1845

Sir George Macfarren - Symphony No. 7 (1845)

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• published: 03 Feb 2014
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I. Allegro Con Brio - 00:00 II. Andante Cantabile - 8:19 III. Minuet - Tempo Giusto - 17:30 IV. Presto Assai Scherzando - 24:39 Sir George Alexander Macfarren (2 March 1813 -- 31 October 1887) was an English composer and musicologist. Macfarren began to study music when he was fourteen, under Charles Lucas. In 1829, at the age of sixteen, Macfarren entered the Royal Academy of Music, where he studied composition under Cipriani Potter as well as piano under William Henry Holmes and trombone with John Smithies, His ability to perform, however, was hindered by his poor eyesight and he soon concentrated upon composing only. In his first year at the Academy, Macfarren composed his first work, the Symphony in F minor. From 1834 to 1836 Macfarren taught at the Academy without a professorship; he was appointed a professor in 1837. He resigned in 1847 when his espousal of Alfred Day's new theory of harmony became a source of dispute between him and the rest of the Academy's faculty] Macfarren's eyesight had at that point deteriorated so significantly that he spent the next 18 months in New York to receive treatment from a leading oculist, but to no effect. Macfarren was re-appointed a professor at the Academy in 1851, not because the faculty had any greater love for Day's theories, but because they decided that free thought should be encouraged. He succeeded Sir William Sterndale Bennett as principal of the Academy in 1876. He was also appointed professor of music at Cambridge University in 1875, again succeeding Bennett. Macfarren founded the Handel Society which attempted to produce a collected edition of the works of George Frideric Handel (between 1843 and 1858). Among his theoretical works was an analysis of Beethoven's Missa Solemnis (described as Beethoven's Grand Service in D, and published in 1854); and a textbook on counterpoint (1881). His overture "Chevy Chace" was performed on 26 October 1843 by the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra conducted by Felix Mendelssohn. Mendelssohn had heard it performed in London and wrote the composer he "liked it very much". After the Leipzig concert Mendelssohn wrote again to say "Your overture went very well, and was most cordially and unanimously received by the public, the orchestra playing it with true delight and enthusiasm". Richard Wagner also admired the peculiar and wildly passionate character of the piece (which he described as the "Steeple Chase by MacFarrinc" in his diary). Wagner also described the overture's composer as "a pompous, melancholy Scotsman". It is possible that the fourth symphony is the F minor symphony that was played in 1834 by the Society of British Musicians. Among Macfarren's operas were King Charles II, produced at the Princess's Theatre in 1849 (Natalia Macfarren made her operatic debut in this production), and an adaptation of Robin Hood produced in 1860. His oratorios brought him some popular and critical success. The most enduringly successful of these, St John the Baptist, was first performed in 1873 at the Bristol Festival. The Resurrection premiered in 1876, Joseph in 1877 and King David in 1883.[Amongst his compositions of light music is a Romance and Barcarole for Concertina and Fortepiano written in 1856.