1864 in music
Encyclopedia
Events
- Anton BrucknerAnton BrucknerAnton Bruckner was an Austrian composer known for his symphonies, masses, and motets. The first are considered emblematic of the final stage of Austro-German Romanticism because of their rich harmonic language, complex polyphony, and considerable length...
composes his Symphony No. 0 ("Die Nullte"). - Jacques OffenbachJacques OffenbachJacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
's operettaOperettaOperetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
La Belle HélèneLa belle HélèneLa belle Hélène , opéra bouffe in three acts, is an operetta by Jacques Offenbach to an original French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy...
debuts at the ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
Variétés (December 17). - Hans von BülowHans von BülowHans Guido Freiherr von Bülow was a German conductor, virtuoso pianist, and composer of the Romantic era. He was one of the most famous conductors of the 19th century, and his activity was critical for establishing the successes of several major composers of the time, including Richard...
takes over from Franz LachnerFranz LachnerFranz Paul Lachner was a German composer and conductor.Lachner was born in Rain am Lech to a musical family . He studied music with Simon Sechter and Maximilian, the Abbé Stadler. He conducted at the Theater am Kärntnertor in Vienna. In 1834, he became Kapellmeister at Mannheim...
at the Munich opera.
Published popular music
- "Beautiful DreamerBeautiful Dreamer"Beautiful Dreamer" is a parlor song by Stephen Foster . It was published posthumously in March 1864 by Wm. A. Pond & Co. of New York. The first edition declares on the title page that "Beautiful Dreamer" is "the last song ever written by Stephen C. Foster. Composed but a few days prior to his...
" by Stephen FosterStephen FosterStephen Collins Foster , known as the "father of American music", was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century... - "The Picture on the Wall" by Henry Clay WorkHenry Clay WorkHenry Clay Work was an American composer and songwriter.-Biography:He was born in Middletown, Connecticut, to Alanson and Amelia Work. His father opposed slavery, and Work was himself an active abolitionist and Union supporter...
- "Shall We Gather at the River?Shall We Gather at the River?"Shall We Gather at the River?" is a traditional Christian hymn, written by American poet and gospel music composer Robert Lowry . It was written in 1864....
" w.m. Robert Lowry - "Somebody's Darling" w.m. John Hill HewittJohn Hill HewittJohn Hill Hewitt was an American songwriter, playwright, and poet. He is best known for his songs about the American South, including "A Minstrel's Return from the War", "The Soldier's Farewell", "The Stonewall Quickstep", and "Somebody's Darling"...
- "Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!Tramp! Tramp! Tramp!"Tramp! Tramp! Tramp! " was one of the most popular songs of the American Civil War. George F. Root wrote both the words and music and published it in 1864 to give hope to the Union prisoners of war. The song is written from the prisoner's point of view...
(The Boys Are Marching)" by George F. Root
Classical music
- Louis GottschalkLouis Moreau GottschalkLouis Moreau Gottschalk was an American composer and pianist, best known as a virtuoso performer of his own romantic piano works...
- The Dying Poet - Friedrich KielFriedrich KielFriedrich Kiel was a German composer and music teacher.Writing of the chamber music of Friedrich Kiel, the famous scholar and critic Wilhelm Altmann notes that it was Kiel’s extreme modesty which kept him and his exceptional works from receiving the consideration they deserved...
- Piano Concerto - Franz StraussFranz StraussFranz Joseph Strauss was a German musician. He was a composer, a virtuoso horn player and accomplished performer on the guitar, clarinet and viola...
- Nocturno for Horn and Piano - Thomas TellefsenThomas TellefsenThomas Dyke Acland Tellefsen was a Norwegian pianist and composer.Thomas Tellefsen was born in Trondheim, Norway, where he studied with his father, the organist Johan Christian Tellefsen, and with Ole Andreas Lindeman. Thomas gave his first public concert in his home town at age 18...
- Trio for piano, violin and cello (opus 31) - Robert VolkmannRobert VolkmannFriedrich Robert Volkmann was a German composer.-Life:He was born in Lommatzsch, Saxony, Germany. His father was a music director for a church, so he trained his son in music to prepare him as a successor...
- Symphony no. 2
Opera
- Flor van DuyseFlor van DuyseFlorimond van Duyse was a Belgian lawyer, composer and musicologist.He was born in Ghent and went to school at Veurne, and to high school at the Atheneum in Ghent. Then he studied Law at the Gentse Rijksuniversiteit, graduating as Doctor of Law in 1867...
- Rosalinde (libretto by Karel Versnaeyen, premiered in Antwerp) - Karel MiryKarel MiryKarel Miry was a Belgian composer.He was one of the first Belgian composers to write operas to librettos in Dutch. He composed the music for De Vlaamse Leeuw the national anthem of Flanders, and for which Hippoliet van Peene wrote the lyrics...
- Bouchard-d'Avesnes (opera in 5 acts, libretto by Hippoliet van PeeneHippoliet van PeeneHippoliet Jan van Peene was a Flemish physician and playwright.He studied Medicine at the State university of Louvain and became a physician in Kaprijke and later in Ghent....
, premiered on March 6 in GhentGhentGhent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
) - Jacques OffenbachJacques OffenbachJacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....
- Die Rheinnixen (The Rhine Fairies)
Births
- February 7 - Arthur Collins, singer (d. 1933)
- April 10 - Eugen d'AlbertEugen d'AlbertEugen Francis Charles d'Albert was a Scottish-born German pianist and composer.Educated in Britain, d'Albert showed early musical talent and, at the age of seventeen, he won a scholarship to study in Austria...
, composerComposerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, pianist - June 11 - Richard StraussRichard StraussRichard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till...
, composer, conductor (d. 1949) - July 6 - Alberto NepomucenoAlberto NepomucenoAlberto Nepomuceno was a Brazilian composer and conductorAlberto Nepomuceno was born in city of Fortaleza, capital of the state of Ceará in northeastern Brazil. He was the son of Vitor Augusto Nepomuceno and Maria Virginia de Oliveira Paiva...
, composer and conductor (d. 1920) - August 18 - Gemma BellincioniGemma BellincioniGemma Bellincioni was an Italian soprano and one of the best-known opera singers of the late 19th century. She had a particular affinity with the verismo repertoire and was renowned more for her charismatic acting than for the quality of her voice.-Her career:Matilda Cesira was Bellincioni's real...
, operatic soprano (d. 1950) - October 7 - Louis F. GottschalkLouis F. GottschalkLouis Ferdinand Gottschalk was an American composer and conductor born in St. Louis, Missouri. The son of a Missouri governor, also named Louis, he studied music in Stuttgart, Germany, where his father, a judge, was American consul.He came to attention as conductor of the U.S. premiere of Franz...
, composer (d. 1934) - date unknown - Alice EstyAlice Esty (soprano)Alice Esty was an American-born operatic soprano who spent most of her career based in England.Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, she married in 1892.Esty died in Farnham, Surrey at the age of 71 . -References:...
, operatic soprano (d. 1935)
Deaths
- January 13 - Stephen FosterStephen FosterStephen Collins Foster , known as the "father of American music", was the pre-eminent songwriter in the United States of the 19th century...
, songwriterSongwriterA songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
(b. 1826) (domestic accident) - January 26 - Otto LindbladOtto LindbladOtto Lindblad , was a Swedish composer. He is most famous for the musical score of Kungssången, the Swedish royal anthem....
, composer (b. 1809) - February 16 - Václav Jindřich VeitVáclav Jindrich VeitVáclav Jindřich Veit known in German as Wenzel Heinrich Veit Czech composer, copyist, pianist and lawyer....
, lawyer and composer (b. 1806) - March 30 - Louis SchindelmeisserLouis SchindelmeisserLouis Alexander Balthasar Schindelmeisser was a nineteenth century German clarinetist, conductor and composer. He was born Königsberg, Prussia, and studied in Berlin and Leipzig...
, clarinettist, conductor and composer (b. 1811) - May 2 - Giacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo MeyerbeerGiacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near...
, composer (b. 1791) - October 1 - Christian Friedrich Ludwig BuschmannChristian Friedrich Ludwig BuschmannChristian Friedrich Ludwig Buschmann was a German musical instrument maker, often credited with inventing the harmonica and sometimes the accordion.-Thuringia:Buschmann was born in Friedrichroda, Thuringia...
, musical instrument maker (b. 1805) - October 7 - Apollon GrigoryevApollon GrigoryevApollon Aleksandrovich Grigoryev was a Russian poet, literary and theatrical critic, translator, memoirist, as well as the author of a number of popular songs and romances....
, poet and songwriter (b. 1822) (alcoholism) - December 20 - Josef ProkschJosef ProkschJosef Proksch was a Czech pianist and composer of German descent.Proksch, who became blind at the age of 17, was a pupil of Jan Antonín Koželuh. In 1830, Proksch opened the Musikbildungsanstalt in Prague...
, pianist and composer (b. 1794)