Engelbert Humperdinck

MP3: Hänsel and Gretel Overture (external link)
You Tube: Hänsel and Gretel Overture (external link)

Hänsel and Gretel Overture

b. September 1, 1854, Rhine Province
d. September 27, 1921,

Biography and Program Notes

The Composer

Engelbert Humperdinck was born in the Rhine Province on 1 September 1854 and died on 27 September 1921. He was a German composer, best known for his opera, Hänsel und Gretel (ca. 1891). He was a respected music teacher and composer in Germany greatly influenced by the music of Richard Wagner. In fact, he assisted Wagner at Bayreuth and eventually tutored Wagner's son Siegfried in music. He wrote a half-dozen operas, all of which could be classed as "fairy-tale" opera. Hänsel and Gretel was an instant success, playing performances in more than 50 different theatres during its first year. In fact, a touring company was formed to take the show on the road. Although this is common nowadays for hit Broadway musicals, it was absolutely unheard of at the time.

The Opera
Hänsel and Gretel is a fairy tale of Germanic origin, recorded by the Brothers Grimm. The story follows a young brother and sister who discover a house of candy and cake in the forest and a child-devouring witch.

The Overture
The Overture opens with one of the most beautiful chorales for the French horn section ever written. (Humperdinck would later return to this theme for the famous "prayer and dream" scene in the opera.) A trumpet fanfare then introduces a faster section, which starts serenely and gradually introduces tension. Towards the end of the overture, the composer weaves together all the various themes in an elegant counterpoint worthy of Wagner's Meistersinger prelude. This leads to a stirring climax, after which the opening horn chorale once again establishes the dreamy mood with which the opera begins.