Joseph Holbrooke
Encyclopedia
Joseph Charles Holbrooke (5 July 18785 August 1958) was an English
composer
, conductor, and pianist
. He was sometimes referred to as "the cockney
Wagner
".
Joseph and his wife Dorothy (known as 'Dot') married in 1903 and had four children: Mildred (born 1905), Anton (1908), Barbara (1909) and Gwydion (1912). His son changed his name to Gwydion Brooke
and was a prominent English bassoonist.
Holbrooke died in London
.
, many tone poems, two piano concerto
s, chamber music
including string quartet
s, a piano quintet
, a quintet for clarinet and strings and a piano quartet
, and much music inspired by Edgar Allan Poe
, including choral and orchestral settings for "The Raven
" and "The Bells
", and a ballet score for "The Masque of the Red Death
". He also wrote a three-part operatic trilogy based on the Welsh
epic the Mabinogion
.
The classical music label Naxos
notes that his works are rarely performed today, in part because "he made very considerable demands on the resources of promoters and the patience of listeners."
His students included the conductor and composer Anthony Bernard
.
. Trochopoulos has prepared Holbrooke's Piano Concerto No.2 ready for recording late 2011. Cameo Classics has also recorded Holbrooke's Variations on "The Girl I Left Behind Me" (twice) with the conductor Marius Stravinsky and the Karelia Philharmonic Orchestra, and a live performance by the Orion Orchestra of London conducted by Toby Purser, and re-released its 1978 world premiere recording of Holbrooke's Piano Concerto No.1 "The Song of Gwyn ap Nudd" conducted by Geoffrey Heald-Smith with Philip Challis as soloist. Holbrooke's Ballet from Pierrot and Pierrette was recorded in 2011, with Michael Laus conducting his Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.
A series of recordings of Holbrooke's orchestral works is being undertaken by the German record label, CPO. The first disc appeared in 2009 and contained the symphonic poems The Viking and Ulalume, the concert overture Amontillado and the orchestral Variations on 'Three Blind Mice, performed by the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchesterm conducted by Howard Griffiths. The British label, Dutton Epoch, has already recorded some of Holbrooke's chamber music and is now turning its attention to his middle and late period orchestral music.
paid tribute to Holbrooke by giving the name Joseph Holbrooke
to his collective free-improvising
trio with Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley
. Despite the name, the group never played Holbrooke's compositions.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
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...
, conductor, and pianist
Pianist
A 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:...
. He was sometimes referred to as "the cockney
Cockney
The term Cockney has both geographical and linguistic associations. Geographically and culturally, it often refers to working class Londoners, particularly those in the East End...
Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
".
Family
He was born Joseph Charles Holbrook in Croydon, Surrey. His father, also Joseph, was a music hall musician and teacher, and his mother Helen was a Scottish singer. He had two older sisters (Helen and Mary) and two younger brothers (Robert and James). His mother died when he was only two years old. When he was a young man, he and his father both taught music from the same residence, and the occasional confusion may have influenced his decision to change his name. He changed his name to Joseph Holbrooke, and later to Josef Holbrooke.Joseph and his wife Dorothy (known as 'Dot') married in 1903 and had four children: Mildred (born 1905), Anton (1908), Barbara (1909) and Gwydion (1912). His son changed his name to Gwydion Brooke
Gwydion Brooke
Gwydion Brooke was the principal bassoonist of the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra and a member of its "Royal Family" of wind instrumentalists, along with Jack Brymer , Dennis Brain , Richard Walton , Terence MacDonagh , and Gerald Jackson .Born Frederick James Gwydion Holbrooke, his father was the...
and was a prominent English bassoonist.
Holbrooke died in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Music
His musical output includes eight symphoniesSymphony
A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, scored almost always for orchestra. A symphony usually contains at least one movement or episode composed according to the sonata principle...
, many tone poems, two piano concerto
Piano concerto
A piano concerto is a concerto written for piano and orchestra.See also harpsichord concerto; some of these works are occasionally played on piano...
s, chamber music
Chamber music
Chamber music is a form of classical music, written for a small group of instruments which traditionally could be accommodated in a palace chamber. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small number of performers with one performer to a part...
including string quartet
String quartet
A string quartet is a musical ensemble of four string players – usually two violin players, a violist and a cellist – or a piece written to be performed by such a group...
s, a piano quintet
Piano quintet
In European classical music, a piano quintet is a work of chamber music written for piano and four other instruments, most commonly piano, two violins, viola, and cello . Among the most frequently performed piano quintets are those by Robert Schumann, Johannes Brahms, César Franck, Antonín Dvořák...
, a quintet for clarinet and strings and a piano quartet
Piano quartet
In European classical music, piano quartet denotes a chamber music composition for piano and three other instruments, or a musical ensemble comprising such instruments...
, and much music inspired by Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
, including choral and orchestral settings for "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...
" and "The Bells
The Bells
"The Bells" is a heavily onomatopoeic poem by Edgar Allan Poe which was not published until after his death in 1849. It is perhaps best known for the diacopic repetition of the word "bells." The poem has four parts to it; each part becomes darker and darker as the poem progresses from "the jingling...
", and a ballet score for "The Masque of the Red Death
The Masque of the Red Death
"The Masque of the Red Death", originally published as "The Mask of the Red Death" , is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe. The story follows Prince Prospero's attempts to avoid a dangerous plague known as the Red Death by hiding in his abbey. He, along with many other wealthy nobles, has a...
". He also wrote a three-part operatic trilogy based on the Welsh
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
epic the Mabinogion
Mabinogion
The Mabinogion is the title given to a collection of eleven prose stories collated from medieval Welsh manuscripts. The tales draw on pre-Christian Celtic mythology, international folktale motifs, and early medieval historical traditions...
.
The classical music label Naxos
Naxos Records
Naxos Records is a record label specializing in classical music. Through a number of imprints, Naxos also releases genres including Chinese music, jazz, world music, and early rock & roll. The company was founded in 1987 by Klaus Heymann, a German-born resident of Hong Kong.Naxos is the largest...
notes that his works are rarely performed today, in part because "he made very considerable demands on the resources of promoters and the patience of listeners."
His students included the conductor and composer Anthony Bernard
Anthony Bernard
Anthony Bernard was an English conductor, organist, pianist and composer.-Early life:He was born Alan Charles Butler, the son of a Thames lighterman and changed his name by deed poll in 1919 according to the National Archives....
.
Recordings
For the 50th anniversary of his death in 2008, British CD label Cameo Classics started a series of premiere recordings of Holbrooke's works for piano (including the complete Nocturnes and Rhapsodie-Etudes on CC9035CD and CC9036CD) with the Greek pianist Panagiotis Trochopoulos, who also gave the first all-Holbrooke recital at the English Music Festival in 2008 at Dorchester AbbeyDorchester Abbey
Dorchester Abbey is a Church of England parish church in Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire, about southeast of Oxford. It was formerly a Norman abbey church and was built on the site of a Saxon cathedral.-History:...
. Trochopoulos has prepared Holbrooke's Piano Concerto No.2 ready for recording late 2011. Cameo Classics has also recorded Holbrooke's Variations on "The Girl I Left Behind Me" (twice) with the conductor Marius Stravinsky and the Karelia Philharmonic Orchestra, and a live performance by the Orion Orchestra of London conducted by Toby Purser, and re-released its 1978 world premiere recording of Holbrooke's Piano Concerto No.1 "The Song of Gwyn ap Nudd" conducted by Geoffrey Heald-Smith with Philip Challis as soloist. Holbrooke's Ballet from Pierrot and Pierrette was recorded in 2011, with Michael Laus conducting his Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.
A series of recordings of Holbrooke's orchestral works is being undertaken by the German record label, CPO. The first disc appeared in 2009 and contained the symphonic poems The Viking and Ulalume, the concert overture Amontillado and the orchestral Variations on 'Three Blind Mice, performed by the Brandenburgisches Staatsorchesterm conducted by Howard Griffiths. The British label, Dutton Epoch, has already recorded some of Holbrooke's chamber music and is now turning its attention to his middle and late period orchestral music.
Legacy
The English composer and bassist Gavin BryarsGavin Bryars
Richard Gavin Bryars is an English composer and double bassist. He has been active in, or has produced works in, a variety of styles of music, including jazz, free improvisation, minimalism, historicism, experimental music, avant-garde and neoclassicism.-Early life and career:Born in Goole, East...
paid tribute to Holbrooke by giving the name Joseph Holbrooke
Joseph Holbrooke (band)
Joseph Holbrooke were a musical trio active in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and briefly re-formed in 1998. The group consisted of: Derek Bailey , Gavin Bryars and Tony Oxley...
to his collective free-improvising
Free improvisation
Free improvisation or free music is improvised music without any rules beyond the logic or inclination of the musician involved. The term can refer to both a technique and as a recognizable genre in its own right....
trio with Derek Bailey and Tony Oxley
Tony Oxley
Tony Oxley is an English free-jazz drummer and one of the founders of Incus Records.-Biography:Tony Oxley was born in Sheffield, England. A self-taught pianist by age eight, he first began playing the drums at seventeen. While in the Black Watch military band from 1957 to 1960 he studied music...
. Despite the name, the group never played Holbrooke's compositions.
External links
- Josef Holbrooke - article in The Musical Times, April 1, 1913
- Joe Holbrooke - British composer, by Rob Barnett
- Biography, review and partial discography
- Update to the above, with more detail on quartets and Poeana
- Joseph Holbrooke; a biography from the classical label Naxos