Engelbert Humperdinck

1854-1921

Engelbert Humperdinck is best known for his fairy-tale opera Hansel and Gretel, first staged in Weimar, Germany in 1893. He was born on September 1, 1854, and produced his first composition after receiving piano lessons when he was only seven. His first attempts at works for the stage were two Singspiels when he was 13. Obviously, this young man had talent, but his parents did not approve of his becoming a musician, so despite them encouraging him to study architecture, he took music classes at the Cologne Conservatory.  
             

Humperdinck received the Frankfurt Mozart Prize in 1876, and with its help he was able to travel to Munich. There, Humperdinck continued to take classes to develop his talent in music, finding many opportunities to gain experience both composing and performing. For over ten years he met many important composers such as Franz Lachner, Giovanni Sgambati, and Richard Wagner and heard their works. He eventually became one of Wagner's most important students and assistants, and eventually became music tutor to the great composer's son, Siegfried Wagner. Humperdinck subsequently held various teaching positions of distinction and enjoyed a long and fruitful collaboration in the theatre with the great playwright and director Max Reinhardt, providing incidental music for a number of Shakespearean productions in Berlin.While in Berlin, as any good uncle would, Humperdinck began work on Hansel and Gretel after his sister asked him to compose music for a play for her children in 1890. He first started to compose Hansel and Gretel, based on the fairy tale by Ludwig Grimm, as a Singspiel consisting of a play with 16 songs and piano accompaniment. A few months later, he presented his fiance Hedwig Taxer with Hansel and Gretel as an engagement present.

 Quickly realizing the work's potential, Humperdinck instead decided to create a full-scale opera, and in January of 1891 he began working on a complete orchestration. Nearly three years later Richard Strauss - who dubbed it "a masterpiece of the highest quality… all of it original, new, and so authentically German" - conducted its premiere. With its highly original synthesis of Wagnerian techniques and traditional German folk songs, Hansel and Gretel was an instant and overwhelming success. It was such a success that in 1923 it became the first complete opera ever to be broadcast on radio (from Covent Garden, London), and eight years later it was the first to be transmitted live from the Metropolitan Opera. Tragically, it was at about the same time that Humperdinck developed a hearing affliction and remained partially deaf for the rest of his life.

On January 5th, 1912, Humperdinck suffered a severe stroke. Although he was eventually able to recover, his left hand remained permanently paralyzed. During the summer of 1915, he began to compose what would be his final work for the stage, Gaudeamus, and with the help of his son, Wolfram, it was completed in 1918. On September 26th, 1921, Humperdinck attended the performance of Wolfram's first production as a director of Weber's Der Freischutz. During the performance he had a heart attack. He died the next day from a second heart attack. In his memory, Hansel and Gretel was performed several weeks later by the Berlin State Opera. The opera is still a worldwide favorite.

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Synopsis of plot of Hansel and Gretel