Christopher Hassall

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Christopher Hassall (born March 24, 1912 in London ; † April 25, 1963 ) was a British poet , actor and songwriter who not only wrote numerous texts for musicals and librettos for operettas , but also poems and biographies , and among others with the Hawthornden Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize .

Life

Musical writer and librettist

Hassall, son of the well-known illustrator John Hassall and younger brother of the illustrator and wood engraving artist Joan Hassall, first worked as an actor in the theater and was then led by the Welsh entertainer and composer Ivor Novello to write the lyrics for a new musical. The success of Glamorous Night (1935) led Hassall and Novello to work together for more than fifteen years until Novello's death in 1951, creating seven successful plays for theaters in London's West End . These pieces like Glamorous Night (1935 with the song "Fold Your Wings"), Careless Rapture (1936 - "Music in May"), Crest of the Wave (1937 - "Rose of England"), The Dancing Years (1939 - " Waltz of My Heart "), Arc de Triomphe (1943) and King's Rhapsody (1949 -" Some Day My Heart ") thrilled the British audience, but were felt by American producers as" too British "for the USA and came under therefore not there for performance. In 1950, shortly before Novello's death, he wrote the libretto for Dear Miss Phoebe .

Some of the collaborations with Novello were also filmed: Glamorous Night (1937) by Brian Desmond Hurst , The Dancing Years (1948) by Harold French and King's Rhapsody (1955), directed by Herbert Wilcox , where he for King's Rhapsody and the screenplay written .

The first opera Troilus and Cressida by William Walton , which premiered in 1954 at the Royal Opera House Covent Garden , was also based on a libretto he wrote.

More literary work

In addition to this activity, Hassall also wrote poetry and was awarded the renowned Hawthornden Prize in 1939 for his collection of poems Penthesperon , published in 1938 .

For his 1959 biography of civil servant, translator, editor, writer, and art patron Edward Marsh , entitled Edward Marsh. Patron of the Arts , he was honored with the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Biography of the Year. In 1964 the correspondence between him and Marsh appeared posthumously under the title Ambrosia and Small Beer: The Record of Correspondence between Edward Marsh and Christopher Hassall and a biography of the poet Rupert Brooke .

His other literary works include:

  • Poems of two years , 1935
  • Devil's Dyke , 1936
  • Christ's comet 1937
  • Crisis , 1939
  • Notes on the verse drama , 1948
  • The timeless quest 1948
  • The slow night, and other poems , 1949
  • Words by request , 1952
  • Out of the whirlwind , 1953
  • The player king , 1953
  • The red leaf , 1957
  • Bell Harry, and other poems , 1963
  • Poems for Children , 1963

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hassall, Christopher
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British poet, actor and songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH March 24, 1912
PLACE OF BIRTH London
DATE OF DEATH April 25, 1963
Place of death London