maximilian University in honour of its two founders, Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria and Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria. The Minister of Education, Maximilian von Montgelas, initiated a number of reforms sought to modernize the rather conservative. In 1826, it was moved to Munich, the capital of the Kingdom of Bavaria, the university was situated in the Old Academy until a new building in the Ludwigstraße was completed. The locals were critical of the number of Protestant professors Maximilian. They were dubbed the Nordlichter and especially physician Johann Nepomuk von Ringseis was quite angry about them, in the second half of the 19th century, the university rose to great prominence in the European scientific community, attracting many of the worlds leading scientists. It was also a period of great expansion, from 1903, women were allowed to study at Bavarian universities, and by 1918, the female proportion of students at LMU had reached 18%. In 1918, Adele Hartmann became the first woman in Germany to earn the Habilitation, during the Third Reich, academic freedom was severely curtailed. In 1943 the White Rose group of anti-Nazi students conducted their campaign of opposition to the National Socialists at this university, the university has continued to be one of the leading universities of West Germany during the Cold War and in the post-reunification era
26.
Iolanthe
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Iolanthe, or, The Peer and the Peri is a comic opera with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It is one of the Savoy operas and is the seventh of fourteen operatic collaborations by Gilbert, in the opera, the fairy Iolanthe has been banished from fairyland because she married a mortal, this is forbidden by fairy law. Her son, Strephon, is an Arcadian shepherd who wants to marry Phyllis, All the members of the House of Peers also want to marry Phyllis. When Phyllis sees Strephon hugging a young woman, she assumes the worst, the opera satirises many aspects of British government, law and society. Iolanthe opened in London on 25 November 1882, at the Savoy Theatre to a reception, and ran for 398 performances. The opera opened simultaneously in New York, and touring companies were sent around the UK, the first Australasian touring production followed in 1885, and the opera was revived in London beginning in 1901. The DOyly Carte Opera Company toured the opera nearly continuously in repertory from 1891 until 1982, numerous other professional and amateur productions have been given of this enduring work, and various other recordings have been issued. W. S. Gilbert presented his idea for a new opera to Arthur Sullivan in October 1881. Gilberts earliest ideas for the story of Iolanthe originated in his Bab Ballad, The Fairy Curate, Once a fairy / Light, the fairy marries a prosaic attorney and bears him a son. After her son grows up, she visits him on Earth, Sullivan found the premise funny, and Gilbert set to work on fleshing out the story. By December, he had some lyrics for Sullivan to look at. During these months, Sullivan took a trip to Egypt, Italy. Upon his return to London in April 1882, he moved into a new home, in May, by the end of July 1882, Gilbert had supplied Sullivan with lyrics to several of the songs, and Sullivan began work setting them to music. Over the next two months, Sullivan met Gilbert to discuss the libretto as more lyrics were completed, Music rehearsals began in September, and staging began in October, scheduled around performances of Gilbert and Sullivans previous opera, Patience, which had transferred to the Savoy Theatre. Sullivan was still composing more numbers for the opera until 20 October, uncharacteristically, Sullivan composed the overture himself, instead of assigning it to an assistant. Two casts rehearsed simultaneously, as the opera was to open on the night in London and New York City. Gilbert had targeted the aristocracy and political officials for satiric treatment in earlier works, in this opera, the House of Lords is lampooned as a bastion of the ineffective, privileged and dim-witted, whose only qualification to govern is noble birth. The political party system, the law and other institutions also come in for a dose of satire, in fact, Gilbert later refused to allow quotes from the piece to be used as part of the campaign to diminish the powers of the House of Lords
27.
W. S. Gilbert
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Sir William Schwenck Gilbert was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for the fourteen comic operas produced in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan. The most famous of these include H. M. S, Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and one of the most frequently performed works in the history of musical theatre, The Mikado. The popularity of works was supported for over a century by year-round performances of them, in Britain and abroad, by the repertory company that they founded. Eleven of the Savoy operas continue to be performed in the English-speaking world and beyond by opera companies, repertory companies, schools. Lines from these works have become part of the English language, such as short, sharp shock, What, and Let the punishment fit the crime. Gilberts creative output included over 75 plays and libretti, and numerous stories, poems and lyrics. He also began to write burlesques and his first comic plays, developing a unique absurdist and he also developed a realistic method of stage direction and a reputation as a strict theatre director. M. S. Pinafore and The Pirates of Penzance, in the 1880s, Gilbert focused on the Savoy operas, including Patience, Iolanthe, The Mikado, The Yeomen of the Guard and The Gondoliers. Gilbert won the lawsuit, but the argument caused hurt feelings among the partnership. Although Gilbert and Sullivan were persuaded to collaborate on two last operas, they were not as successful as the previous ones, in later years, Gilbert wrote several plays, and a few operas with other collaborators. He retired, with his wife and ward, Nancy McIntosh, to a country estate, Gilbert died of a heart attack while attempting to rescue a young woman to whom he was giving a swimming lesson in the lake at his home. Gilbert was born at 17 Southampton Street, Strand, London and his father, also named William, was briefly a naval surgeon, who later became a writer of novels and short stories, some of which were illustrated by his son. Gilberts mother was the former Anne Mary Bye Morris, the daughter of Thomas Morris, Gilberts parents were distant and stern, and he did not have a particularly close relationship with either of them. They quarrelled increasingly, and following the break-up of their marriage in 1876, his relationships with them, especially his mother, Gilbert was nicknamed Bab as a baby, and then Schwenck, after his fathers godparents. As a child, Gilbert travelled to Italy in 1838 and then France for two years with his parents, who returned to settle in London in 1847. He then attended Kings College London, graduating in 1856, instead he joined the Civil Service, he was an assistant clerk in the Privy Council Office for four years and hated it. In 1859 he joined the Militia, a volunteer force formed for the defence of Britain, with which he served until 1878. In 1863 he received a bequest of £300 that he used to leave the service and take up a brief career as a barrister
28.
Arthur Sullivan
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Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. The best known of his hymns and songs include Onward Christian Soldiers, the son of a military bandmaster, Sullivan composed his first anthem at age eight. He was selected as soloist in the choir of the Chapel Royal. His graduation piece was a suite of music to Shakespeares The Tempest. When it was performed in London in 1862, it was an immediate sensation, Sullivan began his composing career with a series of ambitious works, interspersed with hymns, parlour ballads and other light pieces. Among his best received early pieces were a ballet, LÎle Enchantée, from 1861 to 1872, he supplemented his income by working as a church organist and music teacher, and writing hymns and songs. In 1866, Sullivan composed a comic opera, Cox and Box. His most successful work, the Overture di Ballo, premiered in 1870. Sullivans talent and native charm earned him friends in musical and social circles, including Queen Victorias son Alfred. In 1871, Sullivan wrote his first opera with W. S. Gilbert, Sullivan then produced his Festival Te Deum, an oratorio, The Light of the World, and incidental music for West End productions of several Shakespeare plays. He also had conducting and academic appointments, in 1875, producer Richard DOyly Carte reunited Gilbert and Sullivan to create a one-act piece, Trial by Jury, which was a surprise hit. Pinafore became a sensation, as did The Pirates of Penzance and Patience. Sullivan never married but had a love affair with an American socialite. After the death of his brother Fred in 1877, Sullivan supported Freds large family financially for the rest of his life, effectively adopting his nephew Bertie. Carte used his profits from the Gilbert and Sullivan partnership to build the Savoy Theatre in 1881, later hits in the series were Iolanthe, The Mikado, The Yeomen of the Guard and The Gondoliers. Sullivan was knighted for his contributions to music in 1883 and his infrequent serious pieces during the 1880s included two cantatas, The Martyr of Antioch and The Golden Legend, his most popular choral work. Sullivans only serious opera, Ivanhoe, though successful in 1891, was little-heard after that
