Henry Louis Reginald De Koven (April 3, 1859January 16, 1920) was an American

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

and prolific

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

, particularly of

comic opera Comic opera, sometimes known as light opera, is a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending and often including spoken dialogue. Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a ne ...

Biography

De Koven was born in

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city located in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States, Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, it is south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. In 1650, it was incorporated by English settler ...

, and moved to Europe in 1870, where he received the majority of his education. He graduated B.A. from

St John's College, Oxford St John's College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded as a men's college in 1555, it has been coeducational since 1979.Communication from Michael Riordan, college archivist Its founder, Sir Thomas White, intended to pro ...

in England in 1880. He undertook piano studies at Stuttgart Conservatory with

Wilhelm Speidel Wilhelm may refer to: People and fictional characters * William Charles John Pitcher, costume designer known professionally as "Wilhelm" * Wilhelm (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Other uses * Moun ...

Sigmund Lebert Sigmund (Zygmunt or Siegmund) Lebert, born Samuel Levi on 12 December 1821 in Ludwigsburg and died on 8 December 1884 in Stuttgart, was a German pianist and music teacher, and one of the founders of the Stuttgart Music School. With Ludwig Stark ...

, and

Dionys Pruckner Dionys Pruckner (12 May 1834 München – 1 December 1896 Heidelberg) was a noted pianist and music teacher at Stuttgart. He was a student of Franz Liszt from 1852 until about 1855 who did concert tours throughout Europe. In 1859 he was appointed ...

. He studied composition at

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

with

Johann Christian Hauff Johann, typically a male given name, is the German language, German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin language, Latin form of the Greek language, Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew language, Hebrew name ''Johanan (name ...

, and after staying there for six months moved on to

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, Italy, where he studied singing with

Luigi Vanuccini is a fictional character featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the younger fraternal twin brother and sidekick of Mario, Nintendo's masc ...

. Study in operatic composition followed, first with

Richard Genée Franz Friedrich Richard Genée (7 February 1823 – 15 June 1895) was a Prussian born Austrian libretto, librettist, playwright, and composer. Life Genée was born in Gdańsk, Danzig. He died at Baden bei Wien. Works He is most famous for the ...

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

and then with

Léo Delibes Clément Philibert Léo Delibes (; 21 February 1836 – 16 January 1891) was a French Romantic composer, best known for his ballets and operas. His works include the ballets ''Coppélia'' (1870) and '' Sylvia'' (1876) and the opera ''Lakm� ...

in Paris. De Koven returned to the U.S. in 1882 to live in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and later lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He was able to find scope for his wide musical knowledge as a critic with Chicago's ''Evening Post'', ''

Harper's Weekly ''Harper's Weekly, A Journal of Civilization'' was an American political magazine based in New York City. Published by Harper & Brothers from 1857 until 1916, it featured foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays on many subjects, and humor, ...

'' and ''

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 publi ...

''. Many of his songs became popular, especially "

Oh Promise Me Oh Promise Me is a song with music by Reginald De Koven and lyrics by Clement Scott. The song was written in 1887 and first published in 1889 by G. Schirmer, Inc. as an art song. De Koven may have based the melody partly on a song composed by St ...

", with words by

Clement Scott Clement William Scott (6 October 1841 – 25 June 1904) was an influential English theatre critic for ''The Daily Telegraph'' and other journals, and a playwright, lyricist, translator and travel writer, in the final decades of the 19th century ...

, which was one of the biggest song successes of its time and remains a wedding standard. Between 1887 and 1913, De Koven composed 20 light operas, in addition to hundreds of songs, orchestral works, sonatas and ballets. While

Victor Herbert Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, cellist and conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is be ...

's operettas were heavily influenced by those of continental operetta composers, De Koven's works were patterned after

Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan was a Victorian era, Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900), who jointly created fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which ...

. His greatest success was ''

Robin Hood Robin Hood is a legendary heroic outlaw originally depicted in English folklore and subsequently featured in literature and film. According to legend, he was a highly skilled archer and swordsman. In some versions of the legend, he is depic ...

'', which premiered in Chicago in 1890 but was performed all across the country. It played in New York at the Knickerbocker Theatre and in London, in 1891, and at New York's Garden Theatre in 1892, and it continued to be revived for many years. His other operettas included ''The Fencing Master'' (1892, Casino Theatre, New York); '' Rob Roy'', first produced in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

, 1894; ''The Highwayman'' (1897,

Herald Square Theatre The Herald Square Theatre was a Broadway theatre in Manhattan, New York City, built in 1883 and closed in 1914. The site is now a highrise designed by H. Craig Severance. History The Park Theatre opened in 1883 (also known as the New Park The ...

, New York); ''The Little Duchess'' (1901, Casino Theatre, New York); and ''

The Beauty Spot ''The Beauty Spot'' was a 1909 musical comedy in two acts that played for 137 performances at the Herald Square Theatre in New York with music by Reginald De Koven, a book by Joseph W. Herbert and additional lyrics by Terry Sullivan. The musical ...

'' (1909,

). From 1902 to 1904, De Koven conducted the

Washington, D.C. ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

, symphony. His wife,

Anna de Koven Anna de Koven (''née'' Farwell; November 19, 1862 – January 12, 1953) was an American novelist, historian and socialite. The wife of composer Reginald de Koven, she published her works as Mrs. Reginald de Koven. Career Anna Farwell was b ...

, was a well-known socialite, novelist and amateur historian who published her works under the name "Mrs. Reginald de Koven." The music press doubted that De Koven could compose serious operas. His opera ''

The Canterbury Pilgrims ''The Canterbury Tales'' ( enm, Tales of Caunterbury) is a collection of twenty-four stories that runs to over 17,000 lines written in Middle English by Geoffrey Chaucer between 1387 and 1400. It is widely regarded as Chaucer's '' magnum opus ...

'' (with a libretto by poet and dramatist

Percy MacKaye Percy MacKaye (1875–1956) was an American dramatist and poet. Biography MacKaye was born in New York City into a theatrical family. His father, Steele MacKaye, was a popular actor, playwright, and producer, while his mother, Mary, wrote a dr ...

) premiered at the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

in 1917. He composed a second opera, ''Rip Van Winkle'' (also with a libretto by MacKaye), but died before it was performed in 1920 in Chicago. One obituary asserted that he proved that "the American stage was not dependent upon foreign composers."

Works

Selected stage works

*''The Begum'' (1887), operetta, libretto by Harry B. Smith *''

'' (1890) operetta, libretto by Harry B. Smith *''The Fencing Master'' (1892) operetta, libretto by Harry B. Smith *''The Algerian'' (1893) operetta, libretto by

Glen MacDonough Glen MacDonough (1870 – March 30, 1924) was an American writer, lyricist and librettist. He was the son of theater manager Thomas B. MacDonough and actress/author Laura Don. Glen MacDonough married Margaret Jefferson in 1896 in Buzzard's Bay, ...

*'' Rob Roy'' (1894), operetta, libretto by Harry B. Smith *''The Mandarin'' (1896), operetta, libretto by Harry B. Smith *''The Highwayman'' (1897), operetta, libretto by Harry B. Smith *''The Three Dragoons'' (1899), operetta, libretto by Harry B. Smith *''The Man in the Moon'' (1899), musical, music by De Koven,

Ludwig Englander Ludwig may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ludwig (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Ludwig (surname), including a list of people * Ludwig Ahgren, or simply Ludwig, American YouTube live streamer and co ...

and

Gustave Kerker Gustave Adolph Kerker (February 28, 1857 – June 29, 1923) was a German-born composer and conductor who spent most of his life in the US. He became a musical director for Broadway theatre productions and wrote the music for a series of operettas ...

, book and lyrics by Louis Harrison and Stanislaus Strange *''Papa's Wife'' (1899), musical, lyrics by De Koven, book by Harry B. Smith, lyrics by Smith and De Koven *''Broadway to Tokio'' (1900), musical, book and lyrics by Louis Harrison and George V. Hobart *''Foxy Quiller (In Corsica)'' (1900), operetta, libretto by Harry B. Smith *''The Little Duchess'' (1901) musical, book and lyrics by Harry B. Smith *''Maid Marian'' (1902), musical, book and lyrics by Harry B. Smith *''Red Feather'' (1903), operetta, book by

Charles Klein Charles Klein (January 7, 1867 – May 7, 1915) was an English-born playwright and actor who emigrated to America in 1883. Among his works was the libretto of John Philip Sousa's operetta, ''El Capitan''. Klein's talented siblings includ ...

, lyrics by Charles Emerson Cook *''Happyland; or, The King of Elysia'' (1905), operetta, libretto by

Frederic Ranken Frederic G. Ranken (c. 1869 — October 19, 1905, Manhattan) was an American librettist, lyricist, and playwright for light operas and musical theatre, musicals staged on Broadway theatre, Broadway from 1899 through 1907. His greatest success was t ...

*''The Student King'' (1906), operetta, libretto by Frederic Ranken and Stanislaus Stange *''The Golden Butterfly'' (1908), operetta, libretto by Harry B. Smith *''

'' (1909), musical, book by Joseph W. Herbert, lyrics by Terry Sullivan *''The Wedding Trip'' (1911), operetta, book by

Fred de Gresac Fred de Gresac (died February 20, 1943), born Frédérique Rosine de Grésac, was a French librettist, playwright and screenwriter. She was the wife of opera singer Victor Maurel. Early life Frédérique Rosine de Grésac was born at Lamalou-les- ...

, lyrics by Harry B. Smith *''

The Canterbury Pilgrims (De Koven) ''The Canterbury Pilgrims'' is an opera by the American composer Reginald De Koven. It premiered at the Metropolitan Opera House on March 8, 1917 just as the US was on the verge of declaring war on Germany. The unfolding world events caused its c ...

'' (1916), opera, libretto by

*''Rip Van Winkle'' (1919), opera, libretto by Percy MacKaye

Other compositions

*Prelude in G minor *Rosalie: Chansonette (1901)

References

External links

*
Reginald De Koven
at the Songwriters Hall of Fame

at the Guide to Light Opera and Operetta * *
Sheet Music for "Oh promise me"
G. Schirmer, Inc., 1889.
Reginald De Koven
sheet music from the Frances G. Spencer American Popular Sheet Music Collection at Baylor University
Reginald De Koven collection at Brandeis University
*
Reginald De Koven recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dekoven, Reginald 1859 births 1920 deaths 19th-century American composers 19th-century American male musicians 19th-century classical composers 20th-century American composers 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century classical composers American male classical composers American music critics American operetta composers American Romantic composers Classical musicians from Connecticut Male operetta composers New York World People from Middletown, Connecticut