Arthur Bergh
Encyclopedia
Arthur Oscar Bergh was an American composer
, conductor
and accompanist. He performed on the piano
, violin
and organ
.
on March 24, 1882. From 1903 to 1908 he was a violinist with the Metropolitan Opera
. In 1914, he was the conductor of the orchestra in New York City
's Central Park
.
Bergh became the recording manager at Emerson Records
in 1916; he had previously been employed by Columbia Records
, and was convinced to move to Victor Emerson's new company after Emerson himself left Columbia. Other sources state that Bergh worked with Emerson first (1915 to 1922), following which he worked at Columbia (1922 to 1930).
In his later life, Bergh worked as a librarian with Hollywood
film companies. He died in Los Angeles
on February 11, 1962.
. In 1956, they lived at 9823 Kincardine Avenue in Cheviot Hills, Los Angeles. After Bergh's death, Geraldyne married Los Angeles Superior Court judge McIntyre Faries on December 3, 1965. Geraldyne died in 1998 and was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
.
s and operetta
s, including adaptations of Robert Browning
's The Pied Piper of Hamelin
and Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven
. His Lieder include music to Walt Whitman
's The Imprisoned Soul (1939), Percy Bysshe Shelley
's Music, When Soft Voices Die (1947), Emily Dickinson
's The Grass (1954), and John Greenleaf Whittier
's Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
(1955).
Bergh's other works include a symphonic chorale
entitled The Unnamed City; a romantic opera
, Niorada; a march for orchestra, Honor and Glory (1939); two operettas, In Arcady and The Goblin Fair; a chorus entitled O Captain, My Captain; a cycle
named The Congo; as well as 80 other pieces for violin and piano.
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...
, conductor
Conductor
Conductor or conduction may refer to:In science:* Electrical conductor, a material allowing the flow of electric current* Electrical conduction, the movement of charged particles through an electrical conductor...
and accompanist. He performed on 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...
, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
and organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
.
Biography
Bergh was born in Saint Paul, MinnesotaSaint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...
on March 24, 1882. From 1903 to 1908 he was a violinist with the Metropolitan Opera
Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager...
. In 1914, he was the conductor of the orchestra in 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...
's Central Park
Central Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
.
Bergh became the recording manager at Emerson Records
Emerson Records
Emerson Records was a record label active in the United States between 1916 to 1928. Emerson Records produced between the 1910s and early 1920s offered generally above average audio fidelity for the era, pressed in high quality shellac. The fidelity of the later issues compares less...
in 1916; he had previously been employed by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
, and was convinced to move to Victor Emerson's new company after Emerson himself left Columbia. Other sources state that Bergh worked with Emerson first (1915 to 1922), following which he worked at Columbia (1922 to 1930).
In his later life, Bergh worked as a librarian with Hollywood
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
film companies. He died in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on February 11, 1962.
Personal life
Bergh's wife, Geraldyne Brewer (1901–1998), was an heiress in social and charitable circles in 1950s Los AngelesLos Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. In 1956, they lived at 9823 Kincardine Avenue in Cheviot Hills, Los Angeles. After Bergh's death, Geraldyne married Los Angeles Superior Court judge McIntyre Faries on December 3, 1965. Geraldyne died in 1998 and was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale
Forest Lawn Memorial Park is a privately owned cemetery in Glendale, California. It is the original location of Forest Lawn, a chain of cemeteries in Southern California. The land was formerly part of Providencia Ranch.-History:...
.
Works
He composed a number of operaOpera
Opera 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...
s 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:...
s, including adaptations of Robert Browning
Robert Browning
Robert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
's The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin
The Pied Piper of Hamelin is the subject of a legend concerning the departure or death of a great many children from the town of Hamelin , Lower Saxony, Germany, in the Middle Ages. The earliest references describe a piper, dressed in pied clothing, leading the children away from the town never...
and Edgar Allen Poe's The Raven
The Raven
"The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in January 1845. It is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow descent into madness...
. His Lieder include music to Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
's The Imprisoned Soul (1939), Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Percy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
's Music, When Soft Voices Die (1947), Emily Dickinson
Emily Dickinson
Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
's The Grass (1954), and John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier
John Greenleaf Whittier was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. He is usually listed as one of the Fireside Poets...
's Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
Dear Lord and Father of Mankind
"Dear Lord and Father of Mankind" is a hymn with words taken from a longer poem, The Brewing of Soma by American Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier. The adaptation was made by Garrett Horder in his 1884 Congregational Hymns....
(1955).
Bergh's other works include a symphonic chorale
Chorale
A chorale was originally a hymn sung by a Christian congregation. In certain modern usage, this term may also include classical settings of such hymns and works of a similar character....
entitled The Unnamed City; a romantic opera
Romantic music
Romantic music or music in the Romantic Period is a musicological and artistic term referring to a particular period, theory, compositional practice, and canon in Western music history, from 1810 to 1900....
, Niorada; a march for orchestra, Honor and Glory (1939); two operettas, In Arcady and The Goblin Fair; a chorus entitled O Captain, My Captain; a cycle
Song cycle
A song cycle is a group of songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a single entity. As a rule, all of the songs are by the same composer and often use words from the same poet or lyricist. Unification can be achieved by a narrative or a persona common to the songs, or even, as in Schumann's...
named The Congo; as well as 80 other pieces for violin and piano.
- 1908 – The RavenThe Raven"The Raven" is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan Poe, first published in January 1845. It is often noted for its musicality, stylized language, and supernatural atmosphere. It tells of a talking raven's mysterious visit to a distraught lover, tracing the man's slow descent into madness...
, Op.Opus numberAn Opus number , pl. opera and opuses, abbreviated, sing. Op. and pl. Opp. refers to a number generally assigned by composers to an individual composition or set of compositions on publication, to help identify their works...
20 (Edgar Allen Poe) - 1913 – Evening, a Reverie, Op. 15, No. 1
- 1913 – Meditation in A♭, Op. 15, No. 2
- 1913 – Serenade Coquette, Op. 15, No. 3
- 1913 – Here They Come
- 1914 – The Pied Piper of HamelinThe Pied Piper of HamelinThe Pied Piper of Hamelin is the subject of a legend concerning the departure or death of a great many children from the town of Hamelin , Lower Saxony, Germany, in the Middle Ages. The earliest references describe a piper, dressed in pied clothing, leading the children away from the town never...
, Op. 23 (Robert BrowningRobert BrowningRobert Browning was an English poet and playwright whose mastery of dramatic verse, especially dramatic monologues, made him one of the foremost Victorian poets.-Early years:...
) - 1915 – Four Tone Pastels, Op. 17
- 1919 – Vesper Song (Cordelia Brooks Fenno)
- 1919 – The Goblin Fair (Cordelia Brooks Fenno)
- 1924 – In Arcady
- 1926 – Concert Suite for the Pianoforte
- 1941 – Love Is the Light of the World (Paul Laurence DunbarPaul Laurence DunbarPaul Laurence Dunbar was a seminal African American poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Dunbar gained national recognition for his 1896 "Ode to Ethiopia", one poem in the collection Lyrics of Lowly Life....
) - 1938 – Honor and Glory, Op. 30
- 1938 – Destiny
- 1938 – O Captain, My Captain!
- 1939 – The Imprisoned Soul (Walt WhitmanWalt WhitmanWalter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...
) - 1941 – Kissing Her Hair I Sat Against Her Feet (Algernon Charles SwinburneAlgernon Charles SwinburneAlgernon Charles Swinburne was an English poet, playwright, novelist, and critic. He invented the roundel form, wrote several novels, and contributed to the famous Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica...
) - 1941 – Come With Arms Outstretched (Sara TeasdaleSara TeasdaleSara Teasdale , was an American lyrical poet. She was born Sara Trevor Teasdale in St. Louis, Missouri, and after her marriage in 1914 she went by the name Sara Teasdale Filsinger.-Biography:...
) - 1947 – Music, When Soft Voices Die, Op. 37 (Percy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe ShelleyPercy Bysshe Shelley was one of the major English Romantic poets and is critically regarded as among the finest lyric poets in the English language. Shelley was famous for his association with John Keats and Lord Byron...
) - 1950 – A Tragic Story (William Makepeace ThackerayWilliam Makepeace ThackerayWilliam Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.-Biography:...
) - 1950 – I Heard the Bells on Christmas DayI Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day" is a Christmas carol based on the 1864 poem "Christmas Bells" by American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow.- Origin :...
(Henry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth LongfellowHenry Wadsworth Longfellow was an American poet and educator whose works include "Paul Revere's Ride", The Song of Hiawatha, and Evangeline...
) - 1954 – The Grass (Emily DickinsonEmily DickinsonEmily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet. Born in Amherst, Massachusetts, to a successful family with strong community ties, she lived a mostly introverted and reclusive life...
) - 1955 – Dear Lord and Father of MankindDear Lord and Father of Mankind"Dear Lord and Father of Mankind" is a hymn with words taken from a longer poem, The Brewing of Soma by American Quaker poet John Greenleaf Whittier. The adaptation was made by Garrett Horder in his 1884 Congregational Hymns....
(John Greenleaf WhittierJohn Greenleaf WhittierJohn Greenleaf Whittier was an influential American Quaker poet and ardent advocate of the abolition of slavery in the United States. He is usually listed as one of the Fireside Poets...
)