biography
| sex:
| male
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| lived:
| (1859–1924)
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| biography:
| Operetta composer and conductor, born in Dublin, Ireland. When he first went to the USA (1886), he had the reputation of a serious cellist who had played under Johannes Brahms and Anton Rubenstein. As conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony (1889–1904), he premiered several of his own orchestral works (and his cello concerto continues to be played). In 1894 he launched a second career as a composer of light operas, and among c.50 popular operettas (with their still beloved melodies) are Babes in Toyland (‘March of the Toys’), Mlle Modiste (‘Kiss Me Again’), Naughty Marietta (‘Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life’) (1910), and Eileen (‘Thine Alone’). Extremely versatile, he wrote music for several Ziegfeld Follies and also composed one of the first American operas, Natoma (1911). He was also a founder of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). He became an American citizen in 1902. |
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