Gaston Louis Christopher Borch (8 March 1871 – 14 February 1926)
was a
French
French may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France
** French people, a nation and ethnic group
** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices
Arts and media
* The French (band), ...
composer, arranger, conductor,
cellist
The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...
and author. His works include orchestral music, opera and music for
silent films
A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, wh ...
. He played and conducted with orchestras in Europe and the USA.
Early life
Borch was born in
Guînes
Guînes (; ; ) is a commune in the northern French department of Pas-de-Calais. Historically, it was spelt ''Guisnes''.
On 7 January 1785, Jean-Pierre Blanchard, a French pioneer in hydrogen-balloon flight, completed the first aerial crossi ...
,
Pas de Calais
The Strait of Dover or Dover Strait, historically known as the Dover Narrows, is the strait at the narrowest part of the English Channel, marking the boundary between the Channel and the North Sea, and separating Great Britain from continental ...
, France.
His mother, Emma Hennequin, a pianist and soprano, was a friend and pupil
of
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic music, Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are ''Manon'' (1884 ...
, whom she met when he stayed at her father's boarding house,
and with whom she is known to have performed. His father, Christopher Wolner Borch, was
Norwegian. Borch's sister Frida was also an accomplished pianist.
Career
Borch played the cello. He studied for three years with Massenet
[ in France, with ]Jules Delsart
Jules Delsart (24 November 1844 – 3 July 1900) was a French cellist and teacher. He is best known for his arrangement for cello and piano of César Franck's Violin Sonata in A major. Musicologist Lynda MacGregor described Delsart as "one of th ...
and also at the Valand School of Fine Arts
Nai, also known as Sain is a generic term for occupational castes of barbers. The name is said to be derived from the Sanskrit word ''nāpita'' (नापित). In modern times Nai in northern India refer to themselves as "Sain" instead of Na ...
in Sweden. During the 1890s he spent time variously as conductor of the Christiania Orchestral Society and the Central Theatre in Christiana (now Oslo
Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...
), and was also a visiting conductor in various European countries. His reported conducting credits include the Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
Symphony Orchestra; Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
Opera Orchestra; Société Symphonique, Lille
Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...
; Crystal Palace Orchestra, London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
; Harmonie Royale, Antwerp
Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...
; Gewerbehaus
Orchestra, Dresden
Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...
; and the Musikforeningen of Bergen
Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo.
By May 20 ...
(1898–1899).[''Who's Who in Music and Drama'' 1914, H.P.Hannaford and Hines, D.(eds) New York, H.P. Hannaford, p.47][
Between 1898 and 1906 he worked as a musician and conductor in the USA. He was engaged as a cellist with the Theodore Thomas Orchestra in 1899,][ and worked with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra] and Syracuse University. He had a brief and contentious engagement as "second solo" cello (i.e., first cello desk, but second player; Louis Heine was principal cello) with the Pittsburgh Orchestra, the predecessor to the Pittsburgh Symphony
The Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra (PSO) is an American orchestra based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The orchestra is resident at Heinz Hall, located in Pittsburgh's Cultural District. Since 2008, the orchestra's music director is Manfred Ho ...
, in the 1902–03 season under Victor Herbert
Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, Cello, cellist and conducting, conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and co ...
. In early 1903 Borch wrote an abusive letter about Herbert to the Art Society of Pittsburgh, the orchestra's sponsor, which found its way into the local newspapers. Herbert publicly responded to Borch's allegations by claiming that the cellist had failed to meet his expectations, and in any event, his comments were colored by the recent notification that his services would not be required for the Orchestra's upcoming Spring tour. In 1901 Borch's patent application for a device to amplify the vibrations from a piano indicates he was living at the time in Duluth, Minnesota
Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...
. He spent some time in Europe in 1906 as conductor of the Lausanne Symphony Orchestra. He conducted the Grieg Jubilee Concerts in New York in 1907. He was for a time a faculty member of the Pennsylvania College of Music.
Between 1916 and his death Borch was a prolific composer of photoplay music; short, stock pieces designed to evoke a particular mood. These were then selected and combined by musicians to create an appropriate scene-by-scene score for the silent films, or "photoplays", they accompanied live. In 1918 he published his ''Practical Manual of Instrumentation'', a technical manual for musicians which included several chapters on the adaptation of works written for larger orchestras to smaller ensembles, such as those working in picture houses. By 1925 he was sufficiently prominent in the field to be described as one of "the three 'B's' of picture music", along with Maurice Baron and Irénée Bergé—"a
formidable trio of expert writers".[ p.12]
In 1920 Borch was reported as attempting to establish a grand opera company in Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
, Massachusetts. Borch returned to Europe in 1921, settling in Sweden, where he was an arranger and musical contributor to the score of ''The Saga of Gosta Berling
''The Saga of Gösta Berling'' () is a 1924 Swedish romantic drama film co-written and directed by Mauritz Stiller and released by Svensk Filmindustri (SF), starring Lars Hanson, Gerda Lundequist and Greta Garbo in her domestic film breakthr ...
'' (1924), starring Greta Garbo
Greta Garbo (born Greta Lovisa Gustafsson; 18 September 1905 – 15 April 1990) was a Swedish-American actress and a premier star during Hollywood's Silent film, silent and early Classical Hollywood cinema, golden eras.
Regarded as one of the g ...
. On 1 January 1925, the first day of radio broadcasting in Sweden, Borch led the Skandia Cinema Orchestra in Sweden's first broadcast of orchestral music.
Personal life
Borch married Rose Alice Gluckauf in July 1900 in St. Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...
. His wife was a soprano who had previously taught at the Raff Conservatory in Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
, Germany, and who studied with Julius Stockhausen
Julius Christian Stockhausen (22 July 1826 in Paris – 22 September 1906 in Frankfurt) was a German singer and singer master.
Life
Stockhausen's parents, Franz Stockhausen Sr. (1792–1868), harpist and composer, and Margarethe Stockhausen n ...
and Jenny Hahn.[. Cited at www.e-yearbook.com.] She taught music at what is now Millikin University
Millikin University is a private university in Decatur, Illinois, United States. It was founded in 1901 by prominent Decatur businessman James Millikin and is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (USA).
History
Millikin was initially esta ...
in Decatur, Illinois
Decatur ( ) is the largest city in Macon County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. The city was founded in 1829 and is situated along the Sangamon River and Lake Decatur in Central Illinois. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 ...
from 1913 until 1922, when she filed for divorce from her husband on the grounds of desertion and bigamy.
Gaston Borch died in Stockholm
Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...
in 1926.[
]
Selected works
Opera
* ''Silvio'' (1897), a one-act opera premiered on 7 March 1898, with libretto by Borch and O. A. Smith—a sequel to ''Cavalleria Rusticana
''Cavalleria rusticana'' (; ) is an opera in one act by Pietro Mascagni to an Italian libretto by Giovanni Targioni-Tozzetti and Guido Menasci, adapted from an 1880 Cavalleria rusticana (short story), short story of the same name and subsequent ...
''''San Francisco Call''. April 1 1898, p.6
Accessed 19 October 2013
* ''Ostenfor Sol'', a "fairy opera"[
*''Geneviève de Paris'' (1906)
]
Photoplay music
* ''Incidental Symphonies'' – Used in the scores of '' The Cat and the Canary'' (1927) and '' White Zombie'' (1932)
* ''Misterioso Infernale'' (1916) – "Gruesome" section used in the score of ''Tarzan's Revenge
''Tarzan's Revenge'' is a 1938 American adventure film starring Glenn Morris in his only outing as Tarzan. Eleanor Holm, a popular swimming star, co-starred as Eleanor Reed. The film was produced by Sol Lesser, written by Robert Lee Johnson and ...
'' (1938)
* ''Poeme Symphonique'' – Used as the theme for the 1920 silent film ''Madame X
''Madame X'' (original title ''La Femme X'') is a 1908 Play (theatre), play by French playwright Alexandre Bisson (1848–1912). It was novelized in English and adapted for the American stage; it was also adapted for the screen sixteen times ...
''[ p. 18.]
Publications
* ''Practical Manual of Instrumentation''. The Boston Music Company, 1918.
References
External links
*
Borch's biography
at the Mont-Alto Motion Picture Orchestra website
*
*
Practical Manual of Instrumentation
' – available online from the University of Rochester Libraries
Discography
of Victor recordings of Borch compositions on the UCSB
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joine ...
website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Borch, Gaston
1871 births
1926 deaths
French film score composers
French male film score composers