Reginald De Koven

Henry Louis Reginald De Koven (born April 3, 1859 in Middletown / Connecticut , † January 16, 1920 in Chicago ) was an American composer.

De Koven came to England with his parents as a child and attended St. John's College in Oxford until 1879 . He then studied at conservatories in Stuttgart, Frankfurt am Main and Florence and was a student of Franz von Suppè and Frederick Delibes , among others . After returning to the USA, he worked for a brokerage firm in Chicago and then opened a financially successful store. He wrote music reviews for Harper's Weekly and New York World and made his debut as a composer in 1887 with the operetta The Begum . By 1920 19 other operettas had been written, mainly based on librettos by Harry B. Smith . At the end of his compositional career came the operas The Canterbury Pilgrims (1917) and Rip Van Winkle (1920).

His most successful work was the operetta Robin Hood (1890), which saw more than three thousand performances. The Oh, Promise Me gained great popularity and was adopted into church music usage. In addition to these stage works, De Koven also composed piano music and other classical works. He was also the founder and first conductor of the Washington DC Symphony Orchestra .

In 1898 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters .

Works

• The Begum (libretto: Harry B. Smith), operetta, 1887
• Don Quixote (Libretto: Harry B. Smith), Operetta, 889
• Robin Hood (libretto: Harry B. Smith), operetta, 1890
• The Fencing Master (Libretto: Harry B. Smith), operetta, 1892
• The Algerian (Libretto: Harry B. Smith), operetta, 1893
• The Knickerbockers (Libretto: Harry B. Smith), operetta, 1893
• Rob Roy (libretto: Harry B. Smith), operetta, 1894
• The Tzigane (Libretto: Harry B. Smith), operetta, 1895
• The Mandarin (Harry Bache Smith), operetta, 1896
• The Paris Doll (Libretto: Harry B. Smith), operetta, 1897
• The Highwayman (libretto: Harry B. Smith), operetta, 1897
• The Three Dragoons (Libretto: Harry B. Smith), operetta, 1899
• Maid Marian (libretto: Harry B. Smith), operetta, 1900
• Red Feather (Liretto: Charles Klein ), Operetta, 1903
• Happyland (Libretto: Frederic Rancken ), operetta, 1905
• The Student King (Libretto: Frederic Rancken), operetta, 1906
• The Golden Butterfly (Libretto: Harry B. Smith), operetta, 1907
• The Beauty Spot (Libretto: Joseph W. Herbert ), operetta, 1909
• The Wedding Trip (Libretto: Harry B. Smith), operetta, 1911
• Her Little Highness (Libretto: Harry B. Smith), operetta, 1913
• The Canterbury Pilgrims (Libretto: Percy MacKaye ), opera, 1917
• Rip Van Winkle (Libretto: Percy Mackaye), Opera, 1920

swell

• Encyclopaedia Britannica - Reginald De Koven
• Reginald De Koven at Allmusic (English)
• Songwriters Hall of Fame - Reginald De Koven
• The Guide of Light opera & Operetta
• List of stage works by Reginald De Koven based on the MGG at Operone
• Reginald De Koven in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• Reginald De Koven in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Members: Reginald De Koven. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed February 25, 2019 .