Andrew Lamb (writer)

Andrew Martin Lamb (born 23 September 1942) is an English writer, musicologist, lecturer and broadcaster, known for his expertise in light music and musical theatre. In addition to his musical work, Lamb maintained a full-time career as an actuary and investment manager.

Biography

Lamb was born in Oldham, Lancashire, the son of Harry Lamb, a schoolmaster, and his wife Winifred, née Emmott.[1] He was educated at Werneth Council School, Oldham, Manchester Grammar School and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He graduated in mathematics in 1963,[1] gaining a master's degree in 1967 and a Doctorate of Letters in 2006. In addition to his musical work, he maintained a full-time career as an actuary and investment manager with major financial institutions in the UK, having qualified as a Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries in 1972. He married in 1970 and has two daughters and a son.[1] He has been a member of Lancashire County Cricket Club since 1954.

In 1980, Lamb was a member of the Arts Council of Great Britain Light Opera Enquiry, and in 1988 he was a member of the jury of the Offenbach International Singing Competition in Paris. From 1987 to 1996 he assisted Antonio de Almeida on the latter's Offenbach thematic catalogue. In 1995 he performed in Dan Crawford's production of Noël Coward's Cavalcade, appearing as the Stage Manager at the Churchill Theatre, Bromley, and the Major Domo at Sadler's Wells Theatre, London. In 2008 he wrote the programme article for the production of Amadeo Vives's La Generala at the Teatro de la Zarzuela in Madrid, and in 2009 he was a speaker at the Ruperto Chapí Centenary Congress in Valencia, Spain. He has also given talks for English National Opera at the Coliseum Theatre, London, and at the Buxton Festival.[2] He is a member of the Honorary Board of the Centro Studi Eric Sams.[3][4]

Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians describes him as "a noted authority on the lighter forms of music theatre" and notes the lucidity of his extensive writings on a wide range of musical topics, including zarzuela, operetta, American and British musical theatre, Arthur Sullivan, the Strauss family, Jacques Offenbach, Jerome Kern and the Waldteufels.[5] Lamb has said: "I am dedicated to upgrading the status and appreciation of lighter forms of music."[1]

Writings

Lamb's books and biographies, relating mostly to musical theatre, include the following:

He has written extensively for periodicals including Gramophone, The Musical Times, Opera, Music and Letters, The Listener, and Wisden Cricket Monthly.[1] He is a contributor to The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and wrote more than 150 articles in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, including biographies of George M. Cohan, Noël Coward, Jerome Kern, Charles Lecocq, Franz Lehár, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Lionel Monckton and Jacques Offenbach, and articles on revue, musical comedy, music hall, parlour song and operetta. He was a member of the Advisory Board of The New Grove Dictionary of Opera. Online examples of his writing include articles on Gershwin's Cuban vacation,[6] two 1890s English comic opera tours of South America.[7][8] and the zarzuelas La generala[9] and El maestro Campanone.[10]

He has also compiled albums of songs by Lehár for Glocken Verlag (ISMN M-57006-019-1, ISMN M-57006-109-9, ISMN M-57006-111-2 and ISMN 979-0-57006-115-0) and of operetta numbers by Offenbach for Choudens.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Andrew Lamb at Contemporary Authors Online, Gale, 2002 (subscription required), accessed 22 March 2009
  2. 21 July 2008, 18 July 2009 and 19 July 2011, Official Buxton Festival Programmes
  3. Official website Archived 10 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine.. Centro Studi Eric Sams, accessed 1 March 2010
  4. See also Lamb's profile of Sams, "Elgar, Shakespeare – and a Little Light Music" Archived 1 January 2010 at the Wayback Machine.. ericsams.org, accessed 1 March 2010
  5. "Lamb, Andrew", Grove Music Online (subscription required), accessed 22 March 2009
  6. Lamb, Andrew. "Gershwin's Cuban Vacation" Archived 27 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.. Operetta Research Center, 21 April 2010, accessed 20 May 2010
  7. "Comic Opera Goes Latin-American, 1890–92 (Part 1)" Archived 27 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.. Operetta Research Center, reprinted from The Gaiety, Autumn 2006, 1 September 2006, accessed 20 May 2010
  8. Lamb, Andrew. "Comic Opera Goes Latin-American, 1890–92 (Part 2)" Archived 27 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine.. Operetta Research Center, reprinted from The Gaiety, Winter 2006, 1 November 2006, accessed 20 May 2010
  9. Lamb, Andrew. "La generala: When Vienna Comes to Madrid". zarzuela.net, 2008, accessed 20 May 2010
  10. Lamb, Andrew. "Two Hundred Years of Maestro Campanone". zarzuela.net, 17 May 2010, accessed 20 May 2010
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