Gervase Hughes
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Gervase Alfred Booth Hughes (1 September 1905 – July 1984) was an English composer, conductor and writer on music. From 1926 to 1933, Hughes pursued a career as a conductor and chorus master, principally at the British National Opera Company, and also co-produced Shakespeare plays. He left the musical profession in 1933, raising a family and working first as an executive in a railway company and later running luxury European tours. From 1960 to 1972 he published a series of books on musical subjects, beginning with a study of the music of
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 ...
, published in 1960.


Biography

Hughes was born in
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
, England, the son of Alfred Hughes, a university professor, and his wife Hester, ''née'' Booth.Gervase Hughes
at ''Gale Contemporary Authors Online'', accessed 7 September 2009 (subscription required)
He was educated at
Malvern College Malvern College is a Private schools in the United Kingdom, fee-charging coeducational boarding school, boarding and day school in Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern, Worcestershire, England. It is a public school (United Kingdom), public school ...
and
Corpus Christi College, Oxford Corpus Christi College (formally, Corpus Christi College in the University of Oxford; informally abbreviated as Corpus or CCC) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1517 by Richard Fo ...
, where he was active in the Oxford University Opera Club for whom he composed a light opera. He graduated with the degrees of
Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...
and
Bachelor of Music A Bachelor of Music (BMus; sometimes conferred as Bachelor of Musical Arts) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. The degree may be awarded for performance, music ed ...
in 1927.Gervase Hughes
at ''Grove Music Online'', accessed 7 September 2009 (subscription required)
From 1926 to 1929 Hughes was on the staff of the British National Opera Company and conducted ''
Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...
'', ''
Faust Faust ( , ) is the protagonist of a classic German folklore, German legend based on the historical Johann Georg Faust (). The erudite Faust is highly successful yet dissatisfied with his life, which leads him to make a deal with the Devil at a ...
'' and ''
Samson et Dalila ''Samson and Delilah'' (), Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. It was first performed in Weimar at the (Grand Ducal) Theater (now the Staatskapelle Weimar) on 2 ...
''. The company gave several performances of his one-act operetta, ''Castle Creevey'', in 1928–30, and the score was published by
Novello & Co Wise Music Group is a global music publisher, with headquarters in Berners Street, London. In February 2020, Wise Music Group changed its name from The Music Sales Group. In 2014 Wise Music Group (as The Music Sales Group) acquired French cla ...
. In 1929–30 along with Sir Thomas Beecham and Jack Westrup, he was one of three conductors of the London Opera Festival, for which he arranged and conducted
Handel George Frideric (or Frederick) Handel ( ; baptised , ; 23 February 1685 – 14 April 1759) was a German-British Baroque composer well-known for his operas, oratorios, anthems, concerti grossi, and organ concerti. Born in Halle, Germany, H ...
's ''
Giulio Cesare ''Giulio Cesare in Egitto'' (; ; HWV 17), commonly known as , is a dramma per musica (''opera seria'') in three acts composed by George Frideric Handel for the Royal Academy of Music in 1724. The libretto was written by Nicola Francesco Haym ...
'', its first British performance since the composer's lifetime.
Herman Klein Herman Klein (born Hermann Klein; 23 July 1856 – 10 March 1934) was an English music critic, author and teacher of singing. Klein's famous brothers included Charles Klein, Charles and Manuel Klein. His second wife was the writer Kathleen Cla ...
in '' The Gramophone'' commented that the costumes, the lines and the acting "made the audience rock with laughter," but added, "One reservation should be made, however, and that applies to the admirable work of Mr. Gervase Hughes, both in arranging the score and conducting the efficient orchestra, including the faultless accompaniments played upon the harpsichord by Mr. Boris Ord." Between 1926–33 he was associated with Sir Frank Benson and Oscar Asche in
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 ...
productions, presented under the management of "Gervase Hughes Ltd". In 1933 Hughes gave up music as a profession, though he continued to compose. He married Gwyneth Edwards, formerly an operatic
soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...
, in April 1934, and the couple had two daughters. From 1934–46 Hughes worked as an executive for the
London, Midland and Scottish Railway The London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMSIt has been argued that the initials LMSR should be used to be consistent with London and North Eastern Railway, LNER, Great Western Railway, GWR and Southern Railway (UK), SR. The London, Midland an ...
. From 1947–59 he ran a specialist travel agency offering European tours in
Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
cars. In 1960 he embarked on a new career as an author of books on musical subjects, publishing eight books in the next twelve years. In 1967 he was appointed a Vice-President of the
Gilbert and Sullivan Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the dramatist W. S. Gilbert (1836–1911) and the composer Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900) and to the works they jointly created. The two men collaborated on fourteen com ...
Society, a post he held until his death.''Gilbert & Sullivan News'', Volume 1, No. 6, November 1984, p. 2. Hughes died in July 1984 at the age of 78.


Works


Books

Hughes's first book on musical subjects was
The Music of Arthur Sullivan
' (1960), the first full-length study of the composer, in which he was assisted by
Eric Blom Eric Walter Blom (20 August 188811 April 1959) was a Swiss-born British-naturalised music lexicographer, music critic and writer. He is best known as the editor of the 5th edition of ''Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' (1954). Earl ...
. The book received good reviews and was followed by a wider study of operetta in 1962 called ''Composers of Operetta'' (reissued in 1974). His later books were ''The Pan Book of Great Composers'' (1964), reissued in an expanded version as ''Fifty Famous Composers'' (1972); ''Great Composers of the World'' (1964); ''The Handbook of Great Composers'' (1965); '' Dvořák: His Life and Music'' (1967); ''Sidelights on a Century of Music: 1825–1924'' (1969); and (with Herbert Van Thal) an anthology, ''The Music Lover's Companion'' (1971). Hughes was a contributor to ''
Opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
'' magazine, ''Monthly Musical Record'', ''Railway Magazine'' and other periodicals.


Music

Hughes completed one
grand opera Grand opera is a genre of 19th-century opera generally in four or five acts, characterized by large-scale casts and Orchestra, orchestras. The original productions consisted of spectacular design and stage effects with plots normally based on o ...
, ''Imogen's Choice'', which was staged in
Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...
in 1929. He started another, based on ''
Twelfth Night ''Twelfth Night, or What You Will'' is a romantic comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written around 1601–1602 as a Twelfth Night entertainment for the close of the Christmas season. The play centres on the twins Viola an ...
'', but it was not completed. He wrote three operettas: ''Castle Creevey'', ''Penelope'' and ''Venetian Fantasy''. He also composed orchestral works, works for the piano, and songs.From dust jacket of ''Great Composers of the World'' by Hughes (1964)


Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Gervase 1905 births 1984 deaths People educated at Malvern College English opera composers English male opera composers People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford 20th-century English classical composers 20th-century English musicologists 20th-century English male musicians