Edward German

Sir Edward German (17 February 1862 – 11 November 1936) was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur Sullivan in the field of English comic opera.

Life and career

German was born German Edward Jones in Whitchurch, Shropshire, the second of five children. The son of a church organist, he began to study piano and organ with his father at the age of five. At the age of six, he formed a boys' concert band to perform locally, teaching himself the violin, composition, and music arrangement in the process. He later sang alto in the church choir. In his mid-teens, his parents attempted to apprentice him to a shipbuilding firm, as they believed their son had an aptitude for engineering. His studies had been delayed by a serious illness, however, and so he was eventually turned away for being too old to begin an apprenticeship. In his teens he formed a second band, a quintette, including himself on the violin, his sister on the pianoforte or the bass and three friends of the family, for which German prepared the orchestrations. He also did some amateur acting.

The Royal Academy

At the age of 18, following private study from Walter Hay, German entered the Royal Academy of Music, where he eventually changed his name to J. E. German (and later simply Edward German) to avoid confusion with another student. He continued his studies of violin and organ, also beginning a more formal study of composition under Ebenezer Prout.

In 1884, the Academy appointed German a sub-professor of the violin. During his time as an instructor, he was well regarded and won several medals and prizes such as the Tubbs Bow for his skill with the violin, yet his compositions began to draw more attention. In 1885, he won the Charles Lucas Medal for his "Te Deum", leading him to change his focus from violin to composition. He soon wrote a light opera, "The Two Poets", in 1886 and his first symphony in 1887, both of which the Academy performed.

During his time at the Royal Academy, German taught at Wimbledon School and played the violin in theater orchestras, including the Savoy Theatre. He also became engaged to Ethel Mary Boyce (1863–1936) from Chertsey, Surrey, who was also a promising composition student at the Academy. She won the Lady Goldsmid scholarship in 1885, the Sterndale Bennett Prize in 1886 and the Charles Lucas Medal in 1889. Though the engagement was broken off, they remained friends. [ [http://fp.cotswan.plus.com/EthelMBoyce.htm Information about Ethel Mary Boyce] ]

The theatre

In 1888, German was appointed conductor and Musical Director of the Globe Theatre in London. Here, he began providing incidental music for productions, starting with Richard Mansfield's "Richard III" in 1889. This music was well received, and the overture soon became popular in concert halls.

This success eventually led to other incidental music commissions that gained success. In 1892, German wrote well-received music for a production of Henry Irving's version of "Henry VIII", where he incorporated elements of traditional old English dance. Within a year, sheet music of the dance numbers from the play's score had already sold thirty thousand copies. German continued writing music for plays including "The Tempter" in 1893, "Romeo and Juliet" in 1895, and Anthony Hope's "English Nell" (later known as "Nell Gwynn") in 1900, starring Marie Tempest.

German continued writing music for the concert hall, sometimes adapting music from his theatrical scores. His "Gypsy Suite" met with success similar to that of his overture to "Richard III". He also wrote a number of successful drawing-room songs and solo piano pieces during this time.

The success of his theatrical and concert hall music led to German receiving commissions from orchestral music festivals, including his second symphony.

Comic operas

Though German had little experience with opera or choral music, he was invited to finish Arthur Sullivan's "The Emerald Isle" upon the death of Sullivan in 1900. He accepted, giving up a violin concerto commission for the Leeds Festival to meet the deadlines. The success of the opera led him to write another comic opera in 1902, "Merrie England", with Basil Hood, the librettist for "The Emerald Isle". This was also a success, leading to yet another collaboration between German and Hood the following year, "A Princess of Kensington". This opera was unsuccessful, and German turned to other endeavors, composing music to several Rudyard Kipling texts, including the "Just So Song Book" in 1903. He also received a steady flow of orchestral commissions, leading to works such as his "Welsh Rhapsody" in 1904.

German returned to writing comic operas, achieving another success with "Tom Jones" in 1907. He collaborated with W. S. Gilbert on his final (and unsuccessful) opera, "Fallen Fairies", in 1909. With German's agreement, Gilbert cast Nancy McIntosh as the Fairy Queen, Selene in "Fallen Fairies". Critics found her performance weak. Shortly after the opening, acting at the request of the producing syndicate he had gathered, C. H. Workman replaced McIntosh with Amy Evans and asked for restoration of a song that Gilbert had cut during rehearsals. Gilbert was outraged and threatened to sue, but German, habitually preferring to avoid legal battles, declined to join him.

Later years

In the wake of the failure of "Fallen Fairies", German effectively ended his career as a composer of new works, only returning to composition on a few rare occasions, including a march and hymn for the coronation of George V in 1911, his "Theme and Six Diversions" in 1919, and his final major work, "The Willow Song" in 1922. Correspondence shows that German felt uncomfortable with changing musical styles. In 1912, actor-manager Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree proposed another collaboration between Hood and German to provide a musical production based on the life of Sir Francis Drake, but German declined the commission saying that its Elizabethan setting would merely result in recovering old ground already explored in "Merrie England". He also, on occasion, wrote new part-songs and vocal solos, and in 1911 he became the first composer to write music for a British film. He was commissioned for 50 guineas to write 16 bars of music for the coronation scene in a "Henry VIII" motion picture.. [imdb title|0001658|Henry VIII (1911)]

Though he had ceased composing new works regularly, German, a perfectionist, continually revised his works and produced new arrangements for publication. He also continued to be a highly sought-after conductor, accepting many conducting engagements until he suffered an eye condition that left him blind in his right eye in 1928. During this time, he was also one of the first composers to conduct his own music for recording, producing full recordings of "Merrie England" and "Theme and Six Diversions".

Edward German was knighted in 1928 and became one of the few recipients of the Royal Philharmonic Society's gold medal in 1934. He died in London at the age of 74 and is buried in the Whitchurch, Shropshire cemetery, where the grave is signposted.

Works

Operas

*"The Two Poets" (1886), later revised as "The Rival Poets" (1901)
*"The Emerald Isle" (1901; completion of the opera left unfinished by Sullivan at his death)
*"Merrie England" (1902)
*"A Princess of Kensington" (1903)
*"Tom Jones" (1907)
*"Fallen Fairies" (1909)

Incidental music to plays

*"Richard III" (1889)
*"Henry VIII" (1892)
*"The Tempter" (1893)
*"Romeo and Juliet" (1893)
*"Michael and his Lost Angel" (1896)
*"As You Like It" (1896)
*"Much Ado about Nothing" (1898)
*"English Nell" (1900), later known as "Nell Gwyn"
*"The Conqueror" (1905)

Orchestral works

*"The Guitar" (1883)
*"Bolero" (1883)
*"Symphony No 1 in E minor" (1887)
*"March Solennelle" (1891)
*"On German Airs" (1891)
*"Gipsy Suite" (1892)
*"Symphony No 2 ("Norwich") in A minor" (1893)
*"Symphonic Suite in D minor ("Leeds")" (1895)
*"In Commemoration" (1897)
*"Hamlet" (1897)
*"The Seasons" (1899)
*"Welsh Rhapsody" (1904)
*"Coronation March and Hymn" (1911)
*"The Irish Guards" (1918)
*"Theme and Six Diversions" (1919)
*"The Willow Song" (1922)
*"Cloverley Suite" (1934)

Choral works and part songs

*"Te Deum in F" (1885)
*"The Chase" (1886)
*"Antigone" (c 1887)
*"O Lovely May" (1894)
*"Who is Sylvia?" (1894)
*"Banks of the Bann" (1899)
*"Just So Songs" (originally written for solo voice in 1903, part-song arrangements by the composer from 1916-1933)
*"Canada Patriotic Hymn" (1904)
*"O Peaceful Night" (1904)
*"Introit: Bread of Heaven" (1908)
*"Grace: Non Nobis Domine" (1911)
*"Pure as the Air" (1911)
*"The Three Knights" (1911)
*"Beauteous Morn" (1912)
*"In Praise of Neptune" (1912)
*"My Bonnie Lass" (1912)
*"Sleeping" (1912)
*"Sweet Day So Cool" (1912)
*"Morning Hymn" (1912)
*"Intercessory Hymn: Father Omnipotent" (1915)
*"London Town" (1920)

Piano works

*"Suite for Pianoforte": "Impromptu", "Valse Caprice", "Bourrêe", "Elegy", "Mazurka", "Tarantella" (1889)
*"Four Pianoforte Duets" (1890)
*"Graceful Dance in F" (1891)
*"Polish Dance" (1891)
*"Valse in A Flat" (1891)
*"Album Leaf" (1892)
*"Intermezzo in A Minor" (1892)
*"Valsette pour Piano" (1892)
*"Minuet in G" (1893)
*"Second Impromptu" (1894)
*"Concert Study in A Flat" (1894)
*"Melody in E Flat" (1895)
*"Suite for Four Hands" (1896)
*"Columbine" Air de Ballet" (1898)
*"Abendlied "Evensong" (1900)
*"Melody in E. "The Queen's Carol" (1905)

Violin works

*"Nocturne" (1882)
*"Chanson d'Amour" (1880s)
*"Barcarolle" (1880s)
*"Album Leaf" (1880s)
*"Sprites' Dance" (1880s)
*"Bolero" (1883)
*"Scotch Sketch for 2 Violins and Pianoforte" (1890)
*"Moto Perpetuo Pour Violin Accompagnement de Piano" (1890)
*"Souvenir for Violin and Pianoforte" (1896)
*"Song without Words" (1898)
*"Three Sketches": "Valsette", "Souvenir", "Bolero" (1897)

Woodwind works, chamber music and organ works

*"Saltarelle" (for woodwinds) (1889)
*"Pastorale and Bourrée" (for woodwinds) (1891)
*"Suite: Three Pieces" (for woodwinds) (1892)
*"Andante and Tarantella" (for woodwinds) (1892)
*"Romance" (for woodwinds) (1892)
*"Intermezzo" (for woodwinds) (1894)
*"Early One Morning" (for woodwinds) (1900)
*"Trio in D for Violin, Violincello, and Pianoforte" (c. 1883)
*"Serenade" (for chamber ensemble) (1890's)
*"Andante in B Flat" (for organ) (1880s)

Notes

References

*cite journal | last=Dunhill | first=T.F. | title=Edward German 1862-1936 | journal=The Musical Times | volume=lxxvii | year=1936 | pages=1073–7
*NewGrove2001|German, Edward|David Russell Hulme|?|703-705
*
*cite book|last=Rees|first=Brian|year=1986|title=A Musical Peacemaker: The Life and Work of Sir Edward German|location=Abbotsbrook|publisher=Kensal Press|isbn=0946041490
*cite book|last=Scott|first=William Herbert|year=1932|title=Edward German: An Intimate Biography|location=London|publisher=Cecil Palmer

External links

*imdb name|0314521
* [http://math.boisestate.edu/gas/whowaswho/G/GermanEdward.htm Edward German] at Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte
* [http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2001/Dec01/Edward_German.htm "Edward German: Serious or Light?"] by Philip Scowcroft
* [http://www.hometown.aol.com/edwardgermandisc/index.html The Edward German Discography]
* [http://www.naxos.com/mainsite/blurbs_reviews.asp?catNum=223419&filetype=About%20this%20Recording&language=English Detailed biographical sketch]
* [http://www.edwardgerman2006.org.uk/ Sir Edward German Music Festival]
* [http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/british/musicals.html Listing of English musicals with links]
* [http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/other_gilbert/fallen_fairies/article.html "The Controversy Surrounding Gilbert's Last Opera"] by Robert Morrison
* [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0027-4666%2819040101%2945%3A731%3C20%3AEGABS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-U&size=LARGE 1904 Article on German in "The Musical Times".]
* [http://www.yorkgate.ram.ac.uk/emuweb/pages/ram/PartyDisplay.php?irn=1055&QueryPage=%2Femuweb%2Fpages%2Fram%2FQuery.php Sir Edward German] 's profile at the Royal Academy of Music's York Gate Collections