Herbert Rehbein (musician)

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Herbert Rehbein-Wettstein (1922–1979) musician, composer, orchestra conductor, arranger, grave in the Hörnli cemetery, Riehen, Basel-Stadt
Grave in the Hörnli cemetery , Riehen, Basel-Stadt

Herbert Rehbein (born April 15, 1922 in Hamburg , † July 28, 1979 in Basel-Bruderholz , Switzerland ) was a German violinist , orchestra conductor , arranger and composer . Together with Bert Kaempfert , he created world hits for artists such as Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin . His instrumental works recorded with his own orchestra are included in Easy Listening . His composition of the Olympic Fanfare for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich attracted international attention .

Life

Herbert Rehbein, born in Hamburg in 1922, showed great interest in music as a child. His parents supported his musical talent, but did not give him the expensive piano he wanted, but a cheaper violin. Since the age of nine he received classical music lessons at the Hamburg Conservatory and practiced pieces for violin by composers such as Brahms , Mendelssohn Bartholdy and Tchaikovsky .

In 1941, at the age of 19, Rehbein was drafted into the Wehrmacht . According to his musical abilities, he was assigned to a music corps and initially stationed on Crete . In the further course of the war he came to Yugoslavia, where he was taken prisoner of war. During his three-year internship in Belgrade , he was allowed to take his violin with him and continued to perfect his skills. At the end of the war he got a job as solo violinist and soon worked as director of the orchestra of Radio Belgrade . Rehbein stayed in Belgrade until 1952. During this time, his musical interest developed from classical music to the big band sound of the great American swing orchestras. Back in Germany, he worked for various German radio orchestras as solo violinist, as well as arranger and composer.

In 1951 Rehbein met the musician Bert Kaempfert . The two worked closely together in the following years and a large number of international hits were created. In addition, both were on friendly terms. In the early 1960s they met Milt Gabler from the American record company Decca , who helped them to market their songs on the American market. One of the outstanding songs of this time together is Strangers in the Night , whose interpretation by Frank Sinatra became a world hit. More songs for Sinatra such as The World We Knew , My Way of Life , You Turned My World Around , Sweet Maria and Lady followed. Other American stars also sang songs written by Kaempfert and Rehbein. These include Dean Martin with I Can't Help Remembering You and Welcome to My Heart and Sammy Davis junior with Lonely Is the Name .

Rehbein had lived in Switzerland since the 1960s and directed the Basel Radio Orchestra for several years . Rehbein also produced four albums with instrumental music. One of his most famous compositions is the Olympic Fanfare for the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich. Rehbein composed or arranged numerous pieces for well-known interpreters of his time. These include opera stars such as Hermann Prey and Lisa della Casa as well as the pop singers Vico Torriani and Karel Gott .

In 1976 he arranged for Hildegard Knef on the LP With you it was always so beautiful new famous German hits. In 1977 the LP The Two Faces was created in collaboration with Su Kramer . With his own orchestra he published the instrumental hit Beautiful Morning in 1978 , in which he combined bird songs with strings. In 1978 he arranged well-known Christmas carols for the producer Armand Volker for the LP "Christmas in Guitar Sound", which were interpreted by Barry Lyndon with his electric guitar.

Rehbein died of lung cancer in Switzerland in 1979. He had been married to Ruth Wettstein since 1955. Their son, Jürg Rehbein, lives as a painter in the USA. Herbert Rehbein was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame posthumously in 1993 together with Bert Kaempfert .

Publications (selection)

  • 1964 - Herbert Rehbein & His Orchestra: music to soothe that tiger , Decca (USA) and Polydor 237644
  • 1967 - Herbert Rehbein & His Orchestra: Love after Midnight , Decca (USA) and Polydor 184078
  • 1969 - Herbert Rehbein & His Orchestra: and so to bed , Decca
  • 1978 - Herbert Rehbein & His Orchestra: Beautiful Morning , Philips 6345062
  • 2000 - Herbert Rehbein & His Orchestra: The Complete LP Collection Taragon TARCD1073, (new CD release)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Rehbein, Herbert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German violinist, orchestra conductor, arranger and composer
DATE OF BIRTH April 15, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg , Germany
DATE OF DEATH July 28, 1979
Place of death Basel-Bruderholz , Switzerland