Frederic King (3 January 1853 – 20 May 1933) was a

baritone A baritone is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the bass and the tenor voice-types. The term originates from the Greek (), meaning "heavy sounding". Composers typically write music for this voice in the r ...

best known for his performances in the works composed by

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

for the Leeds Festivals of 1880 and 1886. Later, he taught singing for 42 years at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music is a music school, conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the Undergraduate education, undergraduate to the Doctorate, doctoral level in a ...

Early life and concert career

Born in

Lichfield Lichfield () is a cathedral city and civil parish in Staffordshire, England. Lichfield is situated roughly south-east of the county town of Stafford, south-east of Rugeley, north-east of Walsall, north-west of Tamworth and south-west of B ...

, the son of Thomas and Mary King, Frederic King was baptised on 13 January 1853 at St Michael's church in Lichfield. He worked in an

auction house An auction is usually a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bids, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder or buying the item from the lowest bidder. Some exceptions to this definition ex ...

before joining the concert agents Messrs Harrison. He made his professional debut in a ballad concert at

St James's Hall St. James's Hall was a concert hall in London that opened on 25 March 1858, designed by architect and artist Owen Jones, who had decorated the interior of the Crystal Palace. It was situated between the Quadrant in Regent Street and Piccadilly, ...

in 1878 and launched a successful career as a platform singer in

roles. He married Eva Hume (born 1863) in London in 1882, and they had two children, Mary Eva Oakley King (1883–1955) and Ernest Archibald Frederic King (1888–1973). King created the role of Callias, the Priest of

Apollo Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...

, in the first performance of

oratorio An oratorio () is a large musical composition for orchestra, choir, and soloists. Like most operas, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguishable characters, and arias. However, opera is mus ...

The Martyr of Antioch ''The Martyr of Antioch'' is a choral work described as a "Sacred Musical Drama" by the English composer Arthur Sullivan. It was first performed on 15 October 1880 at the triennial Leeds Music Festival, having been composed specifically for that ...

'' at the triennial Leeds Festivals in 1880. He sang the role of

Mephistopheles Mephistopheles (, ), also known as Mephisto, is a demon featured in German folklore. He originally appeared in literature as the demon in the Faust legend, and he has since appeared in other works as a stock character (see: Mephistopheles in t ...

in the English premiere of Berlioz's ''

La damnation de Faust ''La damnation de Faust'' (English: ''The Damnation of Faust''), Op. 24 is a work for four solo voices, full seven-part chorus, large children's chorus and orchestra by the French composer Hector Berlioz. He called it a "''légende dramatique'' ...

'' at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

in 1882. In 1886, at Leeds, he sang the role of

Lucifer Lucifer is one of various figures in folklore associated with the planet Venus. The entity's name was subsequently absorbed into Christianity as a name for the devil. Modern scholarship generally translates the term in the relevant Bible passage ...

in the first performance of Sullivan's

cantata A cantata (; ; literally "sung", past participle feminine singular of the Italian verb ''cantare'', "to sing") is a vocal composition with an instrumental accompaniment, typically in several movements, often involving a choir. The meaning of ...

The Golden Legend The ''Golden Legend'' (Latin: ''Legenda aurea'' or ''Legenda sanctorum'') is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in late medieval Europe. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived.Hilary ...

'' (1886). Reviewing King's performance in the latter work,

Herman Klein Herman Klein (born Hermann Klein; 23 July 1856 – 10 March 1934) was an English music critic, author and teacher of singing. Klein's famous brothers included Charles and Manuel Klein. His second wife was the writer Kathleen Clarice Louise Co ...

, in ''Musical Notes'', called him:

...a talented and conscientious artist, who invested his music with all the dramatic significance and sardonic humour of which it was susceptible. Truth to tell, there is not much diabolical in Longfellow's fiend, and it would seem as though Sir Arthur Sullivan had sought on occasion to atone for his comparative mildness by applying a background of orchestration worthy in its sonority of Berlioz or Wagner. Whether Satan could make himself heard in Pandemonium may be an open question, but undoubtedly there are moments in ''The Golden Legend'' when Lucifer's human representative, be his voice ever so stentorian, is bound to be inaudible. All that artistic singing could do to lend the character its proper prominence was done by Mr. King.

Later years

On retiring from the concert platform King taught singing at the

for 42 years, from 1889 to 1931. Among his students were

Norman Allin Norman Allin (19 November 1884 – 27 October 1973) was a British bass singer of the early and mid twentieth century, and later a teacher of voice. Early studies Allin was born in Ashton-under-Lyne in 1884. He studied at the Royal Manchest ...

Miriam Licette Miriam Licette (9 September 188511 August 1969) was an English operatic soprano whose career spanned 35 years, from the mid-1910s to after World War II. She was also a singing teacher, and created the Miriam Licette Scholarship. Career She was ...

Robert Radford Robert Radford (13 May 1874, Nottingham3 March 1933, London) was a British bass singer who made his career entirely in the United Kingdom, participating in concerts and becoming one of the foremost performers of oratorios and other sacred mus ...

David Brazell David Brazell (1875 – 1959) was a Welsh singer. His parents were collier John Brazell, and Mary, of Pwll, Llanelli, Carmarthenshire. Following his education at local schools, Brazell entered employment in the tinplate industry, but studied musi ...

, William Samuell and

Herbert Heyner Herbert Heyner (26 June 188218 January 1954) was a noted English baritone. Heyner appeared in a handful of operas, and a number of broadcast operas, but his stage appearances were predominantly in oratorio and songs. He sang in some notable pe ...

. After his retirement from the Royal Academy of Music he continued to give lessons privately, the last being just before he was taken ill a week before his death. King died in May 1933 aged 80 at his home in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

after a short illness.'Mr F. King Dead - A Famous Teacher of Singing'
''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was established ...

'', 6 June 1933 p. 19 His funeral service took place at

Golders Green Crematorium Golders Green Crematorium and Mausoleum was the first crematorium to be opened in London, and one of the oldest crematoria in Britain. The land for the crematorium was purchased in 1900, costing £6,000 (the equivalent of £135,987 in 2021), ...

on 22 May 1933. He was survived by his widow, Eva King, and his children, Mrs Mary Eva Oakley Turier and Ernest Archibald Frederic King. In his will he left them £1,375.England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1966 for Frederic King

Ancestry.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

– pay to view

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:King, Frederic 1853 births 1933 deaths People from Lichfield English operatic baritones Golders Green Crematorium People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan