Hugo Alpen (26 October 184220 June 1917) was a German-born Australian composer, choral conductor and singing teacher.

Early life

Born on 26 October 1842 in

Kellinghusen Kellinghusen () is a town in the district of Steinburg in the ''Bundesland'' of Schleswig-Holstein. Geography Kellinghusen is located northeast of Itzehoe on both sides of the Stör River. The federal highway Bundesstraße 206 passes Kellingh ...

, (then part of Denmark), Alpen came to Australia in 1858 at the age of 16.

Career

After spending several years in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Alpen was appointed director of the Vocal Philharmonic Society in the New South Wales town of

Tumut Tumut () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut sits on the north-west foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is located on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri, Wolgalu ...

in 1862, and from 1865 was based in

Albury Albury () is a major regional city in New South Wales, Australia. It is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of the Murray River. Albury is the seat of local government for the council area which also bears the city's name – the ...

. He moved to

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

in 1880 to work as a singing master for the newly established Department of Public Instruction (now the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

), teaching at Fort Street and Hurlstone teacher training colleges. In 1884 he was appointed Superintendent of Music in the department. He advocated enlightened modern methods of music teaching for school children, emphasising aural development and

sight-singing In music, sight-reading, also called ''a prima vista'' (Italian meaning "at first sight"), is the practice of reading and performing of a piece in a music notation that the performer has not seen or learned before. Sight-singing is used to descri ...

, and in 1897 he published a treatise, ''Practical Hints for the Teaching of Vocal Music in Public Schools''. In the earliest precursors of today's

Schools Spectacular The NSW Schools Spectacular is an Australian variety show featuring more than 5,500 students from public schools across New South Wales and was performed annually at the Sydney Entertainment Centre (later known as Qantas Credit Union Arena) betwee ...

s, Alpen led massed student choirs in gala performances, often including his own compositions. His ''Commemoration Ode'' (1899) celebrated Fort Street School's

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali ''"সু ...

. At the celebrations of the

Inauguration of the Commonwealth ''Inauguration of the Commonwealth'' (also titled ''Inauguration of the Australian Commonwealth'') was a 1901 Australian documentary film commissioned by the Governments of New South Wales and Victoria to record the inaugural day of the Federatio ...

in Centennial Park on 1 January 1901, he conducted an estimated 10,000 school children in a performance of his work ''Federated Australia''. Alpen was also the organist at St Patrick's on Church Hill and St Benedict's on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

, both in Sydney. Among his later works, with words by Roderick Quinn, was ''Hail! Men of America, Hail!'', which was performed as an "ode of welcome to the American Fleet" on its hugely popular first visit to

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

in 1908.

Death

In retirement he lived in

Strathfield Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A ...

until his death on 20 June 1917.

References

External links

* "Alpen, Hugo
record
an
biography
(CC-By-SA) at the

Dictionary of Sydney The Dictionary of Sydney is a digital humanities project to produce an online, expert-written encyclopedia of all aspects of the history of Sydney. Description The Dictionary is a partnership between the City of Sydney, the University of Sydney, ...

, viewed 8 August 2010. * "Hugo Alpen
biography
on

Music Australia Music Australia is a free national online service hosted by the National Library of Australia in conjunction with over 50 cultural organisations across Australia. It was launched on 14 March 2005. It covers all types, styles and genres of Australia ...

, viewed 8 August 2010.

Bibliography

* Deborah Crisp, 'Amateurs and Professionals: A Snapshot of Musical Life in a Country Town, 1860–1865', Australasian Music Research, no 1, 1996. * John Whiteoak and Aline Scott-Maxwell, (eds), Currency Companion to Music and Dance in Australia, Currency Press, Sydney, 2003, pp. 154, 166, 176, 547, 571

''This Wikipedia article is substantially built upon the essay
Alpen, Hugo
in the

written by Graeme Skinner, 2008 and licensed under

CC by-sa A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work".A "work" is any creative material made by a person. A painting, a graphic, a book, a song/lyric ...

. Imported on 8 August 2010.''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alpen, Hugo Australian male composers Australian composers Australian music educators 1842 births 1917 deaths German emigrants to Australia