Charles Oberthür (born as Carl Oberthür) (4 March 1819 – 8 November 1895) was a German harpist and composer active in Germany, Switzerland and England.

Biography

The son of a violin maker, Oberthür was born in

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

and studied the harp there with Elisa Brauchle and composition with Georg Valentin Röder (1776–1848), music director at the Bavarian court. He was successively employed at theatres in

Zürich , neighboring_municipalities = Adliswil, Dübendorf, Fällanden, Kilchberg, Maur, Oberengstringen, Opfikon, Regensdorf, Rümlang, Schlieren, Stallikon, Uitikon, Urdorf, Wallisellen, Zollikon , twintowns = Kunming, San Francisco Zürich ...

(1837),

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 ...

(1839), and

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's ...

(1842), before he settled in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

in 1844, initially as harpist at the Royal Italian Opera House. In 1861, he became the first Professor of Harp at the Royal Academy of Music, London. He died in London in 1895. Oberthür was the composer of over 450 works, most for or including the harp. He also published a useful harp method, his opus 36. His large-scale works have not been performed for many years and included the opera ''Floris de Namur'' (performed at Wiesbaden) and the cantatas ''The Pilgrim Queen'', ''The Red Cross Knight'', and ''Lady Jane Grey''. As a harpist, he became "unrivalled as a virtuoso and teacher". A contemporary source described him as "the leading harpist in Britain, and on the Continent he is held in the highest esteem."James Duff Brown: ''Biographical Dictionary of Musicians'' (Paisley and London: Alexander Gardner, 1886; reprint Hildesheim: Georg Olms Verlag, 1970), p. 449.

Selected compositions

Harp solo *''Reminiscences de Suisse'', Op. 3 *''Souvenir de Genève'', Op. 4 *''Fantaisie et variations brillantes sur le Valse du désir'', Op. 5 *''Addio, mia vita, addio!'' Barcarolle, Op. 25 *''Souvenir de Londres''. Fantaisie et variations brillantes sur un thême original, Op. 26 *''Bijou de Nabucco''. Grande fantaisie sur l'opéra de Verdi, Op. 28 *''Souvenir de Boulogne''. Nocturne, Op. 30 *''La Belle Emmeline''. Impromptu, Op. 51 *''Trois Mélodies religieuses'', Op. 52 *''The Nun's Prayer''. Mélodie religieux, Op. 54 *''Gems of German Songs''. Twelve Recreations, Op. 61 *''Le Désir'', Op. 65 *''Au bord de la mer''. Nocturne, Op. 68 *''Bel chiaro di luna''. Impromptu, Op. 91 *''Cradle Song (Wiegenlied)'', Op. 93 *''Voyage en Suisse''. Trois Morceaux originaux, Op. 99 *''Pensées musicales''. Trois Pièces de salon, Op. 110 *''Stray Leaves''. Three Sketches, Op. 114 *''Fantaisie brillante on Motives of Flotow's Opera 'Martha', introducing 'The Last Rose of Summer', performed by the author before Her Majesty Queen Victoria'', Op. 116 *''Six Sacred Melodies'', Op. 127 *''Gems of Verdi''. Twelve operatic airs, Op. 149 *''La Sylphide''. Morceau caractéristique, Op. 150 *''Seaside Rambles''. Four Musical Sketches, Op. 158 *''Le Réveil des elfes''. Morceau caractéristique, Op. 181 *''A Fairy Legend'', Op. 182 *''Erin, oh! Erin!'' Mélodie irlandaise favorite, Op. 183 *''The Harp that once through Tara's Hall''. Transcription of a favoured Irish air, Op. 187 *''Old English Melodies (Englische Melodien aus alter Zeit)'', Op. 221 *''Within a mile of Edinbro' Town''. Capricio, Op. 285 *''Conte de fées''. Caprice, Op. 301 – see YouTube video o
performance
*''Rêverie''. Impromptu, Op. 314 *''Le Papillon''. Caprice, Op. 317 - see YouTube video of
performance
Harp and orchestra *Concertino for harp and orchestra, Op. 175 (c.1863) *''Loreley'', Op. 180 *''Orpheus'', Op. 253 – see YouTube video of liv
performance
Orchestra *''Rübezahl Ouvertüre'', Op. 82 (1867) *''Vorspiel zu 'Shakespeare, ein Winternachtstraum, Op. 210 (1885) Chamber music *''Souvenir à Schwalbach'', Op. 42 for horn and harp *''Mon séjour à Darmstadt'', Op. 90 for horn and harp *Trio, Op. 139 for violin, cello, harp *Trio, Op. 162 for violin, cello, harp (1867) *''Orpheus'', Op. 253 for harp and piano *''Berceuse'', Op. 299 for violin and harp (1885) *''Sweet Dreams'', Op. 300 for clarinet and piano

Selected recordings

*''La Sylphide'', Op. 150, performed by Catherine Eisenhoffer, on: Gallo CD-622 (1990) *''La Sylphide'', Op. 150, performed by

Marielle Nordmann Marielle Nordmann (born 24 January 1941 in Montpellier) is a French classical harpist. Biography Marielle Nordmann was a pupil of Lily Laskine at the Conservatoire de Paris where she won a first prize in 1958. Between 1960 and 1978, she le ...

, on: Erato 2292-45482-2 (1990) *''Le Réveil des Elfes'', Op. 181; ''A Fairy Legend'', Op. 182; ''Conte de Fées'', Op. 301, performed by Elizabeth Jane Baldry, on: Campion Cameo 2025 *''Berceuse'', Op. 299 performed by Frances Mason and Jenny Broome, on: ''Hommage aux Demoiselles Eissler'', MMC Recordings MMC 123 (2018)

References

External links

Scores by Charles Oberthür
from the International Harp Archives on archive.org * {{DEFAULTSORT:Oberthur, Charles 1819 births 1895 deaths 19th-century classical composers 19th-century German composers 19th-century German male musicians Academics of the Royal Academy of Music Composers for harp German emigrants to England German harpists German male classical composers German Romantic composers Musicians from Munich