Thomas German Reed

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For other people named Thomas Reed, see Thomas Reed (disambiguation).

German Reed

Thomas German Reed (27 June 1817 – 21 March 1888), known after 1844 as simply German Reed was an English composer, musical director, actor, singer and theatrical manager of the

German Reed Entertainments
, together with his actress wife, a genre of musical plays that made theatre-going respectable at a time when the stage was considered disreputable.

While acting as organist and chapel-master at chapels in London, and also as musical director and performer at West End theatres in the 1830s and 1840s, Reed tried his hand at producing opera. He married Priscilla Horton, a noted singer, actress and dancer, in 1844. By 1851, he was managing opera productions at various theatres in London and on tour. In 1855, Reed and his wife began to present and perform in "Mr. and Mrs. German Reed's Entertainments", consisting of brief, small-scale, family-friendly comic operas. In the early and mid-Victorian era, the respectable middle classes regarded the theatre in general as sinful. Therefore, the Reeds shrewdly called their establishment the "Gallery of Illustration" and their productions "entertainments" to emphasize their refined propriety.

In addition to comic classics like The Beggar's Opera, the Reeds usually presented new works by English writers such as F. C. Burnand, W. S. Gilbert, William Brough and Gilbert à Beckett. His composers included Frederic Clay, Arthur Sullivan, George Macfarren and Alfred Cellier, as well as himself. Reed retired in 1871 after an injury, and his son Alfred took over the entertainments with his mother.

Life and career

Reed was born in

Haymarket Theatre.[2] The young Reed played, sang and acted at the theatre.[1] In 1832, German Reed became an organist at the Roman Catholic Chapel in Sloane Street and assistant to his father, who moved to be conductor at the Garrick Theatre.[3] His work at the theatre included scoring and adapting new operas, including Fra Diavolo in 1837.[3] He also gave private music lessons.[3]

Poster for German Reed and W. S. Gilbert's A Sensation Novel, 1871

In 1838, Reed was appointed chapel-master at the Royal Bavarian Chapel and also became musical director at his father's former employer, the Haymarket Theatre, where he continued to work until 1851 with the exception of a temporary closure in 1843, during which he produced

Sappho at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane.[3] During these years, he met Priscilla Horton, a successful and popular contralto and actress who had been performing on the stage in London since the age of ten.[2] They married in 1844.[3] By that year he had dropped his first name.[1] In 1851, Reed was engaged to assist in the production of opera at the Surrey Theatre and later managed Sadler's Wells Opera for a season and also conducted the music at the Olympic Theatre, as well as touring extensively in the British provinces.[3]

In the spring of 1855, at

St. George's Hall.[1] At a time when the respectable middle classes regarded the theatre in general as sinful and even dangerous places of naughty humour, alcohol and prostitution, the Reeds called their establishment the "Gallery" of Illustration, rather than a "theatre", and their productions "entertainments" or "illustrative gatherings", rather than plays, extravaganzas, or burlesques. The Times characterised the works as "extravaganza of the more refined order."[4] Reed and his wife almost always appeared in these pieces, and on the few occasions when they did not, the box-office receipts suffered.[1]

Reed (in top hat) with his wife and John Parry and Susan Galton in A Dream in Venice at the Royal Gallery of Illustration, April 1867

Reed became the lessee of St. George's Hall in 1867, and there he initially produced and conducted

The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, but no other scores are known to be extant.[2]

When the lease on the Gallery of Illustration ended in 1873, the German Reed entertainments moved to St. George's Hall.[3] After falling from his horse when hunting, Reed had retired in 1871; his son Alfred (1847–1895) took over the entertainments with his mother, continuing with the entertainments after her retirement in 1879, until 1895.[1]

Reed died at St. Croix, Upper East Sheen, Surrey at the age of 70. He was buried in Old Mortlake Burial Ground.[1]

Works composed by German Reed

Cover of vocal score of Eyes and No Eyes
  • The Drama at Home, or An Evening with Puff (1844)
  • A Match for the King (1844)
  • The Golden Fleece, or Jason in Colchis and Medea in Corinth (1845)
  • Who's the Composer? (1845)
  • The Wonderful Water Cure (1846)
  • No Cards (1869, libretto by W. S. Gilbert)
  • Our Island Home (1870, libretto by W. S. Gilbert)
  • A Sensation Novel (1871, libretto by W. S. Gilbert)
  • Mildred's Well, a Romance of the Middle Ages (1873)
  • He's Coming (Via Slumborough, Snoozleton & Snoreham) (1874)
  • The Three Tenants (1874)
  • The Ancient Britons (1875)
  • Eyes and No Eyes; or, The Art of Seeing (1875, libretto by W. S. Gilbert)
  • Enchantment (libretto by Arthur Law)
  • A Spanish Bond (1875)
  • An Indian Puzzle (1876)
  • The Wicked Duke (1876)
  • Matched and Mated (1876)
  • A Night's Surprise (1877)
  • No. 204 (1877, libretto by F. C. Burnand)

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Stedman, Jane W. "Reed, (Thomas) German (1817–1888)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edition, Jan 2008, accessed 1 February 2013 (subscription or UK public library membership required)
  2. ^ a b c d Woodbridge Wilson, Frederic. "Reed, Thomas German", Grove Music Online, Oxford University Press, accessed 31 January 2013 (subscription required)
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i "Reed, Thomas German" . Dictionary of National Biography. London: Smith, Elder & Co. 1885–1900.
  4. ^ "Obituary" The Times, 26 March 1888, p. 9

References

  • Williamson, David, ed. (1895). The German Reeds and
    Corney Grain
    ; records and reminiscences    . London: A.D. Innes.
  • Stedman, Jane, ed. (1967). Gilbert Before Sullivan. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
  • Obituary: Thomas German Reed in The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular, Vol. 29, No. 542 (1 April 1888), p. 234

External links

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