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John Frederick Lampe

 
Music Encyclopedia: John Frederick Lampe

( b Saxony, c 1703; d Edinburgh, 25 July 1751). German composer. He worked in London as a bassoonist from c 1724 and a dramatic composer from 1732. His several attempts at serious English opera in the Italian manner failed, but he had success with lighter works, notably the burlesque The Dragon of Wantley (1737) and the satirical all-sung mock opera, after Shakespeare, Pyramus and Thisbe (1745). His other works include songs, hymn tunes (to words by Charles Wesley) and two harmony manuals.



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John Frederick Lampe (1703–1751) was a musician.

He was born in Saxony, but came to England in 1724 and played the bassoon in opera houses. His wife, Isabella Lampe, was sister-in-law to the composer Thomas Arne with whom Lampe collaborated on a number of concert seasons. John and Isabella's son, Charles John Frederick Lampe, was a successful organist and composer as well.

Like Arne, Lampe wrote operatic works in English in defiance of the vogue for Italian opera popularised by George Frideric Handel and Nicola Porpora. Lampe, along with Henry Carey and J. S. Smith, founded the short-lived English Opera Project. He became a friend of Charles Wesley. His works for the stage include the mock operas Pyramus and Thisbe (1745) and The Dragon of Wantley (1734), which ran for 69 nights, a record for the time, surpassing The Beggar's Opera. He was based for a time in Dublin and later in Edinburgh, where he died.


 
 

 

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