Herman Klein
Encyclopedia
Herman Klein was an English music critic, author and teacher of singing. Klein's famous brothers included Charles
and Manuel Klein
. His second wife was the writer Kathleen Clarice Louise Cornwell, and one of their children was the writer Denise Robins
.
For thirteen years, Klein was a vocal teacher at the Guildhall School of Music in London, becoming a lifelong proponent of the methods of Manuel Garcia
and helping to edit Garcia's book on the subject. In 1876 he took up musical journalism, writing for The Sunday Times
from 1881–1901, among other publications. He also contributed prolifically to The Musical Times. From 1901 to 1909, Klein lived and taught singing in New York City, where he wrote for The New York Herald. He was one of the first critics to take notice of the gramophone and was appointed "musical adviser" to Columbia Records in 1906 in New York. He returned to England in 1909.
Klein wrote over half a dozen books about music and singers, as well as English translations of operas and art songs. He was a noted authority on Gilbert and Sullivan
. In 1924 he began writing for The Gramophone
and was in charge of operatic reviews, as well as contributing a monthly article on singing, from then until his death.
, Norfolk
, East Anglia
, England the son of Hermann Klein senior and his wife Adelaide (née Soman). Apparently, the elder Klein emigrated from Riga, Latvia
, then part of the Russian Empire
, and home to a large community of Baltic Germans such as the Kleins. Once in Norwich, his father became a professor of foreign languages at the King Edward VI Grammar School, and his mother taught dance. The younger Klein's five brothers were Max, a violinist, Charles
, a dramatist; Manuel
, a composer; Alfred, an actor; and Philip. They had a sister, Adelaide. He was the uncle of producer Philip Klein (1888–1935). Although his forename was frequently spelled as "Hermann" until World War I
, he "deprecated any foreign pronunciation of it and was proud of his British citizenship and upbringing". The musical activities of Norwich, particularly its Festival and the Cathedral services, impressed him as a boy. He was educated in Norwich and later in London.
Klein was married three times. His first wife was Emily May Brown, a ballerina, with whom he had a daughter, Sibyl Klein, who became an actress; they divorced. On 19 February 1890, he married a 17-year-old Australian-born heiress Kathleen Clarice Louise Cornwell, later a popular writer, at the West London Synagogue
. Their children included two writers: Adrian Bernard L. Klein (1892–1969), who changed his name to Adrian Cornwell-Clyne and wrote books on photography and cinematography
, and Denise Naomi Klein (1897–1985), who under her first married name, Denise Robins
, became a best-selling romantic novelist and was the first president of the Romantic Novelists' Association
(1960–1966). Her daughter, Patricia Robins, is also a popular romance writer under the name Claire Lorrimer. Klein and Kathleen Clarice had another son, Daryl Kleyn (b. 1894). During their marriage, Kathleen Clarice began an affair with a young man, Herbert Arthur Berkeley Dealtry (b. 1878), who was a Worcestershire Regiment
officer. When Klein became aware of it, he filed a petition for divorce, which was granted in December 1901. He was still affiliated with the West London Synagogue in 1901, the year of his divorce and his departure for New York. Klein's third wife was Helene Fox, a Christian Science
practitioner of Boston, Massachusetts, whom he married in 1905.
Klein died in London, aged 77.
in London, and also trained many professional singers privately. He also wrote songs and short works for piano. In 1874, Klein returned to Norwich temporarily to help his ailing mother. That year Manuel Garcia
also moved into the same house as Klein in London, and Klein became his student for 4 years and was closely associated with him for another 6 years. The friendship became a transformative experience for Klein, who would recall Garcia and his singing principles in many of his writings throughout his life. He helped edit Garcia's book on his singing method, published in English in 1872 (later revised by Klein and published as Hints on Singing in 1894).
In 1876 he took up musical journalism. He began writing for The Examiner in 1879, and then for The Sunday Times
(1881–1901), The Illustrated London News, The Citizen, and the Lady's Pictorial. He was for many years a musical correspondent of The Manchester Guardian and The Scotsman
and also contributed prolifically to The Musical Times.
From 1901 to 1909, Klein lived in New York City, where he wrote for The New York Herald, taught singing and was a founder and first chairman of The National Association of Teachers of Singing. He was "one of the first critics to take notice of the gramophone
. He was appointed "musical adviser" to Columbia Records
in 1906 in New York and was responsible for introducing David Bispham
, Anton van Rooy
, Lillian Blauvelt
and Ruth Vincent
and others to the recording studio. Klein eventually came to hold an unfavourable view of American musical life and returned to Britain in May 1909, continuing to teach and write. He wrote over half a dozen books about music and singers, as well as English translations of operas and art songs. In 1924 he began writing for The Gramophone
and was in charge of operatic reviews, as well as contributing a monthly article on singing, from then until his death.
Among his other activities, Klein listed "Inventor of the Phono-Vocal Method of learning singing with the aid of a gramophone" and "Past Grand Organist of Grand Lodge of Freemasons". He was a member of the Critics' Circle, of which he was President and also Chairman of its musical committee.
, and poems of over seventy songs by Schubert, Schumann
and Brahms. He was an authority on Gilbert and Sullivan
, having, as a young man, known Arthur Sullivan
well and worked with him on musical committees. Klein arranged for Sullivan to provide incidental music for Henry Irving
's 1889 production of Macbeth
. He later contributed articles on Gilbert and Sullivan to The Gramophone
. For The Musical Times, he wrote on subjects including Music Festivals, the Royal Albert Hall
, the Royal Choral Society
, Camille Saint-Saëns
, Richard Wagner
and Nellie Melba
.
Books:
Charles Klein
Charles Klein was an English-born playwright and actor who emigrated to America in 1883. Among his works was the libretto of John Philip Sousa's operetta, El Capitan. Klein's talented siblings included the composer Manuel and the critic Herman Klein...
and Manuel Klein
Manuel Klein
Manuel Joachim Klein was an English-born composer of musical theatre and incidental music who worked primarily in New York City.- Biography :...
. His second wife was the writer Kathleen Clarice Louise Cornwell, and one of their children was the writer Denise Robins
Denise Robins
Denise Robins, née Denise Naomi Klein was a prolific British romantic novelist and the first President of the Romantic Novelists' Association...
.
For thirteen years, Klein was a vocal teacher at the Guildhall School of Music in London, becoming a lifelong proponent of the methods of Manuel Garcia
Manuel Garcia
Manuel Garcia may refer to:*Manuel García , singer & voice pedagogue; son of Manuel García *Manuel García , Spanish singer and composer, father of Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García...
and helping to edit Garcia's book on the subject. In 1876 he took up musical journalism, writing for The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
from 1881–1901, among other publications. He also contributed prolifically to The Musical Times. From 1901 to 1909, Klein lived and taught singing in New York City, where he wrote for The New York Herald. He was one of the first critics to take notice of the gramophone and was appointed "musical adviser" to Columbia Records in 1906 in New York. He returned to England in 1909.
Klein wrote over half a dozen books about music and singers, as well as English translations of operas and art songs. He was a noted authority on Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
. In 1924 he began writing for The Gramophone
The Gramophone
Gramophone is a magazine published monthly in London by Haymarket devoted to classical music and jazz, particularly recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie...
and was in charge of operatic reviews, as well as contributing a monthly article on singing, from then until his death.
Personal life
Klein was born in NorwichNorwich
Norwich is a city in England. It is the regional administrative centre and county town of Norfolk. During the 11th century, Norwich was the largest city in England after London, and one of the most important places in the kingdom...
, Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
, England the son of Hermann Klein senior and his wife Adelaide (née Soman). Apparently, the elder Klein emigrated from Riga, Latvia
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
, then part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
, and home to a large community of Baltic Germans such as the Kleins. Once in Norwich, his father became a professor of foreign languages at the King Edward VI Grammar School, and his mother taught dance. The younger Klein's five brothers were Max, a violinist, Charles
Charles Klein
Charles Klein was an English-born playwright and actor who emigrated to America in 1883. Among his works was the libretto of John Philip Sousa's operetta, El Capitan. Klein's talented siblings included the composer Manuel and the critic Herman Klein...
, a dramatist; Manuel
Manuel Klein
Manuel Joachim Klein was an English-born composer of musical theatre and incidental music who worked primarily in New York City.- Biography :...
, a composer; Alfred, an actor; and Philip. They had a sister, Adelaide. He was the uncle of producer Philip Klein (1888–1935). Although his forename was frequently spelled as "Hermann" until World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, he "deprecated any foreign pronunciation of it and was proud of his British citizenship and upbringing". The musical activities of Norwich, particularly its Festival and the Cathedral services, impressed him as a boy. He was educated in Norwich and later in London.
Klein was married three times. His first wife was Emily May Brown, a ballerina, with whom he had a daughter, Sibyl Klein, who became an actress; they divorced. On 19 February 1890, he married a 17-year-old Australian-born heiress Kathleen Clarice Louise Cornwell, later a popular writer, at the West London Synagogue
West London Synagogue
The West London Synagogue of British Jews was established on 15 April 1840. It is one of the oldest synagogues in the United Kingdom and the oldest Reform synagogue in the UK.-History:...
. Their children included two writers: Adrian Bernard L. Klein (1892–1969), who changed his name to Adrian Cornwell-Clyne and wrote books on photography and cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
, and Denise Naomi Klein (1897–1985), who under her first married name, Denise Robins
Denise Robins
Denise Robins, née Denise Naomi Klein was a prolific British romantic novelist and the first President of the Romantic Novelists' Association...
, became a best-selling romantic novelist and was the first president of the Romantic Novelists' Association
Romantic Novelists' Association
The Romantic Novelists' Association is a writers' association in the UK. Founded in 1960, mainly through the efforts of Denise Robins , Barbara Cartland , Vivian Stuart , and other authors like Elizabeth Goudge, Netta Muskett, Catherine Cookson, Rosamunde Pilcher and Lucilla Andrews.The RNA runs...
(1960–1966). Her daughter, Patricia Robins, is also a popular romance writer under the name Claire Lorrimer. Klein and Kathleen Clarice had another son, Daryl Kleyn (b. 1894). During their marriage, Kathleen Clarice began an affair with a young man, Herbert Arthur Berkeley Dealtry (b. 1878), who was a Worcestershire Regiment
Worcestershire Regiment
The Worcestershire Regiment was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army, formed in 1881 by the amalgamation of the 29th Regiment of Foot and the 36th Regiment of Foot....
officer. When Klein became aware of it, he filed a petition for divorce, which was granted in December 1901. He was still affiliated with the West London Synagogue in 1901, the year of his divorce and his departure for New York. Klein's third wife was Helene Fox, a Christian Science
Christian Science
Christian Science is a system of thought and practice derived from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy and the Bible. It is practiced by members of The First Church of Christ, Scientist as well as some others who are nonmembers. Its central texts are the Bible and the Christian Science textbook,...
practitioner of Boston, Massachusetts, whom he married in 1905.
Klein died in London, aged 77.
Career
For thirteen years, Klein was a vocal teacher at the Guildhall School of MusicGuildhall School of Music and Drama
Guildhall School of Music and Drama is an independent music and dramatic arts school which was founded in 1880 in London, England. Students can pursue courses in Music, Opera, Drama and Technical Theatre Arts.-History:...
in London, and also trained many professional singers privately. He also wrote songs and short works for piano. In 1874, Klein returned to Norwich temporarily to help his ailing mother. That year Manuel Garcia
Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García
Manuel Patricio Rodríguez García , was a Spanish singer, music educator, and vocal pedagogue.-Biography:García was born on 17 March 1805 in the town of Zafra in Badajoz Province, Spain. His father was singer and teacher Manuel del Pópulo Vicente Rodriguez García...
also moved into the same house as Klein in London, and Klein became his student for 4 years and was closely associated with him for another 6 years. The friendship became a transformative experience for Klein, who would recall Garcia and his singing principles in many of his writings throughout his life. He helped edit Garcia's book on his singing method, published in English in 1872 (later revised by Klein and published as Hints on Singing in 1894).
In 1876 he took up musical journalism. He began writing for The Examiner in 1879, and then for The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
(1881–1901), The Illustrated London News, The Citizen, and the Lady's Pictorial. He was for many years a musical correspondent of The Manchester Guardian and The Scotsman
The Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
and also contributed prolifically to The Musical Times.
From 1901 to 1909, Klein lived in New York City, where he wrote for The New York Herald, taught singing and was a founder and first chairman of The National Association of Teachers of Singing. He was "one of the first critics to take notice of the gramophone
Phonograph
The phonograph record player, or gramophone is a device introduced in 1877 that has had continued common use for reproducing sound recordings, although when first developed, the phonograph was used to both record and reproduce sounds...
. He was appointed "musical adviser" to Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
in 1906 in New York and was responsible for introducing David Bispham
David Bispham
David Scull Bispham was the first American–born operatic baritone to win an international reputation.- Early life and family:...
, Anton van Rooy
Anton van Rooy
Anton van Rooy was a Dutch bass-baritone. He had a voice of enormous proportions and is most remembered for his association with the music dramas of Richard Wagner, especially the Ring Cycle, The Mastersingers of Nuremberg and Parsifal.Born in Rotterdam, van Rooy studied with the famous voice...
, Lillian Blauvelt
Lillian Blauvelt
Lillian Blauvelt was a popular opera singer in New York City, USA in the first decade of the 20th century. Her voice was a lyric soprano with...
and Ruth Vincent
Ruth Vincent
Ruth Vincent was an English opera singer and actress, best remembered for her performances in soprano roles of the Savoy Operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in the 1890s and her roles in the West End during the first decade of the 20th century, particularly her role as Sophia in Tom...
and others to the recording studio. Klein eventually came to hold an unfavourable view of American musical life and returned to Britain in May 1909, continuing to teach and write. He wrote over half a dozen books about music and singers, as well as English translations of operas and art songs. In 1924 he began writing for The Gramophone
The Gramophone
Gramophone is a magazine published monthly in London by Haymarket devoted to classical music and jazz, particularly recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie...
and was in charge of operatic reviews, as well as contributing a monthly article on singing, from then until his death.
Among his other activities, Klein listed "Inventor of the Phono-Vocal Method of learning singing with the aid of a gramophone" and "Past Grand Organist of Grand Lodge of Freemasons". He was a member of the Critics' Circle, of which he was President and also Chairman of its musical committee.
Publications
In addition to publishing several books containing his criticism or music commentary, in which he left "vivid pictures of the great singers whose art he studied in the opera house", Klein translated several operas, including CarmenCarmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
, and poems of over seventy songs by Schubert, Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
and Brahms. He was an authority on Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
, having, as a young man, known Arthur Sullivan
Arthur Sullivan
Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado...
well and worked with him on musical committees. Klein arranged for Sullivan to provide incidental music for Henry Irving
Henry Irving
Sir Henry Irving , born John Henry Brodribb, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility for season after season at the Lyceum Theatre, establishing himself and his company as...
's 1889 production of Macbeth
Macbeth
The Tragedy of Macbeth is a play by William Shakespeare about a regicide and its aftermath. It is Shakespeare's shortest tragedy and is believed to have been written sometime between 1603 and 1607...
. He later contributed articles on Gilbert and Sullivan to The Gramophone
The Gramophone
Gramophone is a magazine published monthly in London by Haymarket devoted to classical music and jazz, particularly recordings. It was founded in 1923 by the Scottish author Compton Mackenzie...
. For The Musical Times, he wrote on subjects including Music Festivals, the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
, the Royal Choral Society
Royal Choral Society
The Royal Choral Society is an amateur choir, based in London. Formed soon after the opening of the Royal Albert Hall in 1871, the choir gave its first performance as the Royal Albert Hall Choral Society on 8 May 1872 – the choir's first conductor Charles Gounod included the Hallelujah Chorus from...
, Camille Saint-Saëns
Camille Saint-Saëns
Charles-Camille Saint-Saëns was a French Late-Romantic composer, organist, conductor, and pianist. He is known especially for The Carnival of the Animals, Danse macabre, Samson and Delilah, Piano Concerto No. 2, Cello Concerto No. 1, Havanaise, Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso, and his Symphony...
, Richard Wagner
Richard Wagner
Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas...
and Nellie Melba
Nellie Melba
Dame Nellie Melba GBE , born Helen "Nellie" Porter Mitchell, was an Australian operatic soprano. She became one of the most famous singers of the late Victorian Era and the early 20th century...
.
Books:
- Musical notes: annual critical record of important musical events. London: Carson and Comerford, 1887-1890. 4 volumes.
- Hints on Singing by Manuel Garcia. New and rev. ed. London: Ascherberg, Hopwood and Crew, 1894. (Klein was an editor)
- Thirty Years of Musical Life in London, 1870-1900. New York: Century, 1903.
- The Hermann Klein phono-vocal method: based upon the famous School of Manuel Garcia. New York: E. Schuberth; London: E. Ascherberg, 1909.
- Unmusical New York; a brief criticism of triumphs, failures, & abuses. London, New York: John Lane, 1910.
- The Reign of PattiAdelina PattiAdelina Patti was a highly acclaimed 19th-century opera singer, earning huge fees at the height of her career in the music capitals of Europe and America. She first sang in public as a child in 1851 and gave her last performance before an audience in 1914...
. New York: The Century Co., 1920. - The bel cantoBel cantoBel canto , along with a number of similar constructions , is an Italian opera term...
, with particular reference to the singing of Mozart. London: Oxford University Press, H. Milford, 1923. - Musicians and Mummers. London: Cassell, 1925.
- Great Woman-Singers of My Time. London: Routledge, 1931.
- The Golden Age of Opera. London: G. Routledge & Sons, 1933.
- Herman Klein and The Gramophone, ed. with a biographical sketch by William R. Moran. Portand, Oregon: Amadeus Press, 1990. ISBN 0-931340-18-7 - compilation of articles from The Gramophone