Charles H. Taylor (lyricist)
Encyclopedia
Charles Henry Taylor was a British lyricist, best known for his lyrics for early 20th century West End musical comedies
and a comic opera
, Tom Jones
.
, the son of a silk merchant. He followed his father into the trade and remained there until his late thirties.
His friend Robert Courtneidge
was a producer at a local theatre, and Taylor supplied some topical lyrics for a pantomime
production there. This eventually led to continued contributions of lyrics, and so Taylor quit the silk business to begin writing lyrics full-time for popular music.
After writing the lyrics for his first production for London's West End, The Silver Slipper, Taylor became a popular lyricist. He supplied lyrics for Seymour Hicks
's Bluebell in Fairyland
(1901), which became the most successful children's entertainment of the era and was revived annually for the next four decades. During the next few years, he contributed lyrics to Sidney Jones
's comedy opera My Lady Molly
(1902), George Edwardes
's production of The Girl from Kays
, The Medal and the Maid (1903), and Leslie Stuart
's The School Girl
(1903). After the success of Bluebell in Fairyland, the Seymour Hicks/Charles Frohman
organisation hired him as it chief lyricist. From 1904 to 1907 he supplied the lyrics to the four shows that the team wrote and produced with music by Herbert Haines
. The Catch of the Season
(1904) and The Beauty of Bath
(1906) were particularly successful.
His last work, Tom Jones
, was a collaboration with his Courtneidge, who had co-written an opera libretto adaptation of Henry Fielding
's novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
. Taylor supplied the lyrics, and Edward German
wrote the music. Some of the songs such as "For Tonight" (sometimes recorded as "The Tom Jones Waltz"), "The Green Ribbon", and "The West Country Lad" proved to be some of the most popular of Taylor's and German's work. The work eventually became popular among amateur light opera groups.
Taylor died at the age of 47 while working on his first musical comedy libretto. A song from that work, "Dream 'o Day Jill," became a special addition to Tom Jones to celebrate the 100th night of its run.
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
and a comic opera
Comic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
, Tom Jones
Tom Jones (opera)
Tom Jones is a comic opera in three acts by Edward German founded upon Henry Fielding's 1749 novel, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, with a libretto by Robert Courtneidge and Alexander M. Thompson and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor....
.
Life and career
Charles H. Taylor was born in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
, the son of a silk merchant. He followed his father into the trade and remained there until his late thirties.
His friend Robert Courtneidge
Robert Courtneidge
Robert Courtneidge was a British theatrical manager-producer and playwright. He is best remembered as the co-author of the light opera Tom Jones and the producer of The Arcadians...
was a producer at a local theatre, and Taylor supplied some topical lyrics for a pantomime
Pantomime
Pantomime — not to be confused with a mime artist, a theatrical performer of mime—is a musical-comedy theatrical production traditionally found in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Jamaica, South Africa, India, Ireland, Gibraltar and Malta, and is mostly performed during the...
production there. This eventually led to continued contributions of lyrics, and so Taylor quit the silk business to begin writing lyrics full-time for popular music.
After writing the lyrics for his first production for London's West End, The Silver Slipper, Taylor became a popular lyricist. He supplied lyrics for Seymour Hicks
Seymour Hicks
Sir Arthur Seymour Hicks , better known as Seymour Hicks, was a British actor, music hall performer, playwright, screenwriter, theatre manager and producer. He married the actress Ellaline Terriss in 1893...
's Bluebell in Fairyland
Bluebell in Fairyland
Bluebell in Fairyland is a Christmas-season children's entertainment described as a "a musical dream play", in two acts, with a book by Seymour Hicks, lyrics by Aubrey Hopwood and Charles H. Taylor, and music by Walter Slaughter. It was produced by Charles Frohman. The creators sought to...
(1901), which became the most successful children's entertainment of the era and was revived annually for the next four decades. During the next few years, he contributed lyrics to Sidney Jones
Sidney Jones
James Sidney Jones , usually credited as Sidney Jones, was an English conductor and composer, most famous for producing the musical scores for a series of musical comedy hits in the late Victorian and Edwardian periods....
's comedy opera My Lady Molly
My Lady Molly
My Lady Molly is a comic opera in two acts with a libretto by George H. Jessop, with additional lyrics by Percy Greenbank and Charles H. Taylor, and music by Sidney Jones. It opened at the Theatre Royal in Brighton, England, on 11 August 1902 and then at Terry's Theatre in London on 14 March 1903,...
(1902), George Edwardes
George Edwardes
George Joseph Edwardes was an English theatre manager of Irish ancestry who brought a new era in musical theatre to the British stage and beyond....
's production of The Girl from Kays
The Girl from Kays
The Girl from Kays is an English musical comedy with music by Ivan Caryll, Paul Rubens, Wilhelm Meyer Lutz and Edward Jones, book by Cecil Cook and lyrics by Adrian Ross and Claude Aveling...
, The Medal and the Maid (1903), and Leslie Stuart
Leslie Stuart
Leslie Stuart was an English composer of early musical theatre, best known for the hit show Florodora and many popular songs. Stuart began writing songs in the late 1870s, including songs for blackface performers, such as "Lily of Laguna"; songs for musical theatre; and ballads such as "Soldiers...
's The School Girl
The School Girl
The School Girl is a musical comedy, in two acts, composed by Leslie Stuart with a book by Henry Hamilton and Paul M. Potter, and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor and others...
(1903). After the success of Bluebell in Fairyland, the Seymour Hicks/Charles Frohman
Charles Frohman
Charles Frohman was an American theatrical producer. Frohman was producing plays by 1889 and acquired his first Broadway theatre by 1892. He discovered and promoted many stars of the American theatre....
organisation hired him as it chief lyricist. From 1904 to 1907 he supplied the lyrics to the four shows that the team wrote and produced with music by Herbert Haines
Herbert Haines
Herbert Haines was a British composer of musicals and songs, including some pieces for silent films, in the early years of the 20th century.Haines's musicals, most by Seymour Hicks, with lyrics by Charles H...
. The Catch of the Season
The Catch of the Season
The Catch of the Season is an Edwardian musical comedy by Seymour Hicks and Cosmo Hamilton, with music by Herbert Haines and Evelyn Baker and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor, based on the fairy tale Cinderella...
(1904) and The Beauty of Bath
The Beauty of Bath
The Beauty of Bath is a musical comedy with a book by Seymour Hicks and Cosmo Hamilton, lyrics by C. H. Taylor and music by Herbert Haines; additional songs were provided by Jerome Kern , F. Clifford Harris and P. G. Wodehouse . The story concerns a young woman from a noble family, who falls in...
(1906) were particularly successful.
His last work, Tom Jones
Tom Jones (opera)
Tom Jones is a comic opera in three acts by Edward German founded upon Henry Fielding's 1749 novel, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, with a libretto by Robert Courtneidge and Alexander M. Thompson and lyrics by Charles H. Taylor....
, was a collaboration with his Courtneidge, who had co-written an opera libretto adaptation of Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding
Henry Fielding was an English novelist and dramatist known for his rich earthy humour and satirical prowess, and as the author of the novel Tom Jones....
's novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, often known simply as Tom Jones, is a comic novel by the English playwright and novelist Henry Fielding. First published on 28 February 1749, Tom Jones is among the earliest English prose works describable as a novel...
. Taylor supplied the lyrics, and Edward German
Edward German
Sir Edward German was an English musician and composer of Welsh descent, best remembered for his extensive output of incidental music for the stage and as a successor to Arthur Sullivan in the field of English comic opera.As a youth, German played the violin and led the town orchestra, also...
wrote the music. Some of the songs such as "For Tonight" (sometimes recorded as "The Tom Jones Waltz"), "The Green Ribbon", and "The West Country Lad" proved to be some of the most popular of Taylor's and German's work. The work eventually became popular among amateur light opera groups.
Taylor died at the age of 47 while working on his first musical comedy libretto. A song from that work, "Dream 'o Day Jill," became a special addition to Tom Jones to celebrate the 100th night of its run.