Sir August Manns

A cabinet card portrait of Sir August Friedrich Manns (1825-1907), the German-born conductor who made his career in England and had an enormous influence on the cultural life of his adopted country.

After serving as a military bandmaster in Germany, he moved to England and soon became director of music at London's Crystal Palace. He increased the resident band to full symphonic strength and for more than forty years conducted concerts at popular prices. He introduced a wide range of music to London, including many works by young British composers, as well as works by German masters hitherto neglected in England. Among his British protégés were Arthur Sullivan, Charles Villiers Stanford, Hubert Parry, Hamish MacCunn, Edward Elgar and Edward German.

Manns performed the works of more than 300 composers, and was reckoned to have given more than 12,000 concerts during his tenure at the Crystal Palace between 1855 and 1901. He became a British citizen in 1894 and was knighted in 1903. He died at Norwood in 1907, just short of his 82nd birthday, and was buried in West Norwood Cemetery.

Photographed by Negretti and Zambra, official photographers at the Crystal Palace.