John Barnett

John Barnett (July 15 1802—16 April 1890) was an English composer and writer on music.

Life

Barnett was the eldest son of a Prussian Jew named Bernhard Beer, who changed his surname on settling in England as a jeweller. According to some he was a cousin of the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. Barnett was born at Bedford, and at the age of eleven sang at the Lyceum Theatre stage in London. His good voice led to his being given a musical education, and he soon began writing songs and lighter pieces for the stage.

In 1834 he published a collection of "Lyrical Illustrations of the Modern Poets". His "Mountain Sylph" - with which his name is nowadays most associated - received a warm welcome when produced at the Lyceum on August 25, 1834, as the first modern English opera - that is, it was completely sung, with no spoken passages. It was followed by "Fair Rosamund" in 1837, and "Farinelli" in 1839. Disappointed with his reception as a composer, Barnett retired to the country. He had a large connection as a singing-master at Cheltenham, and published "Systems and Singing-masters" (1842) and "School for the Voice" (1844). Barnett wrote several songs for the theatre with the actor, playwright and theatre manager John Baldwin Buckstone, and also some instrumental works, including three string quartets and a violin sonata.

One of his daughters Clara Kathleen Barnett became a singer and composer. His nephew John Francis Barnett (1837-1916) was also a composer.

Although "The Mountain Sylph" is all but forgotten, it inspired parts of W. S. Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan's Savoy Opera, "Iolanthe".

References

* Oxford Dictionary of National Biography