Birthdays of the Great

[Sydney Grew]

To-day not so much a performer as an enabler of performance: Bath born, Spackman Barker entered this world this day two hundred and five years ago. Left an orphan at five years old, he was brought up by his god-father, who gave him such an education as would fit him for the medical profession. But the youth, accidentally witnessing the operations of an eminent London organ-builder, Bishop, who was erecting an organ in his neighbourhood, determined upon following that occupation, and placed himself under the builder for instruction in the art. Thenceforth organs became his life's employment.

Two years afterwards he returned to Bath and there established himself in organ-building. About 1832 the new large organ in York Minster attracted general attention, and Barker, impressed by the immense labour occasioned to the player by the extreme hardness of touch of the keys, turned his thoughts towards devising some means of overcoming the resistance offered to the fingers. The result was the invention of the pneumatic lever, by which ingenious contrivance the pressure of the wind which occasioned the resistance to the touch was skilfully applied to lessen it.

Barker offered his invention to several English organ-builders, but finding them indisposed to adopt it, he in 1837 went off to Paris, where the importance of the invention was at once appreciated and immediately adopted. Barker rose and rose.

Around 1865 he became interested in experiments with electric action and the following year at Salon created the first successful example thereof.

But the war of 1870 caused him sensible fellow to leave France and return to the Kingdom, where in the Roman-Catholic cathedrals of Cork and Dublin he continued to set up organs.

[Sydney Grew]

The prominent European composer Friedrich Hegar was born at Bâle in 1841, just one hundred and seventy years ago to-day. Between 1857 and 1860 the eager youth sat at the feet of Hauptmann, Richter, Rietz, David, and Plaidy at the Leipsic Conservatory, the place in those days. In 1860 he acted as leader of the Bilse Orchestra in Warsaw; and in the following year, having passed a few stimulating months in Paris and London, he became deputy musical director in Gebweiler, Alsatia, under Stockhausen. (The little town is now of course Guebwiller.)

But finally in 1863 he settled, and remained, in Zurich. He became in 1865 conductor of the Subscription Concerts, and also of the Choral Society "Gemischter Chor Zürich," and raised both to a high artistic level. In 1875 he founded a Conservatory ("Musikschule") at Zurich; among its most famous graduates were Frau Herzog-Welti, who went on to the Berlin Court Opera, and Willy Rehberg.

In 1900 he organized the first festival of Swiss composers; and in 1917 he was elevated to membership of the Academy of Arts in Berlin.

There follows what little information I have been able to glean about Hegar's œuvre - it will be noted that there are a good many lacunæ, and Grove's Dictionary which in its lamentable Anglocentricity omits his name entirely is no help at all:

Opus 1, three piano-forte pieces;
opus 2, Hymne an die Musik (Hymn to Music), for chorus and orchestra;
opus 3, violin concerto in D;
opus 4, "Morgen in Walde" (Morning in the Woods), for male chorus;
opus 5, "Das Abendmahl" (The Last Supper), for male chorus;
opus 7, four songs;
opus 8, three songs for male chorus;
opus 9, "Die Beiden Sarge" (The Two Coffins) for male chorus (which has an excessively gruesome sound does it not);
opus 10, three songs, of which one appears to be entitled "Aussöhnung" (Reconciliation);
opus 11, "In den Alpen" (In The Alps), for male chorus;
opus 12, three mixed choruses;
opus 13, "Waldlied" (Forest Song) for male chorus;
opus 14, Waltz for violin with piano-forte;
opus 15, "Rudolf v. Werdenberg," for male chorus;
opus 16, "Manasse," dramatic poem in three scenes for soli, chorus and orchestra to a text of Joseph Widmann;
opus 17, "Todtenvolk" (People of the Dead), for male chorus (of which again the name is a considerable deterrent);
opus 18, a male chorus;
opus 19, cycle of 5 songs for solo voice;
opus 20, "Hymne an den Gesang" (Hymn to Song), for male chorus;
opus 21, 2 songs for male chorus;
opus 22, "Weihe des Liedes" (Consecration of Song - which sounds a good idea) for male chorus;
opus 23, a male chorus;
opus 24, "Die Trompete von Gravelotte" (The Trumpets of Gravelotte) for male chorus;
opus 25, Festouverture (Festival Overture) for orchestra, in F;
opus 26, four songs for solo voice;
opus 44, violoncello concerto in C minor;
opus 46, string quartette in F sharp minor;
”Muttersprache” (Mother Tongue, a folk song, to a text of Max von Schenkendorf);
”Ihr lieben Vögelein” (You Dear Little Birds, a folk song, to a text of Otto von Redwitz).

What an interesting progression! - despite the unattractive hiccups as noted. Clearly Hegar was like Methfessel and Trunk one of those Teutons who loved the sound of massed men's voices.

[Ventilhorn]

... and yet - Saint-Saëns resolutely spurned the appellation 'homo-sexualist' - "No!" he declared, "I am a pæderast!"

Can't you keep this muck off the forum?

It has nothing to do with composers' birthdays.

VH

[mercia]

hear! hear!

[Ariosto]

No, NO!! Life would be so boring without this humour - I haven't laughed so much since Sunday when a homo-sexualist friend of mine told some wonderfully naughty jokes at a dinner party.

If we ban these things on the forum then it becomes like the local prep school, or the local convent.

It may be a wind up, but that's half the fun, and I don't get to wind up conductors much these days!

[Sydney Grew]

The great French organist and composer Achille Philip was born at Arles one hundred and thirty-three years ago to-day.

Between 1905 and 1950 he taught and taught and taught at the renowned Schola Cantorum. And he founded the Quatuor Français (the French Quartette, for those that do not have the language).

But as if all that were not enough Philip produced: Three Masses; forty-five motets a cappella und with organ; six symphonic poems (the titles of five of which are "Au pays basque" (1909), "Les Djinns" (1913), "Dans un parc enchanté" (1917), "Fantaisie pastorale" (1919), and "Nymphes et Naïades" (1920)); two works of lyric theatre: "L'or du Menhirs" (the Gold of the Standing Stones, 1934), and "Bacchus" (1935); many organ works; many choral works; many piano-forte pieces; many songs; at least two violin sonatas (the second dating from 1908); and so on.

But why should Philip in particular be worthy of our remembrance? It is because each year, in the church of the Val-de-Grâce, he put on performances of Bach's St. John Passion, Bach's St. Matthew Passion, and Mozart's Requiem.

But his name appears neither in Grove's Dictionary nor in Mr. Lebrecht's otherwise excellent twentieth-century book. We can assume only that it must be because he lacked a thrusting personality. But as we so often see demonstrated in the on-line messaging world the thrust of a musical man varies in inverse proportion to his rank or worth.

The funny little photo-graph comes with this text in the Danish language: "Alexandre Guilmants orgelklasse på Pariserkonservatoriet fotograferet på trappen op til Guilmants hjem i Meudon 1905.

Det særlige er her Augustin Barié, der står øverst til venstre ud for vinduet.
Siddende: Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911)
Stående forrest fra venstre mod højre:
Alexandre Cellier (1883-1968), Joseph Boulnois (1884-1918), Achille Philip (1878-1957), Joseph Bonnet (1884-1944) og Paul Fauchet (1881-1937. Bagest: Augustin Barié (1883-1915), Ermend Bonnal (1880-1944) og Édouard Mignan (1884-1969)."

Unless I am mistaken it indicates that our man, sporting a neat little moustache, is the third from the left among those standing.

[Ventilhorn]

[Tapiola]

Au contraire, I find Mr Grew's latest offering most interesting, especially those evocatively titled sym-phonic poemes.

[gurnemanz]

Nice photo of the gents chez Guilmant in Meudon. There's even a postcard (post-card?) of it, clearly showing the steps on which they are standing:

http://www.guilmant.nl/images/large/villa_guilmant.jpg

He had a large organ (by Cavaillé-Coll) installed at this residence.

http://www.hetorgel.nl/image/guilmant04-orgel-meudon.jpg

re "forty-five motets": For consistency of French spelling, should this not be "motettes"?

[vinteuil]

Can't you keep this muck off the forum?

:

... and in what sense might homo-sexualism or pæderasty be termed "muck"?

[Sydney Grew]

Let us to-day remember a tremendous German, Moritz Hauptmann, born in Dresden precisely two hundred and nineteen years ago. As Cantor of St. Thomas's School at Leipsic he expounded his music-theoretical system in a complete and philosophical form, in a work entitled "The nature of Harmony and Metre" (long available in the English language).

In this volume he aimed at a philosophical understanding of musical phenomena rather than a technical knowledge thereof. For Hauptmann the principles underlying music must be universally true of human thought. His basic principle comprises the elements unity, opposition, and re-union on a more elevated plane. These concepts underlie all musical elements, and give structure to chords, scales, keys, key relationships, chord progressions, dissonance and its treatment, and to non-harmonic notes. They also govern metrical formations and rhythmic phenomena.

The book provides a good read for serious persons. Here is one of his main points: "Of the meaning of "unity" and "opposition" we have to say, that under "unity" is to be understood being one with self, without distinction; under "opposition," being different to self. The sense of "opposition" that is to be comprehended here, is, not that something is different from something else, but that it opposes itself as other to itself. The first is only a difference, but not opposition; intellectual opposition can proceed only from identity.

"We can regard an object in its immediate wholeness, and comprehend the notion of this wholeness; this is the unity of the Octave. We can then regard the object distinguishing; e.g. form from contents. Now the intellectual opposition is not at once found in the fact that the form is distinguished from the contents. But when to the form with its contents we oppose, as other determination, the contents to their form, then the same object appears in the distinction under opposite determinations, or as opposed to itself. This is the duality of the Fifth.

"But in this opposition reality is suspended; for that is not contained in the separation of the two determinations, but only in their united simultaneous existence. When that which is opposed to self in the determination by distinction, is taken at once and in one, this corresponds to the notion of real being.

"For the phenomenon of sound this is expressed in the Third which makes heard the separate united. In it duality has become unity, not in the sense of immediateness, which the Octave offers, but in the union of the opposites conceivable in it: derived, organic or real unity, such as is felt in the triad, as against the immediate wholeness of the Octave and the separated opposition of the Fifth."

The great man also published more than sixty original compositions, including two string quartettes, many part-songs, and even a very popular opera, entitled "Matilda."

[mercia]

and a 16-year old Sullivan was a pupil
so well done Moritz

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Young_Arthur_Sullivan.jpg

[gurnemanz]

and a 16-year old Sullivan was a pupil
so well done Moritz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Yo...r_Sullivan.jpg

...and a 15-18-year old Edvard Grieg

http://www.kunstmuseene.no/default.asp?enhet=troldhaugen&kat=385&sp=2

[Sydney Grew]

and a 16-year old Sullivan was a pupil
so well done Moritz
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Yo...r_Sullivan.jpg

Dreamy, Member Mercia . . . One observes the Italian in him - via his grand-mother I believe. Sullivan sensible fellow never married. He manifested no interest at all in that sort of carry-on. He was above all that I am pleased to report. Members wondering why might refer to this informative link. And so it should in particular be noted that it was Sullivan not Gilbert who merited and received the knighthood.

Over the course of the nineteenth century Britain was favoured not only with Arthur Sullivan but with a steady stream of composers of genius. One after the other they arrived! - and in 1833, exactly one hundred and seventy-eight years ago to-day, it was the turn of William Cusins.

His face is remarkably free from lines wrinkles and crow's-feet is it not.

Already by 1849, on the sixth of June, Cusins had made his first appearance in public at an Academy Concert at the Hanover Square Rooms as a piano player in Mendelssohn's D-minor Concerto, and as composer with an Overture. In the same year he was appointed organist to the Queen's Private Chapel, and entered the orchestras of the Royal Italian Opera and of the principal concerts of London, in which he played the violin for about five years. Then in 1851 the prodigiously gifted youth was appointed Assistant Professor at the Royal Academy of Music, and afterwards Professor.

From 1867 to 1883 he was conductor of the Philharmonic Society, vice Sir W. Sterndale Bennett resigned. One of his first and most memorable duties was to conduct in 1867 Bennett's "Woman of Samaria" at the Birmingham Festival. In 1870 he was appointed Master of the Music to the Queen.

He received the honour of knighthood on the fifth of August, 1892, and the cross of Isabella the Catholic in 1893. But later in 1893 he expired in the Ardennes.

Cusins's works, if not numerous, are all on an important scale. They include:

the "Royal Wedding Serenata" (1863);
"Gideon," an oratorio (Gloucester, 1871);
two concert overtures, "Les Travailleurs de la Mer" (1869), and "Love's Labour's Lost" (1875);
Te Deum, for soli, chorus and orchestra (1882);
Jubilee Cantata (1887);
the Piano Concerto in A minor;
Violin Concerto;
Symphony in C (1892);
Septet for wind instruments and double-bass (1891);
Piano-forte trio in C minor (1882);
Violin Sonata in A minor (1893);
besides marches, songs, etc.

[Suffolkcoastal]

I wonder if my name will be appearing on MB equivalents in 50 years time as being a composer born on yesterday's date? Mind you if I keep hiding away what I compose under the bed, somehow I doubt it! I expect my 2nd Piano Sonata when I finish it in the next few weeks will go the way of the 1st, hidden away and uplayed