Herman Klein
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

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 Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...
and Manuel Klein. His second wife was the writer Kathleen Clarice Louise Cornwell, and one of their children was the writer
Denise Robins Denise Robins (née Denise Naomi Klein; 1 February 1897 – 1 May 1985) was a prolific English people, English Romance novel, romantic novelist and the first President of the Romantic Novelists' Association (1960–1966). She wrote under her fi ...
. For thirteen years, Klein was a vocal teacher at the
Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with dram ...
in London, becoming a lifelong proponent of the methods of Manuel Garcia and helping to edit Garcia's book on the subject. In 1876 he took up musical journalism, writing for ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' from 1881–1901, among other publications. He also contributed prolifically to ''The Musical Times''. From 1901 to 1909, Klein lived and taught singing in New York City, where he wrote for '' The New York Herald''. He was one of the first critics to take notice of the gramophone and was appointed "musical adviser" to Columbia Records in 1906 in New York. He returned to England in 1909. Klein wrote over half a dozen books about music and singers, as well as English translations of operas and art songs. He was a noted authority on
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 ...
. In 1924 he began writing for '' The Gramophone'' and was in charge of operatic reviews, as well as contributing a monthly article on singing, from then until his death.


Biography


Personal life

Klein was born in
Norwich Norwich () is a cathedral city and district of the county of Norfolk, England, of which it is the county town. It lies by the River Wensum, about north-east of London, north of Ipswich and east of Peterborough. The population of the Norwich ...
, Norfolk,
East Anglia East Anglia is an area of the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, with parts of Essex sometimes also included. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, ...
, England the son of Hermann Klein senior and his wife Adelaide (née Soman). Apparently, the elder Klein emigrated from
Riga, Latvia Riga ( ) is the capital, primate, and largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga metropolitan area, which stretches beyond the city lim ...
,Stone, Christopher. "Herman Klein, July 23, 1856 – March 10, 1934", reprinted in Moran, p. 603 then part of the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
, and home to a large community of German-speaking Jews such as the Kleins. Once in Norwich, his father became a professor of foreign languages at the King Edward VI Grammar School, and his mother taught dance. The younger Klein's five brothers were Max, a violinist,
Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''* ...
, a dramatist; Manuel, a composer;
Alfred Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...
, an actor; and Philip. They had a sister, Adelaide. He was the uncle of the producer Philip Klein (1888–1935). Although his forename was frequently spelled as "Hermann" until
World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
, he "deprecated any foreign pronunciation of it and was proud of his British citizenship and upbringing"."Mr. Herman Klein: Music critic, teacher, and writer", ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...
'', 12 March 1934, p. 19
The musical activities of Norwich, particularly its Festival and the Cathedral services, impressed him as a boy. He was educated in Norwich and later in London."Klein, Herman"
''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, 1920–2008; online edn, Oxford University Press, December 2007, accessed 3 January 2009
Klein was married three times. His first wife was Emily May Brown, a ballerina, with whom he had a daughter, Sibyl Klein, who became an actress; they divorced. On 19 February 1890, he married a 17-year-old Australian-born heiress Kathleen Clarice Louise Cornwell, later a popular writer, at the
West London Synagogue The West London Synagogue, abbreviated WLS, and fully the West London Synagogue of British Jews () is a Reform Judaism, Reform Judaism, Jewish congregation and synagogue, located near Marble Arch, at 34 Upper Berkeley Street, in the City of Wes ...
. Their children included two writers: Adrian Bernard L. Klein (1892–1969), who changed his name to Adrian Cornwell-Clyne and wrote books on photography and
cinematography Cinematography () is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens (optics), lens to focus reflected light from objects into a real image that is transferred to some image sen ...
, and Denise Naomi Klein (1897–1985), who under her first married name,
Denise Robins Denise Robins (née Denise Naomi Klein; 1 February 1897 – 1 May 1985) was a prolific English people, English Romance novel, romantic novelist and the first President of the Romantic Novelists' Association (1960–1966). She wrote under her fi ...
, became a best-selling romantic novelist and was the first president of the
Romantic Novelists' Association The Romantic Novelists' Association (RNA) is the professional body representing authors of romantic fiction in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1960 by Denise Robins (first president), Barbara Cartland (first vice-president), Vivian Stua ...
(1960–1966). Her daughter, Patricia Robins, is also a popular romance writer under the name Claire Lorrimer. Klein and Kathleen Clarice had another son, Daryl Kleyn (b. 1894).Lorrimer, Claire. ''You Never Know'', autobiography During their marriage, Kathleen Clarice began an affair with a young man, Herbert Arthur Berkeley Dealtry (b. 1878), who was a Worcestershire Regiment officer. When Klein became aware of it, he filed a petition for divorce, which was granted in December 1901. He was still affiliated with the West London Synagogue in 1901, the year of his divorce and his departure for New York.Kathleen Clarisa Cronwell
bearalley online at bearalley.blogspot.com (accessed 13 February 2009)
Klein's third wife was Helene Fox, a
Christian Science Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices which are associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes in ...
practitioner of Boston, Massachusetts, whom he married in 1905. Klein died in London, aged 77.


Career

For thirteen years, Klein was a vocal teacher at the
Guildhall School of Music The Guildhall School of Music and Drama is a music and drama school located in the City of London, England. Established in 1880, the school offers undergraduate and postgraduate training in all aspects of classical music and jazz along with dram ...
in London and also trained many professional singers privately. He wrote songs and short works for piano. In 1874, Klein returned to Norwich temporarily to help his ailing mother. That year Manuel Garcia also moved into the same house as Klein at 1 Bentinck Street in London. Klein became his student for four years and was closely associated with him for another six years. The friendship became a transformative experience for Klein, who would recall Garcia and his singing principles in many of his writings throughout his life. He helped edit Garcia's book on his singing method, published in English in 1872 (later revised by Klein and published as ''Hints on Singing'' in 1894). In 1876 Klein took up musical journalism. He began writing for ''The Examiner'' in 1879, and then for ''
The Sunday Times ''The Sunday Times'' is a British Sunday newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of N ...
'' (1881–1901), ''
The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'', founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...
'', ''The Citizen'', and the ''Lady's Pictorial''. He was for many years a musical correspondent of ''
The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...
'' and ''
The Scotsman ''The Scotsman'' is a Scottish compact (newspaper), compact newspaper and daily news website headquartered in Edinburgh. First established as a radical political paper in 1817, it began daily publication in 1855 and remained a broadsheet until ...
'' and also contributed prolifically to ''The Musical Times''. From 1901 to 1909, He lived in New York City, where he wrote for '' The New York Herald'', taught singing, and was a founder and first chairman of the
National Association of Teachers of Singing National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...
. He was one of the first critics to take notice of the
gramophone A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration waveforms are recorded as corresponding physic ...
. He was appointed "musical adviser" to
Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...
in 1906 in New York and was responsible for introducing
David Bispham David Scull Bispham (January 5, 1857 – October 2, 1921) was an American operatic baritone. Biography Bispham was born on January 5, 1857, in Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalitie ...
, Anton van Rooy, Lillian Blauvelt and Ruth Vincent and others to the recording studio. Klein eventually came to hold an unfavourable view of American musical life and returned to Britain in May 1909, continuing to teach and write. He wrote over half a dozen books about music and singers, as well as English translations of operas and art songs. In 1924 he began writing for '' The Gramophone'' and was in charge of operatic reviews, as well as contributing a monthly article on singing, from then until his death.Wimbush, Roger.
"Here and There"
''The Gramophone'', July 1973, p. 32
Among his other activities, Klein listed "Inventor of the Phono-Vocal Method of learning singing with the aid of a gramophone" and "Past Grand Organist of Grand Lodge of Freemasons". He was a member of the Critics' Circle, of which he was president and also chairman of its musical committee.


Publications

In addition to publishing several books containing his criticism or music commentary, in which he left "vivid pictures of the great singers whose art he studied in the opera house", Klein translated several operas, including ''
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 ...
'', and poems of over seventy songs by
Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; ; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical period (music), Classical and early Romantic music, Romantic eras. Despite his short life, Schubert left behind a List of compositions ...
,
Schumann Robert Schumann (; ; 8 June 181029 July 1856) was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic music, Romantic era. He composed in all the main musical genres of the time, writing for solo piano, voice and piano, chamber ...
and
Brahms Johannes Brahms (; ; 7 May 1833 – 3 April 1897) was a German composer, virtuoso pianist, and conductor of the mid- Romantic period. His music is noted for its rhythmic vitality and freer treatment of dissonance, often set within studied ye ...
. He was an authority on
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 ...
, having, as a young man, known
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 ...
well and worked with him on musical committees. Klein arranged for Sullivan to provide incidental music for
Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...
's 1889 production of ''
Macbeth ''The Tragedy of Macbeth'', often shortened to ''Macbeth'' (), is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, estimated to have been first performed in 1606. It dramatises the physically violent and damaging psychological effects of political ambiti ...
''. He later contributed articles on Gilbert and Sullivan to '' The Gramophone''. For ''The Musical Times'', he wrote on subjects including Music Festivals, the
Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London, England. It has a seating capacity of 5,272. Since the hall's opening by Queen Victoria in 1871, the world's leading artists from many performance genres ...
, the
Royal Choral Society The Royal Choral Society (RCS) is an amateur choir, based in London. History Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872 – the choir' ...
,
Camille Saint-Saëns Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns (, , 9October 183516 December 1921) was a French composer, organist, conductor and pianist of the Romantic music, Romantic era. His best-known works include Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso (1863), the Piano ...
,
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
and
Nellie Melba Dame Nellie Melba (born Helen Porter Mitchell; 19 May 186123 February 1931) was an Australian operatic lyric coloratura soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian era and the early twentieth century, and was the f ...
.''The Musical Times'', Vol. 60, No. 912 (1 February 1919), pp. 63–67; Vol. 62, No. 940 (1 June 1921), pp. 393–400; Vol. 57, No. 883 (1 September 1916), pp. 400–02; Vol. 72, No. 1058 (1 April 1931), pp. 305–08. ;Books: * – 4 volumes * (Klein was an editor) * * * * * * * * * – compilation of articles from ''The Gramophone''


Notes


References

* *Moran, William R. (ed). ''Herman Klein and The Gramophone,'' Portland, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1990, with a biographical sketch by Moran.


External links


''Notes on Singing'' – complete text on Internet Archive

''The Reign of Patti'' – complete text on Internet Archive

''Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870–1900'' – complete text on Internet Archive"> ''Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870–1900'' – complete text on Internet Archive

Herman Klein family tree at Geni.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Klein, Herman 1856 births 1934 deaths English male journalists English Jews English writers about music English music critics English people of Latvian-Jewish descent The Guardian journalists Opera critics People associated with Gilbert and Sullivan Presidents of the Critics' Circle