{{Short description|English composer and conductor}} {{for|the United States Navy officer|Herbert Hugo Menges}} {{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}} '''Herbert Menges''' OBE (27 August 1902{{spaced ndash}}20 February 1972) was an English conductor and composer, who wrote incidental music to all of Shakespeare's plays.
==Life and career== '''Siegfried Frederick Herbert Menges''' was born in Hove on 27 August 1902. His father was German and his mother British.<ref name=grove>Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 5th ed, 1954, Vol. 5, p. 709</ref> His elder sister was the violinist Isolde Menges.<ref name="presto1">[http://www.musicweb-international.com/classRev/2008/Sept08/Solomon_2061022.htm Music Web International], accessed 15 March 2015.</ref> Herbert appeared in public as a violinist at the age of four. He later abandoned the violin for the piano, which he studied with Mathilde Verne and Arthur De Greef.<ref name="Brook"/> He later studied composition at the Royal College of Music under Gustav Holst and Ralph Vaughan Williams.<ref name=grove/>
Menges's mother Kate founded the Brighton Symphony Players in 1925 and the first concert was given in the Hove Town Hall on 18 May 1925, conducted by Herbert Menges.<ref name=buses>[http://history.buses.co.uk/history/fleethist/834hm.htm Brighton and Hove: Names on the buses]</ref> After some years the Players evolved into the Brighton Philharmonic Society, a forerunner of the Southern Philharmonic Orchestra, a professional group based in Brighton from 1945 which also gave regular concerts in Portsmouth and Hastings. Menges was a powerful advocate of the regional professional orchestras.<ref name="Brook">Brook, Donald. Herbert Menges. In: ''International Gallery of Conductors.'' Rockliff Publishing Corporation Ltd, London, 1951, p113-116.</ref> He remained the orchestra's musical director for the remaining 47 years of his life, during which time it became the Brighton Philharmonic Orchestra in 1958, and conducted the orchestra 326 times.<ref name=buses/> He conducted the premieres of a number of works by contemporary English composers.{{cn|date=August 2022}}
In 1931 he became musical director of the Old Vic Theatre, in which capacity he wrote (or arranged from composers such as Henry Purcell)<ref>{{cite book|author1=Jill L. Levenson|author2=William Shakespeare|title=Romeo and Juliet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Iy7oAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA62|year=1987|publisher=Manchester University Press|isbn=978-0-7190-2218-0|page=62}}</ref> incidental music for all the plays of William Shakespeare, and numerous plays by other writers.<ref name=grove/> Notable among these was his music for a 1949 production of ''Love's Labour's Lost''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Hugh Hunt|title=Old Vic Prefaces: Shakespeare and the Producer|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v755ltpW7JYC&pg=PA25|year=2005|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-35318-2|page=25}}</ref> He was associated with the productions of John Gielgud from 1933 onwards. His assistant there for three years was John Cook. He remained with the Old Vic until 1950.<ref name=archivaria>[https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:bEvkNHqS_r0J:journals.sfu.ca/archivar/index.php/archivaria/article/download/11287/12226+herbert+menges&hl=en&gl=au&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgycGVOkWXpv3-pk61GuTMX-B2l5uRRJM6bVLoPRSscOyMFGx6l4L_eheGIi-zpOZQe2aoSnUhu6PykD2FnDmuuQfp85HPQDjOamUhpv9hkOpmLAVQmsh3xFnRgK4MUVmbDSUK-&sig=AHIEtbRLnhkI2fmc9cZh_t2o5WqUKc1bfA Archivaria]</ref> From 1941 to 1944, alongside Lawrance Collingwood he conducted performances in London and around Britain for operas with the Sadler's Wells Theatre Orchestra, before returning to the Old Vic company when it moved to the New Theatre.<ref name="Brook"/> He toured with Laurence Olivier and Ralph Richardson to Paris, Germany, the Low countries and New York, where he also conducted the CBS Symphony Orchestra.<ref name="Brook"/>
He also became musical director of the Royalty Theatre in London. In 1931 he founded the London Rehearsal Orchestra, whose purpose was to help young musicians learn difficult pieces.<ref name=buses/>
In 1951 he wrote the music for the Laurence Olivier-Vivien Leigh Broadway production of Shakespeare's ''Antony and Cleopatra''.<ref>[http://theater.nytimes.com/mem/theater/treview.html?id=1077011429168&html_title=&tols_title=&byline=&fid=NONE New York Times, 21 December 1951]</ref> That same year, Malcolm Arnold dedicated his ''A Sussex Overture'', Op. 31, to Herbert Menges and the Brighton Philharmonic Society.<ref>[http://www.chandos.net/details06.asp?CNumber=CHAN%2010293 Chandos]</ref>
He considered that he had a strong affinity with Bach and conducted the Viennese classics and composers such as Verdi and Tchaikovsky with restraint, while his Brahms and Dvořák are warmer in his interpretations.<ref name="Brook"/> His rehearsal and conducting technique were commended for their economy and he would often forego the baton in more expressive passages.<ref name="Brook"/> A later critic, discussing his recordings, praised the rhythmic acuity, superb internal balance in the orchestra and the precision of attack he achieved, comparing his approach with Paul Paray and Pierre Monteux.<ref name="mousnier">Mousnier, J-P. ''Pierre Monteux''. L’Harmattan, Paris and Montréal, 1999, p296-7.</ref>
He had conducted engagements with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, the Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, and the BBC Symphony Orchestra. He became Director of Music at the Chichester Festival Theatre in 1962.<ref>{{cite news |date=18 Jan 1962 |title=Stars will lead new festival |work=The Stage |page=1}}</ref>
Herbert Menges was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 1963.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=42870 |date=28 December 1962 |pages=1–34 |supp=y}}</ref> He died on 20 February 1972, in London, aged 69.<ref>[http://www.ram.ac.uk/about-us/search?search=herbert+menges Royal Academy of Music Search results for: herbert menges], accessed 15 March 2015.</ref> His name now appears as a tribute on some Brighton and Hove buses.<ref name=buses/>
Many of his letters and scores are held at McMaster University Library, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.<ref name=archivaria/><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://library.mcmaster.ca/archives/findaids/findaids/m/menges.htm |title=McMaster University |access-date=10 August 2010 |archive-date=27 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927211348/http://library.mcmaster.ca/archives/findaids/findaids/m/menges.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>
He was married in 1935 to Evelyn Stiebel and had three children, Nicholas, Christopher (an Academy Award-winning cinematographer) and Susannah.<ref name="Brook"/>
==Recordings== Herbert Menges made a number of recordings, almost all of which were of concertante works: * Ludwig van Beethoven: Piano Concertos No. 1-5, Philharmonia Orchestra, Solomon<ref name="presto1"/> * Johannes Brahms, Violin Concerto in D, London Symphony Orchestra, Joseph Szigeti<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.maniadb.com/album.asp?a=285111 |title=maniadb |access-date=10 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721214456/http://www.maniadb.com/album.asp?a=285111 |archive-date=21 July 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> * Benjamin Britten, Piano Concerto, Jacques Abram, Philharmonia Orchestra, recorded Abbey Rd, 25 January 1956<ref name="mousnier"/> * Edvard Grieg, Piano Concerto in A minor, Moura Lympany * Grieg: Piano Concerto in A minor, Philharmonia Orchestra, Solomon <!-- EMI HMV ASD 272 --> * Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Piano Concertos Nos. 23 and 24, Philharmonia Orchestra, Solomon<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.classicsonline.com/catalogue/product.aspx?pid=554870 |title=Classics Online |access-date=10 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120311195104/http://www.classicsonline.com/catalogue/product.aspx?pid=554870 |archive-date=11 March 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>[http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=1646 Audiophile Audition]</ref> * Sergei Prokofiev, Piano Concerto No. 2 in G minor, Philharmonia Orchestra, Shura Cherkassky<ref name=MWI>[http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2007/Oct07/Cherkassky_mm0132.htm Music Web International]</ref> * Prokofiev, Violin Concerto No. 1, London Symphony Orchestra, Joseph Szigeti<ref>[http://www.soundfountain.com/amb/fontand.html Sound Fountain]</ref> * Sergei Rachmaninoff, Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Shura Cherkassky<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.firsthandrecords.com/Shura%20Cherkassky%20reviews.htm |title=First Hand Records |access-date=10 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622170151/http://www.firsthandrecords.com/Shura%20Cherkassky%20reviews.htm |archive-date=22 June 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref> * Alan Rawsthorne, Piano Concerto No. 1, Philharmonia Orchestra, Moura Lympany<ref name="charm"/> * Edmund Rubbra, Piano Concerto in G, Op. 55, Philharmonia Orchestra, Jacques Abram * Robert Schumann: Piano Concerto in A minor, Philharmonia Orchestra, Solomon<ref name="charm"/> * Dmitri Shostakovich, Piano Concerto No. 1 (for piano, trumpet and strings), Philharmonia Orchestra, Shura Cherkassky<ref name=MWI/> * Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky: Piano Concerto No. 1 in B{{music|flat}} minor, London Symphony Orchestra, Byron Janis<ref name="charm"/> * Tchaikovsky: Variations on a Rococo Theme, Philharmonia Orchestra, Paul Tortelier<ref name="charm"/> * Ralph Vaughan Williams: ''The Wasps'', overture, London Symphony Orchestra<ref name="charm">CHARM Discography, Centre for the History and Analysis of Recorded Music, <http://www.charm.kcl.ac.uk/about/about_structure>, accessed 11 June 2012.</ref> * Peter Warlock, Capriol Suite, Philharmonia Orchestra (His Master's Voice – 7EP 7063) * Holst: St Paul's Suite, Philharmonia Orchestra (His Master's Voice – 7EP 7054)<ref>THE PHILHARMONIA ORCHESTRA - A NEW DISCOGRAPHY compiled by Brian Godfrey, p134.</ref> * Herbert Menges: Suite of incidental Music to the play 'Richard of Bordeaux' (1932) performed by instrumental septet conducted by Menges with Gwen Ffrangcon-Davies (soprano) Decca K 727 (Side 1 only).
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{IBDB name|12134}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Menges, Herbert}} Category:1902 births Category:1972 deaths Category:English male conductors (music) Category:Officers of the Order of the British Empire Category:People from Hove Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Music Category:20th-century English conductors (music) Category:20th-century English classical composers Category:20th-century English male composers Category:English people of German descent Category:English male classical composers