SALAMAN

SALAMAN , English family. charles kensington salaman (1814–1901), pianist and composer, was elected a member of the Royal Academy of Music at the age of ten, and made his debut on the concert platform in 1828. After completing his music studies in Paris, he returned to London in 1831 and, besides composing, teaching, and giving recitals, devoted much time to promoting the musical life of the capital. He inaugurated an annual series of orchestral concerts (1833), founded London's first amateur choral society (1849), helped to establish chamber concerts (1853), and was one of the founders of the Musical Society of London (1858).

In 70 years of composing, Charles Salaman produced many works for piano, organ, and orchestra, and a comic opera, Pickwick (1889). He was especially prolific as a writer of songs in English, Italian, and Hebrew and of devotional music for the synagogue. An early advocate of Reform Judaism, he composed more than a hundred settings for the service of the West London Synagogue, as well as anthems and settings of psalms. Several of his anthems were used by Anglicans, and his setting of the 84^th Psalm was sung at the reopening of Worcester Cathedral. He wrote Jews as they Are (1882, 1885²). Four of Charles Salaman's sisters rose to prominence in art and literature. julia salaman (1812–1906), who married Louis Goodman, was a well-known portrait artist who exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1838–1901. Her younger sister kate salaman (1821–1856) was noted for her miniature portraits. rachel salaman married Sir John *Simon in 1843, and wrote Records and Reflections, selected from her writings during half a century (1894). annette salaman (d. 1879) assisted in compiling a second edition of Footsteps in the Way of Life (1874²), an illustrated guide to the Bible, and the children's story book Aunt Annette's Stories to Ada (1876¹; 1879⁵).

Charles Salaman's oldest son, malcolm charles salaman (1855–1940), was a drama and art critic. From 1883 to 1894 he was a drama and art critic of the Sunday Times and, from 1890 to 1899, was also on the staff of the Daily Graphic. In the art world he was regarded as England's outstanding authority on color prints and woodcuts.

His numerous books on prints included The Old Engravers of England (1906), Old English Colour-Prints (1909), The Great Painter-Etchers from Rembrandt to Whistler (1913), and the series Modern Masters of Etching and Masters of the Colour Print. From 1923 to 1938 he published an annual review, Fine Prints of the Year. He edited the published plays of Sir Arthur Wing Pinero (1891–1900). Three of his own plays were staged – Deceivers Ever (1883), Dimity's Dilemma (1894), and A Modern Eve (1894). He also wrote a large number of song lyrics.

bibliography:

Grove, Dict; mgg; dnb.

[George H. Fried]