Engelbert Humperdinck (Engelbert Humperdinck) |

Engelbert humperdinck

As a child, he learned to play the piano. In 1867 he wrote the singspiel “Pearl” (“Perla”) and “Claudina von Villa Bella” (after J. W. Goethe). From 1869 he sang in the church. choir in Paderborn. In 1872-76 he studied at the Cologne Conservatory with F. Hiller, G. Jensen and F. Gernsheim (harmony and composition), as well as with I. Zeiss, F. Mertke and F. Weber (piano and organ); in 1877-1879 – in the Munich King. music school with J. Reyaberger (counterpoint, composition). He also took private lessons from F. Lachner. As a laureate, Pr. Mendelssohn lived in Italy (1879, Rome). In 1880-82, R. Wagner’s assistant at Bayreuth Treat (he took part in the preparation of the premiere of the opera Parsifal). In 1882 he lived in Rome, Paris, in 1883 – in Spain, Morocco, studied Arabic. music, under the influence of which he wrote an orchestral suite (later revised into Mauritanian Rhapsody). In 1883-85 Kapellmeister of the Cologne State. t-ra. In 1887-88 he collaborated as a musician. critic in a Bonn newspaper, from 1890 in a newspaper in Frankfurt am Main. In 1889-90 he acted as a conductor. In 1885-87 he taught composition at the Barcelona Conservatory, from 1890 at the Frankfurt Conservatory. In 1900-20 prof. Berlin Higher School of Music (composition). Among his students is K. Weil. Honorary Member music academy “Santa Cecilia” (Rome, 1914).

Humperdinck is a follower of musical drama. principles of R. Wagner. He gained fame as the author of the choir. ballads and children’s operas. The opera “Hansel and Gretel” (1890, based on the fairy tale of the same name by the Brothers Grimm) gained particular popularity. R. Strauss, F. Weingartner, G. Mahler and others, staged in Cairo, Tokyo, the cities of the North. and Yuzh. America, Austria; in Russia – under the name. Vanya and Masha.

Compositions: operas – Hansel and Gretel (1893, National Theater, Weimar), Seven Little Kids (Die sieben GeiYalein, 1895, Berlin, Schiller Theater, accompanied by piano.), Royal Children (Königskinder, melodrama, 1897, National t -r, Munich; 2nd edition – opera, 1910, tr “Metropolitan Opera”, New York), Sleeping Beauty (Dornröschen, 1902, City tr Frankfurt am Main), Marriage involuntarily ( Die Heirat wider Willen, based on a play by A. Dumas son, 1905, City Opera, Berlin), Markitanka (Die Marketenderin, 1914, City Mall, Cologne), Gaudeamus (scenes from German student life, 1919, State t. -r, Darmstadt; pantomime – Miracle (Das Wunder, The Miracle, 1911, tr. Olympia, London); for soloists, choir and orchestra – ballad Pilgrimage to Kevlar (Die Wallfahrt nach Kevelaar, lyrics by G. Heine , 1878, 2nd edition 1886); for choir with orchestra – the ballad Happiness in Paradise (Das Glck von Edenhall, lyrics by L. Uhland, 1879, 2nd edition 1883), Wonderful Time (Die wunderschöne Zeit, words by G. Humperdinck, 1875), I part with my beloved in the spring (DaI ich im Lenz vom Lieben scheide, words and his own, 1877); for orc. – Procession of Dionysus (Der Zug des Dionysos, 1880, overture from music to the play “The Frogs” by Aristophanes), Moorish Rhapsody (Maurische Rhapsodie, 1898), Humoresque (1880); chamber-instr. ensembles – nocturne for Skr. and fp.; strings. quartet (1920), sonata for 4 skr.; fp quintet (1875); for choir with pianoforte – Autumn (Im Herbste, lyrics by G. Humperdinck, 1878, 2nd edition 1885); for chorus a cappella – Farewell (Abschied, lyrics by G. Ibsen, 1893); for voice with fp. – songs on the next L. Uhland, I. Eichendorff and others; music for drama performances. t-ra – “The Alcalde of Salamey” by Calderon (1883, City transport, Cologne), “The Merchant of Venice” (1905, German trade, Berlin), “Winter’s Tale” (1906, ibid.) Shakespeare, ” Lysistrata” by Aristophanes (1908, Kamerny tr., Berlin), “The Blue Bird” by Maeterlinck (1912, German tr., Berlin).

References: Beseh O., E. Humperdinck, Lpz., 1914; Kienzl W., E. Humperdinck, в его кн.: My life migration, Stuttg., 1926; Humperdinck W., Biographical Introduction, в кн.: Humperdinck E., Hansel and Gretel, Textbuch, Stuttg., 1952.

L. B. Rimsky