Owen Brannigan
Owen Brannigan
Brannigan began as an amateur singer and attended music college part-time, while working as a
Biography
Early years
Brannigan was born in
Opera career
During part of
At Glyndebourne, in other Britten premières, he created the roles of Collatinus in The Rape of Lucretia (1946),[6] and Superintendent Budd in Albert Herring (1948).[8] Later, Britten wrote the parts of Noye in Noye's Fludde (1958), and Bottom in A Midsummer Night's Dream (1960), with Brannigan in mind.[3] Brannigan's repertoire ranged from the earliest operas, including La Calisto by Francesco Cavalli[9] and The Fairy-Queen by Henry Purcell,[10] to modern operas, not only by Britten but other composers including Malcolm Williamson (English Eccentrics, 1964 and The Violins of Saint-Jacques, 1966).[6]
Brannigan was known for his roles in
Concert career
The Times considered Brannigan to be "perhaps even better known as an
Among the other choral works in which Brannigan sang the bass solo parts were
Together with Sir William Walton, Brannigan took part in a celebrated prank at the Royal Festival Hall in 1961, at a concert celebrating the musical humorist Gerard Hoffnung, who had died in 1959. The management announced that Walton had agreed at short notice to conduct an excerpt from his cantata Belshazzar's Feast. Walton and Brannigan entered, and bowed. Walton raised his baton, and the chorus bellowed the single word "slain" from the score. Walton then put down his baton, shook hands with Brannigan, who had not sung a note, and they both bowed and left the platform to gales of applause.[19]
Recordings
Brannigan recorded all his major Britten roles under the baton of the composer.
For Sir Malcolm Sargent, he recorded the following Gilbert and Sullivan roles: the title role in The Mikado (1957), Don Alhambra in The Gondoliers (1957), Wilfred Shadbolt in The Yeomen of the Guard (1958), Dick Deadeye in H.M.S. Pinafore (1958), Private Willis in Iolanthe (1959), the Sergeant of Police in The Pirates of Penzance (1961), the Usher in Trial by Jury (1961) and Sir Despard in Ruddigore (1963). He also sang Willis in the BBC recording of Iolanthe in 1966.[23] His interpretation of the Sergeant of Police in The Pirates of Penzance was so admired that he was invited to make a second recording of it, for the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, in 1968.[24] The Penguin Guide to Opera said, "perhaps the greatest joy of this recording is Owen Brannigan's Sergeant of Police, a part this artist was surely born to play ... it is almost like hearing it for the first time."[25]
Many of Brannigan's favourite North Country songs were recorded on disc; he also made light music comedy recordings such as A Little Nonsense (nursery rhymes sung in humorously operatic style) with the Pro Arte Orchestra conducted by Sir Charles Mackerras, which was recorded in 1962.[26]
Later years and legacy
In 1964, Queen Elizabeth II named Brannigan an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.[27]
Brannigan was in a serious car crash in 1972, from which he never fully recovered. He died of pneumonia in 1973, aged 65, and is buried in the churchyard of St John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church at Annitsford. Brannigan married Mary née Ashley. Their daughter Maureen died in childhood from diphtheria, and their son, also called Owen, died in 1981 (aged 40) after being electrocuted in an accident.[citation needed]
The opera singer Graeme Danby presented a series of tributes to Brannigan on television and in concert in 2008 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Brannigan's birth. His tribute, including recordings of Brannigan, as well as singing by Danby and interviews of people who knew Brannigan, was published as a DVD documentary.[28]
Notes
- ^ Owen Brannigan[permanent dead link], Annitsford Forum,
- ^ a b c The Guardian, obituary, 11 May 1973, p. 7
- ^ a b c d e Goodwin, Noël. "Brannigan, Owen", Grove Music Online, accessed 8 December 2009
- ^ The Gramophone, August 1969, p. 21
- ^ The Times, 26 May 1939, p. 12
- ^ a b c d e f g The Times obituary, 11 May 1973, p. 22
- ^ Owen Brannigan", Performance database, Royal Opera House, accessed 15 March 2013
- ^ a b c d Cummings, Robert. "Owen Brannigan Biography", AllMusic, accessed 8 December 2009
- ^ The Guardian, 27 May 1970, p. 10
- ^ The Guardian, 14 August 1969, p. 8
- ^ The Times, 20 November 1957, p. 3
- ^ "Savoy Opera at the Proms – Sullivan in a New Light", The Times, 22 August 1955, p. 10
- ^ The Times, 24 November 1950, p. 8; The Manchester Guardian, 18 June 1959, p. 10; 24 June 1959, p. 7; and The Times, 20 March 1946, p. 6
- ^ The Times, 21 June 1948, p. 7
- ^ The Times, 2 June 1949, p. 2
- ^ The Manchester Guardian, 8 September 1949, p. 3; and 10 September 1949, p. 5
- ^ Sackville-West, p. 340
- ^ The Times, 7 January 1956, p. 2
- ^ Ayre, pp. 88–89
- ^ March, pp. 41–42
- ^ Liner notes to CD transfer on SOMM-Beecham CD 13
- ^ The Gramophone, October 2008, p. 8; and July 1985, p. 63
- ^ Shepherd, Marc. Artist Index at A Gilbert and Sullivan Discography, accessed 8 December 2009
- ^ The Gramophone, July 2003, p. 83
- ^ March, p. 438.
- ^ The Gramophone, June 1962, p. 54
- ^ The Times, 1 January 1964, p. 10
- ^ "The Owen Brannigan Story – a tribute by Graeme Danby", MWMDVD84, accessed 8 December 2009
References
- Ayre, Leslie. The Wit of Music, Leslie Frewin, London, 1966
- Brook, Donald Singers of Today, 2nd Edition (Rockliff, London 1958), pp. 38–42 ISBN 0-8369-8080-8
- March, Ivan (ed). The Penguin Guide to Opera on CD, Penguin Books, London, 1993 ISBN 0-14-046957-5
- Sackville-West, Edward, and Desmond Shawe-Taylor, The Record Guide,Collins, London, 1955