Rodwell, George Herbert Bonaparte

1800-1852

English operatic composer; musical director of the Adelphi Theatre; born in London; the son of the manager, Thomas Rodwell, who owned a share in the theatre, to which George succeeded on his father's death in 1825. In 1836 he was the musical director of Covent Garden. He married the daughter of the comedian, John Listen. For a long time he was a tenacious advocate of the founding and maintaining of a national opera in England. He died in Pimlico, London. He was a prolific composer of operettas, farces, etc., including The Bottle Imp, The Mason of Buda, The Spring Lock, The Earthquake, and The Devil's Elixir, My Own Lover, The Evil Eye, Lord of the Isles, Paul Clifford, Last Days of Pompeii, Teddy the Tiler, and The Seven Maids of Munich. He also wrote three novels, one of which, Old London Bridge, was quite popular, and a didactic work, The First Rudiments of Harmony. He composed a number of songs, including two collections, Songs of the Birds, and Songs of the Sabbath Eve.