Edward Solomon (25 July 1855 – 22 January 1895) was an English composer, conductor, orchestrator and pianist. He died at age 39 by which time he had written dozens of works produced for the stage, including several for the

D'Oyly Carte Opera Company The D'Oyly Carte Opera Company is a professional British light opera company that, from the 1870s until 1982, staged Gilbert and Sullivan's Savoy operas nearly year-round in the UK and sometimes toured in Europe, North America and elsewhere. Th ...

, including ''

The Nautch Girl ''The Nautch Girl'', or, ''The Rajah of Chutneypore'' is a comic opera in two acts, with a book by George Dance, lyrics by Dance and Frank Desprez and music by Edward Solomon. It opened on 30 June 1891 at the Savoy Theatre managed by Richard D ...

'' (1891). Early in his career, he was a frequent collaborator of

Henry Pottinger Stephens Henry Pottinger Stephens, also known as Henry Beauchamp (1851 – 11 February 1903), was an English dramatist and journalist. After beginning his career writing for newspapers, Stephens began writing Victorian burlesques in the 1870s in coll ...

. He had a bigamous marriage with

Lillian Russell Lillian Russell (born Helen Louise Leonard; December 4, 1860 or 1861 – June 6, 1922), was an American actress and singer. She became one of the most famous actresses and singers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, known for her beauty ...

in the 1880s.

Life and career

Edward ("Teddy") Solomon was born in

Lambeth Lambeth () is a district in South London, England, in the London Borough of Lambeth, historically in the County of Surrey. It is situated south of Charing Cross. The population of the London Borough of Lambeth was 303,086 in 2011. The area e ...

, London, to a Jewish family. He had ten siblings. His parents were Charles Solomon (1817–1890), a

music hall Music hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment that was popular from the early Victorian era, beginning around 1850. It faded away after 1918 as the halls rebranded their entertainment as variety. Perceptions of a distinction in Br ...

pianist, conductor and composer, and his wife, Cesira "Sarah" Marinina, née Mirandoli (1834–1891). He picked up music by working with his father.Tomes, Jason
Edward Solomon
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, October 2007; accessed 16 July 2014. Aged 17 or 18, Solomon married 15-year-old Jane Isaacs in 1873, and the two had a daughter, Claire Romaine (1873–1964), who became an actress, but Solomon soon deserted Isaacs and, over the years, took a series of mistresses. Isaacs later sang under the stage name Lily Grey.

Early career

His first

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 n ...

was ''A Will With a Vengeance'' (1876), a one-act work with a libretto by Frederick Hay, based on ''La Vendetta''. This was produced at the

Globe Theatre The Globe Theatre was a theatre in London associated with William Shakespeare. It was built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, the Lord Chamberlain's Men, on land owned by Thomas Brend and inherited by his son, Nicholas Brend, and ...

. In 1879, he met Henry Pottinger "Pot" Stephens while he was the musical director at the Royalty Theatre conducting, among other works,

Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...

's ''

The Zoo ''The Zoo'' is a one-act comic opera, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by B. C. Stephenson, writing under the pen name of Bolton Rowe. It premiered on 5 June 1875 at the St. James's Theatre in London (as an afterpiece to W. S. Gi ...

''.Stone, David
Edward Solomon
''Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte'', 17 February 2002; accessed 16 July 2014. With Stephens, he produced his first successes, '' Billee Taylor'' (1880), a "nautical comedy opera" in two acts; and ''

Claude Duval Claude Du Vall (or Duval) (164321 January 1670) was a French highwayman in Restoration England. He came from a family of decayed nobility, and worked in the service of exiled royalists who returned to England under King Charles II. Little els ...

'' (1881, celebrating a well known 18th century highwayman), both of which remained popular for many years in both the UK and US. Other Solomon and Stephens pieces were ''Lord Bateman, or Picotee's Pledge'' (1882), ''Virginia and Paul, or Ringing the Changes'' (1883) and later '' The Red Hussar'' (1889), a "comedy opera" in three acts. Together, they would also write ''Popsy Wopsy'', a "musical absurdity" (1880) and ''Pocahontas'' (1884). Solomon also wrote the music for the short companion pieces '' Quite an Adventure'' (1881;

Olympic Theatre The Olympic Theatre, sometimes known as the Royal Olympic Theatre, was a 19th-century London theatre, opened in 1806 and located at the junction of Drury Lane, Wych Street and Newcastle Street. The theatre specialised in comedies throughout ...

; revived in 1894 at the

Savoy Theatre The Savoy Theatre is a West End theatre in the Strand in the City of Westminster, London, England. The theatre was designed by C. J. Phipps for Richard D'Oyly Carte and opened on 10 October 1881 on a site previously occupied by the Savoy P ...

) and ''Round and Square'' (1885), each with a libretto by

Frank Desprez Frank Desprez (9 February 1853 – 25 November 1916) was an English playwright, essayist, and poet. He wrote more than twenty pieces for the theatre, as well as numerous shorter works, including his famous poem, ''Lasca''. Life and career D ...

, and each produced on tour by D'Oyly Carte companies in the 1880s and 1890s. Other early shows included ''Love and Larceny'' in 1881, a farce, ''Through the Looking-Glass'' (1882), ''

The Vicar of Bray The Vicar of Bray is a satirical description of an individual fundamentally changing his principles to remain in ecclesiastical office as external requirements change around him. The religious upheavals in England from 1533 to 1559 (and then from ...

'', a

with a libretto by

Sydney Grundy Sydney Grundy (23 March 1848 – 4 July 1914) was an English dramatist. Most of his works were adaptations of European plays, and many became successful enough to tour throughout the English-speaking world. He is, however, perhaps best remembe ...

(1882; revived 1892 at the Savoy), the successful ''Polly, or The Pet of the Regiment'' (1884) and ''

Pepita; or, the Girl with the Glass Eyes ''Pepita; or, the Girl with the Glass Eyes'', based on a story by E. T. A. Hoffmann, is a comic opera in three acts written by Alfred Thompson and composed by Edward Solomon. The opera was produced and directed by Thompson and Solomon and debuted ...

'' (1886). He also wrote ballads like "I Should Like To" and "Over the Way", and numerous salon piano solos and arrangements. For instance, he arranged

George Grossmith George Grossmith (9 December 1847 – 1 March 1912) was an English comedian, writer, composer, actor, and singer. His performing career spanned more than four decades. As a writer and composer, he created 18 comic operas, nearly 100 musical ...

's "See Me Dance the Polka" for piano.

Later career

With

F. C. Burnand Sir Francis Cowley Burnand (29 November 1836 – 21 April 1917), usually known as F. C. Burnand, was an English comic writer and prolific playwright, best known today as the librettist of Arthur Sullivan's opera '' Cox and Box''. The son of ...

, Solomon wrote '' Pickwick'' (1889), which also had a run in 1894, ''Domestic Economy'' (1890), and "The Tiger" (1890). Burnand's contribution to the last of these was so unacceptable that the work was hissed off the stage on its opening night. ''Pickwick'' was recorded by Retrospect Opera in 2016, together with

's ''

Cups and Saucers ''Cups and Saucers'' is a one-act "satirical musical sketch" written and composed by George Grossmith. The piece pokes fun at the china collecting craze of the later Victorian era, which was part of the Aesthetic movement later satirised in ''Pati ...

''. From 1891–93, 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 ...

had temporarily separated, Richard D'Oyly Carte mounted a number of non-G&S pieces to keep the

open, including a revival of ''The Vicar of Bray'' in 1892. Solomon's most famous work produced by the

was probably ''

or, The Rajah of Chutneypore'' (1891), an "Indian comic opera" in two acts with a libretto by George Dance, and lyrics by Dance and

. It initially ran for 200 performances at the

and then toured. The company also toured ''The Vicar of Bray''. His last stage work was ''On the March'' (1896), a musical comedy in two acts, with John Crook and

Frederic Clay Frederic Emes Clay (3 August 1838 – 24 November 1889) was an English composer known principally for songs and his music written for the stage. Although from a musical family, for 16 years Clay made his living as a civil servant in HM Treasury ...

, to a libretto by

William Yardley William Yardley (1632 – 6 May 1693) was an early settler of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, and is the namesake of the borough of Yardley, Pennsylvania. As a persecuted Quaker minister, Yardley and his wife, Jane ( nee Heath) moved from Ranscloug ...

B. C. Stephenson Benjamin Charles Stephenson or B. C. Stephenson (1839 – 22 January 1906) was an English dramatist, lyricist and librettist. After beginning a career in the civil service, he started to write for the theatre, using the pen name "Bolton Row ...

and Cecil Clay, based on ''In Camp'' by Victoria Vokes.

Bigamous marriage and personal information

Solomon has been described as "a diminutive clean-shaven young man ... whimsical, flamboyant, superstitious, hardly to be trusted with money or women, but brimming with melodic invention and able to compose at speed." He met the American actress

, in 1882 at

Tony Pastor Antonio Pastor (May 28, 1837 – August 26, 1908) was an American impresario, variety performer and theatre owner who became one of the founding forces behind American vaudeville in the mid- to late-nineteenth century. He was sometimes referr ...

's New York Casino Theatre where he was the season's musical director and she became the star. Unaware of his first marriage she became his mistress. Subsequently, they sailed together to London, where she starred in several of his works, written specifically for her, including ''Virginia'', ''Billee Taylor'', ''Polly'' and ''Pocahontas''. These were not highly successful in Britain, so they returned to America, where Russell was very well received in these works. They had a daughter together, Dorothy, in 1884, and married in New Jersey in 1885. The relationship soured, mostly due to Solomon's poor finances, and their last show, ''The Maid and the Moonshiner'' (1886) was a flop. When creditors sued Solomon, he fled the country. Solomon was arrested in London in 1886 for bigamy, but the case against him collapsed, as no American witnesses came forward. When she learned of his previous marriage, Russell sued for divorce, finally obtaining it in 1893."Lillian Russell"
Valentine Theatre, accessed 16 July 2014; Bergh, Albert Ellery
''Drama and Opera: The opera''
Athenian society (1909), p. 173 Meanwhile, Solomon's first wife divorced him in 1887. In 1889 he married an actress, Kate Everleigh. His brother Frederick Solomon sang in ''Billee Taylor'' in the provinces (1883) and was the composer of the comic opera ''Captain Kidd, or The Bold Buccaneer,'' produced at the Prince of Wales's Theatre,

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, on 10 September 1883. Solomon died in London of typhoid fever in 1895 at the age of 39.

Selected operas by Solomon

* '' Billee Taylor'' (1880) * '' Quite an Adventure'' (1881) * ''

'' (1881) * ''

'' (1882) * '' The Red Hussar'' (1889) * ''

'' (1891)

References

External links

Edward Solomon
at the

Internet Broadway Database The Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It was conceived and created by Karen Hauser in 1996 and is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade asso ...

List of many of Solomon's stage worksSolomon scores
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Solomon, Edward 1855 births 1895 deaths English male classical composers English classical composers English opera composers Male opera composers People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan Musicians from London Deaths from typhoid fever English Jews 19th-century classical composers 19th-century English musicians People from Lambeth 19th-century British composers 19th-century British male musicians