Walter Alfred Slaughter (17 February 1860 – 2 March 1908) was an English conductor and composer of musical comedy,

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 ...

and children's shows. He was engaged in the West End as a composer and musical director from 1883 to 1904.

Life and career

Youth and education

Slaughter was born in Fitzroy Square, London.''The Musical Herald'', 1 December 1906, p. 359 He attended the City of London School, and sang in the choir of St. Andrew's Church, Wells Street under

Joseph Barnby Sir Joseph Barnby (12 August 183828 January 1896) was an English composer and conductor. Life Barnby was born at York, as a son of Thomas Barnby, who was an organist. Joseph was a chorister at York Minster from the age of seven, was educat ...

.Obituary, ''The Musical Herald'', 1 April 1908, p. 105 After leaving school, he worked in a wine merchant's office and then for the music publishers Metzler.'' The Strand Magazine'', 4 July 1892, p. 85 While there, he studied music under

Alfred Cellier Alfred Cellier (1 December 184428 December 1891) was an English composer, orchestrator and conductor. In addition to conducting and music directing the original productions of several of the most famous Gilbert and Sullivan works and writing th ...

, Berthold Tours, and Georges Jacobi, the musical director of the Alhambra Theatre. He was also brought into frequent contact with Arthur Sullivan, who gave him much encouragement and friendly advice. Slaughter once asked Sullivan the best way to study composition; Sullivan replied, "Take off your gloves, go into the orchestra and study it there, as an engineer studies his business in the engine room." Slaughter married Luna Lauri ("Mlle. Luna"), one of the two famous dancing daughters of John Lauri, ballet-master at the Alhambra Theatre. Their daughter, Marjorie Slaughter, also became a composer.

Early career

Slaughter served as the organist at St. Andrew's and as a cellist and pianist in

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 ...

s prior to becoming a musical director in

West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes, "West End" in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194� ...

productions. Before he was 20, he had composed three ballets for the South London Palace. His early works also included some individual songs, one of which was the popular "The Dear Homeland". He composed the music for the successful all-women one-act '' opera di camera'' ''An Adamless Eden'' (1882 at the

Opera Comique The Opera Comique was a 19th-century theatre constructed in Westminster, London, between Wych Street, Holywell Street and the Strand. It opened in 1870 and was demolished in 1902, to make way for the construction of the Aldwych and Kingsway. ...

), which was produced in Britain and in America (1884) by Lila Clay's ladies' company. He also provided additional music in 1883, for the English adaptation of Edmond Audran's '' Gillette de Narbonne''. After several one-act works, including ''Sly and Shy'' (1883), ''The Casting Vote'' (1885) and ''Marie's Honeymoon'' (1885), he wrote the score for what became the most successful musical version of '' Alice in Wonderland'', in 1886, to a book and lyrics by Henry Savile Clarke. He also wrote a work called ''Sappho'' that year for the Opera Comique, which was not as well received because of a weak libretto. Slaughter later wrote the score to the medieval

''Marjorie'' produced by the Carl Rosa Opera Company in 1890 ( Prince of Wales's Theatre, 193 performances), and contributed to the Gaiety Theatre's '' Cinderella'' burlesque, '' Cinder-Ellen Up-too-Late'' in 1891 and ''King Kodak'' in 1894. In 1893 he composed the score for a musical farce, ''Peggy's Plot'', for the German Reeds. At the same time, Slaughter composed

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

for plays, including those produced at the St. James's Theatre, while he was employed as the musical director there, including, in 1890, Walter Frith's ''Molierè'' and Quinton and Hamilton's ''Lord Anerley''; in 1891, Haddon Chambers's ''The Idler''; and in 1892,

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

's '' Lady Windermere's Fan'' and ''Donna Luiza'' (with Basil Hood as librettist).

Peak years

Slaughter's breakthrough success came in 1895 in collaboration with Hood with the musical comedy '' Gentleman Joe, The Hansom Cabbie'' as a vehicle for the low comic Arthur Roberts. Bernard Shaw dismissed the score in '' The Saturday Review'': "The music, by Mr. Walter Slaughter, does not contain a single novel, or even passably fresh point, either in melody, harmony or orchestration." However, the show ran for 391 performances and enjoyed a New York production the following year. This was followed in 1896 by another collaboration with Hood that produced ''

The French Maid ''The French Maid'' is a musical comedy in two acts by Basil Hood, with music by Walter Slaughter, first produced at the Theatre Royal, Bath, England, under the management of Milton Bode on 4 April 1896. It then opened London's Terry's Theatre und ...

'', which debuted at Terry's Theatre and was a long-lived international success (480 performances in London, and a long-running New York production), and the less successful ''Belinda''. He also wrote incidental music to

Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...

's ''Guy Domville'' (1895) and ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1896) around this time. In 1897, Basil Hood and Slaughter wrote a series of short children's musicals based on fairy tales that received warm reviews."'The Happy Life,' by Louis N. Parker, to be Produced at the Duke of York's Theatre"
''The New York Times'', December 5, 1897 Also with Hood, Slaughter wrote a farcical musical comedy, ''Dandy Dan the Lifeguardsman'' (1897, Lyric Theatre), another successful vehicle for Roberts, and ''Orlando Dando, The Volunteer'' (1898), a similar success for Dan Leno at the Fulham Grand Theatre and then on tour. Next, Slaughter wrote three shows for the Vaudeville Theatre managed by

Seymour Hicks Sir Edward Seymour Hicks (30 January 1871 – 6 April 1949), better known as Seymour Hicks, was a British actor, music hall performer, playwright, actor-manager and producer. He became known, early in his career, for writing, starring in and p ...

. The most successful of these was ''

Bluebell in Fairyland ''Bluebell in Fairyland'' is a Christmas-season children's entertainment described as "a musical dream play", in two acts, with a book by Seymour Hicks, lyrics by Aubrey Hopwood and Charles H. Taylor, and music by Walter Slaughter. It was produc ...

'' (1901), produced by

Charles Frohman Charles Frohman (July 15, 1856 – May 7, 1915) was an American theater manager and producer, who discovered and promoted many stars of the American stage. Notably, he produced '' Peter Pan'', both in London and the US, the latter productio ...

and starring Hicks and his wife, Ellaline Terriss. This turned out to be the most popular Christmas entertainment of its time and was continually revived for the next four decades. Other 1901 works were ''Little Miss Modesty'' and ''The English Rose''. '' An English Daisy'', written with Hicks, was produced on Broadway with a Kingston run in 1902. Slaughter wrote several more shows, including ''

Little Hans Andersen ''Little Hans Andersen'' is a 1903 musical fairy pantomime in two acts and seven scenes for children with lyrics by Basil Hood and music by Walter Slaughter. Wearing, J. P.br>''The London Stage 1900–1909: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, ...

'' with Hood (1903) and ''The Hooligan Band'' with Charles H. Taylor (1906). He also served as the first musical director for Oswald Stoll at the London Coliseum from 1904 to 1906. He died in London in 1908 at the age of 48.

Notes

References

Biography of SlaughterListing of Slaughter shows from Flyrope.com

External links

* ttp://www.bllearning.co.uk/catalogues/evanion/Record.asp?EvanID=487&source=gallery.asp Poster for and description of "The Sioux" 1892, with music by Slaughterbr>List of library materials on Slaughter's works
{{DEFAULTSORT:Slaughter, Walter English musical theatre composers English male composers 1860 births 1908 deaths 19th-century English musicians 19th-century British male musicians