Thomas German Reed
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Thomas German Reed (June 27, 1817 – March 21, 1888) was an English composer and theatrical manager best known for creating the German Reed Entertainments, a genre of musical plays that made theatre-going respectable at a time when the stage was considered disreputable. He was married to Priscilla Horton, a noted singer, actress and dancer, who was his partner in creating the entertainments.
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[edit] Life and career
German Reed was born in Bristol. His mother was Frances German, and His father, Thomas Reed, was a conductor. Reed studied music with his father. At the age of ten, German Reed performed on the piano and sang, also singing at the Bath Theatre. He soon appeared in juvenile roles at the Haymarket Theatre in London, where the family relocated, as his father became conductor at the Haymarket Theatre and later the Garrick Theatre. In 1832, German Reed became became an organist at the Catholic Chapel on Sloane Street and assistant to his father as conductor of the Garrick Theatre.[1] His work at the theatre included scoring and adapting new operas, including Fra Diavolo in 1837. He also gave private music lessons.
In 1838, German Reed was appointed chapel-master at the Royal Bavarian Chapel and also became musical director at his father's former employer, the Haymarket Theatre, where he continued to work until 1851 with the exception of a temporary closure in 1843, during which he produced Pacini's opera Sappho at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane. During these years, he met his wife, Priscilla Horton, a successful and popular contralto and actress who had been performing on the stage in London since the age of ten. They married in 1844. In 1851, German Reed was engaged to assist in the production of opera at the Surrey Theatre and later managed Sadler's Wells Opera for a season and also conducted the music at the Olympic Theatre, as well as touring extensively in the British provinces.[2]
In the spring of 1855, at St. Martin's Hall, German Reed and his wife presented the first performance of "Miss P. Horton's Illustrative Gatherings," musical theatre performances usually consisting of one or two brief comic operas designed for a minimal number of characters and performed with either the piano and harmonium or a small ensemble of musicians. These eventually became "Mr. and Mrs. German Reeds Entertainments", presented at the Royal Gallery of Illustration on Regent Street, beginning in 1856, and later at St. George's Hall. To help lend respectability to their family-friendly entertainments, they called their establishment the "Gallery" of Illustration, rather than a "theatre", and the pieces they produced were called "entertainments," rather than plays, extravaganzas, or burlesques. Reed himself composed the music for many of these pieces, and he often appeared in them along with his wife.
German Reed became the lessee of St. George's Hall, beginning in 1867, and there he initially produced and conducted The Contrabandista by Arthur Sullivan and F. C. Burnand, The Beggar's Opera and others.[2] When the lease on the Gallery of Illustration terminated in 1873, the German Reed entertainments moved to St. George's Hall. German Reed retired from the stage in 1871, and his son Alfred (1847-1895) took over the entertainments with his mother, continuing with the entertainments after her retirement in 1879, until 1895.
German Reed died at St. Croix, Upper East Sheen, Surrey at the age of 70. He was buried in Mortlake cemetery.[2]
[edit] Works composed by German Reed
- The Drama at Home, or An Evening with Puff (1844)
- A Match for the King (1844)
- The Golden Fleece, or Jason in Colchis and Medea in Corinth (1845)
- Who's the Composer? (1845)
- The Wonderful Water Cure (1846)
- No Cards (1869, libretto by W. S. Gilbert)
- Our Island Home (1870, libretto by W. S. Gilbert)
- A Sensation Novel (1871, libretto by W. S. Gilbert)
- Mildred's Well, a Romance of the Middle Ages (1873)
- He's Coming (Via Slumborough, Snoozleton & Snoreham) (1874)
- The Three Tenants (1874)
- The Ancient Britons (1875)
- Eyes and No Eyes; or, The Art of Seeing (1875, libretto by W. S. Gilbert)
- Enchantment (libretto by Arthur Law0
- A Spanish Bond (1875)
- An Indian Puzzle (1876)
- The Wicked Duke (1876)
- Matched and Mated (1876)
- A Night's Surprise (1877)
- No. 204 (1877, libretto by F. C. Burnand)
[edit] References
- Williamson, David, ed. (1895). The German Reeds and Corney Grain; records and reminiscences. A.D. Innes.
- Stedman, Jane, ed. (1967). Gilbert Before Sullivan. University of Chicago Press.
- Obituary: Thomas German Reed in The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular, Vol. 29, No. 542 (April 1, 1888), p. 234
