Light Music and Operetta

[Rhodes (née Guy), Helen M.]

(b Château Hardelot, nr Boulogne, c1858; d London, Jan 7, 1936). French composer, pianist and singing teacher. She was the daughter of an English sea captain and the singer Helen Guy. At the age of 15 she was taken to Paris, where she studied at the Conservatoire under Renaud Maury, and success came in her early 20s with the song Sans toi (words by Victor Hugo). Gounod and Massenet were among those who encouraged her in composition, and those who introduced her songs included Nellie Melba, Victor Maurel and Pol Plançon, as well as Emma Calvé, with whom she went to the USA in 1896 as accompanist. After marrying an Englishman she settled in London, where she continued to produce sentimental songs, about 300 in all, notable for their easy melody and typical dramatic climax. They include Three Green Bonnets (H.L. Harris; 1901), Because (E. Teschemacher; ...

(b Budapest, Dec 15, 1873; d Budapest, Dec 16, 1923). Hungarian composer, teacher and writer on music. He studied the piano and flute at the University of Kolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca) and theory with Ödön Farkas; he also organized a student orchestra. From 1892 to 1896 he studied physics, and he taught mathematics and physics in Budapest before turning to composition and criticism. As a contributor to the journal Zenevilág he was among the first to recognize Bartók’s talent. The popularity of some songs and the musical play Csipkerózsa led to a commission for the operetta János vitéz (1904), which provided a welcome antidote to the Viennese works then in vogue and has remained the most popular Hungarian national operetta. It was followed by Rákóczi (1906), Mary-Ann (1908) and incidental music for Molnár’s Liliom (1909). After a period in Kecskemét, Kacsoh returned to Budapest in ...

(b Ipswich, Dec 23, 1878; d Nutfield, Surrey, Dec 10, 1935). English composer, conductor, organist and teacher. He was an assistant to Sir Frederick Bridge, the organist of Westminster Abbey from 1897 to 1904. Sanderson was subsequently organist at various London churches before moving to Doncaster in 1904 to become organist at the parish church, a post he held until 1923. He also conducted the Doncaster Amateur Operatic Society (1910–35), the Doncaster Musical Society (1912–24) and the Doncaster Thespian Amateur Operatic Society (1922–31). His pupils at this time included the baritone Topliss Green, later to become Director of Singing Studies at the RCM. Sanderson went on to work for the publisher Cramer, examine for the Associated Board of the Royal Schools of Music and adjudicate at music festivals.

Most notably Sanderson composed songs, usually ballads, which became popular and are still performed: ...

(b Philadelphia, May 11, 1827; d Philadelphia, Nov 22, 1902). American composer, teacher and publisher . His parents were Joseph Eastburn Winner, a violin maker, and Mary Ann Winner (née Hawthorne), a relative of Nathaniel Hawthorne. Largely self-educated in music, he played and taught several instruments. Around 1845 Winner became a music publisher and opened a music store with his brother Joseph. He was active in Philadelphia’s music circle and was a member of the Musical Fund Society, in whose orchestra he played for five years, the Cecillian Musical Society, and the Philadelphia Brass Band.

Winner wrote many simple and highly popular pieces, arrangements and instruction methods for different instruments. He is best known for his songs issued under the pseudonym Alice Hawthorne, which spawned the genre known as ‘Hawthorne Ballads’. Other pseudonyms were Percy Guyer, Mark Mason and Paul Stenton. Recognition came with How sweet are the roses...