Norman Houston O'Neill (14 March 1875 – 3 March 1934) was an English composer and conductor of Irish background who specialised largely in works for the theatre.
Life
O'Neill was born at 16 Young Street in
Kensington
Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...
, London, the youngest son of the Irish painter
George Bernard O'Neill and Emma Stuart Callcott, the daughter of organist and glee composer
William Hutchins Callcott. He studied in London with
Arthur Somervell and with
Iwan Knorr at the
Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt from 1893 to 1897. His studies there were facilitated by
Eric Stenbock. He belonged to the
Frankfurt Group, a circle of composers who studied at Hoch's Conservatory in the late 1890s.
He married Adine Berthe Maria Ruckert (29 July 1875 – 17 February 1947) on 2 July 1899 in Paris. Adine was a celebrated pianist (a pupil of
Clara Schumann)
and music teacher in her own right – she later became head music mistress at
St Paul's Girls' School in Hammersmith. O'Neill began to have some success with concert music, including a 1901 performance of his overture ''In Autumn'' given at the
Henry Wood Proms. In 1904 he composed the incidental music to
John Martin-Harvey’s production of ''Hamlet'' at the
Lyric Theatre, London. In 1909 he began his long association with the
Haymarket Theatre when he was appointed music director.
O'Neill was treasurer of the
Royal Philharmonic Society from 1918 until his death and taught
harmony
In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...
and composition at the
Royal Academy of Music. A very sociable man, he was a member of the
Savage Club, where he liked to meet musical colleagues. He and Adine frequently hosted fellow composers and musicians at their house, 4 Pembroke Villas in Kensington, including
Frederick Delius
file:Fritz Delius (1907).jpg, Delius, photographed in 1907
Frederick Theodore Albert Delius (born Fritz Theodor Albert Delius; ; 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934) was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prospero ...
,
Theodore Holland,
Gustav Holst,
Ernest Irving,
Percy Grainger and
Cyril Scott.
[
On 12 February 1934 O'Neill was walking East on Oxford Street on his way to Broadcasting House for a recording session. As he crossed Holles Street he was struck by a carrier tricycle.][ As a result he developed blood poisoning and died on 3 March. He was cremated at Golders Green Crematorium, London, as was his wife in 1947. There is a plaque there in memory to both of them.
]
Music
O'Neill's works for the stage include over fifty sets of incidental music for plays, including many by Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...
(''Hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
'', ''King Lear
''The Tragedy of King Lear'', often shortened to ''King Lear'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It is loosely based on the mythological Leir of Britain. King Lear, in preparation for his old age, divides his ...
'', ''Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (12 or 13 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member of the First Triumvirate, Caesar led the Roman armies in the Gallic Wars before defeating his political rival Pompey in Caesar's civil wa ...
'', ''Macbeth
''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...
'', '' The Merchant of Venice'', '' Henry V'' and ''Measure for Measure
''Measure for Measure'' is a play by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603 or 1604 and first performed in 1604. It was published in the First Folio of 1623.
The play centers on the despotic and puritan Angelo (Measure for ...
''), J. M. Barrie ('' A Kiss for Cinderella'' and ''Mary Rose''), and Maurice Maeterlinck
Maurice Polydore Marie Bernard Maeterlinck (29 August 1862 – 6 May 1949), also known as Count/Comte Maeterlinck from 1932, was a Belgian playwright, poet, and essayist who was Flemish but wrote in French. He was awarded the 1911 Nobel Prize in ...
('' The Blue Bird''). ''Mary Rose'', perhaps his best received theatre score, first opened in London at the Haymarket on 22 April 1920, continuing until 26 February 1921, with Fay Compton as Mary Rose, a role which was written for her by Barrie. Ernest Irving, who deputised as conductor for O'Neill on many occasions, compared a performance of ''Mary Rose'' without his music to "a dance by a fairy with a wooden leg". The play was revived (with many of the same cast still in place) in 1926.
In 1910, O'Neill became the first British composer to conduct his own orchestral music on record, directing the Columbia Graphophone Company's house ensemble, the "Court Symphony Orchestra", in a suite taken from his ''Blue Bird'' music on two double-sided gramophone discs. He received personal congratulations from Sir Edward Elgar
Sir Edward William Elgar, 1st Baronet, (; 2 June 1857 – 23 February 1934) was an English composer, many of whose works have entered the British and international classical concert repertoire. Among his best-known compositions are orchestr ...
on his music for the innovative central ballet sequence of the 1924 revue ''The Punch Bowl'', which ran for over a year with O'Neill's contribution being widely singled out for praise in press coverage.
His concert works include a number of symphonic suites, chamber and instrumental music, most of it written pre-war, before his theatre music career took off.[ There are two piano trios, Op. 9 (1900) and the single movement Op. 32 (1909), and the Piano Quintet in E minor, Op. 10.][''Norman O'Neill: Chamber works for strings and piano'']
EMR CD005 (2012), musicweb-international.com Adine O'Neill, who frequently gave first performances of her husband's piano compositions, performed the Quintet for the first time at Steinway Hall on 16 February 1903. The String Quartet in C, which has been recorded, was derived from manuscripts of various movements held at the Royal College of Music.[
Solo piano works such as the ''Four Songs without Words'' and the four-movement suite ''In the Branches'' are still occasionally heard. The ''Deux Petites pièces'', Op. 27 were recorded in 2019 by Richard Masters. Ensemble Color recorded the Cello Sonata (1896), the Piano Trio op. 7 (1900), the ''Soliloquy'' for double bass and piano (1926) and the Suite In B minor for violin and pianoforte in 2022. ''La Belle Dame Sans Merci'' (1908) for baritone and orchestra was recorded by the BBC Concert Orchestra with Roderick Williams in 2024."''La Belle Dame''"]
EM Records EMR CD085 (2024)
Selected works
Concert works
* 1895 – ''Variations on Pretty Polly Oliver'' Op. 1, for piano, violin and cello
* 1896 – Cello Sonata in A minor
* 1898 – Four Compositions for piano, Op. 4. ''A Norse Lullaby'' (song)
* 1899 – Romance in A for piano. Variations and Fugue on a Theme by A.R (Adine Rückert) for piano
* 1900 – Piano Trio in A minor, Op. 7
* 1901 – ''In Autumn'', orchestral overture, Op. 8
* 1903 – Piano Quintet in E minor, Op. 10
* 1904 – ''Hamlet'' overture. ''Death on the Hills'', ballade for contralto and orchestra Op. 12
* 1905 – ''Variations and Fugue on an Irish Air'' for two pianos Op. 17. ''Waldemar'', fantasy for solo voices, chorus and orchestra, Op. 19
* 1906 – ''In Spring-time'', orchestral overture. Six Miniatures for small orchestra. Three pieces for piano, Op. 20
* 1907 – ''Five Rondels'' for medium voice, Op. 18. ''Two French Songs'', Op. 26
* 1908 – ''La Belle Dame sans Merci'', baritone and full orchestra, Op. 31. ''Deux Petites pièces'' for piano, Op. 27
* 1909 – String Quartet in C Major. Piano Trio in one movement, Op. 32. Four Dances from ''The Blue Bird''
* 1911 – ''A Scotch Rhapsody'' for full orchestra, Op. 30
* 1913 – ''Introduction, Mazurka and Finale'' Op. 43 (from ''A Forest Idyll'')
* 1914 – ''Overture Humoresque'' for full orchestra Op. 47
* 1916 – ''Hornpipe'', for orchestra, Op. 48 (also piano version)
* 1918 – ''Four Songs without Words'' for piano
* 1919 – ''Carillon'' for piano, Op. 50. ''In the Branches'', piano suite
* 1920 – ''Prelude and Call'' for orchestra
* 1921 – ''Celtic Legend and Nocturne'' for violin and piano. Eight 18th Century dance arrangements for piano
* 1924 – ''Blossom Songs'' (from the Japanese) with piano quartet
* 1926 – ''Echoes of Erin: Twelve Irish songs''
* 1926 – ''Soliloquy'' for double bass and piano
* 1927 – ''Festal Prelude'' for orchestra (also piano version)
* 1928 – ''Two Shakespearean Sketches: Nocturne and Masquerade'' for orchestra
* 1930 – ''The Farmer and the Fairies'' (Asquith), recitation
Music for the stage
* 1901 – ''After All'' ( Lytton)
* 1903 – ''The Exile'' ( Lloyd Osbourne and Austin Strong, Royalty Theatre
The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938. )
* 1904 – ''Hamlet'' (Lyric Theatre)
* 1906 – ''A Lonely Queen'' (Carr)
* 1908 – ''The Bride of Lammermoor'' ( Scott)
* 1909 – ''King Lear''. ''The Blue Bird'' (Maeterlinck)
* 1911 – ''The Gods of the Mountain'' (Lord Dunsany)
* 1912 – ''The Golden Doom'' (Lord Dunsany)
* 1913 – ''The Pretenders'' (Ibsen). ''Lord Haaken’s Lullaby'' (Elkin)
* 1916 – ''Hiawatha'' (Kegan). ''Paddly Pools'' (Malleson)
* 1917 – ''Before Dawn'', ballet (Lyric Theatre)
* 1918 – ''Through the Green Door'' (Vernon)
* 1919 – ''Reparation'' (Tolstoy). ''Julius Caesar''
* 1920 – ''Mary Rose'' (Barrie). ''Macbeth'' (Aldwych Theatre)
* 1921 – ''The Knave of Diamonds'' (Dell). ''The Love Thief'' (Fernald). ''Quality Street'' (Barrie). ''The Snow Queen'' (ballet)
* 1922 – ''The Merchant of Venice'' ( David Belasco’s production, Lyceum Theatre, New York)
* 1924 – ''Punch and Judy'' ballet for The Punch Bowl Revue. ''A Kiss for Cinderella'' (Barrie)
* 1925 – ''Kismet'' (Knoblock, New Oxford Theatre). ''The Man with a Load of Mischief'' (Ashley Dukes)
* 1926 – ''Alice in Wonderland'', ballet
* 1929 – ''Measure for Measure'' (Haymarket Theatre)
* 1930 – ''Jewels'' (Rodgers)
* 1933 – ''Julius Caesar''. ''The Merchant of Venice''. ''Henry V''. (all Manchester Hippodrome)
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Oneill, Norman
1875 births
1934 deaths
19th-century English classical composers
19th-century British conductors (music)
20th-century English male musicians
20th-century English classical composers
20th-century English conductors (music)
Academics of the Royal Academy of Music
English people of Irish descent
Hoch Conservatory alumni
English male classical composers
Musicians from London
People from Kensington
Pupils of Iwan Knorr
English musical theatre composers