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Michael Maybrick (31 January 1841 – 26 August 1913) was an English composer and singer, best known under his pseudonym Stephen Adams as the composer of " The Holy City", one of the most popular religious songs in English.


Early life

Maybrick was born at 8 Church Alley, Liverpool, the fourth of the eight children of William Maybrick (1815–1853?), an engraver and his wife, Susannah (1815?–1883?). Both his grandfather and father served as parish clerk at St Peter's, Liverpool, and were minor composers. His uncle Michael Maybrick (1799–1846) was organist at St Peter's, wrote sacred music, and conducted the Liverpool Choral Society. Having become proficient on the piano by the age of eight, the young Maybrick studied the organ with W. T. Best and at the age of fifteen became organist of St Peter's; he also wrote anthems and had a work performed in London.


Musical career

On the advice of his godfather, Alfred Mellon, in 1865 Maybrick went to
Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...
to study keyboard and harmony with
Carl Reinecke Carl Heinrich Carsten Reinecke (23 June 182410 March 1910) was a German composer, conductor, and pianist in the mid- Romantic era. Biography Reinecke was born in what is today the Hamburg district of Altona; technically he was born a Dane, as ...
,
Ignaz Moscheles Isaac Ignaz Moscheles (; 23 May 179410 March 1870) was a Bohemian piano virtuoso and composer. He was based initially in London and later at Leipzig, where he joined his friend and sometime pupil Felix Mendelssohn as professor of piano at the ...
, and
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, but later decided to train as a baritone with Gaetano Nava in
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. After gaining experience in Italian theatres, he appeared with great success in London on 25 February 1869 in
Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), born and widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions include sym ...
's ''
Elijah Elijah ( ; he, אֵלִיָּהוּ, ʾĒlīyyāhū, meaning "My God is Yahweh/ YHWH"; Greek form: Elias, ''Elías''; syr, ܐܸܠܝܼܵܐ, ''Elyāe''; Arabic: إلياس or إليا, ''Ilyās'' or ''Ilyā''. ) was, according to the Books ...
''. Further success came as Telramund in
Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most op ...
's ''
Lohengrin Lohengrin () is a character in German Arthurian literature. The son of Parzival (Percival), he is a knight of the Holy Grail sent in a boat pulled by swans to rescue a maiden who can never ask his identity. His story, which first appears in Wolf ...
'' led to appearances with
Charlotte Sainton-Dolby Charlotte Helen Sainton-Dolby (17 May 182118 February 1885), was an English contralto, singing teacher and composer. Life Charlotte Helen Dolby was born in London to Samuel Dolby and Charlotte Niven. Her father died when she was 10 years old. S ...
, including her farewell concert on 6 June 1870, and to regular engagements at the English festivals and with the
Carl Rosa Opera Company The Carl Rosa Opera Company was founded in 1873 by Carl Rosa, a German-born musical impresario, and his wife, British operatic soprano Euphrosyne Parepa-Rosa to present opera in English in London and the British provinces. The company premiere ...
. He appeared as a baritone at all the leading concert venues in London and the provinces, as well as in English opera. By the early 1870s Maybrick was singing his own songs, beginning with "A Warrior Bold". Published under the pseudonym Stephen Adams and mostly with lyrics by Fred Weatherly, his songs achieved extraordinary popularity. His early sea song "Nancy Lee" sold more than 100,000 copies in two years. Maybrick penned other sea songs including "The Tar's Farewell", "They All Love Jack" and "The Midshipmite", sentimental songs such as "Your Dear Brown Eyes", romantic numbers like "The Children of the City", and sacred songs like "The Blue Alsatian Mountains", "The Star of Bethlehem", and the well-loved " The Holy City". In 1884 he toured the New Zealand performing his own songs. His friends spoke of his charming personality, but others thought him arrogant and vain. He composed one of the earliest musical settings of A. E. Housman, 'When I was one-and-twenty' in 1904, the same year
Arthur Somervell Sir Arthur Somervell (5 June 18632 May 1937) was an English composer and art song writer. After Hubert Parry, he was one of the most successful and influential writers of art song in the English music renaissance of the 1890s–1900s. One of his ...
published his ''A Shropshire Lad'' song cycle.'Two Song Cycles by Arthur Somervell'
''Opera Today'', 2 June 2020


Retirement

Maybrick was a keen amateur sportsman, being a cricketer, a yachtsman and a cyclist, and a
captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
in the
Artists Rifles The 21 Special Air Service Regiment (Artists) (Reserve), historically known as The Artists Rifles is a regiment of the Army Reserve. Its name is abbreviated to 21 SAS(R). Raised in London in 1859 as a volunteer light infantry unit, the regime ...
. On 9 March 1893 he married his forty-year-old housekeeper, Laura Withers, and settled with her at
Ryde Ryde is an English seaside town and civil parish on the north-east coast of the Isle of Wight. The built-up area had a population of 23,999 according to the 2011 Census and an estimate of 24,847 in 2019. Its growth as a seaside resort came a ...
on the
Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight ( ) is a Counties of England, county in the English Channel, off the coast of Hampshire, from which it is separated by the Solent. It is the List of islands of England#Largest islands, largest and List of islands of England#Mo ...
. They were joined there by the two children of his brother, James Maybrick, later a suspect in the
Jack the Ripper Jack the Ripper was an unidentified serial killer active in and around the impoverished Whitechapel district of London, England, in the autumn of 1888. In both criminal case files and the contemporaneous journalistic accounts, the killer ...
case, and whose wife
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico ...
was convicted of his murder in 1889. (A re-examination of her case resulted in her release in 1904). Michael Maybrick himself is named as Jack the Ripper by the film director
Bruce Robinson Bruce Robinson (born 2 May 1946) is an English actor, director, screenwriter and novelist. He wrote and directed the cult classic '' Withnail and I'' (1987), a film with comic and tragic elements set in London in the late 1960s, which drew on h ...
in his book on the subject. He became chairman of the Isle of Wight Hospital, was a
magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a ''magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judici ...
and was five times
mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well as ...
of Ryde. He was also a Freemason. He had been at
Buxton Buxton is a spa town in the High Peak, Derbyshire, Borough of High Peak, Derbyshire, England. It is England's highest market town, sited at some above sea level.heart failure Heart failure (HF), also known as congestive heart failure (CHF), is a syndrome, a group of signs and symptoms caused by an impairment of the heart's blood pumping function. Symptoms typically include shortness of breath, excessive fatigue, ...
on 26 August 1913. He was buried four days later at Ryde.


Notes


References

*'Obituary: Michael Maybrick', ''The Musical Times'', Vol. 54, No. 848 (Oct. 1, 1913), pp. 661–662


External links

* * *
Obituary
in ''
Liverpool Mercury The ''Liverpool Mercury'' was an English newspaper that originated in Liverpool, England. As well as focusing on local news, the paper also reported on both national and international news allowing it to circulate in Lancashire, Wales, Isle of Man ...
'', 30 August 1913
Jack the Ripper Revealed: They All Love Jack.Interview with Bruce Robinson
GQ magazine October 2015
Stephen Adams recordings
at the
Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...
. {{DEFAULTSORT:Maybrick, Michael 1841 births 1913 deaths Artists' Rifles officers English composers 19th-century British male singers Jack the Ripper Musicians from Liverpool Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England