Arthur Bergh
Arthur Oscar Bergh (March 24, 1882 – February 11, 1962[1]) was an American composer, conductor and accompanist.[2][3] He performed on the piano, violin and organ.[2][3][4]
Bergh was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota.[1] From 1903 to 1908 he was a violinist with the Metropolitan Opera.[1] In 1914, he was the conductor of the orchestra in New York City's Central Park.[5] Bergh became the recording manager at Emerson Records in 1916; he had previously been employed by Columbia Records, and was convinced to move to Victor Emerson's new company after Emerson himself left Columbia.[4] Other sources state that Bergh worked with Emerson first (1915 to 1922), following which he worked at Columbia (1922 to 1930).[6]
In his later life, Bergh worked as a librarian with Hollywood film companies.[7] He died in Los Angeles on February 11, 1962.[1]
Bergh's wife, Geraldyne Brewer (1901–1998), was an heiress in social and charitable circles in 1950s Los Angeles. In 1956, they lived at 9823 Kincardine Avenue in Cheviot Hills, Los Angeles.[8] After Bergh's death, Geraldyne married Los Angeles Superior Court judge McIntyre Faries on December 3, 1965.[9][10] Geraldyne died in 1998 and was buried in Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Glendale.[11]
Works
He composed a number of operas and operettas, including adaptations of Robert Browning's The Pied Piper of Hamelin and Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven.[12] His Lieder include music to Walt Whitman's The Imprisoned Soul (1939), Percy Bysshe Shelley's Music, When Soft Voices Die (1947), Emily Dickinson's The Grass (1954), and John Greenleaf Whittier's Dear Lord and Father of Mankind (1955).[12]
Bergh's other works include a symphonic chorale entitled The Unnamed City; a romantic opera, Niorada; a march for orchestra, Honor and Glory (1939); two operettas, In Arcady and The Goblin Fair; a chorus entitled O Captain, My Captain; a cycle named The Congo; as well as 80 other pieces for violin and piano.[13]
- 1908 – The Raven, Op. 20 (Edgar Allan Poe)[14]
- 1910 – December, Op. 9 No. 1 (Thomas Bailey Aldrich)
- 1913 – Evening, a Reverie, Op. 15, No. 1[15]
- 1913 – Meditation in A♭, Op. 15, No. 2[16]
- 1913 – Serenade Coquette, Op. 15, No. 3[17]
- 1913 – Here They Come[18]
- 1914 – The Pied Piper of Hamelin, Op. 23 (Robert Browning)[19]
- 1915 – Four Tone Pastels, Op. 17[20]
- 1919 – Vesper Song (Cordelia Brooks Fenno)[21]
- 1919 – The Goblin Fair (Cordelia Brooks Fenno)[22]
- 1924 – In Arcady[23]
- 1926 – Concert Suite for the Pianoforte[24]
- 1941 – Love Is the Light of the World (Paul Laurence Dunbar)[25]
- 1938 – Honor and Glory, Op. 30[26]
- 1938 – Destiny[27]
- 1938 – O Captain! My Captain![28]
- 1939 – The Imprisoned Soul (Walt Whitman)[12]
- 1941 – Kissing Her Hair I Sat Against Her Feet (Algernon Charles Swinburne)[29]
- 1941 – Come With Arms Outstretched (Sara Teasdale)[30]
- 1947 – Music, When Soft Voices Die, Op. 37 (Percy Bysshe Shelley)[12]
- 1950 – A Tragic Story (William Makepeace Thackeray)[31]
- 1950 – I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow)[32]
- 1954 – The Grass (Emily Dickinson)[12]
- 1955 – Dear Lord and Father of Mankind (John Greenleaf Whittier)[12]
References
- Metropolitan Opera Guild (1961). "Opera News". Opera News. 26: 145. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- "Documents of the Assembly of the State of New York". New York (State). Legislature. Assembly. 16: 133. 1915. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- Fagan, Patty (2006). "Amy Evans Songs". Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- Gracyk, Tim; Hoffmann, Frank W (2000). Popular American recording pioneers, 1895-1925. London: Routledge. p. 132. ISBN 1-56024-993-5.
- Farwell, Arthur; Dabby, W Dermot (1915). The Art Of Music Volume Four Music In America. The National Society of Music.
- Sova, Dawn B (2007). Critical companion to Edgar Allan Poe: a literary reference to his life and work. New York City: Infobase Publishing. p. 297. ISBN 978-0-8160-6408-3.
- "Article". The New Yorker. F-R Publishing. 74 (41–46): 18. 1999. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- Michelson, Alan (2010). "Bergh, Arthur and Geraldyne, House, Cheviot Hills, Los Angeles, CA". Pacific Coast Architecture Database. PCAD. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
- "McIntyre Faries; Helped Preserve Olvera Street". Los Angeles Times. 11 October 1994. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
- Armstrong, Alice Catt (1994). Who's Who in California, Volume 19. Who's Who Historical Society. p. 98.
- "Geraldyne Brewer Faries". Find a Grave. 2011. Retrieved 17 November 2011.
- Trombetta, Anna (2011). "Arthur Bergh (1882-1962)". italianOpera. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- Howard, John Tasker (1946). Our American music; three hundred years of it. New York City: Thomas Y. Crowell Company. p. 586.
- University of Rochester Libraries (2011). "The raven : (Edgar Allan Poe) : a melodrama / music by Arthur Bergh. Op. 20". University of Rochester. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- University of Rochester Libraries (2011). "Evening, a reverie [Op. 15, no. 1], for violin and piano". University of Rochester. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- University of Rochester Libraries (2011). "Meditation, in A♭, for violin and piano [Op. 15, no. 2]". University of Rochester. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- University of Rochester Libraries (2011). "Serenade coquette, for violin and piano [Op. 15, no. 3]". University of Rochester. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- Here they come. WorldCat. Online Computer Library Center. 2011. OCLC 497589173. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- University of Rochester Libraries (2011). "The pied piper of Hamelin. Recitation with pianoforte. Op. 23. Poem by Robert Browning". University of Rochester. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- Four tone pastels : for the piano, op. 17. WorldCat. Online Computer Library Center. 2011. OCLC 497589173. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- University of Rochester Libraries (2011). "Vesper song. English text by Cordelia Brooks Fenno". University of Rochester. Retrieved 15 November 2011.
- The goblin fair : a fairy operetta in one act and two scenes. WorldCat. Online Computer Library Center. 2011. OCLC 006373324. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- In Arcady : a musical play in two acts. WorldCat. Online Computer Library Center. 2011. OCLC 004533755. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- Concert suite : for the pianoforte. WorldCat. Online Computer Library Center. 2011. OCLC 016128283. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- "Love is the light of the world". The LiederNet Archive. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- Honor and glory; concert overture. Op. 30. WorldCat. Online Computer Library Center. 2011. OCLC 015991967. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- Destiny. WorldCat. Online Computer Library Center. 2011. OCLC 063662200. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- O captain, my captain! [for] SATB. WorldCat. Online Computer Library Center. 2011. OCLC 020730953. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- "Rondel". The LiederNet Archive. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- "Come". The LiederNet Archive. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- "A tragic story". The LiederNet Archive. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
- "Christmas Bells". The LiederNet Archive. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
