Gustav Kobbe

Gustav Kobbe
Gustav Kobbé was an American music critic and author, best known for his work "The Complete Opera Book," a comprehensive guide to opera that remains a valuable reference today. Born in 1857 in New York City, Kobbé initially studied law but soon turned to writing about music and culture. He contributed to various prominent publications, including "The New York Herald" and "The Century Magazine," where he gained recognition for his insightful critiques. Tragically, Kobbé died in 1918 while sailing in Great South Bay, New York, when his boat was struck by a seaplane.

Author's Books:


I. THE TITLE AND PURPOSE OF THIS BOOK My book, "How to Appreciate Music," in the chapter devoted to the pianoforte, contains a paragraph relating to the Pianola and its influence in popularizing music and stimulating musical taste. I confess that before I started that paragraph I was puzzled to know what term to use in designating the instrument I had in mind. "Mechanical piano-player"... more...

CHAPTER IA RATIONAL VOCAL METHODSong, so far as voice-production is concerned, is the result of physiological action, and as voice-production is the basis of all song, it follows that a singing method, to be correct, must be based on the correct physiological use of the vocal organs. The physiology of voice-production lies, therefore, at the very foundation of artistic singing. The proper physiological... more...

Mozart and His Constance Nearly eight years after Mozart's death his widow, in response to a request from a famous publishing house for relics of the composer, sent, among other Mozartiana, a packet of letters written to her by her husband. In transmitting these she wrote: "Especially characteristic is his great love for me, which breathes through all the letters. Is it not true—those from... more...

THE PIANOFORTE There must be practically on the part of every one who attends a pianoforte recital some degree of curiosity regarding the instrument itself. Therefore, it seems to me pertinent to institute at the very outset an inquiry into what the pianoforte is and how it became what it is—the most practical, most expressive and most universal of musical instruments, the instrument of the... more...