Engelbert Humperdinck

Engelbert Humperdinck (; 1 September 1854 – 27 September 1921) was a German composer. He is known widely for his opera Hansel and Gretel.

Early life

Humperdinck was born in Siegburg in the Rhine Province in 1854. After receiving piano lessons, he produced his first composition at the age of seven. His first attempts at works for the stage were two singspiele written when he was 13. His parents disapproved of his plans for a career in music and encouraged him to study architecture.

But he began taking music classes under Ferdinand Hiller and Isidor Seiss at the Cologne Conservatory in 1872. In 1876, he won a scholarship that enabled him to go to Munich, where he studied with Franz Lachner and later with Josef Rheinberger. In 1879, he won the first Mendelssohn Award given by the Mendelssohn Stiftung (foundation) in Berlin.

After winning another prize, Humperdinck traveled through Italy, France, and Spain. For two years, he taught at the Gran Teatre del Liceu Conservatory in Barcelona. In 1887, he returned to Cologne. He was appointed professor at the Hoch Conservatory in Frankfurt in 1890 and also teacher of harmony at Julius Stockhausen's Vocal School. By this time he had composed several works for chorus and a Humoreske for small orchestra, which became very popular in Germany. He first composed four songs to accompany a puppet show his nieces were giving at home. Then, using a libretto and thematic suggestions by his sister Adelheid Wette, rather loosely based on the version of the fairy tale by the Grimm Brothers, he composed a singspiel of 16 songs with piano accompaniment and connecting dialogue. By January 1891, he had begun working on a complete orchestration.

Although recognized as a disciple of Wagner rather than an innovator, Humperdinck was the first composer to use Sprechgesang—a vocal technique halfway between singing and speaking—in his melodrama Königskinder (1897). Also in 1914, Humperdinck signed the Manifesto of the Ninety-Three, declaring support for German military actions during early World War I.

On 26 September 1921, Humperdinck attended a performance of Carl Maria von Weber's Der Freischütz in Neustrelitz, which was Wolfram's first effort as a stage director. He suffered a heart attack during the performance and died the next day, aged 67, from a second heart attack. The Berlin State Opera performed Hansel and Gretel in his memory a few weeks later.