Joseph Carl Breil

Joseph Carl Breil

Joseph Carl Breil (born June 29, 1870 in Pittsburgh , † January 24, 1926 in Los Angeles ) was an American composer , tenor and director .

Breil was one of the first American composers to write music specifically for films. Some of the best-known films he has composed for include The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance by David Wark Griffith .

biography

Breil graduated from Duquesne University in Pittsburgh in 1888 . He later wrote the university's anthem, which was first performed in October 1920. He later studied a. a. also at St. Fidelis College in Butler , before his family moved to Leipzig was sent to the University of Leipzig jurisprudence to study. In Leipzig he also began to occupy himself with music and singing. He sang at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Leipzig , and later he took singing lessons in Milan and Philadelphia .

Between 1891 and 1892 he sang tenor for the Emma Juch Opera Company , then returned to Pittsburgh. There he gave singing lessons and until 1897 led the choir of St. Paul's Cathedral in Pittsburgh. In the following years he worked as a music director in various theaters and as a music editor. Meanwhile he continued to compose pieces.

The first film he composed for was Les amours de la reine Élisabeth with Sarah Bernhardt, premiered in 1912 . Two of the most famous films he has composed for are The Birth of a Nation and Intolerance by David Wark Griffith . From then on he composed for various films and wrote several operas, including The Legend , which premiered in 1919 at the Metropolitan Opera . He also wrote pieces for radio broadcasts.

He died on January 24, 1926 of heart disease.

Works

Films with music by Breil

• Les amours de la reine Élisabeth, 1912
• The Prisoner of Zenda ( The Prisoner of Zenda ), 1913
• The Lily and the Rose, 1915
• The Penitentes, 1915
• Martyrs of the Alabamo, 1915
• The Sable Lorcha, 1915
• The Birth of a Nation ( The Birth of a Nation ), 1915
• Double Trouble, 1915
• Intolerance ( Intolerance: Love's Struggle Throughout the Ages ), 1916
• The Wood Nymph, 1916
• The Birth of a Race, 1918
• The White Rose, 1923
• The White Sister ( The White Sister ), 1923
• The Dramatic Life of Abraham Lincoln, 1924
• America , 1924
• The Climax, 1930
• The Mine with the Iron Door, 1936
• The Cowboy and the Kid, 1936
• Undersea Kingdom, 1936
• The Boss Rider of Gun Creek, 1936
• The Old Corral, 1936
• Rawhide, 1938

Operas

• Orlando of Milan, 1888
• Love Laughs at Locksmiths, 1910
• Prof. Tattle, 1913
• The Seventh Chord, 1913
• The Legend, 1919
• The Asra, 1925

Other compositions

• Theme song of the radio show Amos 'n' Andy

Web links

• Joseph Carl Breil in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Joseph Carl Breil on SoundtrackNet
• Joseph Carl Breil at US Opera

Audio

• Duquesne University Anthem
• Prologue from the birth of a nation ( WAV ; 240 kB)