Gustav Kobbé (March 4, 1857Lewis Randolph Hamersly, ''et al.'
''Who's who in New York (city and State)''
New York: L.R. Hamersly, 1904. p. 353. – July 27, 1918)
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. July 28, 1918. p. 1. Accessed January 30, 2008. was an American music critic and author, best known for his guide to the operas, ''

The Complete Opera Book ''The Complete Opera Book'' is a guide to operas by American music critic and author Gustav Kobbé first published (posthumously) in the United States in 1919 and the United Kingdom in 1922. A revised edition from 1954 by the Earl of Harewood is ...

'', first published (posthumously) in the United States in 1919 and the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

in 1922.

Life and career

Kobbé was born in March 1857 in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, to William August Kobbé and Sarah Lord Sistare Kobbé. His father was born in Idstein, near

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden () is a city in central western Germany and the capital of the state of Hesse. , it had 290,955 inhabitants, plus approximately 21,000 United States citizens (mostly associated with the United States Army). The Wiesbaden urban area ...

, in the

Duchy of Nassau The Duchy of Nassau (German: ''Herzogtum Nassau'') was an independent state between 1806 and 1866, located in what is now the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Hesse. It was a member of the Confederation of the Rhine and later of the G ...

(now part of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

), and represented that country in New York as consul general until it was absorbed by the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918. Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. ...

in 1866. His mother was born in

New London, Connecticut New London is a seaport city and a port of entry on the northeast coast of the United States, located at the mouth of the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut. It was one of the world's three busiest whaling ports for several decade ...

, to a prominent

New England New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...

family. When Gustav Kobbé was ten years old, he was sent to Wiesbaden to study composition and the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

with Adolf Hagen. Following five years of study in Germany, he returned to

for additional study under Joseph Mosenthal. Afterward, he graduated from Columbia College in 1877 and two years later from

Columbia Law School Columbia Law School (Columbia Law or CLS) is the law school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League university in New York City. Columbia Law is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious law schools in the world and has always ranked i ...

. He received his M.A. from Columbia in 1880. In 1882, he married Carolyn Wheeler. He made his career in literary and newspaper work, and contributed articles on musical and dramatic subjects to the leading magazines and periodicals. His hobby was sailing, and it was while he was out in the

Great South Bay The Great South Bay is a lagoon situated between Long Island and Fire Island, in the State of New York. It is about long and has an average depth of 4 feet 3 inches and is 20 feet at its deepest. It is protected from the Atlantic Ocean by Fire ...

off

Bay Shore Bay Shore is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in the Town of Islip, New York, United States. It is situated on the South Shore of Long Island, adjoining the Great South Bay. The population of the CDP was 29,244 at the time of the 2020 ...

, New York, in July 1918, that a

seaplane A seaplane is a powered fixed-wing aircraft capable of taking off and landing (alighting) on water.Gunston, "The Cambridge Aerospace Dictionary", 2009. Seaplanes are usually divided into two categories based on their technological characteri ...

, coming down for a landing, struck his boat and killed him instantly.

Literary work

Kobbé began his literary career as co-editor of the ''Musical Review''. He was on the staff of the New York ''Sun'' in 1881, and in 1882 was sent as correspondent to Bayreuth in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

by the ''

New York World The ''New York World'' was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers. It was a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under pub ...

'' for the first performance of ''

Parsifal ''Parsifal'' ( WWV 111) is an opera or a music drama in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner and his last composition. Wagner's own libretto for the work is loosely based on the 13th-century Middle High German epic poem ''Parzival ...

''. He contributed many articles - on music, drama and travel - to the leading American magazines of his day - ''

The Century Magazine ''The Century Magazine'' was an illustrated monthly magazine first published in the United States in 1881 by The Century Company of New York City, which had been bought in that year by Roswell Smith and renamed by him after the Century Associatio ...

'', ''

Scribner's Magazine ''Scribner's Magazine'' was an American periodical published by the publishing house of Charles Scribner's Sons from January 1887 to May 1939. ''Scribner's Magazine'' was the second magazine out of the Scribner's firm, after the publication of ' ...

'', '' The Forum'', ''

North American Review The ''North American Review'' (NAR) was the first literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in Boston in 1815 by journalist Nathan Hale and others. It was published continuously until 1940, after which it was inactive until revived at ...

'', '' Ladies' Home Journal'', ''

The Delineator ''The Delineator'' was an American women's magazine of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, founded by the Butterick Publishing Company in 1869 under the name ''The Metropolitan Monthly.'' Its name was changed in 1875. The magazine was publis ...

'', etc. He became music critic of the New York ''Herald'' when that newspaper was owned by James Gordon Bennett, remaining with it for eighteen years. He was on the point of completing the book which was afterwards published as ''

'' when he died. Various additions were made to it before publication, and the work in its original form was edited by Katharine Wright, who at the same time included some additional operas in sections that bear her initials. Its full title was ''The Complete Opera Book : the Stories of the Operas, Together with 400 of the Leading Airs and Motives in Musical Notation''.

Notable works

* ''The Ring of the Nibelung'' (1887) reprinted in ''Wagner's Life and works'' * ''Wagner's Life and works'' (two volumes, 1890) * ''New York and its Environs'' (1891) * ''The New Jersey Coast and Pines: An Illustrated Guide-book (with Road-maps)'' (1891) * ''Plays for Amateurs'' (1892) * ''My Rosary, and Other Poems'' (1896) * ''Miriam'' (1898) * ''Signora, a Child of the Opera House'', a novel (1902) * ''Famous Actors & Actresses And Their Homes'' (1903) * ''Wagner's Music-Dramas Analyzed'' (1904), with which were combined his other later Wagner works * ''The Loves of Great Composers'' (1905) * ''Wagner and His Isolde'' (1905) * ''Opera Singers'' (1905, sixth edition revised, 1913) * ''Famous American Songs'' (1906) * ''How to Appreciate Music'' (New York: Moffat, Yard & Company, 1906) * ''The Pianolist'' (1907) * ''Portrait Gallery of Great Composers'' (1911) * ''A Tribute to the Dog-Including the Famous Tribute by Senator Vest'' (1910 & 1911) * ''Modern Women'' (1916) * ''

'' (1919 & 1922), continued for several editions by the

Earl of Harewood Earl of Harewood (), in the County of York, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. History The title was created in 1812 for Edward Lascelles, 1st Earl of Harewood, Edward Lascelles, 1st Baron Harewood, a wealthy sugar plantation own ...

He was editor of the '' Lotus Magazine'' from 1909 to 1918.

Family

Gustav's brother, Major General William August Kobbé (1840–1931), served with the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

and became famous during the war on the Philippines. His grandson,

Francis Thorne Francis Thorne (June 23, 1922 – March 7, 2017) was an American composer of contemporary classical music and grandson of the writer Gustav Kobbé. Life Francis Burritt Thorne, Jr. was born in Bay Shore, New York. His father was a ragtime pianist ...

, is a well known composer. Through his daughter, Virginia, Kobbé is the great-great-grandfather of actor

Justin Theroux Justin Paul Theroux (; born August 10, 1971) is an American actor and filmmaker. He gained recognition for his work with director David Lynch in the mystery film ''Mulholland Drive'' (2001) and the thriller film ''Inland Empire'' (2006). He also ...

.Hollins-Kobbe Wedding on Nov. 18
''

''. October 23, 1909. Visited April 9, 2012.

Notes

Zaida Ben-Yusuf 1898 (article & photographs)

References

*G. Kobbé, ''The Complete Opera Book'' (Putnam and Sons, New York 1919, London 1922). *The Earl of Harewood (Ed.), ''Kobbé's Complete Opera Book'' (Putnam, London and New York 1954). *

External links

* * *
''The Complete Opera Book''
text at Bob’s Opera World * text at

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kobbe, Gustav 1857 births 1918 deaths American music critics American music journalists Opera critics Columbia Law School alumni American essayists Accidental deaths in New York (state) Boating accident deaths Journalists from New York City Columbia College (New York) alumni