Ralph Lyford (February 22, 1882 – September 3, 1927) was an American composer and
conductor. He rose to prominence as the managing director of the
Cincinnati Opera
Cincinnati Opera is an American opera company based in Cincinnati, Ohio and the second oldest opera company in the United States (after the New York Metropolitan Opera). Beginning with its first season in 1920, Cincinnati Opera has produced operas ...
and as a 20th-century advocate for opera to be written and performed in English.
He was married to Ella Gillis, a ballet dancer.
Biography
Born in
Worcester, Massachusetts
Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...
, he began studies at age 12 and 6 years later graduated from Boston's
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music Music school, conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The ...
.
Lyford studied under
George Whitefield Chadwick
George Whitefield Chadwick (November 13, 1854 – April 4, 1931) was an American composer. Along with John Knowles Paine, Horatio Parker, Amy Beach, Arthur Foote, and Edward MacDowell, he was a representative composer of what is called the Se ...
at the
New England Conservatory of Music
The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a Private college, private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music Music school, conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The ...
, and studied under
Arthur Nikisch
Arthur Nikisch (12 October 185523 January 1922) was a Hungarian conductor who performed internationally, holding posts in Boston, London, Leipzig and—most importantly—Berlin. He was considered an outstanding interpreter of the music of Br ...
in
Leipzig
Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...
.
Ralph Lyford assisted
Claude Debussy
(Achille) Claude Debussy (; 22 August 1862 – 25 March 1918) was a French composer. He is sometimes seen as the first Impressionist composer, although he vigorously rejected the term. He was among the most influential composers of the ...
in preparing his ''
Le martyre de Saint Sébastien
''Le Martyre de saint Sébastien'' is a five-act musical mystery play on the subject of Saint Sebastian, with a text written in 1911 by the Italian author Gabriele D'Annunzio and incidental music by the French composer Claude Debussy (L.124).
Ba ...
'' for its premiere. He served as assistant conductor in the US for the
San Carlo Opera Company
The San Carlo Opera Company was the name of two different opera companies active in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century.
Henry Russell's San Carlo Opera
The first company was founded by impresario Henry Russell, initi ...
under the management of
Henry Russell.
Lyford was associate conductor of the
Boston Opera Company
The Boston Opera Company (BOC) was an American opera company located in Boston, Massachusetts, that was active from 1909 to 1915.
History
The company was founded in 1908 by Bostonian millionaire Eben Dyer Jordan, Jr. and impresario Henry Russel ...
from 1908–1914, working as a member of
Max Rabinoff's staff and for a short time assisted in the opera department at the
New England Conservatory
The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on Hu ...
.
Later he conducted 3 seasons from 1912-1915 of over 200 presentations of operas with the
Aborn Opera Company.
In 1912, Lyford conducted ''
Lucia di Lammermoor
''Lucia di Lammermoor'' () is a (tragic opera) in three acts by Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian-language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's 1819 historical novel ''The Bride of Lammermoor''.
...
'' at the
Opera Company of Boston
The Opera Company of Boston was an American opera company located in Boston, Massachusetts, that was active from the late 1950s through the 1980s. The company was founded by American conductor Sarah Caldwell in 1958 under the name Boston Opera Gr ...
.
He was hired in 1916 to organize the
Cincinnati Conservatory of Music
The Cincinnati Conservatory of Music was a conservatory, part of a girls' finishing school, founded in 1867 in Cincinnati, Ohio. It merged with the College of Music of Cincinnati in 1955, forming the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music, wh ...
and served as the head of that program. In 1920, he founded the
Cincinnati Opera
Cincinnati Opera is an American opera company based in Cincinnati, Ohio and the second oldest opera company in the United States (after the New York Metropolitan Opera). Beginning with its first season in 1920, Cincinnati Opera has produced operas ...
. In 1925, he was appointed associate conductor under
Fritz Reiner
Frederick Martin "Fritz" Reiner (December 19, 1888 – November 15, 1963) was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century. Hungarian born and trained, he emigrated to the United States in 1922, where he rose t ...
. He led the opera during its first formative seasons. During his tenure, he produced and conducted 234 performances of 30 operas including ''
Martha
Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness to ...
'', ''
Hänsel and Gretel'', and ''
Lohengrin
Lohengrin () is a character in Germany, German Arthurian literature. The son of Percival, Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which fi ...
''.
Lyford died in
Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
in 1927 on September 3 of heart disease.
During his tenure at the Cincinnati Opera Company Lyford also mentored
John Jacob Niles
John Jacob Niles (April 28, 1892 – March 1, 1980) was an American composer, singer and collector of traditional ballads. Called the "Dean of American Balladeers," Niles was an important influence on the American folk music revival of the 195 ...
. Niles said, "Ralph Lyford was a great conductor, teacher, humorist and accompanist. He helped me greatly with the problems I had in playing accompaniments."
Music
Ralph Lyford wrote mainly
orchestra
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, c ...
l music, including a
piano concerto
A piano concerto is a type of concerto, a solo composition in the classical music genre which is composed for a piano player, which is typically accompanied by an orchestra or other large ensemble. Piano concertos are typically virtuoso showpiec ...
. He wrote the opera
''Castle Agrazant'',
which won a
Bispham Memorial Medal Award
The Bispham Memorial Medal Award was an award for operas written in English language, English which was named for baritone David Bispham, who was a great proponent of performing opera in English in the United States. It was traditionally awarded to ...
in 1926.
Timeline
References
Further reading
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyford, Ralph
1882 births
1927 deaths
American male classical composers
American classical composers
Musicians from Worcester, Massachusetts
Musicians from Cincinnati
American opera composers
Male opera composers
New England Conservatory alumni
American male conductors (music)
Pupils of George Whitefield Chadwick
New England Conservatory faculty
20th-century classical composers
20th-century American conductors (music)
20th-century American composers
Classical musicians from Massachusetts
Classical musicians from Ohio
20th-century American male musicians