Hugo Alpen (26 October 184220 June 1917) was a German-born Australian composer, choral conductor and singing teacher.

Early life

Born on 26 October 1842 in

Kellinghusen Kellinghusen () is a town in the district of Steinburg in the ''Bundesland'' of Schleswig-Holstein. Geography Kellinghusen is located northeast of Itzehoe on both sides of the Stör River. The federal highway Bundesstraße 206 passes Kellinghu ...

, (then part of Denmark), Alpen came to Australia in 1858 at the age of 16.

Career

After spending several years in

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Alpen was appointed director of the Vocal Philharmonic Society in the New South Wales town of

Tumut Tumut () is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, situated on the banks of the Tumut River. Tumut sits on the north-west foothills of the Snowy Mountains and is located on the traditional lands of the Wiradjuri, Wolgalu ...

in 1862, and from 1865 was based in

Albury Albury (; ) is a major regional city that is located in the Murray River, Murray region of New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the twin city of Albury–Wodonga, Albury-Wodonga and is located on the Hume Highway and the northern side of ...

. He moved to

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

in 1880 to work as a singing master for the newly established Department of Public Instruction (now the

Department of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...

), teaching at Fort Street and Hurlstone teacher training colleges. In 1884 he was appointed Superintendent of Music in the department. He advocated enlightened modern methods of music teaching for school children, emphasising aural development and

sight-singing In music, sight-reading, also called ''a prima vista'' (Italian language, Italian meaning, "at first sight"), is the practice of reading and performing of a piece in a music notation that the performer has not seen or learned before. Sight-singi ...

, and in 1897 he published a treatise, ''Practical Hints for the Teaching of Vocal Music in Public Schools''. In the earliest precursors of today's

Schools Spectacular The NSW Schools Spectacular is an Australia, Australian variety show featuring more than 5,500 students from public schools across New South Wales and was performed annually at the Sydney Entertainment Centre (later known as Qantas Credit Unio ...

s, Alpen led massed student choirs in gala performances, often including his own compositions. His ''Commemoration Ode'' (1899) celebrated Fort Street School's

Golden Jubilee A golden jubilee marks a 50th anniversary. It variously is applied to people, events, and nations. Bangladesh In Bangladesh, golden jubilee refers the 50th anniversary year of the separation from Pakistan and is called in Bengali language, ...

. At the celebrations of the Inauguration of the Commonwealth in Centennial Park on 1 January 1901, he conducted an estimated 10,000 school children in a performance of his work ''Federated Australia''. Alpen was also the organist at St Patrick's on Church Hill and St Benedict's on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

, both in Sydney. Among his later works, with words by Roderick Quinn, was ''Hail! Men of America, Hail!'', which was performed as an "ode of welcome to the American Fleet" on its hugely popular first visit to

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, commonly known as Sydney Harbour, is a ria, natural harbour on the east coast of Australia, around which Sydney was built. It consists of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove River, Lane ...

in 1908.

Death

In retirement he lived in

Strathfield Strathfield is a suburb in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 12 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is the administrative centre of the Municipality of Strathfield. A sma ...

until his death on 20 June 1917.

References

External links

* "Alpen, Hugo
record
an
biography
(CC-By-SA) at the

Dictionary of Sydney The Dictionary of Sydney is a digital humanities project to produce an online, expert-written encyclopaedia of all aspects of the history of Sydney. Description The Dictionary is a partnership between the City of Sydney, the University of Sydne ...

, viewed 8 August 2010. * "Hugo Alpen
biography
on Music Australia, viewed 8 August 2010.

Bibliography

* Deborah Crisp, 'Amateurs and Professionals: A Snapshot of Musical Life in a Country Town, 1860–1865', Australasian Music Research, no 1, 1996. * John Whiteoak and Aline Scott-Maxwell, (eds), Currency Companion to Music and Dance in Australia, Currency Press, Sydney, 2003, pp. 154, 166, 176, 547, 571

''This Wikipedia article is substantially built upon the essay
Alpen, Hugo
in the

written by Graeme Skinner, 2008 and licensed under

CC by-sa A Creative Commons (CC) license is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free distribution of an otherwise copyrighted "work". A CC license is used when an author wants to give other people the right to share, use, and bui ...

. Imported on 8 August 2010.''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alpen, Hugo Colony of New South Wales people Australian male composers Australian composers Australian music educators 1842 births 1917 deaths Danish emigrants Immigrants to colonial Australia