1879 in music
Encyclopedia
Events
- December 31 - Gilbert & Sullivan's The Pirates of PenzanceThe Pirates of PenzanceThe Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
debuts in New York CityNew York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and... - Engelbert HumperdinckEngelbert HumperdinckEngelbert Humperdinck was a German composer, best known for his opera, Hänsel und Gretel. Humperdinck was born at Siegburg in the Rhine Province; at the age of 67 he died in Neustrelitz, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.-Life:After receiving piano lessons, Humperdinck produced his first composition...
becomes the first winner of the Mendelssohn Award awarded by the Mendelssohn Stiftung (foundation) of Berlin. - The Monte Carlo Philharmonic Orchestra gains a permanent home at the Garnier Palace.
Published popular music
- "Oh, Dem Golden Slippers" by James A. BlandJames A. BlandJames Alan Bland , also known as Jimmy Bland, was an African American musician and song writer.-Biography:...
- "In the Morning By the Bright Light" by James A. Bland
- "My Visit to the Opera" by Joseph P. Skelly
Classical music
- Henri Duparc - Le Manoir de Rosemonde
- César FranckCésar FranckCésar-Auguste-Jean-Guillaume-Hubert Franck was a composer, pianist, organist, and music teacher who worked in Paris during his adult life....
- Piano Quintet - Asger HamerikAsger HamerikAsger Hamerik , was a Danish composer of classical music.Born in Frederiksberg , he studied music with J.P.E. Hartmann and Niels Gade. He wrote his first pieces in his teens, including an unperformed symphony...
- Concert Romance for 'cello and piano - 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...
- Elegie for Flute and Organ - Charles-Marie WidorCharles-Marie WidorCharles-Marie Jean Albert Widor was a French organist, composer and teacher.-Life:Widor was born in Lyon, to a family of organ builders, and initially studied music there with his father, François-Charles Widor, titular organist of Saint-François-de-Sales from 1838 to 1889...
- Symphony for Organ No. 5Symphony for Organ No. 5 (Widor)The Symphony for Organ No. 5 in F minor, Op. 42, No. 1, was composed by Charles-Marie Widor in 1879. It lasts for about thirty-five minutes. Its Toccata is the best known of all of Widor's compositions.-Structure:The piece has five movements:# Allegro vivace...
Opera
- Giovanni BottesiniGiovanni BottesiniGiovanni Bottesini was an Italian Romantic composer, conductor, and a double bass virtuoso.-Biography:Born in Crema, Lombardy, he was taught the rudiments of music by his father, an accomplished clarinetist and composer, at a young age and had played timpani in Crema with the Teatro Sociale before...
- Ero e Leandro - Miguel MarquésMiguel MarquésPedro Miguel Juan Buenaventura Bernadino Marqués y García was a Spanish composer and violinist.-Life:He was the son of a chocolate maker...
- Camoens - Viktor NesslerViktor NesslerViktor Ernst Nessler was an Alsatian composer who worked mainly in Leipzig.Nessler was born at Baldenheim near Sélestat, Alsace. At Strasbourg he began his university career with the study of theology, but he concluded it with the production of a light opera entitled Fleurette...
- Der Rattenfänger von HamelnDer Rattenfänger von HamelnDer Rattenfänger von Hameln is a grand opera in five acts by Viktor Nessler. The German libretto was by Friedrich Hofmann based on a romantic poem by Julius Wolff.... - Peter Tchaikovsky - Eugene OneginEugene Onegin (opera)Eugene Onegin, Op. 24, is an opera in 3 acts , by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto was written by Konstantin Shilovsky and the composer and his brother Modest, and is based on the novel in verse by Alexander Pushkin....
Musical theater
- The Mulligan Guards' Ball Broadway production opened at the Comique Theatre on January 13 and ran for 153 performances
- The Mulligan Guards' Chowder Broadway production opened at the Comique Theatre on August 11 and ran for 112 performances
- The Mulligan Guards' Christmas Broadway production opened at the Comique Theatre on November 17 and ran for 104 performances
Births
- February 26 - Frank BridgeFrank BridgeFrank Bridge was an English composer and violist.-Life:Bridge was born in Brighton and studied at the Royal College of Music in London from 1899 to 1903 under Charles Villiers Stanford and others...
, composer - May 22 - Eastwood LaneEastwood LaneEastwood Lane was an American composer who wrote piano suites and ballet music.Eastwood Lane was born in Brewerton, New York....
, composer - June 13 - Maria GayMaria GayMaria Gay was a Catalan opera singer, a mezzo-soprano born as Maria de Lourdes Lucia Antonia Pichot Gironés. She has sometimes been referred to as Maria Gay Zenatello.-Biography:...
, opera singer - June 21 - Henry CreamerHenry CreamerHenry Creamer was an American popular song lyricist. He was born in Richmond, Virginia and died in New York. He co-wrote many popular songs in the years from 1900 to 1929, often collaborating with Turner Layton, with whom he also appeared in vaudeville.Creamer was a co-founder with James Reese...
, US songwriter - July 5 - Philippe GaubertPhilippe GaubertPhilippe Gaubert was a French musician who was a distinguished performer on the flute, a respected conductor, and a composer, primarily for the flute....
, composer - July 9 - Ottorino RespighiOttorino RespighiOttorino Respighi was an Italian composer, musicologist and conductor. He is best known for his orchestral "Roman trilogy": Fountains of Rome ; Pines of Rome ; and Roman Festivals...
, composer - August 1 - Eva TanguayEva TanguayEva Tanguay was a Canadian-born singer and entertainer who billed herself as "the girl who made vaudeville famous".-Early life:...
, singer, vaudeville star (d. 1947) - August 18 - Gus EdwardsGus Edwards (songwriter)Gus Edwards was an American songwriter and vaudevillian. He also organised his own theatre companies and was a music publisher.-Early life:...
, Prussian-born US songwriter and entertainer - October 12 - Chris SmithChris Smith (composer)Chris Smith was an American composer and performer.Smith was born in Charleston, South Carolina; he started traveling with Medicine Shows when young and went into Vaudeville where he performed in an acts with Elmer Bowman and Jimmy Durante...
, composer - October 21 - Joseph CanteloubeJoseph CanteloubeMarie-Joseph Canteloube de Malaret was a French composer, musicologist, and author best known for his collections of orchestrated folksongs from the Auvergne region.-Biography:...
, composer - December 1 - Beth Slater WhitsonBeth Slater WhitsonBeth Slater Whitson was an American lyricist. Whitson was born in Goodrich, Tennessee and died in Nashville, Tennessee...
, US lyric writer - December 4 - Hamilton HartyHamilton HartySir Hamilton Harty was an Irish and British composer, conductor, pianist and organist. In his capacity as a conductor, he was particularly noted as an interpreter of the music of Berlioz and he was much respected as a piano accompanist of exceptional prowess...
, composer
Deaths
- January 8 - Ferdo LivadićFerdo LivadicFerdo Livadić was a Croatian composer.A leader of the 19th century Croatian national revival, Livadić wrote the tune for "Još Hrvatska ni propala", the anthem of the Illyrian movement...
, composer (born 1799) - February 20 - John Orlando ParryJohn Orlando ParryJohn Orlando Parry was an English actor, pianist, artist, comedian and singer.-Early career:Parry, the only son of Welsh musician John Parry , was born in London and, at an early age, was taught by his father to sing and to play the harp and the piano. He also studied the harp under Robert Bochsa...
, pianist, singer and comedian (born 1810) - April 9 - Ernst Friedrich Eduard RichterErnst Friedrich Eduard RichterErnst Friedrich Eduard Richter , was a German musical theorist, born at Großschönau, Saxony.He first studied music at Zittau, and afterwards at Leipzig, where be attained so high a reputation that in 1843 he was appointed professor of harmony and counterpoint at the conservatorium of music, then...
, music theorist - May 27 - E. S. EngelsbergE. S. EngelsbergE. S. Engelsberg E. S. Engelsberg E. S. Engelsberg (23 January 1825, Engelsberg (now Andělská Hora (ve Slezsku), in the Bruntál District), Austrian Silesia - 27 May 1879, Deutsch Jaßnik (Jeseník nad Odrou) was a Bohemian (Silesia-born) Austrian composer....
, composer - June 3 - Frances Ridley HavergalFrances Ridley HavergalFrances Ridley Havergal was an English religious poet and hymn writer. Take My Life and Let it Be and Thy Life for Me are two of her best known hymns. She also wrote hymn melodies, religious tracts, and works for children.-Life:She was born into an Anglican family, at Astley in Worcestershire...
, hymn-writer - July 6 - Henry SmartHenry SmartHenry Thomas Smart was an English organist and composer.Smart was born in London, a nephew of the conductor Sir George Smart. He studied first for the law, but soon gave this up for music...
, organist and composer (born 1813) - August 4 - Adelaide KembleAdelaide KembleAdelaide Kemble was an English opera singer of the Victorian era, and a member of the Kemble family of actors. She was the younger sister of Fanny Kemble, the famous actress and anti-slavery activist...
, opera singer - September 12 - Peter Arnold HeisePeter Arnold HeisePeter Heise was a Danish composer, best known for the opera Drot og Marsk ....
, composer - October 14 - Karl Anton EckertKarl Anton EckertKarl Anton Florian Eckert was a German conductor and composer.Eckert was born in Berlin, Germany, and by the age of five, had already proved himself as a musical child prodigy...
, conductor and composer (born 1820) - November 30 - August BournonvilleAugust BournonvilleAugust Bournonville was a Danish ballet master and choreographer. August was the son of Antoine Bournonville, a dancer and choreographer trained under the French choreographer, Jean Georges Noverre, and the nephew of Julie Alix de la Fay, née Bournonville, of the Royal Swedish Ballet.August was...
, ballet-master and choreographer