Lewis Ruth

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Lewis Ruth (actually Ludwig Rüth ; born January 30, 1889 in Landau in the Palatinate ; † April 2, 1941 in Durban , South Africa , according to other sources in July 1947 in Windhoek , today Namibia ) was a German musician and band leader of dance orchestras .

Life

The Lewis Ruth Band in the Threepenny Opera

Ludwig Rüth was born the son of a general senior physician. From 1909 he studied in Munich at the Royal Academy of Music (flute, composition and conducting) and at Munich University (philosophy, medicine and musicology). In 1912 he went to the Hofoper Stuttgart as solo flutist and played as first flutist in Leipzig and Munich; there he conducted the Academic Orchestra Association from 1914. After his first attempts as an orchestral musician and conductor, he was drafted as a soldier in the First World War , but was then employed as a guest conductor in neutral countries as part of “cultural propaganda”.

After the war, Rüth initially directed the State Symphony Orchestra for Saarland and the Palatinate, but was unable to finally establish himself in the classical subject. To keep himself afloat, he took on casual workers in entertainment establishments and so came up with the idea of ​​founding the “Lewis Ruth Band” in 1925 with him as a saxophonist. From then on he played light music and especially jazz, which explains the Anglicisation of his name to Lewis Ruth. His band had a huge success by working with Theo Mackeben . He was musical director of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill and occupied the first performance of the Threepenny Opera with Ludwig Rüths band then accompanied all other performances of The Threepenny Opera and the name of the project itself Threepenny band was. In 1933 Rüth also conducted the world premiere of the operetta Beauberdes Fräulein by Ralph Benatzky .

Both under the name Lewis Ruth and Ludwig Rüth, the "jazzende Symphoniker" (advert for the record company Electrola) recorded around 400 shellac records between 1928 and 1937 , most of which he appears as an accompanying orchestra for pop performers. From the late 1929s onwards, Ruth and his dance orchestra made a number of records for Electrola, mostly songs from sound films such as "Sailor Song" by Kurt Weill (# 1590), "A bit of love for you" (# 2518, with Max Mensing, Vocals), "Tonight or never" (# 2556), "Season in Cairo" (with Eric Helgar, vocals), "I kissed you once", "They are coming to tea" (# 2867, by Ralph Benatzky ) , “In a small town” (# 3421), “Once upon a time there was a musician” (# 2646), “Love comes from somewhere” and “Ruth, dance with me Cuban today” (by Will Meisel , with Johannes Maximilian , Singing).

In 1936/37 several jazz-influenced numbers were created, such as “Beautiful stories”, “Love doesn't go that far”, “Bu huh! I want to cry ”and“ I'm crazy about your freckles ”, with a studio orchestra that u. a. Kurt Hohenberger (trumpet), Walter Dobschinski (trombone), Franz Thon (clarinet, alto saxophone), Curt Hasenpflug (tenor saxophone, piccolo, arrangement), Hans Carste (violin, arrangement) and Peter Igelhoff (piano, vocals). His band also worked in theater and film productions, including the Ufa film Die Drei von der Gasstelle . Overall, the Ludwig Rüth Orchestra was involved in almost twenty film productions. Lüth and his orchestra also appeared on the screen in two films ( Die Drei von der Gasstelle and Ein Tango für Dich ). For a long time he worked alongside Werner Schmidt-Boelcke as Kapellmeister at the Berlin Metropol-Theater .

Because Ludwig Rüth (after separating from his wife) lived with the Jew Vera Cohn-Moser, there was hostility from the National Socialists. These became more and more intense after the birth of their daughter, Gabrielle. Rüth finally left Germany in 1937. Hans Carste , with whom Rüth had worked, took over his orchestra . Rüth emigrated to South West Africa and married his partner there a year later. He tried to start a new music career, but could not really get his way in exile - not least because of boycott efforts by supporters and members of the NSDAP living there. In October 1940 he joined the South African army fighting on the side of Great Britain . According to his daughter Gabi Robinson, Ludwig Rüth fell victim to a swimming accident near Durban on April 2, 1941. The film encyclopedia IMDb names July 1947 as the date of death.

Filmography

Film music played by the Ludwig Ruth Orchestra

  • 1930: The song is over
  • 1930: The jumping jack
  • 1930: The gentleman on order
  • 1930: The three from the gas station (Lewis Ruth also as actor in the film)
  • 1930: A tango for you (Lewis Ruth also as actor in the film)
  • 1930: Le chemin du paradis (Lewis Ruth also as actor in the film)
  • 1930: Storms over the Montblanc
  • 1931: The Schlemihl
  • 1931: The suitcase of Mr. OF
  • 1931: The merry women of Vienna
  • 1931: L'opéra de quat'sous
  • 1931: Who takes love seriously?
  • 1931: I kissed a girl once in Vienna
  • 1933: a woman like you
  • 1933: Kuhle Wampe or Who Owns the World?
  • 1933: Gretel draws the big lot (as Ludwig Rüth)
  • 1933: Novel One Night (as Ludwig Ruth)
  • 1934: Old Comrades (as Ludwig Rüth)
  • 1934: In the matter of Timpe (as Ludwig Rüth)
  • 1934: Dear stupid mom
  • 1934: My wife, the shooter queen (as Ludwig Rüth)
  • 1934: Felix becomes the rifleman

Discography

In particular, the Ludwig Rüth Orchestra accompanied the following performers (selection):

  • The 5 Parodisters: Dear child, when we are in agreement (Electrola EG 3149; September 1934)
  • The 5 Parodisters: Come Back Tomorrow (3186; December 1934)
  • Erwin Hartung : You are changeable (EG 3247; March 1935)
  • The Metropol Vocalists : Aunt Jutta from Calcutta (EG 3712; June 1936)
  • Elena Lauri : I would have loved to have believed in you (EG 3730; November 1936)
  • Peter Igelhoff : Boo-Huh! I want to cry (EG 3980; June 1937)
  • Marita Gründgens : I don't want to fall in love (EG 3979; June 1937)
  • Rudi Schuricke : You shouldn't be shy with the girls (EG 6009; August 1937)
  • Hans Carste : There is dance music on the radio today (EG 6131; October 1937)
  • Rudi Schuricke: Kiss me, please, please, kiss me (EG 6356; December 1937)
  • Elena Lauri: I will dream of you every night (EG 6356; December 1937)
  • Hans Carste: When the evening comes (EG 6311; April 1938)

His orchestra also plays

  • The first kisses you give (EG 3361; July 1935)
  • In the evening when the lights are glowing (EG 3440; September 1935)
  • Polly Wolly Doodle (EG 3865; January 1937)

Music CD

  • Lewis Ruth - Ludwig Rüth. The Dreigroschenband invites you to dance , original recordings 1928–1938. CD, Pumpkin Pie Records, Berlin 1999
  • Ludwig Rüth and his dance orchestra . Series The Great German Dance Orchestra , Membrane Music Ltd. 2005

Shellac Records as Lewis Ruth (selection)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Rudolf Vierhaus (ed.), German biographical encyclopedia: (DBE) , 2007, p. 647
  2. ^ Hugo Riemanns Musik-Lexikon , 10th edition, edited by Alfred Einstein. Max Hesses Verlag, Berlin 1922, p. 1104
  3. ^ Gerhard Fuchs: Ludwig Rüth (1889-1941) . Booklet for the CD Ludwig Rüth and his dance orchestra , Membran Music 2005
  4. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed September 12, 2016)
  5. ↑ Knud Wolffram, Lewis Ruth-Ludwig Rüth. Booklet for CD Die Dreigroschenband asks to dance , Pumpkin Pie Records, Berlin 1999

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Ruth, Lewis
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Rüth, Ludwig (real name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German conductor, musician and band leader
DATE OF BIRTH January 30, 1889
PLACE OF BIRTH Landau in the Palatinate
DATE OF DEATH April 2, 1941 or July 1947
Place of death Durban , South Africa or Windhoek , Namibia