Wikipedia

Helen Tretbar

Helen Dellenbaugh Tretbar[1] (May 16, 1835 – April 3, 1902)[2] was an American author,[3][4] librettist, and translator[5] who edited The Etude magazine in the late 1880s[6] and was fluent in French, German, and Italian.[7]

Early life and education

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Tretbar was born in Buffalo, New York,[8] to Frederick and Magdalena Dellenbaugh.[1] She graduated from the Female Academy in Buffalo (today the Buffalo Seminary),[9] and married Charles F. Tretbar (1832-1909),[10] who worked for Steinway & Sons and also published at least 40 works, including many of his wife's translations.

Career

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Tretbar translated From the Tone World. A Series of Essays by Louis Ehlert from German to English; her translation was published in 1884 by her husband. In 1887, she began working for The Etude magazine, eventually becoming the managing editor. In 1889, William A. Pond & Co. published Twenty-one New Song Vocalises, with music by Paolo La Villa and original texts by Tretbar.[11] A review in Frank Leslie's Sunday Magazine noted that. . . "Mrs Tretbar's words rise often to the dignity of real poems and not a few of the vocalises are worthy of being sung parlor songs."[12] In 1891, Tretbar adapted the original German libretto (by Moritz West and Ludwig Held) of Carl Zeller's operetta Der Vogelhandler for performance in America. Renamed The Tyrolean, it was performed 100 times at the Casino Theatre in New York. In 1947, it was performed in London as The Bird Seller.[13]

Tretbar translated the lyrics in songs by many composers:[14] Franz Abt, Reinhold Becker, Franz Behr, Theodore Bradsky, Frederick Brandeis, Jean-Baptiste Faure, Richard Genee, Friedrich Gernsheim, Victor Harris, Victor Herbert, Gustav Holzel, Rafael Joseffy, Bruno Oscar Klein, Erik Meyer-Helmund, Giacomo Batista Manzotti, Jules Massenet, Emanuel Moor, George Balch Nevin, Jean Louis Nicodé, Ignacy Paderewski, Johann Peters, Walter Petzet, Joachim Raff, Franz Ries, Martin Roeder, Louis Victor Saar, Xaver Scharwenka, Sebastian Bensen Schlesinger, Armin Schotte, Frank Van der Stucken, Robert Volkmann, and Carl Zeller.[15][16][2][17][18][19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28]

References

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  1. ^ a b Tretbar, Helen. "ancestry.com". Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  2. ^ a b "Category:Tretbar, Helen D. - IMSLP: Free Sheet Music PDF Download". imslp.org. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  3. ^ Cohen, Aaron I. (1987). International encyclopedia of women composers (Second edition, revised and enlarged ed.). New York. ISBN 0-9617485-2-4. OCLC 16714846.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  4. ^ Hixon, Donald L. (1993). Women in music : an encyclopedic biobibliography. Don A. Hennessee (2nd ed.). Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-2769-7. OCLC 28889156.
  5. ^ Elson, Louis Charles (1904). The History of American Music. Macmillan.
  6. ^ Tretbar, Helen (1890). "The Etude Magazine". Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  7. ^ Herringshaw, Thomas William (1904). Herringshaw's Encyclopedia of American Biography of the Nineteenth Century: Accurate and Succinct Biographies of Famous Men and Women in All Walks of Life who are Or Have Been the Acknowledged Leaders of Life and Thought of the United States Since Its Formation ... American Publishers' Association.
  8. ^ Laurence, Anya (1978). Women of Notes: 1,000 Women Composers Born Before 1900. New York: Richards Rosen Press Inc. p. 32.
  9. ^ Howe, Granville L.; Mathews, William Smythe Babcock (1889). A Hundred Years of Music in America: An Account of Musical Effort in America : During the Past Century Including Popular Music and Singing Schools, Church Music, Musical Conventions and Festivals, Orchestral, Operatic and Oratorio Music : Improvements in Musical Instruments : Popular and Higher Music Education : Creative Activity, and the Beginning of a National School of Musical Composition : a Full and Reliable Summary of American Musical Effort as Displayed in the Personal History of Artists, Composers and Educators, Musical Inventors and Journalists, with Upwards of Two Hundred Full Page Portraits of the Most Distunguished Workers, Together with Historical and Biographical Sketches of Important Personalities. G.L. Howe.
  10. ^ "Charles F. Tretbar | The William Steinway Diary: 1861-1896, Smithsonian Institution". americanhistory.si.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  11. ^ Elson, Arthur (1903). Woman's Work in Music: Being an Account of Her Influence on the Art, in Ancient as Well as Modern Times; a Summary of Her Musical Compositions, in the Different Countries of the Civilized World; and an Estimate of Their Rank in Comparison with Those of Men. L.C. Page.
  12. ^ Frank Leslie's Sunday Magazine. Frank Leslie's Publishing House. 1889.
  13. ^ "Carl Zeller". www.musicaltheatreguide.com. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  14. ^ Stern, Susan (1978). Women composers : a handbook. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 0-8108-1138-3. OCLC 3844725.
  15. ^ "143.011 - Nightingale Song from the Tyrolean. | Levy Music Collection". levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  16. ^ "074.091 - Drei Lieder. Three Songs. No.1. Liebeslied. Love-Song. Soprano Edition. | Levy Music Collection". levysheetmusic.mse.jhu.edu. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  17. ^ Finck, Henry T. (1900). Songs and Song Writers. C. Scribner's Sons. ISBN 978-0-89341-439-9.
  18. ^ Fleming, William Hansell (1897). The Looker-on: Musical, Dramatic, Literary ... Whittingham & Atherton.
  19. ^ Krehbiel, Henry Edward (1902). Famous Songs: Standard Songs by the Best Composers. J. Church.
  20. ^ The Musical Times and Singing-class Circular. Novello. 1898.
  21. ^ New York Amusement Gazette. F. T. Low. 1887.
  22. ^ North's Philadelphia Musical Journal. F.A. North & Company. 1887.
  23. ^ "The tryst, op. 52". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  24. ^ "Helen Dellenbauch Tretbar (1835 - 1902) - Vocal Texts and Translations at the LiederNet Archive". www.lieder.net. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  25. ^ "Song of the Rhine". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  26. ^ "An die Nacht, op. 3". Library of Congress. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
  27. ^ Tretbar, Helen. "Maryland Sheet Music" (PDF). Retrieved 5 June 2021.
  28. ^ "The palms; Les rameaux / Historic American Sheet Music / Duke Digital Repository". Duke Digital Collections. Retrieved 2021-06-06.
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