- Howard Talbot
Richard Lansdale Munkittrick, better known as Howard Talbot (9 March 1865 - 12 September 1928), was an American-born, English-raised conductor and composer of Irish descent. He was best known for writing the music to several hit
Edwardian musical comedies , including "A Chinese Honeymoon ", "The Arcadians" and "The Boy", as well as a number of other successful British musicals during the first two decades of the 20th century.Life and career
Of Irish descent, Talbot was born in America in
Yonkers, New York but moved to London at the age of 4. His parents were Alexander Munkittrick and his wife, Lillie. Originally planning on entering the medical profession, he studied atKing's College, London but switched to music and pursued a musical education at theRoyal College of Music ."The Times " obituary, 13 September 1928, p. 7] There he studied under SirHubert Parry , SirFrederick Bridge and SirWalter Parratt .Standing, Percy Cross. [http://www.gabrielleray.150m.com/ArchivePressText2003/20030322.html "Chiefs of the Orchestras",] "The Crown", London, 24 May 1906, pp. 60–61, reprinted at Footlight notes, press clippings for the week ending 22 March 2003] For some years, although Talbot had had works staged by amateurs inHunstanton ,Oxford andKing's Lynn , professionally he only succeeded in having a few of his individual songs performed in other people's productions. In 1895, Talbot married an actress known as Amy Clare Betts (birthname Ada Bellamy; 1871?–1895), but his bride died only eight months after their wedding. He later married Dorothy Maud fromSandringham ,Norfolk . The couple produced four daughters.Gänzl, Kurt. [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/38411 "Talbot, Howard (1865–1928)",] "Oxford Dictionary of National Biography", Oxford University Press, 2004, accessed 18 Sept 2008, doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/38411]1890s: early career
Talbot's first full professionally produced
comic opera was "Wapping Old Stairs" in 1894. The success of this production in King's Lynn led to a transfer of the show to theVaudeville Theatre in London. Despite a strong London cast includingJessie Bond ,Courtice Pounds and Richard Temple from theD'Oyly Carte Opera Company , the show was not well-received in the West End and closed after one month. A follow up work, the burlesque "All My Eye-van-hoe", was also considered to be a flop, and Talbot was forced to sue the producers for monies owed to him for this work. [http://math.boisestate.edu/GaS/british/composers/talbot.html Howard Talbot biography] at the British Musical Theatre site of The Gilbert and Sullivan Archive (2003)]At this time, Talbot earned the bulk of his living from conducting both in London and for provincial touring productions, such as "The Lady Slavey", where managers appreciated his "cheery, goodnatured" attitude. ["The Era", 19 April 1902] Although he continued to compose, achieving some success both in Britain and America with "Monte Carlo" in 1896, Talbot's name was not yet considered to be a major force in British
musical theatre , and he continued to be asked mainly to supply individual songs that were inserted into works primarily written by others. The most successful shows that he conducted in London during this period were "The Sorrows of Satan" (1897) at theShaftesbury Theatre and twoArthur Roberts vehicles, "Dandy Dan the Lifeguardsman" (1897), which included his song "Someone Ought to Speak to Millie Simpson", and "Milord Sir Smith" (1898). In 1899 he conducted "Great Caesar".Talbot's first blockbuster hit was "
A Chinese Honeymoon ", which opened in Hanley in 1899 and toured extensively before it was finally presented in London in 1891. "A Chinese Honeymoon" went on to become the first work ofmusical theatre in history to run for over 1,000 consecutive performances and found large audiences around the world. Talbot continued to conduct at the Gaiety Theatre,Daly's Theatre and otherWest End theatre s and went on to compose or collaborate on two dozen musicals. He commanded a technical proficiency rare among Edwardian musical theatre composers, and his music is reminiscent ofArthur Sullivan 's.Kenrick, John. [http://www.musicals101.com/who9.htm "Who's Who in Musicals",] The Cyber Encyclopedia of Musical Theatre, TV and Film, Musicals101.com (2003)] In addition to musicals, he produced a body of songs, piano pieces, orchestral works and acantata .20th century
Many of Talbot's shows in the first decade of the new century were successes that had international tours, including "Kitty Grey" (1901, to which he contribued songs including "Mademoiselle Pirouette"), "
The Girl from Kays " (1902, contributing some songs), "Three Little Maids " (1903, contributing the concerted music and some lyrics), "The Blue Moon" (1904), "The White Chrysanthemum " (1905), "The Girl Behind the Counter " (1906), and "The Belle of Brittany " (1908). In addition, he contributed a few songs to other musicals and composed a few unsuccessful musicals.In 1909, Talbot teamed up with
Lionel Monckton to produce "The Arcadians", which went on to become one of the most successfulEdwardian musical comedies and has been described as the masterpiece of the genre. [ [http://www.staff.ncl.ac.uk/fraser.charlton/edmuscom/page12/edmuscom_what.html Article describing "The Arcadians" as the masterpiece ofEdwardian musical comedy ] ] The musicals that followed this, such as "The Mousmé" in 1911, "The Pearl Girl" in 1913, "My Lady Frayle" in 1915, "Mr Manhattan" in 1916, and other short works formusic halls , were only modest successes, however, and musical styles began to change. In 1916 Talbot contributed to a reworking of an American musical, "High Jinks " for theAdelphi Theatre , which adapted aRudolph Friml score. At the same time, he had been composing music for short musical pieces for variety theatres.The careers of other major composers of the Edwardian era (for example,
Sidney Jones ), began to fade byWorld War I when they failed to adopt the new American dance rhythms and styles, such asragtime . However, in 1917, Talbot and Monckton were hired to write the score for the musical "The Boy", based onPinero 's "The Magistrate", a vehicle for American comedian Bill Berry, who had been the star of "High Jinks". "The Boy" became one of the biggest hits of the wartime era, when audiences sought light, escapist musical comedy. [ [http://www.peopleplayuk.org.uk/guided_tours/musicals_tour/first_musicals/chu_chin_chow.php "Chu Chin Chow",] Musical Theatre Guided Tour (PeoplePlay UK), accessed October 3, 2008] It was also adapted successfully on Broadway as "Good Morning, Judge" in 1919 and toured the English-speaking world. This was followed by another successful musical for Berry based on a Pinero play, composed withIvor Novello , "Who's Hooper?" (1919). [ [http://www.nodanw.com/shows_w/whoshooper.htm Who's Hooper? - Novello/Talbot] at www.nodanw.com] A third Pinero adaptation, "My Niece's" (1921), was a flop and proved to be Talbot's final West End theatre score.After retiring to the south of England, Talbot was ill with bronchial trouble for several years before his death. Nevertheless, he continued to compose musicals for the amateur companies with whom he had worked early in his career. He also wrote the successful march "All Hail Our King".
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