DICTIONARY OF MUSIC - El Atril

160 GERMAN GERO
music for ' Henry VIII.' at the Lyceum (1892)
the ' Fantasia, 'In Commemoration' (Philharmonic. Jubilee concert),
Shepherds' Dance ' and other numbers at
once caught the ear of musical people and the
general public, and have maintained their popularity
ever since. Although so much in request
1897.
Symphonic Poem. 'Hamlet' (Birmingham Festival), 1897.
Music to Much Ado about Nothiwj (St. James's Theatre), 1898.
Symphonic Suite, ' ' The Seasons (Norwich Festival), 1899.
Music to Sell Owyn (Prince of Wales's Theatre), 1900.
Opera, 'The Emerald Isle' (with Sir Arthur Sullivan), 1901.
Opera, ' A Princess of Kensinetou ' (Savoy Th&vtre), 1903.
Welsh Rhapsody (CarditT Festival, 1904).
Music to Aiiii'jone (published but not performed).
Music for pianoforte solo, and duet, violin and piano, clarinet, flute,
violoncello, etc, part-songs, songs, etc. ,,
as a purveyor of music for Shakespearean revivals
and original plays, German has never lost sight
of the higher walks of art ; since the production
of his first symphony in E minor, at the Crystal
Palace in 1890, many orchestral suites, symphonic
poems, etc. have been brought forward,
mostly at tlie provincial festivals of the autumn,
and always with greatsuccess. Innon-orchestral
music, it is curious to see how, although himself
a violinist, he has favoured the wind instru-
' ' ments, as in his charming Suite for flute and
piano, a serenade for wind instruments, another
serenade for tenor voice with accompaniment
of piano and wind, and many other compositions.
When Sir Arthur Sullivan's last opera
' The Emerald Isle ' was left unfinished at his
death (1901), German was commissioned to
finish it, and his part of the work was done
w-ith such remarkable skill that with the production
of his charming ' Merrie England,' it
seemed as if the success which the Savoy Theatre
had enjoyed for so long under Sullivan was to
be continued under German ; this might indeed
have been so if the younger man had been strong
enough to resist the various influences which
allowed all kinds of interpolations into the score
of this and of his next work, ' A Princess of
Kensington ' (1903). The cultivated section
of the public which had hailed the new composer
as the legitimate successor of Sullivan (and it
must be admitted that German had contrived to
give them something quite as good as Sullivan,
wliile preserving his own individuality), natur-
ally resented the liberties taken with the pieces,
and the career of the theatre as the home of
national light opera of a high class ceased with
this work. German's music leans to what is
light and graceful rather than to what is strongly
emotional or tragic ; but his ideas are original,
their expression is always exquisitely refined,
and his skill of orchestration is remarkable.
He writes admirably for the voice, and it is no
wonder that his songs are as popular with singers
and musicians as they are with the public. He
was made a Fellow of the Royal Academy of
Music in 1895, and a member of the Philharmonic
Society in 1901. The following is a list
of his compositions :
Operetta, 'The Rival Poets' (with accompaniment oi two pianos),
J8S6.
Overture. 'On German aira,' 1839.
Music to Richard HI. (Globe Theatre), ]flS9.
Symphony No. ], ill E minor (Crystal Palace), 1890.
Funeral March (Henschel'a Symphony Concerts), 1891.
Music to H'^nni VIII. (Lyceum Theatre). 1892.
Cjpsy Suite (Crystal Palace), 1892.
Serenade for wind instruments, 1892.
Suite, flute and piano, 1892.
Music to Thu T'-.mptir (Haymarket Theatre). 1893.
Symphony No. 2. in A minor (Norwich Festival), 1893.
Serenade, tenor voice, piano, and wind instruments, 1894.
Music to Rumen and Jidhtf (Lyceum Theatre), 1895.
Symphonic Suite in D minor (Leeds Festival). 189.5.
Church music in .Wichwl «nd hi'i Los' Aiurl (Lyceum Theatre), 1896,
Music to .1.^ Voii Lik'i If (St. James's Tlieatre), 189H.
GERMAN SIXTH. See Sixth.
GERN, AuGU.ST, was foreman to Cavaille-Col
of Paris, and came over to London to erect the
organ built by the latter for the Carmelite
Church at Kensington, Having set up on his
own account in London in 1866, he built an
organ for the French Church near Leicester
Square, besides many excellent instruments for
churclies and private houses. v. de p.
GERNSHEIM, P'riedrich, eminent player,
composer, and conductor, born of Hebrew parents
at Worms, July 17, 1839. He received his first
instruction in music from his mother, an able
pianist, and was then fmt successively into the
hands of Liebe, Pauer, and Rozenheim. He
also learned the violin, and under Hauff the
theory of music. His aViility might have
tempted him to become a virtuoso, but he
fortunately preferred a diff'erent path, and at
the Conservatorium of Leipzig under Moscheles,
Hauptmann, Rietz, and Richter, during the
years 1852-55 underwent a thorough musical
education. He followed this up by a residence
in Paris, where he was much esteemed as a
teacher and player. Since then he has been successively
at Saarbruck (1861) ; Cologne, as Pro-
fessor of Pianoforte, Counterpoint, and Fugue
(1865) ; Rotterdam, as conductor of the 'Eruditio
Musica,' and of the Theatre (1874). [In
1890-97 he was a teacher at the Stern Conservatorium
and director of the Sternscher
Gesangverein till 1 904 ; he ^vas made a member
of the senate of tlie Royal Academy of Arts in
Berlin. His works include four symphonies,
of which those in G minor and Bj? are remarkable,
an overture, ' Waldmeisters Brautfahrt,'
concertos for violin and pianoforte, and many
choral works, such as 'Salamis,' 'Hafis, ' 'Wach-
terlied an der Neujahrsnacht 1200,' 'Preislied,'
' Nornenlied, ' 'Phtibus Apollo,' ' Agrippina, ' etc.
His chamber music consists of three quartets
and two quintets, for piano and strings ; two
trios, one of which, in F (op. 28) was often
given at the Popular Concerts ; three violin
sonatas, two string quartets, and a string
quintet] g.
GERO, .Than (? 1518-1553). For some time
it was thought that .Than Gero and Maistre Jhan
were one and the same person, .and under this
impression Fetis records that Gero was maestro
di cappella first at Orvieto Cathedral, and afterwards
to the Duke of Ferrara. The latter part
of the statement certainly applies to Maistre
.Than and not to Gero. "Tliat there were two
composers is shown by their compositions being