George Alexander Macfarren
Sir George Alexander Macfarren (2 March 1813 – 31 October 1887) was an English composer and musicologist.
Life
George Alexander Macfarren was born in London on 2 March 1813 to George Macfarren, a dancing-master, dramatic author and journalist,[1] who later became the editor of the Musical World,[2] and Elizabeth Macfarren, née Jackson.[3] At the age of seven, Macfarren was sent to Dr Nicholas's school in Ealing, where his father was dancing-master; the school numbered among its alumni John Henry Newman and Thomas Henry Huxley.[4] His health was poor, however, and his eyesight weak,[4] so much so that he was given a large-type edition of the Bible and had to use a powerful magnifying-glass for all other reading.[5] He was withdrawn from the school in 1823 to undergo a course of eye treatment.[3] The treatment was unsuccessful, and his eyesight progressively worsened until he became totally blind in 1860.[6]
However, his blindness had little effect on his productivity. He overcame the difficulties posed by his lack of sight by employing an amanuensis in composition.[7] One amanuensis was composer Oliveria Prescott.[8]
On 27 September 1844, Macfarren married Clarina Thalia Andrae,
His brother Walter Macfarren (28 August 1826 – 1905) was a pianist, composer and professor of the Royal Academy.[11] Emma Maria Macfarren, the wife of another brother, John, was also a pianist and composer.[12]
Macfarren was
Musical career
Macfarren began to study music when he was fourteen, under Charles Lucas.[15] In 1829, at the age of sixteen, he entered the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied composition under Cipriani Potter[6] as well as piano under William Henry Holmes and trombone with John Smithies.[3] His ability to perform, however, was hindered by his poor eyesight and he soon concentrated upon composing only.[16] In his first year at the academy, Macfarren composed his first work, the Symphony in F minor.[17]
From 1834 to 1836 Macfarren taught at the academy without a professorship; he was appointed a professor in 1837.
Macfarren founded the Handel Society,[3] which attempted to produce a collected edition of the works of George Frideric Handel (between 1843 and 1858). Among his theoretical works was an analysis of Beethoven's Missa solemnis (described as Beethoven's "Grand Service in D", and published in 1854);[21] and a textbook on counterpoint (1881).
His overture "Chevy Chace" was performed on 26 October 1843 by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Felix Mendelssohn.[22]
Mendelssohn had heard it performed in London and wrote to the composer that he "liked it very much". After the Leipzig concert Mendelssohn wrote again to say "Your overture went very well, and was most cordially and unanimously received by the public, the orchestra playing it with true delight and enthusiasm".[23]
Richard Wagner also admired the peculiar and wildly passionate character of the piece (which he described as the "Steeple Chase by MacFarrinc" in his diary). Wagner also described the overture's composer as "a pompous, melancholy Scotsman".[24]
The "Chevy Chace" overture and two of his symphonies have been recorded.[25]
Among Macfarren's operas were King Charles II, produced at the
His oratorios brought him some popular and critical success. The most enduringly successful of these, St John the Baptist, was first performed in 1873 at the Bristol Festival. The Resurrection premiered in 1876, Joseph in 1877 and King David in 1883.[18]
Macfarren also wrote chamber music, most notably the six string quartets that span over 40 years from 1834.[29] Other chamber works include a piano trio in E minor, a piano quintet in G minor, sonatas for flute and violin, and three piano sonatas.[30] Macfarren also composed for the concertina. His composition Romance and Allegro agitato for concertina, violin, viola, cello, and double bass was first performed by Richard Blagrove in 1854.[31] Other compositions for concertina include the Barcarole (1856) and Violetta – A Romance (1859), both for concertina and piano.[32] Macfarren also wrote an arrangement for the concertina and seven other instruments, of the second movement from Mendelssohn’s Italian symphony.[33]
Compositions (selective list)
Orchestral
- 1828 – Symphony No. 1 in C (fp. Royal Academy of Music, London, September 1830)
- 1831 – Symphony No. 2 in D minor (fp. Royal Academy of Music, London, December 1831)
- 1832 – Symphony No. 3 in E minor
- 1832 – Overture in E-flat (fp. Royal Academy of Music, London, 26 June 1833)
- 1833 – Symphony No. 4 in F minor (fp. Society of British Musicians, London, 27 October 1834)
- 1833 – Symphony No. 5 in A minor
- 1834 – The Merchant of Venice, overture (fp. Society of British Musicians, London, October 1835)
- 1835 – Piano Concerto in C minor (fp. Society of British Musicians, London, 2 November 1835)
- 1835 – Concerto for Two Pianos in C major (jointly as a student with William Sterndale Bennett)
- 1836 – Symphony No. 6 in B-flat
- 1836 – Romeo and Juliet, overture
- 1836 – Concertino in A, for cello and orchestra
- 1836 – Chevy Chace, overture (fp. Society of British Musicians, London, 7 January 1838)
- 1839–40 – Symphony No. 7 in C-sharp minor (fp. Philharmonic Society, London, 9 June 1845)
- 1842 – Don Carlos, overture
- 1845 – Symphony No. 8 in D
- 1856 – Hamlet, overture (fp. New Philharmonic Society, London, 23 April 1856)
- 1863 – Flute Concerto in G (fp. Hanover Square Rooms, London, 24 February 1864)
- 1873 – Violin Concerto in G minor (fp. Philharmonic Society, London, 12 May 1873)
- 1874 – Symphony No. 9 in E minor (fp. British Orchestral Society, London, 26 March 1874)
- 1874 – Festival Overture (fp. Liverpool Festival, 1874)
- 1875 – Idyll in Memory of Sterndale Bennett (fp. Philharmonic Society, London, 5 July 1875)
Choral and vocal
- 1853 – Lenora, cantata (fp. Exeter Hall, London, 25 April 1853)
- 1856 – May Day, cantata (fp. Bradford Festival, 28 August 1856)
- 1860 – Christmas, cantata (fp. Musical Society of London, 9 May 1860)
- 1867 - Two Songs with clarinet obbligato: 'A Widow Bird' (Shelley), 'Pack Clouds Away' (T. Heywood)[34]
- 1868 – Songs in a Cornfield, cantata (fp. London, 1868)
- 1872 – Outward Bound, cantata (fp. Norwich Festival, 1872)
- 1873 – St John the Baptist, oratorio (fp. Bristol Festival, 23 October 1873)
- 1876 – The Resurrection, oratorio (fp. Birmingham Festival, 30 August 1876)
- 1876 – The Lady of the Lake, cantata (fp. Glasgow Choral Union, 15 November 1877)
- 1877 – Joseph, oratorio (fp. Leeds Festival, 21 September 1877)
- 1883 – King David, oratorio (fp. Leeds Festival, 12 October 1883)
- 1884 – St George's Te Deum (fp. Crystal Palace, London, 23 April 1884)
- 1887 – Around the Hearth, cantata (fp. Royal Academy of Music, London, 1887)
Operatic
- 1831 – Mrs G, farce (fp. Queen's Theatre, London, 1831)
- 1832 – Genevieve; or,The Maid of Switzerland, operetta (fp. Queen's Theatre, London, 1832)
- 1833 – The Prince of Modena, opera [unperformed]
- 1834 – Caractacus, opera [unperformed]
- 1835 – Old Oak Tree, farce (fp. Lyceum Theatre, London)
- 1835 – I and My Double, farce (fp. Lyceum Theatre, London, 16 June 1835)
- 1836 – If the Cap Fit Ye, Wear It, farce
- 1836 – Innocent Sins; or, Peccadilloes, operetta (fp. Coburg Theatre, London, August 1836)
- 1837–38 – El Malhechor, opera [unperformed]
- 1838 – The Devil's Opera, opera (fp. Lyceum Theatre, London, 13 August 1838)
- 1839 – Love Among the Roses, romance
- 1839 – Agnes Bernauer, the Maid of Augsburg, romance (fp. Covent Garden Theatre, London, 20 April 1839)
- 1840 – An Emblematic Tribute on the Queen's Marriage, masque (fp. Drury Lane Theatre, London, 10 February 1840)
- 1840–41 – An Adventure of Don Quixote, opera (fp. Drury Lane Theatre, London, 3 February 1846)
- 1847–48 – King Charles II, opera (fp. Princess's Theatre, London, 27 October 1849)
- c.1850 – Allan of Aberfeldy, opera [unperformed]
- 1850 – The Sleeper Awakened, serenata (fp. Her Majesty's Theatre, London, 15 November 1850)
- 1860 – Robin Hood , opera (fp. Her Majesty's Theatre, London, 11 October 1860)
- 1863 – Freya's Gift, allegorical masque (fp. Covent Garden Theatre, London, 10 March 1863)
- 1863 – Jessie Lea, opera di camera (fp. Gallery of Illustration, London, 2 November 1863)
- 1863–64 – She Stoops to Conquer, opera (fp. Covent Garden Theatre, London, 11 February 1864)
- 1864 – The Soldier's Legacy, opera di camera (fp. Gallery of Illustration, London, 10 July 1864)
- 1864 – Helvellyn, opera (fp. Covent Garden Theatre, London, 3 November 1864)
- 1880 – Kenilworth, opera [unperformed]
Chamber music
- 1834 – String Quartet No 1 in G minor
- 1840 – String Quartet No 2 in F major, Op. 54 (published Leipzig, 1846) [35]
- 1842 – String Quartet No 3 in A major
- 1843-4 – Piano Quintet in G minor
- 1852 – String Quartet in G minor
- 1857 – Violin Sonata in E minor
- 1864 – Fantasia: Traditions of Shakespeare, variations for clarinet and piano[34]
- 1872 – Religious March in E-flat major[36]
- 1878 – String Quartet in G major
- 1880 – Piano Trio in A minor for flute, cello and piano
- 1883 – Flute Sonata
Piano
- 1842 – Piano Sonata No 1 in E-flat major (revised 1887)
- 1845 – Piano Sonata No 2 in A Ma cousine
- 1880 – Piano Sonata No 3 in G
Incidental music
- 1882 – Ajax (fp. Cambridge University, November 1882)
Reputation
During his lifetime, Macfarren's music met with a mixed reception; "his views were often considered dogmatic and reactionary, but, unlike
Modern commentators generally consider Macfarren to be "the most eminent representative" of conservatism in orchestration.[42] His Ajax has been called "professionally composed if uninspiring"[43] and his writing for trumpet singled out as "conventional ... although he does make liberal use of the out-of-tune harmonics, especially b [flat]', he rarely uses notes outside the harmonic series and rarely writes the first trumpet part above the first treble staff."[44] Macfarren's music is "capable of graceful lyricism, [but] what may be a desire to avoid cliches in the songs leads him at times to an unexpected angularity of line that seems more awkward than fresh.[45] However, Macfarren's St John the Baptist has been praised as "an original and imaginative piece in which the shadow of Mendelssohn, so prominent since the appearance of Elijah in 1846, is only occasionally perceptible."[18]
Notes
- ^ Banister (1891), p. 2.
- ^ The Musical Times, Vol. 39 (1 January 1898) New York and London
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Brown (2004).
- ^ a b Banister (1891), p. 10.
- ^ Banister (1891), p. 13.
- ^ a b Smither (2000), p. 339.
- ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Smither (2000), p. 350.
- ^ Degott (2007), pp. 225–226.
- ^ Solie (2004), p. 39.
- ^ Ellsworth (2007), p. 150.
- ^ Scholes (1970), p. 310.
- ^ Macfarren, Walter (1905), p. 207.
- ^ Foreman (2005), 117.
- ^ Banister (1887–1888), p. 69.
- ^ Banister (1891), p. 31.
- ^ Caswell (1938), p. 66.
- ^ a b c d e f Smither (2000), p. 340.
- ^ Banister (1887–1888), 70.
- ^ "Macfarren, George Alexander (MFRN875GA)". A Cambridge Alumni Database. University of Cambridge.
- ^ "Permalink for Beethoven score and analysis at New York Public Library". Archived from the original on 6 July 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
- ISBN 9780195110432.
- ^ Banister (1891), p. 41.
- ^ Wagner, Richard, My Life, Volume 2, p. 630.
- JSTOR 765395.
- ^ Temperley, Nicholas. "Macfarren, Sir George (Alexander)", Grove Music Online (subscription req'd)
- ^ Robin Hood. Naxos CD 8.660306-07 (2011)
- ^ The Soldier's Legacy, Retrospect Opera RO009, reviewed at MusicWeb International
- ^ Unsung Composers
- ^ Brown (2004)
- ^ "Mr.Richard Blagrove's Annual Concert". The Musical World. 32 (22): 376. 3 June 1854.
- ISBN 978-0198165804.
- ^ "The Concertina". Belfast Telegraph. 27 June 1877. p. 4.
- ^ a b Recorded by Colin Bradbury and Oliver Davies on The Victorian Clarinet Tradition, Clarinet Classics CC0022 (1997)
- ^ IMSLP: complete set of parts and realisation by Steve's Bedroom Band
- ^ "Review: The Organist's Quarterly Journal by Wm. Spark". The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular. 15 (352): 508. 1 June 1872.
- ^ Dale (2003), 62.
- ^ Hadow (1894), 29.
- ^ a b Barnett (1906), 179.
- ^ Statham (1875), 300.
- ^ Worshipful Company of Musicians (1906), 283.
- ^ Brownlow (1996), 140.
- ^ Dibble (2002), 136.
- ^ Brownlow (1996), 105.
- ^ Smither (2000), 353.
References
- Banister, Henry Charles. George Alexander Macfarren: His Life, Works, and Influence. London: G. Bell and Sons, 1891. OCLC 1720974.
- —. "The Life and Work of Sir G. A. Macfarren." Proceedings of the Musical Association 7th session (1880–1881): 67–88.
- Barnett, John Francis. Musical Reminiscences and Impressions. London: Hodder and Staughton, 1906.
- Brown, Clive. "Macfarren, Sir George Alexander (1813–1887)." Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Accessed 17 May 2009.
- Brownlow, James Arthur. The last trumpet: a history of the English slide trumpet. New York: Pendragon Press, 1996. ISBN 0-945193-81-5.
- Caswell, Mina Holway. Ministry of Music: The Life of William Rogers Chapman. 1938. Reprint. Montana: Kessinger Publishing, 2006. ISBN 1-4286-6089-5.
- Dale, Catherine. Music Analysis in Britain in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries. Aldershot, Hants., England: Ashgate, 2003. ISBN 1-84014-273-1.
- Degott, Pierre (2007). Dow, Gillian E (ed.). Translators, Interpreters, Mediators: Women Writers 1700–1900. Bern, Switzerland: Peter Lang. pp. 225–236. ISBN 978-3-03911-055-1.
- Dibble, Jeremy. Charles Villiers Stanford: man and musician. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. ISBN 0-19-816383-5.
- Ellsworth, Therese (2007). Ellsworth, Therese; Wollenberg, Susan (eds.). The Piano in Nineteenth-Century British Culture: Instruments, Performers and Repertoire. Aldershot, Hampshire: Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-6143-6.
- Foreman, Susan. London: A musical gazetteer. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005. ISBN 0-300-10402-2.
- ISBN 0-7661-8263-0.
- Legge, Robin Humphrey (1893). Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 35. London: Smith, Elder & Co. . In
- Macfarren, Walter Cecil. Memories: An autobiography. The Walter Scott Publishing Company, Ltd., 1905.
- "Macfarren's 'Chevy Chase' Overture". The Musical Times, 1 August 1911 page 527.
- Poston, Lawrence (Spring 2005). "Henry Wood: the "Proms," and National Identity in Music, 1895–1904". Victorian Studies. 47 (3): 397–426. S2CID 144254258.
- Miller, George (July–August 1999). "Macfarren Symphonies: No. 4; No. 7 * Werner Andreas Albert, cond; Queensland PO * cpo 999 433 (58:40)". Fanfare. 22 (6).
- Scholes, Percy Alfred (1970). The Mirror of Music, 1844–1944: A Century of Musical Life in Britain as Reflected in the Pages of the Musical Times. Freeport, New York: Books for Libraries Press. ISBN 0-8369-5443-2.
- Shrock, Dennis. Choral Repertoire. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN 0-19-532778-0.
- Smither, Howard E. A History of the Oratorio: The oratorio in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2000. ISBN 0-8078-2511-5.
- Solie, Ruth A. (2004). Music in Other Words: Victorian Conversations. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-23845-1.
- Statham, H. Heathcote (March 1875). "The Place of Sterndale Bennett in Music". Fraser's Magazine: 299–305.
- Temperley, Nicholas. Music in Britain: The Romantic Age, 1800-1914. The Athlone History of Music in Britain, Vol. 5. London: The Athlone Press, 1981.
- Weber, William (Winter 2008). "Canonicity and Collegiality: "Other" Composers, 1790–1850". Common Knowledge. 14 (1): 105–123. S2CID 143131494.
- Worshipful Company of Musicians. English music 1604 to 1904: being the lectures given at the Music Loan Exhibition of the Worshipful Company of Musicians, held at Fishmongers' Hall, London Bridge, June–July, 1904. The Walter Scott Publishing Company, Ltd., 1906.
External links
- Free scores by George Alexander Macfarren in the Choral Public Domain Library (ChoralWiki)
- Free scores by George Alexander Macfarren at the International Music Score Library Project (IMSLP)