Georg Drumm

Georg Drumm (born September 28, 1874 in Erdesbach , † December 16, 1959 in New York , New York , USA ) was a musician and composer. He played the violin, flute and trumpet and was a conductor on Broadway .

biography

Georg Drumm from Erdesbach, composer and conductor on Broadway

Georg Drumm started out as a traveling musician and is one of the most famous musicians and composers in the musicians' country . At the age of 14 he made his first trip to Scotland , which was followed by 13 more trips to England , Scotland and Ireland . He later found permanent employment at the Empire Theater in Dublin . There he founded his own small orchestra, which soon became well known.

Georg Drumm conducted numerous concerts and court balls on the occasion of Queen Victoria's visit to Dublin Castle and was then appointed "permanent court ball music director".

1904 Dublin Mayor chose him, the Irish delegation at the World's Fair in St. Louis ( Louisiana Purchase Exposition ) represent musical. He won the music competition advertised there, and this was followed by a year and a half concert tour through the USA. His return to Ireland was short-lived, with his family moving to New York.

Georg Drumm worked for 5 years as Kapellmeister in a theater in the Bronx and as a guest conductor at many theaters on Broadway . In 1935, the New York Evening Journal voted him the best musician, music teacher, and conductor in the United States. In 1954 he conducted a band of the Marines in Central Park , New York , which also played some of his compositions. The occasion was the 100th birthday of the American Marshal King John Philip Sousa . In a letter to relatives back home, he described it as a great honor that a former street musician from the Palatinate was chosen for the event from among 22,000 professional musicians in the USA.

In 1912 he wrote his first composition, the "Imperator March". It was premiered in 1914 by a military orchestra in Vienna. Further marches and chamber music works followed. But he also ventured into orchestral works: works like "Irlandia", "Irish Patrol", "Meditation" or "Reverie" were created in the style of symphonic poems.
His most famous composition is "Hail America" ​​from 1917 . It was texted by Lawton Mackall. "Hail America" ​​has been played on official occasions such as the inauguration of the new US President since the 1950s. A version for chamber orchestra is played at receptions in the White House upon the arrival of the presidential couple and their guests.

Georg Drumm visited his old home several times until his death.

swell

• Cuckoo Call and Nightingale , novel with extensive images and information by Marliese Fuhrmann. Gollenstein publishing house. ISBN 3-933389-27-5
• Palatinate Musikantenland Museum at Lichtenberg Castle , museum guide from Paul Engel. Görres-Verlag, Koblenz. ISBN 3-920388-99-2