1866 in music
Encyclopedia
Events
- Sir William Sterndale BennettWilliam Sterndale BennettSir William Sterndale Bennett was an English composer. He ranks as the most distinguished English composer of the Romantic school-Biography:...
becomes Principal of the British Royal Academy of MusicRoyal Academy of MusicThe Royal Academy of Music in London, England, is a conservatoire, Britain's oldest degree-granting music school and a constituent college of the University of London since 1999. The Academy was founded by Lord Burghersh in 1822 with the help and ideas of the French harpist and composer Nicolas...
. - May 30 - Bedřich SmetanaBedrich SmetanaBedřich Smetana was a Czech composer who pioneered the development of a musical style which became closely identified with his country's aspirations to independent statehood. He is thus widely regarded in his homeland as the father of Czech music...
's operaOperaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Prodana Nevesta (The Bartered Bride) debuts in PraguePraguePrague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
at the Provisional Theater - August 4 - First performance of Gabriel FauréGabriel FauréGabriel Urbain Fauré was a French composer, organist, pianist and teacher. He was one of the foremost French composers of his generation, and his musical style influenced many 20th century composers...
's Cantique de Jean Racine - October 21 - Jacques 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....
's operettaOperettaOperetta 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:...
La Vie Parisienne debuts in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
's Palais Royale - November 17 - Ambroise ThomasAmbroise ThomasCharles Louis Ambroise Thomas was a French composer, best known for his operas Mignon and Hamlet and as Director of the Conservatoire de Paris from 1871 till his death.-Biography:"There is good music, there is bad music, and then there is Ambroise Thomas."- Emmanuel Chabrier-Early life...
's operaOperaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
Mignon debuts in ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
at the Opéra-Comique
Published popular music
- "Come Back To Erin" w.m. Claribel
- "We Parted By The River" w.m. William Shakespeare HaysWilliam Shakespeare HaysWilliam Shakespeare Hays , was an American poet and lyricist. He wrote some 350 songs over his career and sold as many as 20 million copies of his works. These pieces varied in tone from low comedy to sentimental and pious; his material was sometimes confused with that of Stephen Foster as a result...
- "When You and I Were Young, MaggieWhen You and I Were Young, MaggieWhen You and I Were Young, Maggie is a famous folk song, popular song and standard. Though Springtown, Tennessee, has a small monument outside an old mill claiming the song was written by a local George Johnson, in 1820, for his Maggie, the truth is that its lyrics were written as a poem by the...
" by James A. ButterfieldJames Austin ButterfieldJames Austin Butterfield was a British-born composer. His best known composition is When You and I Were Young, Maggie, first published in 1866 . Butterfield was born in England in 1837 and emigrated to the United States in 1856.He was also the second president of the Music Teachers National...
& George Washington Johnson - "Write Me A Letter Home" w.m. Will S. Hays
Classical music
- Georges BizetGeorges BizetGeorges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a...
- La jolie fille de Perth: suite - Felix DraesekeFelix DraesekeFelix August Bernhard Draeseke was a composer of the "New German School" admiring Liszt and Richard Wagner. He wrote compositions in most forms including eight operas and stage works, four symphonies, and much vocal and chamber music.-Life:Felix Draeseke was born in the Franconian ducal town of...
- Fantasie on Themes from Boieldieus "Weisse Dame" - Johann Gottfried PiefkeJohann Gottfried PiefkeJohann Gottfried Piefke was a German conductor, Kapellmeister and composer of military music....
- Königgrätzer MarschKöniggrätzer MarschThe Königgrätzer Marsch is a famous German military march composed by Johann Gottfried Piefke after the Battle of Königgrätz, 1866, the decisive battle of the Austro-Prussian War, in which the Kingdom of Prussia defeated the Austrian Empire.It was one of Adolf Hitler's favorite marches and was... - Amilcare PonchielliAmilcare PonchielliAmilcare Ponchielli was an Italian composer, largely of operas.-Biography:Born in Paderno Fasolaro, now Paderno Ponchielli, near Cremona, Ponchielli won a scholarship at the age of nine to study music at the Milan Conservatory, writing his first symphony by the time he was ten years old.Two years...
- Concerto for Trumpet in F major - Franz von SuppéFranz von SuppéFranz von Suppé or Francesco Suppé Demelli was an Austrian composer of light operas who was born in what is now Croatia during the time his father was working in this outpost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire...
- Light Cavalry Overture
OperaOperaOpera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score, usually in a theatrical setting. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery, and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
- Karel MiryKarel MiryKarel Miry was a Belgian composer.He was one of the first Belgian composers to write operas to librettos in Dutch. He composed the music for De Vlaamse Leeuw the national anthem of Flanders, and for which Hippoliet van Peene wrote the lyrics...
- Maria van Boergondië (opera in 4 acts, libretto by N. Destanberg, premiered on August 28 in GhentGhentGhent is a city and a municipality located in the Flemish region of Belgium. It is the capital and biggest city of the East Flanders province. The city started as a settlement at the confluence of the Rivers Scheldt and Lys and in the Middle Ages became one of the largest and richest cities of...
) - De Keizer bij de Boeren (opera in 1 act, libretto by N. Destanberg, premiered on October 29 in Ghent)
- De occasie maakt den dief (opera in 1 act, libretto by N. Destanberg, premiered on December 24 in Ghent)
- Maria van Boergondië (opera in 4 acts, libretto by N. Destanberg, premiered on August 28 in Ghent
Musical theater
- La Belle HélèneLa belle HélèneLa belle Hélène , opéra bouffe in three acts, is an operetta by Jacques Offenbach to an original French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy...
(Lyrics: Henri MeilhacHenri MeilhacHenri Meilhac , was a French dramatist and opera librettist.-Biography:Meilhac was born in Paris in 1831. As a young man, he began writing fanciful articles for Parisian newspapers and vaudevilles, in a vivacious boulevardier spirit which brought him to the forefront...
& Ludovic HalévyLudovic HalévyLudovic Halévy was a French author and playwright. He was half Jewish : his Jewish father had converted to Christianity prior to his birth, to marry his mother, née Alexandrine Lebas.-Biography:Ludovic Halévy was born in Paris...
Music: Jacques 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....
) LondonWest End theatreWest End theatre is a popular term for mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres of London's 'Theatreland', the West End. Along with New York's Broadway theatre, West End theatre is usually considered to represent the highest level of commercial theatre in the English speaking...
production opened at the Adelphi TheatreAdelphi TheatreThe Adelphi Theatre is a 1500-seat West End theatre, located on the Strand in the City of Westminster. The present building is the fourth on the site. The theatre has specialised in comedy and musical theatre, and today it is a receiving house for a variety of productions, including many musicals...
on June 30 - The Black CrookThe Black CrookThe Black Crook is considered to be the first piece of musical theatre that conforms to the modern notion of a "book musical". The book is by Charles M. Barras , an American playwright...
- the first "book musicalMusical theatreMusical 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...
". Broadway production opened at Niblo's GardenNiblo's GardenNiblo's Garden was a New York theatre on Broadway, near Prince Street. It was established in 1823 as "Columbia Garden" which in 1828 gained the name of the Sans Souci and was later the property of the coffeehouse proprietor and caterer William Niblo. The large theatre that evolved in several...
on September 12 and ran for 474 performances
Births
- January 13 - Vasily KalinnikovVasily KalinnikovVasily Sergeyevich Kalinnikov was a Russian composer of two symphonies, several additional orchestral works and numerous songs, all of them imbued with characteristics of folksong...
, composerComposerA 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...
(d. 1901) - April 1 - Ferruccio BusoniFerruccio BusoniFerruccio Busoni was an Italian composer, pianist, editor, writer, piano and composition teacher, and conductor.-Biography:...
, pianistPianistA pianist is a musician who plays the piano. A professional pianist can perform solo pieces, play with an ensemble or orchestra, or accompany one or more singers, solo instrumentalists, or other performers.-Choice of genres:...
, composerComposerA 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... - May 17 - Erik SatieErik SatieÉric Alfred Leslie Satie was a French composer and pianist. Satie was a colourful figure in the early 20th century Parisian avant-garde...
, composer - June 15 - Charles WoodCharles Wood (composer)Charles Wood was an Irish composer and teacher.Born in Armagh, Ireland, he was the fifth child and third son of Charles Wood Sr. and Jemima Wood. His father was a tenor in the choir of the nearby St. Patrick's Cathedral, Armagh , and later worked as the Diocesan Registrar of the church...
, composer - June 29 - George Frederick BoyleGeorge Frederick BoyleGeorge Frederick Boyle was an American composer; born in Sydney, Australia, he came to the United States in 1910 where he remained until his death in Philadelphia in 1948....
, composer (d.1948) - June 30 - Harry Tally, tenor
- July 13 - La GoulueLa GoulueLouise Weber was a French can-can dancer who performed under the stage name of La Goulue...
, can-can dancer (d.1929) - July 26 - Francesco CileaFrancesco CileaFrancesco Cilea was an Italian composer. Today he is particularly known for his operas L'arlesiana and Adriana Lecouvreur.-Biography:...
, composer
Deaths
- January 25 - Minna Wagner, estranged wife of Richard WagnerRichard WagnerWilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
- February 6 - Anna LisztAnna LisztAnna Liszt was the mother of Franz Liszt....
, pianist and mother of Franz LisztFranz LisztFranz Liszt ; ), was a 19th-century Hungarian composer, pianist, conductor, and teacher.Liszt became renowned in Europe during the nineteenth century for his virtuosic skill as a pianist. He was said by his contemporaries to have been the most technically advanced pianist of his age...
(b. 1788) - March 20 - Rikard NordraakRikard NordraakRikard Nordraak was a Norwegian composer. He is best known as the composer of the Norwegian national anthem.-Biography:...
, composer (b. 1842) (tuberculosis) - October 2 - Adam DarrAdam DarrAdam Darr was a German classical guitarist, singer, zitherer and composer....
, guitarist, singer and composer (b. 1811) - November 26 - Adrien-Francois ServaisAdrien-Francois ServaisAdrien-François Servais was one of the most influential cellists of the nineteenth century. He was born and died in Halle, Belgium.Servais was originally trained as a violinist before switching to the cello...
, cellist (b. 1807) - December 1 - Jules DemerssemanJules DemerssemanJules Auguste Demersseman was a French flautist and composer.- Biography :Demersseman was born in Hondschoote, Département Nord, France, near the Belgian border. At the ripe age of eleven, he was a student of Jean-Louis Tulou at the Conservatoire de Paris. He won the first prize there at the age...
, flautist and composer (b. 1833) - December 3 - Jan KalivodaJan KalivodaJan Křtitel Václav Kalivoda , was a composer, conductor and violinist of Bohemian birth.-Life:...
, violinist, conductor and composer (b. 1801)