George Alexander Macfarren: Difference between revisions

From ChoralWiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search
 
(34 intermediate revisions by 5 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
{{TOC2}}
==Life==
==Life==
'''Born:''' 2 March 1813
'''Born:''' 2 March 1813
Line 6: Line 7:
'''Biography'''
'''Biography'''


Sir George Alexander Macfarren is one of the most fascinating ‘lost masters’of nineteenth-century British music. A cultured musician in every sense, he brought formidable energies to bear upon almost all aspects of mid-Victorian musical life.
Sir George Alexander Macfarren is one of the most fascinating ‘lost masters’ of nineteenth-century British music. A cultured musician in every sense, he brought formidable energies to bear upon almost all aspects of mid-Victorian musical life.


He entered the Royal Academy of Music in 1829. A symphony by him was played at an Academy concert in 1830; for the opening of the Queen's Theatre in Tottenham Street, under the management of his father, in 1831, he wrote an overture. His Chevy Chace overture, the orchestral work by which he is perhaps best known, was written as early as 1836, and in a single night. On leaving the Academy in 1836, Macfarren was for about a year a music teacher in the Isle of Man, and wrote two unsuccessful operas. In 1837 he was appointed a professor at the Academy, and wrote his Romeo and Juliet overture. In the following year he brought out The Devil's Opera, considered one of his best works.
He entered the Royal Academy of Music in 1829. A symphony by him was played at an Academy concert in 1830; for the opening of the Queen's Theatre in Tottenham Street, under the management of his father, in 1831, he wrote an overture. His Chevy Chace overture, the orchestral work by which he is perhaps best known, was written as early as 1836, and in a single night. On leaving the Academy in 1836, Macfarren was for about a year a music teacher in the Isle of Man, and wrote two unsuccessful operas. In 1837 he was appointed a professor at the Academy, and wrote his Romeo and Juliet overture. In the following year he brought out The Devil's Opera, considered one of his best works.
Line 12: Line 13:
In 1845 he became conductor at Covent Garden, producing the Antigone with Mendelssohn's music; his opera on An Adventure of Don Quixote was produced under Alfred Bunn at Drury Lane in 1846; his subsequent operas include King Charles II (1849), Robin Hood (1860), She Stoops to Conquer (1864), and Helvellyn (1864). A gradual failure of his eyesight, which had been defective from boyhood, resulted in total blindness in 1865, but he overcame the difficulties by employing an amanuensis in composition, and made hardly a break in the course of his work.
In 1845 he became conductor at Covent Garden, producing the Antigone with Mendelssohn's music; his opera on An Adventure of Don Quixote was produced under Alfred Bunn at Drury Lane in 1846; his subsequent operas include King Charles II (1849), Robin Hood (1860), She Stoops to Conquer (1864), and Helvellyn (1864). A gradual failure of his eyesight, which had been defective from boyhood, resulted in total blindness in 1865, but he overcame the difficulties by employing an amanuensis in composition, and made hardly a break in the course of his work.


He was made Principal of the Royal Academy of Music in succession to Sterndale Bennett in February 1875, and in March of the same year professor of music in Cambridge University. Shortly before this he had begun a series of oratorios: St John the Baptist (Bristol, 1873); Resurrection (Birmingham, 1876); Joseph (Leeds, 1877); and King David (Leeds, 1883). In spite of their solid workmanship, and the skill with which the ideas are treated, it is difficult to hear or read them through without smiling at some of the touches of quite unconscious humour often resulting from the way in which the Biblical narratives have been, as it were, dramatized. He delivered many lectures of great and lasting value, and his theoretical works, such as the Rudiments of Harmony, and the treatise on counterpoint, will probably be remembered longer than many of his compositions. He was knighted in 1883, and in 1887 he was succeeded by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford as professor of music at the university of Cambridge. He died suddenly in London on 31 October 1887.
He was made Principal of the Royal Academy of Music in succession to Sterndale Bennett in February 1875, and in March of the same year professor of music in Cambridge University. Shortly before this he had begun a series of oratorios: St John the Baptist (Bristol, 1873); Resurrection (Birmingham, 1876); Joseph (Leeds, 1877); and King David (Leeds, 1883). In spite of their solid workmanship, and the skill with which the ideas are treated, it is difficult to hear or read them through without smiling at some of the touches of quite unconscious humour often resulting from the way in which the Biblical narratives have been, as it were, dramatized. He delivered many lectures of great and lasting value, and his theoretical works, such as the Rudiments of Harmony, and the treatise on counterpoint, will probably be remembered longer than many of his compositions. He was knighted in 1883, on the same day as [[Arthur Sullivan]] and George Grove. In 1887 he was succeeded by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford as professor of music at the university of Cambridge. He died suddenly in London on 31 October 1887.


As a composer he was technically superior to most of his British contemporaries and, in view of the total blindness which struck him in 1865, extraordinarily productive. An output which includes eighteen operas, thirteen oratorios and cantatas, nine symphonies and one hundred and sixty-two songs might well be thought impressive by any standards.
As a composer he was technically superior to most of his British contemporaries and, in view of the total blindness which struck him in 1865, extraordinarily productive. An output which includes eighteen operas, thirteen oratorios and cantatas, nine symphonies and one hundred and sixty-two songs might well be thought impressive by any standards. With his failing eyesight, he was assisted by RAM student [[Oliveria Prescott]], who became his artistic assistant and copyist. She later dedicated a book: “To the memory of My Master George Alexander Macfarren. ‘I was eyes to the blind’—Job xxix.15.”


Among his theoretical works was an analysis of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis (described as Beethoven's Grand Service in D, and published in 1854).
Among his theoretical works was an analysis of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis (described as Beethoven's Grand Service in D, and published in 1854).


Two of his symphonies have been recorded (his fourth and seventh, by the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Werner Andreas Albert), as has his overture Chevy Chace. It is possible that the fourth symphony is the F minor symphony that was played in 1834 by the Society of British Musicians.
Two of his symphonies have been recorded (his fourth and seventh, by the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Werner Andreas Albert), as has his overture Chevy Chace. It is possible that the fourth symphony is the F minor symphony that was played in 1834 by the Society of British Musicians.
His brother [[Walter Cecil Macfarren]] was a pianist, composer and professor of the Royal Academy.


(Biography above partially borrowed from Wikipedia - to see full biography use link below.)
(Biography above partially borrowed from Wikipedia - to see full biography use link below.)
{{WikipediaLink}}
{{WikipediaLink}}
==List of choral works by George Alexander Macfarren==


==List of choral works by George Alexander Macfarren==
==Sacred works==
{{top}}
{{top}}
==Sacred works==
===Anthems===
===Anthems===
{{#SortWorks:Anthems&&!Introits}}
{{#SortWorks:Anthems}}
*''A day in thy courts''
*''A day in thy courts''
*''The earth is the Lord’s''
*''The earth is the Lord’s''
{{Middle|4}}
===Chants===
{{#SortWorks:Anglican chants}}
{{Middle|4}}
===Hymns===
{{#SortWorks:Hymns}}
{{Middle|4}}
===Other sacred works===
====Sacred Partsongs====
{{#SortWorks:Sacred music&&!Anthems&&!Hymns&&!Anglican chants&&!Introits}}
{{btm}}
===Introits (52)===
{{#SortWorks:Introits|cols=4}}
==Secular works==
===Partsongs (List)===
====Mixed Voices SATB====
{{#SortWorks:Partsongs&&SATB|cols=3}}
{{top}}
====Mixed Voices SATTB====
{{#SortWorks:Partsongs&&SATTB}}
{{Middle|4}}
====Male Voices====
{{#SortWorks:Partsongs&&TTBB}}
{{Middle|4}}
====Treble Voices====
{{#SortWorks:Partsongs&&SSAA}}
{{Middle|4}}


===52 Introits===
{{btm}}
{{#SortWorks:Introits}}


===Oratorios===
===Partsong Sets===
{{#SortWorks:Oratorios}}
 
*''Joseph (Leeds, 1877)''
{{top}}
*''King David (Leeds, 1883)''
*''' ''Shakespeare Songs'' ''' (originally issued in two groups)
*''Resurrection (Birmingham, 1876)''
#{{NoCo|Orpheus, with his lute}}
*''St John the Baptist (Bristol, 1873)''
#{{NoCo|When icicles hang by the wall}}
===Other Sacred works===
#{{NoCo|Come away, death}}
{{#SortWorks:Sacred music&&!Anthems&&!Introits&&!Oratorios}}
#{{NoCo|When daisies pied}}
{{mdl}}
#{{NoCo|Who is Sylvia?}}
==Secular works==
#{{NoCo|Fear no more the heat o' th' sun}}
===Operas===
#{{NoCo|Blow, blow, thou winter wind}}
:*Robin Hood, Opera in 3 acts, (first produced at Her Majesty's Theatre on 11 October 1860)  
#{{NoCo|Sigh no more, ladies}}
#{{NoCo|You spotted snakes}}
#{{NoCo|Take, O take those lips away}}
#{{NoCo|It was a lover and his lass}}
#{{NoCo|O mistress mine}}
#{{NoCo|Under the greenwood tree}}
#{{NoCo|Hark, hark the lark}}
#{{NoCo|Tell me where is fancy bred}}
{{Middle|3}}
*''' ''Poems of Charles Kingsley'' '''
#{{NoCo|The sands of Dee}}
#{{NoCo|Alton Locke's song}}
#{{NoCo|The starlings}}
#{{NoCo|The three fishers}}
#{{NoCo|The world's age}}
#{{NoCo|Sing heigh-ho}}
{{Middle|3}}
*''' ''Three Madrigals set to Nursery Rhymes'' '''
#{{NoCo|Sing a song of sixpence}}
#{{NoCo|Girls and boys, come out to play}}
#{{NoCo|There was a man of Edmonton}}
{{btm}}
 
==Large works==
{{top}}
===Oratorios (selected)===
*Joseph (Leeds, 1877)
*King David (Leeds, 1883)
*Resurrection (Birmingham, 1876)
*St John the Baptist (Bristol, 1873)
{{Middle|2}}
===Operas (selected)===
:*Adventure of Don Quixote (First produced at Drury Lane in 1846)
:*Adventure of Don Quixote (First produced at Drury Lane in 1846)
:*King Charles II (1849)
:*King Charles II (1849)
:*She Stoops to Conquer (1864)
:*Robin Hood, Opera in 3 acts, (first produced at Her Majesty's Theatre on 11 October 1860)
:*Jessy Lea (1863)
:*Helvellyn (1864)
:*Helvellyn (1864)
===Partsongs===
{{btm}}
{{#SortWorks:Partsongs|cols=3}}
===Other===
*''A Widow Bird''
*''Pack Clouds Away''
{{Btm}}
==Arrangements by George Alexander Macfarren==
{{#SortWorks:George Alexander Macfarren arrangements}}
 
{{Whatlinkshere}}
{{Whatlinkshere}}


==Publications==
==Publications==
{{NoCo|Introits for the Holy days and Seasons}} 1866
*''A Collection of National English Airs'' – 1840, some piano arrangements by Macfarren
*''Popular Music of the Olden Time'', 2 volumes – 1855-1856, piano arrangements by Macfarren
*''[[Introits for the Holy Days and Seasons of the English Church]]'' – 1866
 
'''References:'''
*Banister, Henry C. 1888. ''The Life and Work of Sir G. A. Macfarren''. Proceedings of the Musical Association, Fourteenth Session (1887-1888), pp. 67-88.
*Banister, Henry C. 1891. ''George Alexander Macfarren: His Life, Works, and Influence''. London: George Bell and Sons.


==External links==
==External links==
**{{IMSLP}}
*{{IMSLP}}
*George Alexander Macfarren: his life, works, and influence. Publisher: London: G. Bell & Sons - date: 1891 :Available at: [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0958-8442(1887%2F1888)14%3C67%3ATLAWOS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-6 JSTOR]
*Banister 1888 at [http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0958-8442(1887%2F1888)14%3C67%3ATLAWOS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-6 JSTOR]
 
*Banister 1891 at [https://books.google.com/books?id=HPspAAAAYAAJ Google Books] and [https://archive.org/details/cu31924022235091/page/n11/mode/2up Archive.org]


{{DEFAULTSORT:{{NameSorter}}}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:{{NameSorter}}}}

Latest revision as of 16:49, 13 November 2023

Life

Born: 2 March 1813

Died: 31 October 1887

Biography

Sir George Alexander Macfarren is one of the most fascinating ‘lost masters’ of nineteenth-century British music. A cultured musician in every sense, he brought formidable energies to bear upon almost all aspects of mid-Victorian musical life.

He entered the Royal Academy of Music in 1829. A symphony by him was played at an Academy concert in 1830; for the opening of the Queen's Theatre in Tottenham Street, under the management of his father, in 1831, he wrote an overture. His Chevy Chace overture, the orchestral work by which he is perhaps best known, was written as early as 1836, and in a single night. On leaving the Academy in 1836, Macfarren was for about a year a music teacher in the Isle of Man, and wrote two unsuccessful operas. In 1837 he was appointed a professor at the Academy, and wrote his Romeo and Juliet overture. In the following year he brought out The Devil's Opera, considered one of his best works.

In 1845 he became conductor at Covent Garden, producing the Antigone with Mendelssohn's music; his opera on An Adventure of Don Quixote was produced under Alfred Bunn at Drury Lane in 1846; his subsequent operas include King Charles II (1849), Robin Hood (1860), She Stoops to Conquer (1864), and Helvellyn (1864). A gradual failure of his eyesight, which had been defective from boyhood, resulted in total blindness in 1865, but he overcame the difficulties by employing an amanuensis in composition, and made hardly a break in the course of his work.

He was made Principal of the Royal Academy of Music in succession to Sterndale Bennett in February 1875, and in March of the same year professor of music in Cambridge University. Shortly before this he had begun a series of oratorios: St John the Baptist (Bristol, 1873); Resurrection (Birmingham, 1876); Joseph (Leeds, 1877); and King David (Leeds, 1883). In spite of their solid workmanship, and the skill with which the ideas are treated, it is difficult to hear or read them through without smiling at some of the touches of quite unconscious humour often resulting from the way in which the Biblical narratives have been, as it were, dramatized. He delivered many lectures of great and lasting value, and his theoretical works, such as the Rudiments of Harmony, and the treatise on counterpoint, will probably be remembered longer than many of his compositions. He was knighted in 1883, on the same day as Arthur Sullivan and George Grove. In 1887 he was succeeded by Sir Charles Villiers Stanford as professor of music at the university of Cambridge. He died suddenly in London on 31 October 1887.

As a composer he was technically superior to most of his British contemporaries and, in view of the total blindness which struck him in 1865, extraordinarily productive. An output which includes eighteen operas, thirteen oratorios and cantatas, nine symphonies and one hundred and sixty-two songs might well be thought impressive by any standards. With his failing eyesight, he was assisted by RAM student Oliveria Prescott, who became his artistic assistant and copyist. She later dedicated a book: “To the memory of My Master George Alexander Macfarren. ‘I was eyes to the blind’—Job xxix.15.”

Among his theoretical works was an analysis of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis (described as Beethoven's Grand Service in D, and published in 1854).

Two of his symphonies have been recorded (his fourth and seventh, by the Queensland Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Werner Andreas Albert), as has his overture Chevy Chace. It is possible that the fourth symphony is the F minor symphony that was played in 1834 by the Society of British Musicians.

His brother Walter Cecil Macfarren was a pianist, composer and professor of the Royal Academy.

(Biography above partially borrowed from Wikipedia - to see full biography use link below.)

View the Wikipedia article on George Alexander Macfarren.

List of choral works by George Alexander Macfarren

Sacred works

Anthems

Chants

Hymns

Other sacred works

Sacred Partsongs

Introits (52)

Secular works

Partsongs (List)

Mixed Voices SATB

Mixed Voices SATTB

Male Voices

Treble Voices

Partsong Sets

  • Shakespeare Songs (originally issued in two groups)
  1. Orpheus, with his lute
  2. When icicles hang by the wall
  3. Come away, death
  4. When daisies pied
  5. Who is Sylvia?
  6. Fear no more the heat o' th' sun
  7. Blow, blow, thou winter wind
  8. Sigh no more, ladies
  9. You spotted snakes
  10. Take, O take those lips away
  11. It was a lover and his lass
  12. O mistress mine
  13. Under the greenwood tree
  14. Hark, hark the lark
  15. Tell me where is fancy bred
  • Poems of Charles Kingsley
  1. The sands of Dee
  2. Alton Locke's song
  3. The starlings
  4. The three fishers
  5. The world's age
  6. Sing heigh-ho
  • Three Madrigals set to Nursery Rhymes
  1. Sing a song of sixpence
  2. Girls and boys, come out to play
  3. There was a man of Edmonton

Large works

Oratorios (selected)

  • Joseph (Leeds, 1877)
  • King David (Leeds, 1883)
  • Resurrection (Birmingham, 1876)
  • St John the Baptist (Bristol, 1873)

Operas (selected)

  • Adventure of Don Quixote (First produced at Drury Lane in 1846)
  • King Charles II (1849)
  • Robin Hood, Opera in 3 acts, (first produced at Her Majesty's Theatre on 11 October 1860)
  • Jessy Lea (1863)
  • Helvellyn (1864)


Click here to search for this composer on CPDL

Publications

References:

  • Banister, Henry C. 1888. The Life and Work of Sir G. A. Macfarren. Proceedings of the Musical Association, Fourteenth Session (1887-1888), pp. 67-88.
  • Banister, Henry C. 1891. George Alexander Macfarren: His Life, Works, and Influence. London: George Bell and Sons.

External links

Retrieved from "https://www.cpdl.org/wiki/index.php?title=George_Alexander_Macfarren&oldid=1761547"