August Manns

August Friedrich Manns (12 March 1825 — 1 March 1907) was a German-born conductor who made his career in England.

Life and career

Manns was born at Stolzenberg, Prussia (now Biskupia Górka, part of the city of Gdańsk in Poland). [Archives in London RCM section, January 2007] In his early years he was a clarinettist and became a member of Gungl's orchestra in Berlin, in 1848. He later became a bandmaster in the Prussian army, where he arranged classical repertoire for military band and conducted concerts. He resigned the position in 1854 after a dispute with an officer. [Young, p. 32]

In the same year, he was engaged as clarinettist and sub-conductor of the military band recently established at The Crystal Palace in the suburbs of London. When the resident conductor, Heinrich Schallehn, was dismissed, the Secretary of the Crystal Palace, George Grove (later famous as the editor of the Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians) appointed Manns to the post. Manns at once set about transforming the band into a full symphony orchestra, and he and Grove made the Crystal Palace London’s main venue for classical concerts at affordable prices, especially with their Saturday concerts. Within months, Manns gave the first London performance of Schumann’s Symphony No 4 in D minor and the British première of Schubert’s Great C Major Symphony. Manns also encouraged native composers, and works by Arthur Sullivan, Hamish MacCunn and Edward Elgar, among others, were first heard at the Crystal Palace during his long tenure. [Young, p. 33]

Manns remained in charge at the Crystal Palace for 42 years, where he transformed the existing wind band into a renowned orchestra, conducting an estimated 12,000 concerts. Additionally, he was conductor of the Handel Festival, 1883-1900. [Archives in London RCM section, January 2007]

Manns became a naturalised British citizen in May 1894. [National Archive website, January 2007] He was knighted in 1903 and died in Norwood, London, just shy of his 82nd birthday. [Archives in London RCM section, January 2007]

Notes

References

*Young, Percy M: "Sir Arthur Sullivan", J M Dent & Sons, London 1971 ISBN 0-460-03932-2
* [http://www.aim25.ac.uk/cgi-bin/search2?coll_id=5746&inst_id=25 Archives in London website]
* [http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/news/stories/98.htm National Archive website]
*F. Corder, "The August Manns Memorial" in "The Musical Times", Vol. 48, No. 771 (May 1, 1907), p. 315

External links

* [http://www.imagesonline.bl.uk/britishlibrary/controller/subjectidsearch?id=12113&&idx=1&startid=33675 Portrait of Manns]
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* [http://www.webrarian.co.uk/crystalpalace/index.html The 1888 Handel Festival recordings conducted by August Manns]