George Alexander Macfarren, 1813-1887

 

  

                          Macfarren's Life and Work

 

Born a Londoner, Macfarren was one of England's leading composers of the day. He initially learnt music from his father, a dancing-master and dramatist, and later studied with Charles Lucas. A proficient pianist, he entered the Royal Academy of Music in 1829, where he studied composition with Cipriani Potter. His first important work, a symphony in C, was performed at an RAM concert in October, 1830.

After studying at the college for 6 years he taught for a while at a school in the Isle of Man before returning as a professor of the Academy in 1837. He resigned from the post 10 years later when criticized for teaching Alfred Day's theory of harmony, then openly condemned by other professorial colleagues. Macfarren was instrumental in helping found the Society of British Musicians in 1834, and later the Handel Society in 1844. However, his first love was opera and after three abortive attempts,  he wrote The Devil's Opera (1838), a work well thought of in its day, which he followed up with Don Quixote, which, was not performed until 1846 because of a lack of opportunity caused by poor theatre management and bankruptcy, factors which cause the abandonment of several of his operas.

One of his successes, however, was King Charles II, presented at the Princess's Theatre in 1849,  with Edward Loder conducting.   Unusually, for the time,  it  was almost completely through-composed.  The review in The Times by his friend J.W. Davison,  stated "Perhaps, of all our native musicians, Mr Macfarren is the one who has most highly and variously distinguished himself".

In the early 1860's, Macfarren wrote a string of operas, the best remembered of which was Robin Hood (1860), which played for two seasons and later had a modest success on the touring circuit. To many, Robin Hood was a milestone in the development of a recognized English idiom that depicted rustic charm, just as German's Merrie England would 50 years later. In the work, the soloists are musically wedded to their strengths of character and a part song echoes the old English glee. The Grove Dictionary of Music notes that "Macfarren's handling of the orchestra is bright, uncluttered and masculine; his brass writing is notably good, being less garish than Wallace's and more confident than Sullivan's". Macfarren followed Robin Hood with She Stoops to Conquer and Helvellyn and two comic chamber operas, Jessy Lea and The Soldier's Legacy, which almost certainly influenced Sullivan in his later partnership with Gilbert.

Macfarren never matched the fame bestowed on Balfe, Wallace, or Benedict because he lacked their talent for easy melody. Always afflicted with poor eyesight, by 1860, he had become too blind to write his compositions and had to use an amanuensis but it never dampened his enthusiasm for composition. In later years, his cantatas and oratorios became popular with provincial festivals, such as Leeds, Norwich and Birmingham. In 1875 he succeeded Sterndale Bennett as professor of music at Cambridge and as principal of the RAM. Up to the end of his life, he continued to write, lecture and compose. He was knighted in 1883 on the same day as Arthur Sullivan and George Grove.

 

Recordings of Macfarren's Works

Victorian Opera Northwest's recording of Macfarren's Robin Hood has been released on Naxos 8.660306-07. Further details on the recording may be found here.

 

His overture to She stoops to conquer  is included in the Victorian Opera Northwest recording of a number of Victorian English opera overtures on SOMM CD 0123 : British Opera Overtures. More detail on the content can be found here.

 

A full list of recordings of Macfarren's works can be found here

 

Books and articles on Macfarren

The only biography of Macfarren is that by Henry C. Banister, George Alexander Macfarren: his life, works and influence, London: George Bell and Sons, 1891.  Available online at http://www.archive.org

A list of other articles and book chapters on Macfarren can be found here. There is a good summary of his life and works on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Alexander_Macfarren