Scan 22
The American history and encyclopedia of music, 1908
15 lines. Read by computer on 7 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1Acton
2tatas for female voices, Forest Bells, and The Rose and the Nightingale; a chorus for male voices, For Home and Liberty, which was awarded a prize, offered by the South London Musical Club in 1888; also duets; many songs; and piano pieces.
4Adam (ăd-ăn), Adolphe Charles. 1803-1856.
5Born in Paris. His father was Louis Adam, a French operatic composer, who was also a musician of note but objected to the same tendency in his son. The boy was allowed no musical instruction and his talents along this line were strongly discouraged. His perseverance finally prevailed, however, and he was allowed to enter the Conservatory in 1817, but only on condition of his promising never to write for the stage, a promise which, it is needless to say, was broken later on. He first studied the organ under Benoist, later taking up the harmonium, upon which he became a clever improviser. He also studied counterpoint with Eler and Reicha, but seems to have made little progress until he became a pupil of Boieldieu, at that time professor of composition at the Conservatory. Adam's first work was piano-music of all kinds, including transcriptions and songs. In 1829, he published his first opera, Pierre and Catherine, in one act. This was produced at the Opéra Comique and was successful. In 1830 his three act opera Danilow was brought out and was also a success. This was followed by a large number of works, among them the operas, Le Chalet, Le Postillon de Longjumeau, Le Brasseur de Preston, Le Roi d'Yvetot, Cagliostro, and Richard en Palestine; and the ballets, Faust, La Jolie Fille de Gand, and Giselle. Of his operas, Le Postillon de Longjumeau, produced in 1836, was the best and the one which made him famous. This popular opera is often produced in Germany, France and other countries of Europe. In 1847, after a quarrel with the director of the Opéra Comique, he started an opera house of his own, but this was not a financial success and after 1848 he again devoted himself to composition, becoming professor of composition at the Conservatory in 1849. Besides operas and ballets and can-
7Adam
8tatas, Adam composed two masses. Adam's work may be divided into three classes, his grand operas, which were failures; his ballets, which were melodious and beautiful; and his comic operas, in which his talent really lay and which were truly successful. He may, perhaps, be considered the successor and imitator of Boieldieu and Auber. His works were written in a flowing and rhythmical style and contain much humor and melody.
10Adam (ăd-ăn), Louis. 1758-1848.
11Celebrated pianist and teacher and father of the preceding. He was born in Alsace but went to Paris early in his life and began composing when very young, as two of his symphonies for the harp, piano and violin, were performed at the Concerts Spirituels, when he was only seventeen. He was a close student of Bach, Handel, Scarlatti and Mozart and was a very thorough teacher. Adam was professor of piano at the Paris Conservatory from 1797 to 1843. He trained many famous pupils, among whom were Hérold, Henri Lemoine, Kalkbrenner and Adolphe Charles Adam, his celebrated son. He published, beside many piano compositions, a new method for the piano which was translated by Czerny in 1826. Adam's work was remarkable, on account of his being almost entirely self-trained.
13Adam de la Hale (ăd-ăn du lä-äl), About 1240-1287.
14The best known of the French Troubadours, called The Hunchback of Arras. He was a gifted poet and a composer of high importance. His works are said to be of the greatest value for the musical history of the times in which he lived. Many of these, which have been preserved, were published in 1872, by Coussemaker. He wrote the text as well as the music of his compositions. He is the author of the earliest known comic opera, which is, Le Jeu de Robin et de Marion. This piece has eleven characters. It is written in dialogue, is divided into scenes and is interspersed with airs and a kind of duet, in which two voices sing alternately but never together. A performance of this first comic opera was given at Arras, in 1896, at fêtes
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