George Loder (1816 – 15 July 1868) was an English conductor, and composer of orchestral music, operas and songs. During his career he lived in England, America and Australia; he conducted the first U.S. performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9.

Life

George Patrick Henry Loder was born in

Bath, Somerset Bath () is a city in the Bath and North East Somerset unitary area in the county of Somerset, England, known for and named after its Roman-built baths. At the 2021 Census, the population was 101,557. Bath is in the valley of the River Avon, ...

in 1816, son of George Loder, a flautist, and wife Mary Cook, who had married at St James,

, on the 18th of December, 1815. Loder was baptized in the Chapel of St Mary,

Walcot, Bath Walcot is a suburb of the city of Bath, England. It lies to the north-north-east of the city centre, and is an electoral ward of the city.Kate Loder Kate Fanny Loder, later Lady Thompson, (21 August 1825 – 30 August 1904) was an English composer and pianist. Biography Kate Loder was born on 21 August 1825, on Bathwick Street, Bathwick, within Bath, Somerset where the Loder family w ...

, and his uncle, the violinist John David Loder, was father of the composer Edward Loder. His mother, Mary, died in 1821. His father remarried two years later to Frances Kirkham. In 1836 he visited America, living for some years in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

, and in 1844 he was principal of the New York Vocal Institute, and member of the

Philharmonic An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * bowed string instruments, such as the violin, viola ...

and Vocal Societies, which he had helped to establish there. He played the double-bass in the Philharmonic Society for five seasons, and sometimes conducted the orchestra. On 20 May 1846 Loder conducted the orchestra in the first U.S. performance of Beethoven's Symphony No. 9. He conducted a performance of his overture ''Marmion'' at a concert of the Philharmonic Society at the Apollo, which was reviewed: "The composition is one of more than ordinary excellence, and if it is not distinguished by originality of ideas, it certainly deserves the highest encomiums for the excellence of its instrumentation." About 1856 Loder went to

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

, South Australia, with the soprano

Anna Bishop Anna Bishop (9 January 181018 March 1884) was an English operatic soprano. She sang in many countries on every continent, and was the most widely travelled singer of the 19th century.William Saurin Lyster William Saurin Lyster (21 March 1828 – 27 November 1880), often referred to as W. Saurin Lyster, was an impresario, active in Australia. Early life Lyster was born in Dublin, Ireland, the third son of Chaworth Lyster, a captain in the army, ...

's opera troupe. In 1859 he was again practising his profession, as organist, vocalist, conductor, and composer, in London. On 11 June of that year he conducted a revival of Edward Loder's opera ''

Raymond and Agnes ''Raymond and Agnes'' is an opera in 3 (originally 4) acts by the composer Edward Loder to an English libretto by Edward Fitzball. It is very loosely based on elements from Matthew Lewis's classic Gothic novel, ''The Monk'' (1796) and also inc ...

''. In 1861 he published ''The Pets of the Parterre'', a comic operetta, which had been produced at the Lyceum Theatre, and in 1862 '' The Old House at Home'', a musical entertainment. Loder paid a second visit to Australia, and died after a long illness in Adelaide on 15 July 1868.

Compositions

Loder's music became more popular in America than in his own country. ''The New York Glee Book'' of 1844 contains several of his original

part song A part song, part-song or partsong is a form of choral music that consists of a song to a secular or non-liturgical sacred text, written or arranged for several vocal parts. Part songs are commonly sung by an SATB choir, but sometimes for an all ...

s; it was reprinted several times from 1850–1855,Loder, George. ''New York Glee Book containing One Hundred Glees, Quartets, Trios, Songs in Parts, Rounds, and Catches. Composed, Selected, and Harmonized, with an Ad Libitum Accompaniment for the Piano Forte''. Hartford: Published by Silas Andrus & Son, 1855 and was republished as ''The Philadelphia and New York Glee Book'' in 1864. He published ''The Middle Voice, 12 solfeggi'', in London in 1860, and various separate songs by him were published in England and America.

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Loder, George 1816 births 1868 deaths People from Bath, Somerset 19th-century classical composers 19th-century English musicians English male classical composers English conductors (music) British male conductors (music) 19th-century conductors (music) 19th-century British composers