Welcome

This is a collection of program notes, lectures and other writings by Dr. Laurence R. Taylor (1937-2004). Most of them were written for the Princeton Symphony and Opera Festival of New Jersey but some were for the Newtown Chamber Orchestra and Greater Princeton Youth Orchestra as well as some recitals. I am trying to get these online as fast as possible. There will be some strange formatting. Whenever you see a phrase in ALL CAPS he meant italics. Somehow pressing that little i button was too much trouble :) I will edit them to make that change when time allows. Suggestions are also welcome. Also you will find that LRT used British orthography even though he lived most of his life in New Jersey. Those spellings will remain since in his words "[I have had a] Close lifelong with British musical life – with annual return visits to refresh the soul by rejoining British friends, and drinking in a wide range of musical life there."


You may reprint any of the materials posted here for no charge as long as credit is given in the printed material to Laurence R. Taylor. I'd be delighted to receive a copy too.

Gene De Lisa

Friday, February 2, 2001

Humperdinck : Evening Prayer from Hansel and Gretel

Evening Prayer from Hansel and Gretel

Engelbert Humperdinck (1854-1921)

Engelbert Humperdinck today is remembered for a single composition, his opera HANSEL AND GRETEL. Introduced in 1893 under the baton of none other than Richard Strauss, HANSEL AND GRETEL was perhaps the most sensationally successful first opera in history, going on to join Handel’s MESSIAH and Tchaikovsky’s NUTCRACKER BALLET as a mandatory musical fare in the Christmas season. Growing out of a quite modest family entertainment, with a libretto by the composer’s sister, the work soon was expanded into a full-scale opera. Ironically, this unpretentious fairy-tale piece might well be described as the only successful opera to carry on the legacy of of Richard Wagner, with whom Humperdinck worked as a young man.

The Evening Prayer is a tiny little duet sung by Hansel and Gretel, who have become lost in the woods, and now prepare to sleep, singing the familiar words, “Now I lay me down to sleep….” No more gentle and tender music has ever been written.

GPYO concert

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