Andrew Lamb (writer)
Encyclopedia
Andrew Martin Lamb is an English writer, musicologist and broadcaster, known for his expertise in light music and musical theatre
.
, Lancashire
, England, on 23 September 1942, the son of Harry Lamb, a schoolmaster, and his wife Winifred, née Emmott. He was educated at Werneth Council School, Oldham, Manchester Grammar School
and Corpus Christi College, Oxford
. He graduated in mathematics in 1963, gaining a Masters degree in 1967 and a Doctorate of Letters in 2006. In addition to his musical work, he maintained a full-time career as an actuary and investment manager with major financial institutions in the UK, having qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries
in 1972. He married in 1970 and has two daughters and a son. He has been a member of Lancashire County Cricket Club
since 1954.
In 1980, Lamb was a member of the Arts Council of Great Britain
Light Opera Enquiry, and in 1988 he was a member of the jury of the Offenbach
International Singing Competition in Paris. From 1987 to 1996 he assisted Antonio de Almeida
on the latter's Offenbach thematic catalogue. In 1995 he performed in Dan Crawford's production of Noël Coward
's Cavalcade
, appearing as the Stage Manager at the Churchill Theatre
, Bromley, and the Major Domo at Sadler's Wells Theatre
, London. In 2008 he wrote the programme article for the production of Amadeo Vives
's La Generala at the Teatro de la Zarzuela
in Madrid, and in 2009 he was a speaker at the Ruperto Chapí
Centenary Congress in Valencia, Spain. He has also given talks for English National Opera
at the Coliseum Theatre
, London, and at the Buxton Festival
. He is a member of the Honorary Board of the Centro Studi Eric Sams
.
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians describes him as "a noted authority on the lighter forms of music theatre" and notes the lucidity of his extensive writings on a wide range of musical topics, including zarzuela
, operetta
, American and British musical theatre
, Arthur Sullivan
, the Strauss family, Jacques Offenbach
, Jerome Kern
and the Waldteufels. Lamb has said: "I am dedicated to upgrading the status and appreciation of lighter forms of music."
He has written extensively for periodicals including Gramophone, The Musical Times
, Opera
, Music and Letters, The Listener, and Wisden Cricket Monthly
. He is a contributor to The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and wrote more than 150 articles in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, including biographies of George M. Cohan
, Noël Coward
, Jerome Kern
, Charles Lecocq, Franz Lehár
, Andrew Lloyd Webber
, Lionel Monckton
and Jacques Offenbach
, and articles on revue
, musical comedy, music hall
, parlour song and operetta
. He was a member of the Advisory Board of The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Online examples of his writing include articles on Gershwin's Cuban vacation, two 1890s English comic opera tours of South America. and the zarzuela
s La generala and El maestro Campanone.
He has also compiled albums of songs by Lehár for Glocken Verlag (ISMN M-57006-019-1, ISMN M-57006-109-9 and ISMN M-57006-111-2) and operetta numbers by Offenbach
for Choudens.
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
.
Biography
Lamb was born in OldhamOldham
Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England. It lies amid the Pennines on elevated ground between the rivers Irk and Medlock, south-southeast of Rochdale, and northeast of the city of Manchester...
, Lancashire
Lancashire
Lancashire is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in the North West of England. It takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is sometimes known as the County of Lancaster. Although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston...
, England, on 23 September 1942, the son of Harry Lamb, a schoolmaster, and his wife Winifred, née Emmott. He was educated at Werneth Council School, Oldham, Manchester Grammar School
Manchester Grammar School
The Manchester Grammar School is the largest independent day school for boys in the UK . It is based in Manchester, England...
and Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...
. He graduated in mathematics in 1963, gaining a Masters degree in 1967 and a Doctorate of Letters in 2006. In addition to his musical work, he maintained a full-time career as an actuary and investment manager with major financial institutions in the UK, having qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries
Institute of Actuaries
The Institute of Actuaries was one of the two professional which represented actuaries in the United Kingdom . The Institute was based in England, while the other body, the Faculty of Actuaries, was based in Scotland...
in 1972. He married in 1970 and has two daughters and a son. He has been a member of Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club
Lancashire County Cricket Club represents the historic county of Lancashire in cricket's County Championship. The club was founded in 1864 as a successor to Manchester Cricket Club and has played at Old Trafford since then...
since 1954.
In 1980, Lamb was a member of the Arts Council of Great Britain
Arts Council of Great Britain
The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. The Arts Council of Great Britain was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England , the Scottish Arts Council, and the Arts Council of Wales...
Light Opera Enquiry, and in 1988 he was a member of the jury of the Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques 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....
International Singing Competition in Paris. From 1987 to 1996 he assisted Antonio de Almeida
Antonio de Almeida
Antonio de Almeida may refer to:* Antonio de Almeida , French conductor* António José de Almeida , sixth president of Portugal*Antonio de Almeida e Costa , Portuguese naval officer and politician...
on the latter's Offenbach thematic catalogue. In 1995 he performed in Dan Crawford's production of Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
's Cavalcade
Cavalcade (play)
Cavalcade is a play by Noël Coward. It focuses on three decades in the life of the Marryotts, a quintessential British family, and their servants, beginning at the start of the 20th century and ending on New Year's Eve in 1929....
, appearing as the Stage Manager at the Churchill Theatre
Churchill Theatre
The Churchill Theatre in Bromley, south east London was built by the London Borough of Bromley to designs by its borough architect's department.It is carefully integrated into the central library complex overlooking Church House Gardens and Library Gardens...
, Bromley, and the Major Domo at Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre
Sadler's Wells Theatre is a performing arts venue located in Rosebery Avenue, Clerkenwell in the London Borough of Islington. The present day theatre is the sixth on the site since 1683. It consists of two performance spaces: a 1,500 seat main auditorium and the Lilian Baylis Studio, with extensive...
, London. In 2008 he wrote the programme article for the production of Amadeo Vives
Amadeo Vives
Amadeu Vives i Roig was a Catalan Spanish musical composer, creator of over a hundred stage works. He is best known for Doña Francisquita, which Christopher Webber has praised for its "easy lyricism, fluent orchestration and colourful evocation of 19th Century Madrid—not to mention its memorable...
's La Generala at the Teatro de la Zarzuela
Teatro de la Zarzuela
The Teatro de la Zarzuela is a theatre in Madrid, Spain. The theatre is today mainly devoted to zarzuela , as well as operetta and recitals. In the past, in the city's long absence of an opera theatre , this was Madrid's theatre where most major opera performances were shown...
in Madrid, and in 2009 he was a speaker at the Ruperto Chapí
Ruperto Chapí
Ruperto Chapí y Lorente was a Spanish composer, and co-founder of the Sociedad General de Autores y Editores.Chapí was born at Villena, the son of a Valencian barber. He trained in his home town and Madrid...
Centenary Congress in Valencia, Spain. He has also given talks for English National Opera
English National Opera
English National Opera is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St. Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with the Royal Opera, Covent Garden...
at the Coliseum Theatre
Coliseum Theatre
The London Coliseum is an opera house and major performing venue on St. Martin's Lane, central London. It is one of London's largest and best equipped theatres and opened in 1904, designed by theatrical architect Frank Matcham , for impresario Oswald Stoll...
, London, and at the Buxton Festival
Buxton Festival
The Buxton Festival is an annual summer festival of opera, music, and a literary series, held in Buxton, Derbyshire in England since it began in July 1979.-History:...
. He is a member of the Honorary Board of the Centro Studi Eric Sams
Eric Sams
Eric Sams was a British musicologist and Shakespeare scholar.Born in London, he was raised in Essex; his early brilliance in school earned him a scholarship to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge at the age of sixteen. His life-long passion for puzzles and ciphers stood him in good stead in his...
.
Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians describes him as "a noted authority on the lighter forms of music theatre" and notes the lucidity of his extensive writings on a wide range of musical topics, including zarzuela
Zarzuela
Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
, operetta
Operetta
Operetta 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:...
, American and British musical theatre
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
, Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
, the Strauss family, Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques 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....
, Jerome Kern
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
and the Waldteufels. Lamb has said: "I am dedicated to upgrading the status and appreciation of lighter forms of music."
Writings
Lamb's books and biographies, relating mostly to musical theatre, include the following:- Jerome KernJerome KernJerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
in Edwardian London, Littlehampton, 1981, enlarged 2 vol., Inst. for Studies in Amer. Music (Brooklyn, New York), 1985. ISBN 0914678248 - Gänzl's Book of the Musical Theatre (with Kurt GänzlKurt GänzlKurt Gänzl is an award-winning writer, musicologist, casting director and singer best known for his books about musical theatre....
), Bodley Head (London), 1988. ISBN 0370311574 - The Moulin RougeMoulin RougeMoulin Rouge is a cabaret built in 1889 by Joseph Oller, who also owned the Paris Olympia. Close to Montmartre in the Paris district of Pigalle on Boulevard de Clichy in the 18th arrondissement, it is marked by the red windmill on its roof. The closest métro station is Blanche.The Moulin Rouge is...
(ed.), Alan Sutton / St. Martin's, 1990. ISBN 0862997534 / ISBN 0312045662 - Light Music from Austria: Reminiscences and Writings of Max SchönherrMax SchönherrMax Schönherr was an Austrian composer, arranger and conductor.-Biography:Schönherr studied in Graz and was a composer of light orchestral music in Vienna. Outside of his native country, Schönherr was best known for his Austrian dances. His Austrian Peasant Dances, Op 14, recorded in the 1940s,...
(ed.), Peter Lang Pub., 1992. ISBN 0820416711 - Skaters' Waltz: The Story of the WaldteufelsÉmile WaldteufelÉmile Waldteufel was a French composer of dance music.-Life:Émile Waldteufel was born in Strasbourg to a Jewish Alsatian family of musicians....
, Fullers Wood Press (Croydon, England), 1995. ISBN 0952414902 - An 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....
Family Album, Fullers Wood Press, 1997. ISBN 0952414910 - Shirley House to Trinity School, Fullers Wood Press, 1999. ISBN 0952414929
- 150 Years of Popular Musical Theatre, Yale University Press (New Haven, Connecticut), 2000. ISBN 0300075383
- Leslie StuartLeslie StuartLeslie Stuart was an English composer of early musical theatre, best known for the hit show Florodora and many popular songs. Stuart began writing songs in the late 1870s, including songs for blackface performers, such as "Lily of Laguna"; songs for musical theatre; and ballads such as "Soldiers...
, London: Routledge, 2002. ISBN 0415937474 - Leslie StuartLeslie StuartLeslie Stuart was an English composer of early musical theatre, best known for the hit show Florodora and many popular songs. Stuart began writing songs in the late 1870s, including songs for blackface performers, such as "Lily of Laguna"; songs for musical theatre; and ballads such as "Soldiers...
: My Bohemian Life (ed.), Fullers Wood Press, 2003. ISBN 0952414937 - FragsonHarry FragsonHarry Fragson was a British music hall singer and comedian, born in Soho, London. While living in Paris, he developed an act involving impressions of French music hall performers, which gradually became popular, allowing him to introduce his own material. He came back to London in 1905 and became...
: The Triumphs and the Tragedy (with Julian MyerscoughJulian MyerscoughJulian Myerscough was born 1962 in Bolton, Lancashire and is a writer, record producer and broadcaster, contributor for BBC Radio 4. He was educated at the University of London and at the University of East Anglia. He is a law lecturer at the Norwich Law School of the University of East Anglia...
), Fullers Wood Press, 2004. ISBN 0952414945 - The Merry WidowThe Merry WidowThe Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,...
at 100, Fullers Wood Press, 2005. ISBN 0952414953 - A Life on the Ocean Wave: The Story of Henry RussellHenry Russell (musician)Henry Russell was an English pianist, baritone singer and composer, born into a distinguished Jewish family.-Biography:...
, Fullers Wood Press, 2007 ISBN 0952414961
He has written extensively for periodicals including Gramophone, The Musical Times
The Musical Times
The Musical Times is an academic journal of classical music edited and produced in the United Kingdom. It is currently the oldest such journal that is still publishing in the UK, having been published continuously since 1844. It was published as The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular until...
, Opera
Opera (magazine)
Opera is a monthly British magazine devoted to covering all things related to opera.Based in London, the magazine was founded in 1950 by George Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood. It was launched at the house of Richard Buckle, under the imprint 'Ballet Publications Ltd'...
, Music and Letters, The Listener, and Wisden Cricket Monthly
Wisden Cricket Monthly
Wisden Cricket Monthly was a cricket magazine that ran from June 1979 to September 2003.The driving force behind the creation of WCM was its first editor, David Frith, formerly an editor of its rival, The Cricketer. At first, it operated under the Wisden name using license from John Wisden & Co;...
. He is a contributor to The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and wrote more than 150 articles in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, including biographies of George M. Cohan
George M. Cohan
George Michael Cohan , known professionally as George M. Cohan, was a major American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer, and producer....
, Noël Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
, Jerome Kern
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
, Charles Lecocq, Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár
Franz Lehár was an Austrian-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow .-Biography:...
, Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber
Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber is an English composer of musical theatre.Lloyd Webber has achieved great popular success in musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End and on Broadway. He has composed 13 musicals, a song cycle, a set of...
, Lionel Monckton
Lionel Monckton
Lionel John Alexander Monckton was an English writer and composer of musical theatre. He was Britain's most popular musical theatre composer of the early years of the 20th century.-Early life:...
and Jacques Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques 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....
, and articles on revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
, musical comedy, music hall
Music hall
Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...
, parlour song and operetta
Operetta
Operetta 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:...
. He was a member of the Advisory Board of The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Online examples of his writing include articles on Gershwin's Cuban vacation, two 1890s English comic opera tours of South America. and the zarzuela
Zarzuela
Zarzuela is a Spanish lyric-dramatic genre that alternates between spoken and sung scenes, the latter incorporating operatic and popular song, as well as dance...
s La generala and El maestro Campanone.
He has also compiled albums of songs by Lehár for Glocken Verlag (ISMN M-57006-019-1, ISMN M-57006-109-9 and ISMN M-57006-111-2) and operetta numbers by Offenbach
Jacques Offenbach
Jacques 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....
for Choudens.