Italy held a monopoly on opera until the 19th century, when Germany and France entered the arena. Mozart got the ball rolling, Weber made it big, and Wagner perfected it. In between Weber and Wagner was Heinrich Marschner. His opera, Der Vampyr, was cool way before the likes of Buffy or Twilight, and still remains cooler than Tom Cruise.
Long before things like Castlevania made us associate a certain musical style with Vampires (specifically, baroque harpsichord concerti in minor keys) Marschner was starting from scratch, and became known for his ability to write operatic horror.
Alas, poor Frederic’s father had intended his son to become a ship’s pilot, but his hard-of-hearing nanny misheard him, and instead indentured him to be a pirate. And to make matters worse, his contract said he was to be indentured until his 21st birthday, as opposed to his 21st year of life. Normally this would not be a problem, but, you see, Frederic was born on February 29th, and so in his 21st year, he was only a bit over 5 birthdays old …
Throw in a few pirate and policeman choruses, a patter song or two, and corny love story, and you’ve got yourself an opry! (As ridiculous as this plot sounds, it’s fairly normal as operas go.)
This 1983 movie version of the Pirates of Penzance is like a bang hangover from the 1970s. However, it captures the spirit perfectly, and I can’t deny that I kind of like the electronic orchestra.
Justin Holland (1819-1887), was a civil-rights activist, moving around the same circles as Frederic Douglass. He worked with whites to free slaves in the Underground Railroad. Oh yeah, and he also played a mean guitar.
He became nationally known for his guitar method books – his approach to teaching was considered very conservative for the time (sorry, hippies; I guess he was a square). And, while not a composer himself, he was famous for arranging famous works of other composers, including this one, which includes some popular tunes from Carl Maria von Weber‘s opera, Oberon.
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