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{{Short description|English harpist and composer (1808–1849)}}
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[[File:Elias Parish Alvars.jpg|thumb|Elias Parish Alvars.]]'''Elias Parish Alvars''' (surname sometimes given as '''Parish-Alvars'''), (28 February 1808 - 25 January 1849) was an English [[harp]]ist and composer. He was born as '''Eli Parish''' in [[Teignmouth]], Devon; his father was a local organist.<ref name=Legge>Legge (n.d.)</ref> <ref name=Griffiths>Griffiths (n.d.) </ref> His baptismal record at St James’s Church, West Teignmouth, reads: "Eli, son of Joseph and Mary Ann Parish".<ref name=Rensch158>Rensch (2017), p. 158</ref>
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Use British English|date=August 2012}}
[[File:Elias Parish Alvars.jpg|thumb|Elias Parish Alvars]]
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'''Elias Parish Alvars''' (surname sometimes given as '''Parish-Alvars'''), (28 February 1808 – 25 January 1849) was an English [[harp]]ist and composer. He was born as '''Eli Parish''' in [[Teignmouth]], Devon; his father was a local organist.<ref name=Legge>{{harvnb|Legge|Golby|n.d.}}</ref><ref name=Griffiths>{{harvnb|Griffiths|n.d.}}</ref> His baptismal record at St James’s Church, West Teignmouth, reads: "Eli, son of Joseph and Mary Ann Parish".<ref name=Rensch158>{{harvnb|Rensch|2017|p=158}}</ref>


Parish gave his first concert in [[Totnes]] in 1818 and in 1820 was sent to London to study with [[Nicolas-Charles Bochsa]]. In 1822 he applied to the [[Royal Academy of Music]], where Bochsa had been appointed harp professor, but was not accepted, because he could not afford the tuition fees without a scholarship. He was able to continue his lessons with Bochsa by undertaking teaching and playing at dances.<ref name=Conway101>Conway (2012), p. 101</ref> He was also later able to study in Paris, and in 1828 studied music in [[Florence]].<ref name=Legge /> At around this time he changes his first name to "Elias"; in 1836, with the first publication of his music by [[Artaria]] in Vienna, the name "Parish Alvars" began to appear.<ref name=Griffiths />
Parish gave his first concert in [[Totnes]] in 1818 and in 1820 was sent to London to study with [[Nicolas-Charles Bochsa]]. In 1822 he applied to the [[Royal Academy of Music]], where Bochsa had been appointed harp professor, but was not accepted, because he could not afford the tuition fees without a scholarship. He was able to continue his lessons with Bochsa by undertaking teaching and playing at dances.<ref name=Conway101>{{harvnb|Conway|2012|p=101}}</ref> He was also later able to study in Paris, and in 1828 studied music in [[Florence]].<ref name=Legge /> At around this time he changed his first name to "Elias"; Parish appears to have used the name "Parish Alvars" from the early 1830s; the origins of the name are not known.<ref name=Rensch158 /> In 1836, the first publication of his music by [[Artaria]] in Vienna used the name "Elias Parish Alvars", which was subsequently used in all his publications.<ref name=Griffiths />


In 1836 he became first harp at the Vienna Opera.<ref name=Legge /> His 1838 ''Fantasia'', op. 35, is dedicated to [[Sigismond Thalberg]], who is said to have been inspired by Alvars's playing to develop his own [[Three-hand effect|three-hand effect piano technique]].<ref name=Griffiths /> A tor of the Near East in the period 1838-1842 resulted in his ''Voyage d'un harpist en l' Orient'', op. 79.<ref name=Legge />
In 1836 Alvars became first harp at the Vienna Opera.<ref name=Legge /> His 1838 ''Fantasia'', op. 35, is dedicated to [[Sigismond Thalberg]], who is said to have been inspired by Alvars's playing to develop his own [[Three-hand effect|three-hand effect piano technique]].<ref name=Griffiths /> Alvars's tour of the Near East in the period 1838 to 1842 resulted in his [[suite (music)|suite]] ''Voyage d'un harpiste en l' Orient'', op. 79.<ref name=Legge />


In 1842 he married the harpist Melanie Lewy, a member of a Vienna-based family of musicians with whom -Alvars frequently performed.<ref name=Conway101 /> His pupils included Charlotte Rothschild of the [[Rothschild family]], to whom he dedicated his ''Serenade'', op. 83.<ref>de Rothschild (1994), p. 287</ref> In the same year he acquired a double-action [[pedal harp]] designed by [[Pierre Erard]]; the innovations he was able to bring to harp technique using this new instrument impressed many of his fellow musicians including [[Hector Berlioz]], [[Felix Mendelssohn]] and [[Franz Liszt]].<ref name=Griffiths /> Liszt wrote of Alvars "From beneath his forehead speak his dreamy eyes, expressive of the glowing imagination which lives in his compositions"; Berlioz called him "the Liszt of the harp".<ref>Rensch (2017), pp. 158–159</ref>
In 1842 Alvars married the harpist [[Melanie Lewy]], a member of a Vienna-based family of musicians with whom Alvars frequently performed.<ref name=Conway101 /> His pupils included Charlotte Rothschild of the [[Rothschild family]], to whom he dedicated his ''Serenade'', Op. 83.{{sfn|de Rothschild|1994|p=287}} In the same year he acquired a double-action [[pedal harp]] designed by {{ill|Pierre Érard|fr}}; the innovations he was able to bring to harp technique using this new instrument impressed many of his fellow musicians including [[Hector Berlioz]], [[Felix Mendelssohn]] and [[Franz Liszt]].<ref name=Griffiths /> Liszt wrote of Alvars "From beneath his forehead speak his dreamy eyes, expressive of the glowing imagination which lives in his compositions"; Berlioz called him "the Liszt of the harp".{{sfn|Rensch|2017|pp=158–159}}


In 1847 Alvars was appointed chamber musician to [[Ferdinand I of Austria]]. His last performance was in Vienna, at a concert of his own compositions, in January 1848.<ref name=Griffiths />
In 1847 Alvars was appointed chamber musician to [[Ferdinand I of Austria]]. That year his ''Concertino for Harp and Orchestra'', Op. 34 was published in Paris with the enthusiastic endorsement of Berlioz.<ref>[https://d2me0q24x7p585.cloudfront.net/748871065321.pdf Notes to SOMM CD 0653 (2022)]</ref> His last performance was in Vienna, at a concert of his own compositions, in January 1848.<ref name=Griffiths />

On 13 March 1848 riots erupted in Vienna and in April amid the general confusion Alvars found himself in serious financial straits. His health worsened suddenly and he died, likely of pneumonia, on 25 January 1849. His wife returned with their daughter to London. He was buried in the [[St. Marx Cemetery]].<ref>Rensch (2017), p. 161</ref>
On 13 March 1848 [[Revolutions of 1848 in the Austrian Empire|riots erupted in Vienna]] and in April amid the general confusion Alvars found himself in serious financial straits. His health worsened suddenly and he died, probably of pneumonia, on 25 January 1849. He was buried in the [[St. Marx Cemetery]].{{sfn|Rensch|2017|p=161}}


== References ==
== References ==
;Notes
'''Notes'''
{{reflist}}
{{reflist}}


;Sources
'''Sources'''
* Conway, David (2012). ''Jewry in Music: Entry to the Profession from the Enlightenment to Richard Wagner''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. {{ISBN|978-1-107-01538-8}}
* {{cite book|last=Conway|first=David|authorlink=David Conway (music historian)|year=2012|title=Jewry in Music: Entry to the Profession from the Enlightenment to Richard Wagner|location=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-107-01538-8}}
*{{cite encyclopedia
*{{cite encyclopedia
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| last2 =
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| encyclopedia =[[Grove Music Online]]: (Oxford Music Online)
| title = Parish Alvars, Elias [Parish, Eli]
| title = Parish Alvars, Elias [Parish, Eli]
| trans-title =
| url =http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/20915
| url =http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/20915
| access-date = 24 July 2017
| access-date = 24 July 2017
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* {{cite encyclopedia
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| encyclopedia =[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] online
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| title = Alvars, Elias Parish
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| encyclopedia =[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]] online
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| title = Alvars, Elias Parish-
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| url =http://0-www.oxforddnb.com.catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk/view/article/21270
| url =http://0-www.oxforddnb.com.catalogue.libraries.london.ac.uk/view/article/21270
| access-date = 24 July 2017
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* {{cite book|last=Rensch|first=Roslyn|year=2017|title=Harps and Harpists|edition=Revised|location=Bloomington and Indianapolis|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=9780253030290}}
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}}{{subscription}}
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* {{cite book|last=de Rothschild|first=Caroline|chapter=The musical associations of the Rothschild family|editor-last1=Heuberger|editor-first1=G.|title=The Rothschilds: Essays in the History of a European Family|pages=287–296|publisher=Jewish Museum|location=Frankfurt|year=1994|isbn=978-0851155951}}
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* Rensch, Roslyn (2017). ''Harps and Harpists, Revised Edition". Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. {{ISBN|9780253030290}}
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* {{cite book|last= de Rothschild|first= Caroline|chapter= The Musical associations of the Rothschild family|editor-last1= Heuberger|editor-first1= G. |editor-last2= |editor-first2= |title= The Rothschilds: Essays in the history of a European Family|pages=287-296|publisher= Jewish Museum|location= Frankfurt|year= 1994|isbn= 978-0851155951}}


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
* [[Floraleda Sacchi|Sacchi, Floraleda]] (1999a). "Elias Parish Alvars, Life, Music, Documents: annotated catalogue of his works for harp, piano, orchestra and voice", Odilia Publishing {{ISBN|3-9521367-1-9}}.
* [[Floraleda Sacchi|Sacchi, Floraleda]] (1999a). "Elias Parish Alvars, Life, Music, Documents: annotated catalogue of his works for harp, piano, orchestra and voice", Odilia Publishing {{ISBN|3-9521367-1-9}}.
* Sacchi, Floraleda, (1999b) [http://www.parishalvars.com/Harpa30-pa.pdf "Elias Parish Alvars"], HARPA no. 30, Spring 1999 (accessed 27 July 2017)
* Sacchi, Floraleda, (1999b) [http://www.parishalvars.com/Harpa30-pa.pdf "Elias Parish Alvars"], ''Harpa'', no. 30, Spring 1999 (Retrieved 27 July 2017)
* Sacchi, Floraleda, (2008a) "Parish Alvars in Italy", World Harp Congress Review, 2008
* Sacchi, Floraleda, (2008a) "Parish Alvars in Italy", World Harp Congress Review, 2008


==External links==
* [https://parishalvars.com/ Parish Alvars website]
* [https://archive.org/details/byuinternationalharparchive?sort=-downloads&and%5B%5D=creator%3A%22parish-alvars%2C+elias%2C+1808-1849%22 Scores by Elias Parish Alvars] on archive.org from the [[International Harp Archives]]
* {{IMSLP|id=Parish-Alvars, Elias}}

{{Portal bar|Biography|Classical music}}
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[[Category:19th-century English classical composers]]
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[[Category:English expatriates in Austria]]
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[[Category:Musicians from Devon]]
[[Category:People from Teignmouth]]
[[Category:People from Teignmouth]]
[[Category:Musicians from Vienna]]
[[Category:People from Leopoldstadt]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia]]
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[[Category:English male classical composers]]
[[Category:19th-century English musicians]]

Latest revision as of 10:06, 11 November 2024

Elias Parish Alvars

Elias Parish Alvars (surname sometimes given as Parish-Alvars), (28 February 1808 – 25 January 1849) was an English harpist and composer. He was born as Eli Parish in Teignmouth, Devon; his father was a local organist.[1][2] His baptismal record at St James’s Church, West Teignmouth, reads: "Eli, son of Joseph and Mary Ann Parish".[3]

Parish gave his first concert in Totnes in 1818 and in 1820 was sent to London to study with Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. In 1822 he applied to the Royal Academy of Music, where Bochsa had been appointed harp professor, but was not accepted, because he could not afford the tuition fees without a scholarship. He was able to continue his lessons with Bochsa by undertaking teaching and playing at dances.[4] He was also later able to study in Paris, and in 1828 studied music in Florence.[1] At around this time he changed his first name to "Elias"; Parish appears to have used the name "Parish Alvars" from the early 1830s; the origins of the name are not known.[3] In 1836, the first publication of his music by Artaria in Vienna used the name "Elias Parish Alvars", which was subsequently used in all his publications.[2]

In 1836 Alvars became first harp at the Vienna Opera.[1] His 1838 Fantasia, op. 35, is dedicated to Sigismond Thalberg, who is said to have been inspired by Alvars's playing to develop his own three-hand effect piano technique.[2] Alvars's tour of the Near East in the period 1838 to 1842 resulted in his suite Voyage d'un harpiste en l' Orient, op. 79.[1]

In 1842 Alvars married the harpist Melanie Lewy, a member of a Vienna-based family of musicians with whom Alvars frequently performed.[4] His pupils included Charlotte Rothschild of the Rothschild family, to whom he dedicated his Serenade, Op. 83.[5] In the same year he acquired a double-action pedal harp designed by Pierre Érard [fr]; the innovations he was able to bring to harp technique using this new instrument impressed many of his fellow musicians including Hector Berlioz, Felix Mendelssohn and Franz Liszt.[2] Liszt wrote of Alvars "From beneath his forehead speak his dreamy eyes, expressive of the glowing imagination which lives in his compositions"; Berlioz called him "the Liszt of the harp".[6]

In 1847 Alvars was appointed chamber musician to Ferdinand I of Austria. That year his Concertino for Harp and Orchestra, Op. 34 was published in Paris with the enthusiastic endorsement of Berlioz.[7] His last performance was in Vienna, at a concert of his own compositions, in January 1848.[2]

On 13 March 1848 riots erupted in Vienna and in April amid the general confusion Alvars found himself in serious financial straits. His health worsened suddenly and he died, probably of pneumonia, on 25 January 1849. He was buried in the St. Marx Cemetery.[8]

References

[edit]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Legge & Golby n.d.
  2. ^ a b c d e Griffiths n.d.
  3. ^ a b Rensch 2017, p. 158
  4. ^ a b Conway 2012, p. 101
  5. ^ de Rothschild 1994, p. 287.
  6. ^ Rensch 2017, pp. 158–159.
  7. ^ Notes to SOMM CD 0653 (2022)
  8. ^ Rensch 2017, p. 161.

Sources

  • Conway, David (2012). Jewry in Music: Entry to the Profession from the Enlightenment to Richard Wagner. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-01538-8.
  • Griffiths, Ann (n.d.). "Parish Alvars, Elias [Parish, Eli]". Grove Music Online: (Oxford Music Online). Oxford University Press. Retrieved 24 July 2017.(subscription required)
  • Legge, R. H.; Golby, David J. (n.d.). "Alvars, Elias Parish". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 24 July 2017.(subscription required)
  • Rensch, Roslyn (2017). Harps and Harpists (Revised ed.). Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press. ISBN 9780253030290.
  • de Rothschild, Caroline (1994). "The musical associations of the Rothschild family". In Heuberger, G. (ed.). The Rothschilds: Essays in the History of a European Family. Frankfurt: Jewish Museum. pp. 287–296. ISBN 978-0851155951.

Further reading

[edit]
  • Sacchi, Floraleda (1999a). "Elias Parish Alvars, Life, Music, Documents: annotated catalogue of his works for harp, piano, orchestra and voice", Odilia Publishing ISBN 3-9521367-1-9.
  • Sacchi, Floraleda, (1999b) "Elias Parish Alvars", Harpa, no. 30, Spring 1999 (Retrieved 27 July 2017)
  • Sacchi, Floraleda, (2008a) "Parish Alvars in Italy", World Harp Congress Review, 2008
[edit]
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