Edward German - WikiHQ

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Sir Edward German (born German Edward Jones; 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. Some of his light operas, especially Merrie England, are still occasionally performed.

As a youth, German played the violin and led the town orchestra of Whitchurch, Shropshire. He also began to compose music. While performing and teaching violin at the Royal Academy of Music, German began to build a career as a composer in the mid-1880s, writing serious music as well as light opera. In 1888, he became music director of the Globe Theatre in London. He provided popular incidental music for many productions at the Globe and other London theatres, including Richard III (1889), Henry VIII (1892) and Nell Gwynn (1900). He also wrote symphonies, orchestral suites, symphonic poems and other works. He also wrote a considerable body of songs, piano music, and symphonic suites and other concert music, of which his Welsh Rhapsody (1904) is perhaps best known.

German was engaged to finish The Emerald Isle after the death of Arthur Sullivan in 1900, the success of which led to more comic operas, including Merrie England (1902) and Tom Jones (1907). He also wrote the Just So Song Book in 1903 to Rudyard Kipling's texts and continued to write orchestral music. German wrote little new music of his own after 1912, but he continued to conduct until 1928, the year in which he was knighted.

Life and career

German was born German Edward Jones in Whitchurch, Shropshire, the second of five children and the elder of two sons of John David Jones, a liquor merchant, brewer, church organist and lay preacher at the local Congregational chapel, and Elizabeth (Betsy) Cox (died 1901), a teacher of Bible classes for young women. His first name was an anglicised form of the Welsh name "Garmon." His parents called him Jim. 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 and participated in family entertainments above his uncle's grocery shop, often playing piano duets and performing comic sketches with his elder sister, Ruth, who died when he was 15. He also wrote comic poems. His younger sisters were named Mabel and Rachel. 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 named Edward Jones. He continued his studies of violin and organ, also beginning a more formal study of composition under Ebenezer Prout. Many of German's student works were played at Academy concerts.

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. In 1885, he won the Charles Lucas Medal for his Te Deum for soloists, choir and organ, leading him to change his focus from violin to composition. He soon wrote a light opera, The Two Poets (for four soloists and piano), in 1886, which was produced at the Academy and then performed at St. George's Hall. In 1890 he conducted a revised version of this symphony at the Crystal Palace, while The Two Poets toured successfully in England. His circle of close friends at the Academy included Dora Bright and Ethel Mary Boyce from Chertsey, Surrey. He and Boyce became engaged. She was also a promising composition student and won the Lady Goldsmid scholarship in 1885, the Sterndale Bennett Prize in 1886 and the Charles Lucas Medal in 1889. Although the engagement was broken off, they remained friends. German never married. and the overture soon became popular in concert halls. This eventually led to other incidental music commissions that gained success. In 1892, German composed music for a production of Henry Irving's version of Henry VIII at the Lyceum Theatre, London, where he incorporated elements of traditional old English dance. Within a year, sheet music of the dance numbers from the play's score had sold 30,000 copies. German was by then in great demand to write music for plays. His commissions included Henry Arthur Jones's The Tempter in 1893, Johnston Forbes-Robertson's Romeo and Juliet at the Lyceum in 1895, Herbert Beerbohm Tree's productions of As You Like It (1896) and Much Ado about Nothing (1898), and Anthony Hope's English Nell (later known as Nell Gwynn) in 1900, starring Marie Tempest. He accepted, giving up his violin concerto commission for the Leeds Festival to meet the deadlines. The success of his score for the opera (which was performed into the 1920s) opened up a new career for him. In maintaining the Savoy tradition of comic opera, German was composing a style of piece for which public taste had dwindled as fashions in musical theatre had changed with the new century. The same year, he composed his march and hymn for the coronation of King George V.

right|thumb|German in later years

Among the few works of his later years was the Theme and Six Diversions in 1919, and his final major work, the Othello-inspired tone poem The Willow Song in 1922. He developed a strong friendship with Sir Edward Elgar. In 1934 German received the Royal Philharmonic Society's highest honour, its gold medal, presented by Sir Thomas Beecham at an RPS concert. He was elected an Honorary Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Musicians in 1936, and he was a leader of the Performing Rights Society, which fought for composers' rights to fair compensation for the performances of their works.

German died of prostate cancer at his Maida Vale home, aged 74. He was cremated at Golders Green, and his ashes are interred in the Whitchurch cemetery.

Legacy

German lived long enough to witness the beginning of a decline in the popularity of his orchestral works. A note found after his death bears this poignant message: "I die a disappointed man because my serious orchestral works have not been recognised". According to Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, "Merrie England and, to a lesser extent, Tom Jones retained a special place in the affections of native audiences for more than half a century and are still occasionally performed". and a recording of some of his incidental music for plays, together with two marches and a hymn in 2012.

Analysis

The music scholar David Russell Hulme wrote of German that French influences are clearly apparent in his music "and there are even occasional reminders of Tchaikovsky, but paradoxically he was, like Elgar, a stylistic cosmopolitan who wrote music that is quintessentially English." Many of German's colleagues in the musical establishment did, however, find his work to be of the highest quality, including Elgar and Sir John Barbirolli. Hulme writes that "German's orchestral music certainly does not deserve the neglect it has suffered, for it still has much to offer modern audiences. Beautifully crafted, colourful and vital, its pleasing and distinctive personality is still capable of inspiring the kind of affectionate regard it once so readily kindled."

Edward German Festival

The first Edward German Festival was held in 2006 in German's birth town, Whitchurch, Shropshire. Events included performances by festival patron and cellist, Julian Lloyd Webber and a concert version of German's best-known work, Merrie England. Another festival was held on 23–28 April 2009, sponsored by the Friends of Whitchurch Heritage. This programme included a concert version of Tom Jones (for which a new recording was released by Naxos in 2009) and a school adaptation of Merrie England. Other events featured clarinettist Emma Johnson, German scholar David Russell Hulme and the Hallé Orchestra.

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 (1895)
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

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; revised in 1902 as March Rhapsody on Original Themes)
Hamlet, Symphonic Poem (1897)
The Seasons, Symphonic Suite (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 for solo voice (1903), part-song arrangements 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)
Rolling Down to Rio

Songs for solo voice

All Friends Around the Wrekin: A Song of Shropshire
Big Steamers
Be Well Assured (from The Fringes of the Fleet)
Have You News of My Boy Jack? (1916)
Charming Chloe
Cupid at the Ferry
Love the Pedlar
Sea Lullaby
Heigh Ho
Bird of Blue
Glorious Devon
Who'll Buy My Lavender?
Recompense

Piano

Suite for Pianoforte (1889)
Impromptu
Valse Caprice
Bourrée
Elegy
Mazurka
Tarantella
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)
Gipsy Suite: Four Characteristic Dances – duet (1895)
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

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, chamber music and organ

Saltarello (for flute and piano) (1889)
Pastorale and Bourrée (for woodwinds) (1891)
Suite: Three Pieces (for woodwinds) (1892)
Valse Gracieuse
Souvenir
Gypsy Dance
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, Violoncello, and Pianoforte ()
Serenade (for chamber ensemble) (1890s)
Andante in B Flat (for organ) (1880s)

References

Sources

External links

Edward German at Allmusic
The Edward German Discography
Detailed biographical sketch from Naxos
"Edward German. A Biographical Sketch", The Musical Times, Vol. 45, No. 731, 1 January 1904, pp. 20–24
Hulme, David Russell. "Orpheus With His Lute: Sources of Edward German's Music for the Victorian and Edwardian Drama", Brio, Autumn/Winter 2000.