Henri Berger
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Henry or Henri Berger (August 4, 1844 – October 14, 1929) was a Prussian Kapellmeister, composer and royal bandmaster of the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi from 1872 to 1915.
Biography
Berger was born Heinrich August Wilhelm Berger in Berlin, and became a first-rate musician as a member of the army band in the 2nd Foot Guards[1] of the Prussian Army. He played in the orchestras of Johann Strauss, Jr. across Europe.[2]
Originally, Kaiser Wilhelm I of Germany loaned Berger from his Potsdam station to King Kamehameha V to conduct the king's band.[3] He arrived in Honolulu in June 1872, fresh from service in the Franco-Prussian War.[4] In 1877, King Kalākaua appointed Berger to full leadership of the Royal Hawaiian Band. In 1879, he became a naturalized citizen of the Kingdom of Hawaii.
Berger befriended the future Queen Liliʻuokalani, a composer in her own right. Berger arranged the songs she wrote, performed by the brass band. On August 4, 1881, while traveling the world, King Kalākaua reported in a letter from Berlin[5] to Regent Liliʻuokalani, that he had met the mother and sister of Berger and announced the sending of a program whose pieces Berger was to play with the Royal Hawaiian Band upon his return. The queen named Berger the "Father of Hawaiian Music". From 1893 to 1903, the bandmaster worked with the Kamehameha Schools to develop its music program. He also built what is today the Honolulu Symphony.
He led the government band at thousands of public events. Among these were "steamer day," when a ship left the Honolulu docks. The band serenaded the departees with "Auld Lang Syne," or "The Girl I Left Behind Me."[6]
Later in his tenure as royal bandmaster, Berger took it upon himself to record traditional Hawaiian hymns, chants and other Hawaiian music in print to ensure their survival, a task never done before. Berger at the same time composed the classics: "The Hula March", "Hilo March", "Kohala March", “Huki March”, “Ka Mo’i March” and "Sweet Lei Lehua." His arrangement of "Hawaiʻi Ponoʻī", with text by Kalākaua in honor of Kamehameha became the national anthem.[7] Today, the song serves as the state anthem.
Berger combined German, Austrian and Hawaiian traditions in his unique compositions and performed with the Royal Hawaiian Band thousands of times, making Hawaiian music known and popular in many countries. Berger started the RHB 'Aloha" welcome and farewell greetings at the harbors.
Recognizing his promotion of Hawaiian culture abroad, Kalākaua conferred the Royal Order of the Star of Oceania upon Berger.[8]
He died in Honolulu. His resting-place is the Kawaiahaʻo Church Cemetery.[9]
Robert Louis Stevenson mentioned Berger in his novel The Bottle Imp.[10]
Berger's legacy continues today, celebrated worldwide especially in Hawaii and Germany, as the father of the Royal Hawaiian Band, the oldest municipal band in the United States.
References
- ↑ cf. 1st Foot Guards
- ↑ Henri Berger in the Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ "Half a Century of Life." Hawaiian Gazette, August 7, 1894. A major profile of Berger commemorating his fiftieth birthday.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1". p. 104
- ↑ "Half a Century of Life." Hawaiian Gazette, August 7, 1894.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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- ↑ Mission Houses Cemetery, Honolulu, Hawaiʻi
- ↑ cf. The Bottle Imp: "Thither he went, because he feared to be alone; and there, among happy faces, walked to and fro, and heard the tunes go up and down, and saw Berger beat the measure, and all the while he heard the flames crackle, and saw the red fire burning in the bottomless pit."
Literature
- Patrick D. Hennessey: Henry Berger: From Prussian Army Musician to "Father of Hawaiian Music". The Life and Legacy of Hawai'i's Bandmaster, Tutzing: Schneider, 2013, Template:ISBN
External links
Template:Hawaiian Music Hall of Fame Template:Authority control
- Pages with script errors
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- Composers with IMSLP links
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- 1844 births
- 1929 deaths
- 19th-century American composers
- 19th-century American male musicians
- 19th-century classical composers
- 19th-century conductors (music)
- 19th-century German composers
- 19th-century German male composers
- 20th-century classical composers
- 20th-century American conductors (music)
- 20th-century German composers
- 20th-century German male composers
- American male conductors (music)
- American male classical composers
- American Romantic composers
- German conductors (music)
- German male conductors (music)
- German male classical composers
- German Romantic composers
- Musicians from Hawaii
- Burials at Kawaiahaʻo Church
- 20th-century American composers
- 20th-century American male musicians
- Emigrants from the German Empire
- Musicians from the Kingdom of Hawaii
- Immigrants to the Hawaiian Kingdom
- American people of German descent
- American people of Prussian descent
- Recipients of the Royal Order of the Star of Oceania