Page:A Dictionary of Music and Musicians vol 4.djvu/339

VOCES HAMMERIANÆ. modern amplification of the series used, in the 11th century, by Guido d'Arezzo. The name is of German origin; and was invented in honour of Kilian Hammer, Organist of Vohenstraus, who first introduced the amplified system to German Musicians, about the middle of the 17th century. [See .] [ W. S. R. ]

VOGL,, born Jan. 15, 1845, at Au, near Munich, received instruction in singing from Franz Lachner, and in acting from Jenk, stage manager of the Royal Theatre, Munich, where he made his début on Nov. 5, 1865, as Max, in 'Der Freischütz.' His success was immediate, and he has since been permanently engaged at the above theatre, where he is the favourite tenor, making the usual tours in Germany and Austria in company with his wife, whom he married in 1868 (see below). He excels pre-eminently in the operas of Wagner, and played Loge and Siegmund on the production respectively of 'Rheingold' (Sept. 22, 1869) and 'Walkyrie' (June 26, 1870) at Munich. On the production of the 'Trilogy' at Bayreuth in 1876 he again played the part of Loge, and made a great hit by his fine declamation and admirable acting. On May 5, 1882, he made his first appearance in England at Her Majesty's in the same part, and subsequently in Siegfried. He was unanimously praised for his admirable presentment of these characters, and on May 18 was heard with pleasure in songs by Franz, etc., at a 'Symphony Concert' at St. James's Hall. In 1871 he was tenor singer at the Beethoven Centenary Festival. His wife,

, whose maiden name was, was born Nov. 12, 1846, at Tutzing, Lake Starnberg, Bavaria, learnt singing from Hauser at the Munich Conservatorium, and in 1865 first appeared in opera at Carlsruhe. In Dec. 1866 she made her début at Munich as Casilda (Auber's 'Part du Diable'), and has been permanently engaged there ever since, where she is very popular as a dramatic soprano. She was the original Sieglinde at Munich. On May 6, 1882, she made her first appearance in England, at Her Majesty's, as Brunnhilde, and played the part throughout the trilogy with great success. In the second 'cycle' of performances she played with equal success her old part of Sieglinde, having resigned Brunnhilde to Mme. Keicher-Kindermann (since deceased), who had been the Fricka in the first cycle. [ A. C. ]

VOGL,, distinguished opera-singer, and, with Baron von , one of the principal interpreters of Schubert's songs, born Aug. 10, 1768, at Steyer in Upper Austria. A chorister in his native town at seven, he was systematically grounded in singing, theoretically and practically, and thus early acquired flexibility of voice and purity of intonation. He had his general education in the monastery of Kremsmunster, and took part there in little Singspiele by Süssmayer, giving considerable promise both as singer and actor. He next went to the University of Vienna, and was about taking a permanent post in the magistracy of the City when Süssmayer engaged him for the Court-opera. He played with the German Opera Company formed by Süssmayer in the summer of 1794, and made his début as a regular member of the Court Opera in the following May. From that period till his retirement in 1822 (his last appearance was in Grétry's 'Barbe-bleue,' 1821), he was a great favourite, and held an important position as a singer and an actor in both German and Italian opera. Gifted with a baritone voice of sympathetic quality, his method was excellent, and his phrasing marked by breadth, intelligence, and great dramatic expression. Such parts as Oreste (Iphigénie en Tauride), Jakob (Schweizerfamilie), Count Almaviva (Le Nozze di Figaro), Micheli (Deux Journées), Kreon (Médée), Telasco (Ferdinand Cortez), and Jacob (Méhul's Joseph), show the range of his powers. He became acquainted with Schubert somewhere about 1816, through the latter's friend, and the two quickly learned to appreciate and esteem each other. Vogl recognised Schubert's genius, urged him to produce, and did his best to make him known by singing his songs both in public and private. The 'Erl-König' was first introduced by him to the general public at a musical entertainment at the Kärnthnerthor Theatre (March 7, 1821), though it had been sung before at a soirée of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde (Jan. 25) by Herr von Gymnich, an excellent amateur. Vogl in his diary calls Schubert's compositions 'truly divine inspirations, utterances of a musical clairvoyance,' and Schubert, writing to his brother Ferdinand, says, 'when Vogl sings and I accompany him we seem for the moment to be one, which strikes the good people here as something quite unheard of.' In the summer of 1825 the two friends met at Steyer, and made a walking tour through Upper Austria and Styria, singing Schubert's songs like a couple of wandering minstrels at all their resting-places, whether monasteries or private houses. Schubert publicly testified his esteem by dedicating to Vogl 3 Lieder (op. 6), published in 1821.

Vogl's early conventual education left its traces in his fondness for serious study, to which all his spare time was devoted, his favourite authors being Goethe and the Greek classics. In 1823 he went to Italy, and on his return in the following spring astonished his friends by announcing his marriage with the daughter of the former director of the Belvedere, whom he had long treated as a sort of pupil. One of his last appearances in public was at a soirée of the Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde in 1833, when he sang the 'Wanderer.' His last years were passed in great bodily suffering, cheered only by intellectual occupation. He died in 1840, Nov. 19, on the same day on which his friend Schubert had departed 12 years before, and was buried in the churchyard of Matzleinsdorf, where rest Gluck and his wife (1787), Salieri (1825), and the eminent singer Forti (1859), Staudigl (1861),