By Engelbert Humperdinck
A Musical Upbringing
 Engelbert Humperdinck and his sister Adelheid were born in small town in the German valley of Siegsburg, near Bonn. Their father was a school teacher who wrote poetry and was a great lover of fantasy. Their mother was a singer with an exceptionally beautiful voice. She introduced the young Engelbert to the piano, and gave him a thorough training in the compositions of the great masters.
The two children grew up in a house in which music and poetry were treated with love and understanding. It soon became apparent that Adelheid had inherited the talent of her father, whereas Engelbert was soon to follow in the footsteps of his mother. As soon as she could write, Adelheid began composing small verses which her brother would set to music. Their parents were delighted by their endeavors, and encouraged them to continue. Adelheid’s career was ended by her early marriage and the demands of her family life, but the need to create music was so strong in Engelbert that nothing could restrain it.
Finding himself
As a young man, Humperdinck wandered for a while through the world. He worked in France, taught in Spain, studied Moorish music in Africa, and finally obtained a permanent position in Frankfurt preparing special editions of Wagner’s music. Here his sister Adelheid sent him the first verses for Hansel and Gretel, which he eagerly began to set to music
The creation of Hansel and Gretel
Where it all began
One day, Adelheid found her two daughters trying to create a puppet show of Hansel and Gretel, one of the stories in the collection by the Brothers Grimm.
Frau Wette, as she was known in marriage, , didn’t want her children to become terrified by the story, so she interrupted her own and wrote a family play about Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. She sent it to her brother, asking him to write some music for it. After a successful premiere at home, Adelheid sent it to a Swiss family newspaper. Delighted, the newspaper asked for another musical fairy tale which they could print.
Frau Wette turned once again to Hansel and Gretel. She modified the story, wrote a new play, and sent it to her brother. After another family success, Humperdinck expanded the work for operatic treatment. He improved some elements, deleted others, demanded new scenes, and set them to music. He added new roles: the Sandman and the Dew Fairy, the Broommaker Father, the gingerbread children, and the angels. Subconsciously, the first step towards creating a full opera was taken by resolving to write the title roles for developed artists rather than children.
To learn more about Humperdinck and the creation of Hansel and Gretel, download the full Study Guide here.
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