One of a series of thirty five drawings by Thomas Oliphant of the Crystal Palace at Sydenham drawn between 1855 and 1860. The original is in his family's collection.
Oliphant was educated at Winchester College but left early. He became a member of the London Stock Exchange but after a short time left to pursue his interest in music and literature.[8]
The Madrigal Society
In 1830 Oliphant was admitted a member of the Madrigal Society and in 1832 he became the Honorary Secretary of the society, a position which he held for 39 years, eventually becoming first the vice-president and then a year later President of the Society in 1871. He wrote English words to a considerable number of Italian Madrigals for the Society's use, in some instances his words were translations but in many, they were his own creation.[8]
Musical career
Like his more famous cousin, Oliphant was primarily a lyricist, writing his own new words or his own interpretations to his "translations" of existing songs in foreign languages. Oliphant took part in the Great Handel festival in Westminster Abbey in the chorus as the bass vocalist. In 1855, he was asked by the directors of the Philharmonic Society to translate portions of Wagner's opera Lohengrin which were then performed by the Philharmonic Society's (now known as the Royal Philharmonic Society) orchestra and chorus at the Hanover Square Rooms and conducted by Wagner himself.[8] Oliphant wrote the words for the chorale for the wedding of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra in 1863.[1][2] The music was composed by Prince Albert and when Queen Victoria heard the recital, she was said to have been much affected by the chorale as Prince Albert had died over a year before in 1861.[9] Oliphant was described as the "Poet of the Court", as he wrote lyrics for Royal events and other important occasions.[10]
In Victorian Britain the vogue for translating foreign lyrics into English was popular. It was a pastime at which Oliphant was prodigious. Oliphant's position in the music world has diminished to the point where he is largely unknown but in his lifetime his standing was significant. An illustration of this is a letter in The Musical World dated October 1869, concerning someone else's transgression: "We shall next have the musical knowledge of Hogarth called into question or the profundity of Parry; or the orchestral skill of Hullah; or the madrigalian researches of Oliphant; or the genius of Louis Emmanuel; or the modesty of Eliason....".[11]
In spite of his extensive interpretations of German songs, it would appear that, at one time at least, Oliphant did not speak German. As one of his friends and contemporaries put it: "Many a popular drawing-room song of those days bore on its title-page the intimation, ' Words by Thomas Oliphant, Esq.' Tom knew no German, and when he was told of a song in that noble tongue which was likely to suit him commercially, he asked me to give him a bare English prose translation of it, which he then turned into metre..... 'The Standard-Bearer' was one of the most successful of the many prose-skeleton songs of which I thus furnished him."[12] Given the quantity of "translations" which Oliphant produced, it is hard to see how he could not have gained some knowledge of German in the process. Oliphant also drew from Welsh, French, Italian and other languages, it is possible that he was not fully conversant in these languages either (nevertheless it is known from his collection of Italian sketches, that he did at some stage travel in Italy), which is probably partly why his English verses are not translations but his own interpretations. "Nos Gallen" is a notable example, since it is a New Year's Eve song, which Oliphant turned into the Christmas carol "Deck the Hall" (although he published it as "Nos Gallen" in 1862 and it has since become known by its first line).
Oliphant commissioned eighteen works by John Liptrot Hatton who worked under the pseudonym of 'P.B. Czapek' (alluding to the Hungarian word for a Hat, for 'Hatton'). These compositions were based on the style of German classics.[13]
Following Oliphant's death in 1873, his valuable music collection was sold by Messrs. Puttick and Simpson.[8][14]
Some musical works by Oliphant
Thomas Oliphant's original words for Deck The Hall With Boughs of Holly as they appear in "Welsh Melodies With Welsh and English Poetry" (volume 2), published in 1862Thomas Oliphant's original words for Men of Harlech as they appear in "Welsh Melodies With Welsh and English Poetry" (volume 2), published in 1862
English version of Beethoven's works "Fidelio", "The Mount of Olives"[8] and "Adelaide".
Beethoven's "The praise of music" – the English version adapted expressly for the concerts of the Vocal Society by Thomas Oliphant.[15]
"All ye who Music Love" by Donato Baldassare, English words (which are not a translation) by Thomas Oliphant.[2]
"Where floats the standard" (Die Fahnenwacht) English version by Thomas Oliphant composed by Peter Josef von Lindpaintner
"Llewelyn, A Dramatic Cantata" was dedicated to the Prince of Wales. It was composed by Queen Victoria's harpist, John Thomas ('Pencerdd Gwalia'; 1826–1913) the harpist and Welsh bard, with Welsh words by the bard John Jones (Talhaiarn 1810–69) and parallel English words by Thomas Oliphant,
"The Ash Grove" published in Volume I of the 1862 collection Welsh Melodies, With Welsh And English Poetry, by John Jones (Talhaiarn) & Thomas Oliphant.[4]
"Santa Lucia" Neapolitan barcarolle, edited by Mario Favilli, translated by Thomas Oliphant.
"The Shepherds Winter Song", "The Violet" and "The Chapel" with music by P B Czapek, and English words by T Oliphant,
"Men of Harlech" translated into English by Thomas Oliphant.[19] published in Volume 2 of the 1862 collection Welsh Melodies, With Welsh And English Poetry, by John Jones (Talhaiarn) & Thomas Oliphant.[4]
"The eye of night", the English version by T. Oliphant, music by Johann Wenzel Kalliwoda. Similarly, Oliphant wrote English words for other works by Kalliwoda: "The mill stream is roaring" and " Let me not hear".
"Tell me where bloometh true love" – words by Oliphant and music by Louis Spohr.
"Where'er I Careless Wander" (Greeting) English words by Oliphant, music by Mendelssohn.
"Ah Me! How Soon" (Autumn Song) Op.63 English words by Oliphant, music by Mendelssohn.
"Service and Responses" edited by Oliphant original by Thomas Tallis
"Song of Forty Parts" edited by Oliphant original by Thomas Tallis.
On leaving the British Museum, Oliphant returned to his childhood home in Scotland. Between 1850 and 1860 Oliphant completed three (known) volumes of sketches. The first is a visual record of pencil sketches of landscapes and buildings as he journeyed through Orkney, Shetland, Caithness, Sutherland, Ross-shire, Inverness-shire and Perthshire, 1852.[27] The second volume actually starts in 1850 with drawings of his ancestral home and is a series of sketches of landscapes mainly around Strathearn but also charts his journey to the West Coast of Scotland in 1853, the Isle of Man and his journey back to the South of England[28] and the last is a collection of sketches of Crystal Palace between 1855 and 1860.[28] What makes the last volume interesting is that John Jones (Talhaiarn) with whom Oliphant collaborated on all four volumes of "Welsh Melodies" (1862–1874) was for a while an architect who worked on Crystal Palace under Sir Joseph Paxton.
Oliphant returned to Scotland the year after for another purpose. His brother, Laurence Oliphant, 8th of Condie and 30th Chief of Clan Oliphant, was involved in (what turned into a twenty one year) legal battle to be recognised as heir to his cousin's estate. In a genealogical chart, re-drawn in 1889, are the words: "sed Chartum virginum ex variis documentis antiquis Thomas Oliphant A.D. 1854 collegit:-"[29]
Publications
1834 "Comments of a Chorus Singer at the Royal Musical Festival at Westminster Abbey" under the pseudonym Saloman Sackbut.[8]
1835 "A Brief Account of the Madrigal Society".[8]
^ abMarriage ceremonial and chorale sheet 10 March 1863 Printed by Harrison and Sons. Chorale words by Thomas Oliphant "Royal Collection - Royal Weddings 1840-1947". Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
^ abcdefg"Welsh Melodies" Publisher: Addison, Hollier and Lucas; Lamborn Cock and Co.; J.B. Cramer & Co (London). Vols. 1&2 published in 1862. Vol 3 in 1870 and vol. 4 in 1874
^Buck, Percy Carter; Wood, Thomas (19 July 1958). "The Oxford song book". Oxford University Press, H. Milford. Retrieved 19 July 2020 – via Google Books.
^King, Alec Hyatt (1976). "The Musical Institute of London and its Successors". The Musical Times. 117 (1597): 221–223. doi:10.2307/960651. JSTOR960651.
^"The Musical World". J. Alfredo Novello. 19 July 1840. Retrieved 19 July 2020 – via Google Books.
^"The Law Times". Office of The Law times. 19 July 1856. Retrieved 19 July 2020 – via Google Books.
_of_Newton_of_Condie,_his_birthplace_and_ancestral_home.jpg)
