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George Alexander Macfarren
Sir George Alexander Macfarren (2 March 1813 – 31 October 1887) was an English composer and musicologist.
George Alexander Macfarren was born in London on 2 March 1813 to George Macfarren, a dancing-master, dramatic author and journalist, who later became the editor of the Musical World, and Elizabeth Macfarren, née Jackson. At the age of seven, Macfarren was sent to Dr Nicholas's school in Ealing, where his father was dancing-master; the school numbered among its alumni John Henry Newman and Thomas Henry Huxley. His health was poor, however, and his eyesight weak, so much so that he was given a large-type edition of the Bible and had to use a powerful magnifying-glass for all other reading. He was withdrawn from the school in 1823 to undergo a course of eye treatment. The treatment was unsuccessful, and his eyesight progressively worsened until he became totally blind in 1860.
However, his blindness had little effect on his productivity. He overcame the difficulties posed by his lack of sight by employing an amanuensis in composition. One amanuensis was composer Oliveria Prescott.
On 27 September 1844, Macfarren married Clarina Thalia Andrae, subsequently known as Natalia Macfarren (1827–1916), an operatic contralto and pianist who was born in Lübeck. Trained at the Royal Academy of Music, she was successively a concert singer and singing teacher, as well as being a writer and a prolific translator of German poetry, songs (lieder) and operatic libretti into English. Her singing translation for the finale text of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, the "Ode to Joy", became its most popular translation in England. She also composed for piano. Their daughter, Clarina Thalia Macfarren (23 March 1848 – 10 July 1934), married Francis William Davenport, one of George Macfarren's students.
His brother Walter Macfarren (28 August 1826 – 1905) was a pianist, composer and professor of the Royal Academy. Emma Maria Macfarren, the wife of another brother, John, was also a pianist and composer.
Macfarren was knighted in 1883. He lived with "chronic bronchitis and a weak heart" but refused to abate his working schedule, and died on 31 October 1887, at his house in Hamilton Terrace, St John's Wood. He is buried in Hampstead Cemetery.
Macfarren began to study music when he was fourteen, under Charles Lucas. In 1829, at the age of sixteen, he entered the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied composition under Cipriani Potter as well as piano under William Henry Holmes and trombone with John Smithies. His ability to perform, however, was hindered by his poor eyesight and he soon concentrated upon composing only. In his first year at the academy, Macfarren composed his first work, the Symphony in F minor.
From 1834 to 1836 Macfarren taught at the academy without a professorship; he was appointed a professor in 1837. He resigned in 1847 when his espousal of Alfred Day's new theory of harmony became a source of dispute between him and the rest of the academy's faculty. In 1845, he became conductor at Covent Garden, producing the Antigone with Mendelssohn's music; his opera on Don Quixote was produced under Bunn at Drury Lane in 1846. Macfarren's eyesight had at that point deteriorated so significantly that he spent the next 18 months in New York to receive treatment from a leading oculist, but to no effect. He was re-appointed a professor at the academy in 1851, not because the faculty had any greater love for Day's theories, but because they decided that free thought should be encouraged. He succeeded Sir William Sterndale Bennett as principal of the academy in 1876. He was also appointed professor of music at Cambridge University in 1875, again succeeding Bennett.
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George Alexander Macfarren
Sir George Alexander Macfarren (2 March 1813 – 31 October 1887) was an English composer and musicologist.
George Alexander Macfarren was born in London on 2 March 1813 to George Macfarren, a dancing-master, dramatic author and journalist, who later became the editor of the Musical World, and Elizabeth Macfarren, née Jackson. At the age of seven, Macfarren was sent to Dr Nicholas's school in Ealing, where his father was dancing-master; the school numbered among its alumni John Henry Newman and Thomas Henry Huxley. His health was poor, however, and his eyesight weak, so much so that he was given a large-type edition of the Bible and had to use a powerful magnifying-glass for all other reading. He was withdrawn from the school in 1823 to undergo a course of eye treatment. The treatment was unsuccessful, and his eyesight progressively worsened until he became totally blind in 1860.
However, his blindness had little effect on his productivity. He overcame the difficulties posed by his lack of sight by employing an amanuensis in composition. One amanuensis was composer Oliveria Prescott.
On 27 September 1844, Macfarren married Clarina Thalia Andrae, subsequently known as Natalia Macfarren (1827–1916), an operatic contralto and pianist who was born in Lübeck. Trained at the Royal Academy of Music, she was successively a concert singer and singing teacher, as well as being a writer and a prolific translator of German poetry, songs (lieder) and operatic libretti into English. Her singing translation for the finale text of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9, the "Ode to Joy", became its most popular translation in England. She also composed for piano. Their daughter, Clarina Thalia Macfarren (23 March 1848 – 10 July 1934), married Francis William Davenport, one of George Macfarren's students.
His brother Walter Macfarren (28 August 1826 – 1905) was a pianist, composer and professor of the Royal Academy. Emma Maria Macfarren, the wife of another brother, John, was also a pianist and composer.
Macfarren was knighted in 1883. He lived with "chronic bronchitis and a weak heart" but refused to abate his working schedule, and died on 31 October 1887, at his house in Hamilton Terrace, St John's Wood. He is buried in Hampstead Cemetery.
Macfarren began to study music when he was fourteen, under Charles Lucas. In 1829, at the age of sixteen, he entered the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied composition under Cipriani Potter as well as piano under William Henry Holmes and trombone with John Smithies. His ability to perform, however, was hindered by his poor eyesight and he soon concentrated upon composing only. In his first year at the academy, Macfarren composed his first work, the Symphony in F minor.
From 1834 to 1836 Macfarren taught at the academy without a professorship; he was appointed a professor in 1837. He resigned in 1847 when his espousal of Alfred Day's new theory of harmony became a source of dispute between him and the rest of the academy's faculty. In 1845, he became conductor at Covent Garden, producing the Antigone with Mendelssohn's music; his opera on Don Quixote was produced under Bunn at Drury Lane in 1846. Macfarren's eyesight had at that point deteriorated so significantly that he spent the next 18 months in New York to receive treatment from a leading oculist, but to no effect. He was re-appointed a professor at the academy in 1851, not because the faculty had any greater love for Day's theories, but because they decided that free thought should be encouraged. He succeeded Sir William Sterndale Bennett as principal of the academy in 1876. He was also appointed professor of music at Cambridge University in 1875, again succeeding Bennett.