Herman Finck

Herman Finck

Herman Finck (November 4, 1872 - April 21, 1939) [ [http://www.brainyhistory.com/events/1939/april_21_1939_97331.html Brainy History] ] was a British composer of German extraction.

Born Hermann Van Der Vinck [imdb name|0277483|Herman Finck] in London, he began his studies training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama and established a career as the musical director at the Palace Theatre in London (from 1900 until 1920), [ [http://www.arthurlloyd.co.uk/Archive/January2005/PageSeven.htm Palace Theatre Feature] ] with whose orchestra he made many virtuoso recordings. He also acted in the same position in the Queen's Theatre, Drury Lane and at Southport. Finck was a prolific composer throughout the 1910s and 1920s. He composed around thirty theatre shows of most types - operettas (such as "Decameron Nights"), ballets (like "My Lady Dragon Fly"), incidental music, revues (annual revues "Round the Map" and "The Passing Show" were especially popular), plus songs, "mood music" for the silent cinema and many light orchestral pieces - suites such as "Vive La Danse" and "Marie Antoinette", marches such as "Pageant March", "Guards Parade March", "Splendour and Victory" and the individual genre movements "Dancing Daffodils", "Dignity and Impudence", "Land of Roses", "Penguin Parade" and "Queen of the Flowers".

The Palace Theatre was famous not only for its orchestra, but also for the beautiful Palace Girls, who had many dances composed by Finck in their honour. In 1911 the Palace Girls performed a song and dance number, which was originally called "Tonight", but became hugely popular as a romantic instrumental piece "In The Shadows". This is the most enduring composition of Finck, largely because "In The Shadows" was one of the last numbers played on the Titanic and has thus made its way into several Titanic-collections.

Another popular song during the World War I was "Gilbert the Filbert" (also called "The K-Nuts"). It was performed in "The Passing Show" of 1914 by the popular Basil Hallam, who became Captain B H Radford and was tragically killed in 1916 when he fell to his death because his parachute failed to open.

In 2007, Divine Art label in the UK released the first album dedicated to the music of Herman Finck, performed by the orchestra and principals of the Bel-Etage Theatre in Estonia, conducted by Mart Sander. In addition to Finck's most popular tunes "Gilbert the Filbert" and "In The Shadows" (vocal version), this CD also includes several popular dances, patriotic World War I songs and hits from the revues and musicals, as well as two full orchestral suites - "My Lady Dragonfly" and the magnificently symphonic "Decameron Nights", which had not had a revival since 1923.

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • David Finck — David E. Finck (b. August 26, 1958) is an American jazz bassist. He plays both bass guitar and double bass. Finck was born in Rochester, New York. He studied under Sam Goradetzer and Michael Shahan of the Philadelphia Orchestra, and graduated… …   Wikipedia

  • David Finck — (* 26. August 1958) ist ein US amerikanischer Jazzbassist (Kontrabass, Bassgitarre). Finck wuchs in einer Musikerfamilie auf und spielte schon im Alter von zehn Jahren Kontrabass. Während seiner Highschool Zeit hatte er Unterricht bei… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • 1914 in music — Events*October 15 In Rovigo, Beniamino Gigli makes his operatic debut in Amilcare Ponchielli s La Gioconda . *The first recorded calypso music is made in Trinidad and Tobago. *First publication of Orchestration , the classic book by Cecil Forsyth …   Wikipedia

  • 1910 in music — Events*March 19 Béla Bartók s String Quartet No. 1 is premiered in Budapest *September 12 Gustav Mahler s Symphony No. 8 , the Symphony of a Thousand , is premiered in Munich *November 7 the musical comedy, Naughty Marietta , with music by Victor …   Wikipedia

  • Palace Theatre, London — Infobox Theatre name = Palace Theatre caption = Whistle Down the Wind in June 2006 address = Cambridge Circus city = City of Westminster, London country = designation = Grade II* latitude = 51.513167 longitude = 0.129472 architect = Thomas Edward …   Wikipedia

  • Mart Sander — Martin Laurent Sander Mart Sander Born August 10, 1967 (1967 08 10) (age 44) Tallinn, Estonia Occupation …   Wikipedia

  • Swing Swindlers — Infobox Celebrity name = The Swing Swindlers caption = Swing Swindlers established = 2004 birth place = flagicon|Estonia Tallinn, Estonia death date = death place = style = Swing Orchestra yearsactive = 2004 present salary = networth = spouse =… …   Wikipedia

  • Basil Hallam — (1889 1916) was an English actor and singer. He created the character of Gilbert the Filbert for The Passing Show , the original revue of that title by Herman Finck, produced at the Palace Theatre, London, on 20 April 1914. He also recorded the… …   Wikipedia

  • D'Oyly Carte Opera Company — Publicity poster for The Mikado, 1919 The D Oyly Carte Opera Company was a professional light opera company that staged Gilbert and Sullivan s Savoy operas. The company performed nearly year round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North… …   Wikipedia

  • Oh, What a Lovely War! — This article is about the 1963 stage musical. For the 1969 film adaptation, see Oh! What a Lovely War. Oh, What a Lovely War! Music various Lyrics various Book Joan Littlewood and Theatre Workshop …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”