View source for Reginald De Koven

{{Short description|American music critic and composer (1859–1920)}}
{{more footnotes|date=November 2022}}
[[File:Reginald de Koven 1904.jpg|thumb|right|Reginald De Koven in 1904]]
'''Henry Louis Reginald De Koven''' (April 3, 1859{{spaced ndash}}January 16, 1920) was an American [[music critic]] and prolific [[composer]], particularly of [[comic opera]]s.

==Biography==
De Koven was born in [[Middletown, Connecticut]].  His father was an Episcopal priest as was his uncle, [[James DeKoven]].<ref>{{cite news |last=Crumb |first=Lawrence |date=October 23, 2025 |title=Giving DeKoven His Due |url=https://livingchurch.org/books-and-culture/book-reviews/giving-dekoven-his-due/ |work=[[The Living Church]]}}</ref>  He moved to Europe in 1870, where he received the majority of his education.  He received a B.A. from [[St John's College, Oxford]] in 1880.<ref>{{alox2|title=Koven, Henry Louis Reginald de}}</ref>

He undertook piano studies at [[Stuttgart Conservatory]] with [[Wilhelm Speidel]], [[Sigmund Lebert]], and [[Dionys Pruckner]]. He studied composition at [[Frankfurt]] with [[Johann Christian Hauff]], and after staying there for six months moved on to [[Florence]], Italy, where he studied singing with [[Luigi Vanuccini]]. Study in operatic composition followed, first with [[Richard Genée]] in [[Vienna]] and then with [[Léo Delibes]] in Paris.

De Koven returned to the U.S. in 1882 to live in [[Chicago, Illinois]], and later lived in [[New York City]]. He was able to find scope for his wide musical knowledge as a critic with Chicago's ''Evening Post'', ''[[Harper's Weekly]]'' and ''[[New York World]]''. Many of his songs became popular, especially "[[Oh Promise Me]]", with words by [[Clement Scott]], which was one of the biggest song successes of its time and remains a wedding standard.

Between 1887 and 1913, De Koven composed 20 light operas, in addition to hundreds of songs, orchestral works, sonatas and ballets. While [[Victor Herbert]]'s operettas were heavily influenced by those of continental operetta composers, De Koven's works were patterned after [[Gilbert and Sullivan]].<ref>[http://www.usopera.com/composers/dekoven.html "Henry Louis Reginald De Koven, Victorian operettist"], US Opera</ref>  His greatest success was ''[[Robin Hood (De Koven opera)|Robin Hood]]'', which premiered in Chicago in 1890 but was performed all across the country.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/robinhoodcomicop00dekov Vocal score of ''Robin Hood'']</ref> It played in New York at the [[Knickerbocker Theatre (Broadway)|Knickerbocker Theatre]] and in London, in 1891, and at New York's Garden Theatre in 1892, and it continued to be revived for many years. His other operettas included ''The Fencing Master'' (1892, [[Casino Theatre (Broadway)|Casino Theatre]], New York); ''[[Rob Roy (operetta)|Rob Roy]]'', first produced in [[Detroit|Detroit, Michigan]], 1894;<ref>[https://archive.org/details/robroyromanticco00deko Vocal score of ''Rob Roy'']</ref> ''The Highwayman'' (1897, [[Herald Square Theatre]], New York);<ref>[https://archive.org/details/highwaymanromant00dekov Vocal score of ''The Highwayman'']</ref> ''The Little Duchess'' (1901, Casino Theatre, New York); and ''[[The Beauty Spot]]'' (1909, [[Herald Square Theatre]]).

From 1902 to 1904, De Koven conducted the [[Washington, D.C.]], symphony. His wife, [[Anna de Koven]], was a well-known socialite, novelist and amateur historian who published her works under the name "Mrs. Reginald de Koven." The music press doubted that De Koven could compose serious operas. His opera ''[[The Canterbury Pilgrims (De Koven)|The Canterbury Pilgrims]]'' (with a libretto by poet and dramatist [[Percy MacKaye]]) premiered at the [[Metropolitan Opera]] in 1917.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/canterburypilgri00deko Vocal score of ''The Canterbury Pilgrims'']</ref>  He composed a second opera, ''Rip Van Winkle'' (also with a libretto by MacKaye), but died before it was performed in 1920 in Chicago.

One obituary asserted that he proved that "the American stage was not dependent upon foreign composers."<ref>''Mobile Press Register'', January 21, 1920.</ref>

==Works==
[[File:Cover of "Rip Van Winkle" opera by Reginald De Koven.jpg|thumb|Cover of ''Rip Van Winkle'', 1919]]

===Selected stage works===
*''The Begum'' (1887), operetta, libretto by [[Harry B. Smith]]
*''[[Robin Hood (comic opera)|Robin Hood]]'' (1890) operetta, libretto by Harry B. Smith 
*''The Fencing Master'' (1892) operetta, libretto by Harry B. Smith
*''The Algerian'' (1893) operetta, libretto by [[Glen MacDonough]]
*''[[Rob Roy (operetta)|Rob Roy]]'' (1894), operetta, libretto by Harry B. Smith
*''The Tzigane'' (1895), comic opera, libretto by Harry B. Smith<ref name="bg090395">{{cite news |title=Sumptuously Staged Opera |work=The Boston Globe |date=September 3, 1895 |location=Boston, Massachusetts |page=11 |via = [[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref>
*''The Mandarin'' (1896), operetta, libretto by Harry B. Smith
*''The Highwayman'' (1897), operetta, libretto by Harry B. Smith
*''The Three Dragoons'' (1899), operetta, libretto by Harry B. Smith
*''[[The Man in the Moon (musical)|The Man in the Moon]]'' (1899), musical, music by De Koven, [[Ludwig Englander]] and [[Gustave Kerker]], book and lyrics by [[Louis Harrison]] and [[Stanislaus Stange]]
*''Papa's Wife'' (1899), musical, lyrics by De Koven, book by Harry B. Smith, lyrics by Smith and De Koven
*''[[Broadway to Tokio]]'' (1900), musical, book and lyrics by Louis Harrison and [[George V. Hobart]]
*''Foxy Quiller (In Corsica)'' (1900), operetta, libretto by Harry B. Smith
*''[[The Little Duchess (musical)|The Little Duchess]]'' (1901) musical, book and lyrics by Harry B. Smith
*''Maid Marian'' (1902), musical, book and lyrics by Harry B. Smith
*''[[Red Feather (opera)|Red Feather]]'' (1903), operetta, book by [[Charles Klein]], lyrics by [[Charles Emerson Cook]]
*''[[The Jersey Lily]]'' (1903), musical, book and lyrics by [[George V. Hobart]]
*''[[Happyland (opera)|Happyland; or, The King of Elysia]]'' (1905), operetta, libretto by [[Frederic Ranken]]
*''The Student King'' (1906), operetta, libretto by Frederic Ranken and Stanislaus Stange
*''The Golden Butterfly'' (1908), operetta, libretto by Harry B. Smith
*''[[The Beauty Spot]]'' (1909), musical, book by [[Joseph W. Herbert]], lyrics by Terry Sullivan
*''The Wedding Trip'' (1911), operetta, book by [[Fred de Gresac]], lyrics by Harry B. Smith
*''[[The Canterbury Pilgrims (De Koven)]]'' (1916), opera, libretto by [[Percy MacKaye]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_A1qzAAAAIAAJ|title=The Canterbury pilgrims an opera|last=Reginald De Koven|date=22 September 2017|publisher=The Macmillan company|access-date=22 September 2017|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>
*''Rip Van Winkle'' (1919), opera, libretto by Percy MacKaye<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wV8IAQAAMAAJ&pg=PP5|title=Rip Van Winkle: Folk Opera in Three Acts|first=Reginald De|last=Koven|date=22 September 2017|publisher=G. Schirmer|access-date=22 September 2017|via=Google Books}}</ref>

===Other compositions===
*Prelude in G minor
*Rosalie: Chansonette (1901)

==References==
{{Reflist}}
*{{Etude}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Reginald De Koven}}
*{{IBDB name|11579}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20080402040408/http://www.songwritershalloffame.org/exhibit_home_page.asp?exhibitId=242 Reginald De Koven] at the Songwriters Hall of Fame
*[http://www.musicaltheatreguide.com/composers/decoven/reginald_dekoven.htm De Koven] at the Guide to Light Opera and Operetta
*{{ChoralWiki|Reginald de Koven}}
*{{IMSLP|id=De Koven, Reginald}}
*[http://dmr.bsu.edu/cdm4/document.php?CISOROOT=/ShtMus&CISOPTR=629&REC=15 Sheet Music for "Oh promise me"], G. Schirmer, Inc., 1889.
*[http://digitalcollections.baylor.edu/cdm/search/collection/fa-spnc/searchterm/De%20Koven/field/subjec/mode/all/conn/and/order/nosort Reginald De Koven] sheet music from the Frances G. Spencer American Popular Sheet Music Collection at Baylor University
*[http://archon.brandeis.edu/index.php?p=collections/findingaid&id=77 Reginald De Koven collection at Brandeis University]
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Reginald De Koven}}
* [https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/106016 Reginald De Koven recordings] at the [[Discography of American Historical Recordings]].
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dekoven, Reginald}}
[[Category:1859 births]]
[[Category:1920 deaths]]
[[Category:19th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:19th-century American classical composers]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:20th-century American classical composers]]
[[Category:American male classical composers]]
[[Category:American music critics]]
[[Category:American operetta composers]]
[[Category:American Romantic composers]]
[[Category:Classical musicians from Connecticut]]
[[Category:Male operetta composers]]
[[Category:New York World]]
[[Category:People from Middletown, Connecticut]]