Johanna Maria Vincent (6 March 1898 – 28 November 1989) was a Dutch

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 ...

who appeared mostly in

oratorio An oratorio () is a musical composition with dramatic or narrative text for choir, soloists and orchestra or other ensemble. Similar to opera, an oratorio includes the use of a choir, soloists, an instrumental ensemble, various distinguisha ...

and concert, and is internationally known. She appeared regularly with

Willem Mengelberg Joseph Wilhelm Mengelberg (28 March 1871 – 21 March 1951) was a Dutch conductor, famous for his performances of Beethoven, Brahms, Mahler and Strauss with the Concertgebouw Orchestra in Amsterdam. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest ...

and the

Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra (, ) is a Dutch symphony orchestra, established in 1888 at the Amsterdam Royal Concertgebouw (concert hall). It is considered one of the world's leading orchestras. It was known as the Concertgebouw Orchestra u ...

from 1924 to 1942, including annual concerts and a recording of Bach's ''

St Matthew Passion The ''St Matthew Passion'' (), BWV 244, is a '' Passion'', a sacred oratorio written by Johann Sebastian Bach in 1727 for solo voices, double choir and double orchestra, with libretto by Picander. It sets the 26th and 27th chapters of th ...

''. She participated in the world premiere of Benjamin Britten's ''

Spring Symphony ''Spring Symphony'' is a choral symphony by Benjamin Britten, his Opus 44. The work is scored for soprano, alto and tenor soloists, mixed choir, boys' choir and orchestra. Britten used texts of several poems related to spring, mostly from th ...

'', with

Kathleen Ferrier Kathleen Mary Ferrier (22 April 19128 October 1953) was an English contralto singer who achieved an international reputation as a stage, concert and recording artist, with a repertoire extending from folksong and popular ballads to the class ...

and

Peter Pears Sir Peter Neville Luard Pears ( ; 22 June 19103 April 1986) was an English tenor. His career was closely associated with the composer Benjamin Britten, his personal and professional partner for nearly forty years. Pears' musical career started ...

. After retiring, she taught at the Haarlem Conservatory.

Life

Johanna Vincent was born in

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 ...

, the daughter of the organist, piano teacher and

carillonneur A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...

Jacob Vincent, and Geertruida Johanna Meijer. At age nine, she joined the children's choir of

Catharina van Rennes Catharina van Rennes (2 August 1858, Utrecht – 23 September 1940, Amsterdam) was a Dutch music educator, soprano singer and composer. Van Rennes was the daughter of Jan van Rennes and Marianna Josepha de Jong. Among her tutors were Richard Hol ...

. She studied to be a voice teacher, graduating with a diploma in 1919. She gave singing lessons to pay for studying voice with Cornélie van Zanten. Her first public concert was in

Assendelft Assendelft () is a town in the province of North Holland, Netherlands. It is a part of the municipality of Zaanstad. Assendelft was a separate municipality until 1974, when the municipality of Zaanstad was formed. However, Assendelft didn't wan ...

in 1920. She first appeared with the

in 1923, conducted by

Cornelis Dopper Cornelis 'Kees' Dopper (7 February 1870, Stadskanaal – 19 September 1939, Amsterdam) was a Dutch composer, Conductor (music), conductor and teacher. Life Born in the northern Dutch town of Stadskanaal, he came to study at the Leipzig con ...

. Vincent focused on a repertoire of

, especially Bach's Passions, and

lied In the Western classical music tradition, ( , ; , ; ) is a term for setting poetry to classical music. The term is used for any kind of song in contemporary German and Dutch, but among English and French speakers, is often used interchangea ...

er by

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (German: Help:IPA/Standard German, �joːhan zeˈbasti̯an baχ ( – 28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque music, Baroque period. He is known for his prolific output across a variety ...

Gustav Mahler Gustav Mahler (; 7 July 1860 – 18 May 1911) was an Austro-Bohemian Romantic music, Romantic composer, and one of the leading conductors of his generation. As a composer he acted as a bridge between the 19th-century Austro-German tradition and ...

Franz 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 ...

and

Hugo Wolf Hugo Philipp Jacob Wolf (; ; 13 March 1860 – 22 February 1903) was an Austrian composer, particularly noted for his art songs, or Lieder. He brought to this form a concentrated expressive intensity which was unique in late Romantic music, so ...

. Vincent sang frequently in concerts with

and the Concertgebouw Orchestra, first in 1924 in a concert with songs by G. H. G. von Brucken Fock, and Mahler's Eighth Symphony, which was broadcast. From 1932, she was the soprano soloist in Bach's ''

'', which Mengelberg had conducted annually on

Palm Sunday Palm Sunday is the Christian moveable feast that falls on the Sunday before Easter. The feast commemorates Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an event mentioned in each of the four canonical Gospels. Its name originates from the palm bran ...

since 1899. She appeared in the 1939 early recording of this Passion, which featured

Karl Erb Karl Erb (13 July 1877 – 13 July 1958) was a German tenor who made his career first in opera and then in oratorio and lieder recital. He excelled in all these genres, and before 1920 gave classic performances of key roles in modern works, and c ...

as the

Evangelist Evangelist(s) may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a ...

, Willem Ravelli as the

Vox Christi Vox Christi, Latin for Voice of Christ, is a setting of Jesus' words in a vocal work such as a Passion (music), Passion, an Oratorium or a Cantata. Conventionally, for instance in Protestant music of the Baroque era, the vox Christi is set for a Ba ...

, and other soloists

Ilona Durigo Ilona Durigo (13 May 1881 – 25 December 1943) was a Hungarian classical contralto and an academic voice teacher. She appeared internationally, mostly in concert, singing ''Lieder'' and oratorios. She is known for singing Lieder that Othmar Schoe ...

, and Hermann Schey. Their concerts ended in 1942, due to the

German occupation German-occupied Europe, or Nazi-occupied Europe, refers to the sovereign countries of Europe which were wholly or partly militarily occupied and civil-occupied, including puppet states, by the (armed forces) and the government of Nazi Germany at ...

. Vincent occasionally appeared internationally, such as in Paris in 1929, performing as Marguérite in ''

La damnation de Faust ''La Damnation de Faust'' (English: ''The Damnation of Faust''), Op. 24 is a French musical composition for four solo voices, full seven-part chorus, large children's chorus and orchestra by the French composer Hector Berlioz. He called it a ' ...

'' by Berlioz, conducted by

Pierre Monteux Pierre Benjamin Monteux (; 4 April 18751 July 1964) was a French (later American) conductor. After violin and viola studies, and a decade as an orchestral player and occasional conductor, he began to receive regular conducting engagements in 1 ...

, in Vienna in 1932 where Mengelberg conducted Mahler's Fourth Symphony, and also in Vienna in 1936 in Beethoven's

Missa solemnis is Latin for Solemn Mass.Mass
, ''Catholic Encyclopedia''. N.p., Appleton, 1910. 797. and is a genre of < ...

. Her only operatic role was the Countess in Mozart's ''

Le nozze di Figaro ''The Marriage of Figaro'' (, ), K. 492, is a ''commedia per musica'' (opera buffa) in four acts composed in 1786 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with an Italian libretto written by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It premiered at the Burgtheater in Vienna ...

'', performed in 1939 in Scheveningen. In London, she appeared at

The Proms The BBC Proms is an eight-week summer season of daily orchestral classical music concerts and other events held annually, predominantly in the Royal Albert Hall in central London. Robert Newman founded The Proms in 1895. Since 1927, the ...

several times between 1939 and 1948, then performed in

Queen's Hall The Queen's Hall was a concert hall in Langham Place, London, Langham Place, London, opened in 1893. Designed by the architect Thomas Knightley, it had room for an audience of about 2,500 people. It became London's principal concert venue. Fro ...

, conducted by

Henry Wood Sir Henry Joseph Wood (3 March 186919 August 1944) was an English conductor best known for his association with London's annual series of promenade concerts, known as the Proms. He conducted them for nearly half a century, introducing hundr ...

. On 14 July 1949, she took part in the world premiere of Benjamin Britten's ''

'' at the Concertgebouw as part of the

Holland Festival The Holland Festival () is the oldest and largest performing arts festival in the Netherlands. It takes place every June in Amsterdam. It comprises theatre, music, opera and modern dance. In recent years, multimedia, visual arts, film and architec ...

, with contralto

, tenor

, and conducted by

Eduard van Beinum Eduard Alexander van Beinum (; 3 September 1900 – 13 April 1959) was a Dutch conductor. Biography Van Beinum was born in Arnhem, Netherlands, where he received his first violin and piano lessons at an early age. He joined the Arnhem Orche ...

. A review in ''New Statesman and Nation'' dated 23 July 1949 stated that Vincent "excelled herself" in bird songs. A recording of the first performance was first issued by

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, record label * Decca Gold, classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, musical theater record label * Decca Studios, recording facility in West ...

in August 1994. Vincent retired in 1953, after which she gave occasional performances. After retirement, she taught singing from 1955 to 1956 at the Haarlem Conservatory. She died on 28 November 1989 in

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

Recordings

Vincent's voice appears on several recordings:Jo Vincent
(in Dutch) muziekweb.nl * ''Jo Vincent CD1'' * ''Jo Vincent, Philips Legendary Voices''. CDs * ''Jo Vincent, The Great Dutch Soprano''. CDs * ''Jo Vincent Kwartet - Psalmen en Gezangen / Liederen van Joh. de Heer'' * ''Jo Vincent - Passion, Oratorio & Arias'', 2 CD's * Mahler: Symphony No. 2 "Resurrection",

Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (; 14 May 18856 July 1973) was a German conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the United States, Hungary and finally, Great Britain. He began his career as an opera conductor, but he was later bet ...

* Mahler: Symphony No. 4, Mengelberg

References

External links

"Jo Vincent"
(in Dutch) muziekencyclopedie.nl
"Johanna Maria Vincent (1898-1989)"
historici.nl *

Bach Cantatas website * , Jo Vincent sings Reger's " Mariä Wiegenlied" {{DEFAULTSORT:Vincent, Jo Dutch sopranos 1898 births 1989 deaths Dutch operatic sopranos

Life

Recordings

References

Further reading

External links