Lampe, John Frederick (actually, Johann Friedrich)

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Lampe, John Frederick (actually, Johann Friedrich)

Lampe, John Frederick (actually, Johann Friedrich), German-born English composer; b. Saxony, c. 1703; d. Edinburgh, July 25, 1751. After training in Helmstedt, he went to London about 1724 and played bassoon in theater orchs. He composed a number of English operas in the Italian manner without success, but his lighter stage scores proved successful, particularly his burlesque The Dragon of Wantley (London, May 10, 1737) and his mock opera Pyramus and Thisbe (London, Jan. 25, 1745). He also composed the Cuckoo Concerto for Flute and Strings (c. 1740), Hymns on the Great Festivals to texts by Charles Wesley (1746), an anthem, a cantata, ballads, and songs. His wife was Isabella Young.

Bibliography

D. Martin, The Operas and Operatic Style of J.F L. (Detroit, 1985).

—Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire