Gustav Kobbé
Encyclopedia
Gustav Kobbé M.A.
(born New York City
, 4 March 1857; died Great South Bay
off Bay Shore
, New York
, 27 July 1918) was an American
music critic and author, best known for his guide to the operas, The Complete Opera Book
, first published (posthumously) in the United States in 1919 and the United Kingdom
in 1922.
, near Wiesbaden
, in the Duchy of Nassau
(now part of Germany
) and represented that country in New York until it was absorbed by the Kingdom of Prussia
in 1866. Sarah was born in New London, Connecticut
to a prominent New England
family.
When Gustav Kobbé was ten years old, he was sent to Wiesbaden to study composition and the piano
with Adolf Hagen. Following five years of study in Germany, he returned to New York City
for additional study under Joseph Mosenthal
. Afterward, he graduated from Columbia College
in 1877 and two years later from Columbia Law School
. He received his M.A. from Columbia in 1880. In 1882, he married Carolyn Wheeler.
His hobby was sailing, and it was while he was out in the Great South Bay off Bay Shore, Long Island
, New York, in July 1918, that a seaplane
, coming down for a landing, struck his boat and killed him instantly.
His grandson, Francis Thorne
, is a well known composer
.
Gustavs brother mayor general William A. Kobbé (1840–1931) served with the US Army and became famous during the war on the Philippines.
in 1881, and in 1882 was sent as correspondent to Bayreuth in Bavaria
, Germany
by the New York World
for the first performance of Parsifal
. He contributed many articles - on music, drama and travel - to the leading American magazines of his day - The Century Magazine
, Scribner's Magazine
, The Forum
, North American Review
, Ladies' Home Journal
, The Delineator
, etc. He became music critic of the New York Herald
when that newspaper was owned by James Gordon Bennett
, remaining with it for eighteen years.
He was on the point of completing the book which was afterwards published as The Complete Opera Book
when he died. Various additions were made to it before publication, and the work in its original form was edited by Katharine Wright, who at the same time included some additional operas in sections that bear her initials. Its full title was The Complete Opera Book : the Stories of the Operas, Together with 400 of the Leading Airs and Motives in Musical Notation.
He was editor of the Lotus Magazine from 1909 to 1918.
Master of Arts (postgraduate)
A Master of Arts from the Latin Magister Artium, is a type of Master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The M.A. is usually contrasted with the M.S. or M.Sc. degrees...
(born New York City
New York City
New 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...
, 4 March 1857; died Great South Bay
Great South Bay
Great South Bay is a lagoon situated between Long Island and Fire Island, in the State of New York. It is approximately long. It's protected from the Atlantic Ocean by Fire Island, a barrier island, as well as the eastern end of Jones Beach Island and Captree Island.Robert Moses Causeway adjoins...
off Bay Shore
Bay Shore, New York
Bay Shore is a hamlet and a census-designated place located in the Town of Islip, Suffolk County, New York, USA. It is situated on the south shore of Long Island, adjoining the Great South Bay. Bay Shore celebrated its 300th anniversary in 2008. The population of the CDP was 23,852 at the time of...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, 27 July 1918) was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
music critic and author, best known for his guide to the operas, The Complete Opera Book
The Complete Opera Book
The Complete Opera Book is a guide to operas by American music critic and author Gustav Kobbé first published in the United States in 1919 and the United Kingdom in 1922...
, first published (posthumously) in the United States in 1919 and the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1922.
Biography
Kobbé was born in March 1857 in New York City to William (Wilhelm) Kobbé and Sarah Lord Sistare Kobbé. William was born in IdsteinIdstein
Idstein is a town of about 25,000 inhabitants in the Rheingau-Taunus-Kreis in the Regierungsbezirk of Darmstadt in Hesse, Germany. Because of its well preserved historical Altstadt it is part of the Deutsche Fachwerkstraße , connecting towns with fine timber-frame buildings and...
, near Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
, in the Duchy of Nassau
Nassau (state)
Nassau was a German state within the Holy Roman Empire and later in the German Confederation. Its ruling dynasty, now extinct in male line, was the House of Nassau.-Origins:...
(now part of Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
) and represented that country in New York until it was absorbed by the Kingdom of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
in 1866. Sarah was born in New London, Connecticut
New London, Connecticut
New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States.It is located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, southeastern Connecticut....
to a prominent New England
New England
New England is a region in the northeastern corner of the United States consisting of the six states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut...
family.
When Gustav Kobbé was ten years old, he was sent to Wiesbaden to study composition and the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
with Adolf Hagen. Following five years of study in Germany, he returned to New York City
New York City
New 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...
for additional study under Joseph Mosenthal
Joseph Mosenthal
Joseph Mosenthal was a German-American musician, born at Kassel. He studied under his father and Spohr and in 1853 went to America, where he played the organ in Calvary Church, New York City, from 1860 to 1887...
. Afterward, he graduated from Columbia College
Columbia College of Columbia University
Columbia College is the oldest undergraduate college at Columbia University, situated on the university's main campus in Morningside Heights in the borough of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded in 1754 by the Church of England as King's College, receiving a Royal Charter from King George II...
in 1877 and two years later from Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School, founded in 1858, is one of the oldest and most prestigious law schools in the United States. A member of the Ivy League, Columbia Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Columbia University in New York City. It offers the J.D., LL.M., and J.S.D. degrees in...
. He received his M.A. from Columbia in 1880. In 1882, he married Carolyn Wheeler.
His hobby was sailing, and it was while he was out in the Great South Bay off Bay Shore, Long Island
Long Island
Long Island is an island located in the southeast part of the U.S. state of New York, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City , and two of which are mainly suburban...
, New York, in July 1918, that a seaplane
Seaplane
A seaplane is a fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing on water. Seaplanes that can also take off and land on airfields are a subclass called amphibian aircraft...
, coming down for a landing, struck his boat and killed him instantly.
His grandson, Francis Thorne
Francis Thorne
Francis Thorne is an American composer of contemporary classical music and grandson of the writer Gustav Kobbé.-Life:...
, is a well known composer
Composer
A 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...
.
Gustavs brother mayor general William A. Kobbé (1840–1931) served with the US Army and became famous during the war on the Philippines.
Literary career
Kobbé began his literary career as co-editor of the Musical Review. He was on the staff of the New York SunNew York Sun
The New York Sun was a weekday daily newspaper published in New York City from 2002 to 2008. When it debuted on April 16, 2002, adopting the name, motto, and masthead of an otherwise unrelated earlier New York paper, The Sun , it became the first general-interest broadsheet newspaper to be started...
in 1881, and in 1882 was sent as correspondent to Bayreuth in Bavaria
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Bavarian Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806 as Maximilian I Joseph. The monarchy would remain held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom's dissolution in 1918...
, Germany
German Empire
The German Empire refers to Germany during the "Second Reich" period from the unification of Germany and proclamation of Wilhelm I as German Emperor on 18 January 1871, to 1918, when it became a federal republic after defeat in World War I and the abdication of the Emperor, Wilhelm II.The German...
by the New York World
New York World
The New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...
for the first performance of Parsifal
Parsifal
Parsifal is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner. It is loosely based on Wolfram von Eschenbach's Parzival, the 13th century epic poem of the Arthurian knight Parzival and his quest for the Holy Grail, and on Chrétien de Troyes' Perceval, the Story of the Grail.Wagner first conceived the work...
. He contributed many articles - on music, drama and travel - to the leading American magazines of his day - The Century Magazine
The Century Magazine
The Century Magazine was first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City as a successor to Scribner's Monthly Magazine...
, Scribner's Magazine
Scribner's Magazine
Scribner's Magazine was an American periodical published by the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons from January 1887 to May 1939. Scribner's Magazine was the second magazine out of the "Scribner's" firm, after the publication of Scribner's Monthly...
, The Forum
The Forum (defunct magazine)
The Forum was an American magazine between 1886 and 1930. The magazine printed commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, and poetry. Most editions of the magazine contained pieces written by prominent guest authors who were not employed by the magazine....
, North American Review
North American Review
The North American Review was the first literary magazine in the United States. Founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others, it was published continuously until 1940, when publication was suspended due to J. H. Smyth, who had purchased the magazine, being unmasked as a Japanese...
, Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal
Ladies' Home Journal is an American magazine which first appeared on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States...
, The Delineator
The Delineator
The Delineator was an American women's magazine of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, founded by the Butterick Publishing Company in 1869 under the name The Metropolitan Monthly. Its name was changed in 1875. In November 1926, under the editorship of Mrs...
, etc. He became music critic of the New York Herald
New York Herald
The New York Herald was a large distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between May 6, 1835, and 1924.-History:The first issue of the paper was published by James Gordon Bennett, Sr., on May 6, 1835. By 1845 it was the most popular and profitable daily newspaper in the UnitedStates...
when that newspaper was owned by James Gordon Bennett
James Gordon Bennett, Jr.
James Gordon Bennett, Jr. was publisher of the New York Herald, founded by his father, James Gordon Bennett, Sr., who emigrated from Scotland. He was generally known as Gordon Bennett to distinguish him from his father....
, remaining with it for eighteen years.
He was on the point of completing the book which was afterwards published as The Complete Opera Book
The Complete Opera Book
The Complete Opera Book is a guide to operas by American music critic and author Gustav Kobbé first published in the United States in 1919 and the United Kingdom in 1922...
when he died. Various additions were made to it before publication, and the work in its original form was edited by Katharine Wright, who at the same time included some additional operas in sections that bear her initials. Its full title was The Complete Opera Book : the Stories of the Operas, Together with 400 of the Leading Airs and Motives in Musical Notation.
Notable works
- The Ring of the Nibelung (1887) reprinted in Wagner's Life and works
- Wagner's Life and works (two volumes, 1890)
- New York and its Environs (1891)
- Plays for Amateurs (1892)
- My Rosary, and Other Poems (1896)
- Miriam (1898)
- Signora, a Child of the Opera House, a novel (1902)
- Famous Actors & Actresses And Their Homes (1903)
- Wagner's Music-Dramas Analyzed (1904), with which were combined his other later Wagner works
- The Loves of Great Composers (1905)
- Wagner and His Isolde (1905)
- Opera Singers (1905, sixth edition revised, 1913)
- Famous American Songs (1906)
- How to Appreciate Music (New York: Moffat, Yard & Company, 1906)
- The Pianolist (1907)
- Portrait Gallery of Great Composers (1911)
- A Tribute to the Dog-Including the Famous Tribute by Senator Vest (1910 & 1911)
- Modern Women (1916)
- The Complete Opera BookThe Complete Opera BookThe Complete Opera Book is a guide to operas by American music critic and author Gustav Kobbé first published in the United States in 1919 and the United Kingdom in 1922...
(1919 & 1922), continued for several editions by the Earl of HarewoodGeorge Lascelles, 7th Earl of HarewoodGeorge Henry Hubert Lascelles, 7th Earl of Harewood, KBE AM , styled The Hon. George Lascelles before 1929 and Viscount Lascelles between 1929 and 1947, was the elder son of the 6th Earl of Harewood , and Princess Mary, Princess Royal, the only daughter of King George V of the United Kingdom and...
He was editor of the Lotus Magazine from 1909 to 1918.
External links
- The Complete Opera Book text at Bob’s Opera World text at Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...