Richard Rodgers

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Richard Rodgers (1948)

Richard Charles Rodgers (born June 28, 1902 on Long Island in New York City , New York , † December 30, 1979 in New York City) was an American composer . By winning the Emmys in 1962, he became the first person to win all four major American entertainment awards .

life and work

Richard Rodgers, born the son of a doctor and his wife on Long Island, grew up in a musical New York family. His grandparents, who loved opera , often took their grandson to Broadway . He was influenced in these early years by the operettas by Victor Herbert and the songs by Jerome Kern .

He initially learned to play the piano, especially playing by ear and improvising, self-taught. He later studied at Columbia University and at the Institute of Musical Art with Henry E. Krehbiel and Percy Goetschius .

In 1918 or 1919 he met the copywriter Lorenz Hart at Columbia University, where their long-term collaboration began with the production of student shows. The first Broadway success was the revue The Garrick Gaieties (1925) with the hit Manhattan . After that, Rodgers and Hart became one of the most productive and successful teams on Broadway. (In total, almost 30 stage musicals as well as films and film adaptations of their stage shows resulted from this collaboration). From 1931 to 1935 they worked in Hollywood for the film. Blue Moon (from Manhattan Melodrama (1934)) is one of the most popular songs from this period. After their return to New York they wrote one musical hit after another - from Jumbo (1935) and On Your Toes to Pal Joey and By Jupiter . At the beginning of the 1940s there were differences between the two, and Hart also had major health problems. In 1943 their collaboration ended with Hart's untimely death.

In the same year Rodgers began working with Oscar Hammerstein II on the musical Oklahoma! . Many of the musicals created by Rodgers and Hammerstein are among the most important in Broadway history: Carousel , which contains one of their most famous songs You'll Never Walk Alone , then South Pacific , The King and I , Flower Drum Song and - their most successful musical The Sound of Music with songs like The Sound of Music , My Favorite Things or Climb Every Mountain . They also founded a production company that, in addition to their own, also produced pieces by others such as B. Irving Berlin's Annie Get Your Gun .

Some of the musical songs by Rodgers, who like no other theatrical composer of the 1920s used jazz-influenced rhythms in his song compositions, became jazz standards. (Since the swing and bebop era, it has been a common practice of jazz musicians to use refrains from musical melodies as the basis of their improvisations). These well-known compositions by Rodgers also include My Romance from the musical Jumbo (1935) and Have You Met Miss Jones? from the musical I'd Rather Be Right (1937).

After Hammerstein's death in 1960, Rodgers continued to write for the stage, albeit with different lyrics. Overall, the pieces were less successful in this period, which was partly due to a changed taste in music, and partly because Rodgers could no longer find a suitable partner.

In his last years the composer fell ill with cancer of the throat , which stole his voice. Richard Rodgers died in his hometown in 1979 at the age of 77. His daughter Mary Rodgers (1931-2014) was also a well-known musical composer.

In 1955 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters .

Rodgers also composed the music to accompany a film and television documentary (1952) and the music for a television series (1960).

Works

Richard Rodgers (left) and Lorenz Hart (1936)
Richard Rodgers (left) and Oscar Hammerstein (right), with Irving Berlin (1948)

Together with Lorenz Hart

Shows - musicals and musical revues

  • 1925: The Garrick Gaieties
  • 1925: Dearest Enemy
  • 1926: The Girl Friend
  • 1926: Peggy-Ann
  • 1926: Betsy
  • 1927: A Connecticut Yankee
  • 1928: She's My Baby
  • 1928: Present Arms - film adaptation 1930 (Title: Leathernecking )
  • 1928: Chee-Chee
  • 1929: Spring Is Here - film adaptation 1930
  • 1929: Heads Up - film adaptation 1930
  • 1930: Simple Simon
  • 1931: America's Sweetheart
  • 1932: most beautiful, love me
  • 1935: Jumbo - filming in 1962
  • 1936: On Your Toes (contains the jazz ballet Slaughter On Tenth Avenue ) - 1939 film
  • 1937: Babes in Arms - film adaptation in 1939
  • 1937: I'd Rather Be Right
  • 1938: I Married an Angel - 1942 film
  • 1938: The Boys from Syracuse - film adaptation 1940
  • 1939: Too Many Girls - film adaptation 1940
  • 1940: Higher and Higher - film adaptation 1943
  • 1940: Pal Joey - film adaptation 1957
  • 1942: By Jupiter

Film work

  • 1931: The Hot Heiress
  • 1932: The Phantom President
  • 1932: Love Me Tonight
  • 1933: Hallelujah, I'm A Bum
  • 1934: The Merry Widow (The Merry Widow)
  • 1941: They Met In Argentina

Together with Oscar Hammerstein II

Shows - musicals

Film work

After Oscar Hammerstein's death

Shows - musicals

Film work

  • 1967: Androcles and the Lion - TV movie

Films about Rodgers and his partners

about Rodgers
  • Richard Rodgers: The Sweetest Sounds (PBS Series: American Masters television documentary - USA 2001)
via Rodgers & Hart
via Rodgers & Hammerstein

Awards

  • 1944: with Oscar Hammerstein: Pulitzer Prize for the musical Oklahoma
  • 1946: Oscar for the song It Might as Well Be Spring from the film Love Fair (State Fair)
  • 1949: Tony Award for the musical South Pacific for the best musical and for the best music (score / score)
  • 1950: with Oscar Hammersein: Pulitzer Prize for the musical South Pacific
  • 1952: Tony Award for the musical The King and I for the best musical and for the best music (score / score)
  • 1955: Beginning of membership in the National Institute of Arts and Letters
  • 1956: Tony Award for the film The King and I for the best film music (score / score)
  • 1958: Oscar for the film South Pacific for best film music (score / score)
  • 1960: Tony Award for the musical The Sound Of Music for the best musical and for the best music (score / score)
  • 1960: Grammy Award for the musical The Sound Of Music for the best musical show album (music recording)
  • 1962: Tony Award for the musical No Strings for the best music (score / score)
  • 1966: Oscar for the best film music for the film My songs - my dreams

Rodgers holds honorary degrees from numerous American universities.

literature

  • Meryle Secrest : Somewhere for Me: A Biography of Richard Rodgers. Knopf, New York 2001, ISBN 0-375-40164-4 .
  • Rolf Tönnes: Jazz Classics for Classical Guitar: Richard Rodgers. Schott, Mainz etc. 1996, especially p. 15 f. (Biography and notes).

Web links

Commons : Richard Rodgers  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Andrew Lloyd Webber : Rodgers and Hammerstein. In: People of the Century. Simon & Schuster, New York 1999, ISBN 0-684-87093-2 , p. 178 ff., Here: p. 179.
  2. ^ Rolf Tönnes: Jazz Classics for Classical Guitar: Richard Rodgers. Schott, Mainz etc. 1996, p. 15.
  3. www . britica.com .
  4. ^ Rolf Tönnes: Jazz Classics for Classical Guitar: Richard Rodgers. Schott, Mainz etc. 1996, p. 15.
  5. ^ Rolf Tönnes: Jazz Classics for Classical Guitar: Richard Rodgers. Schott, Mainz etc. 1996, p. 15.
  6. ^ Rolf Tönnes: Jazz Classics for Classical Guitar: Richard Rodgers. Schott, Mainz etc. 1996, pp. 4 and 15 f.
  7. ^ Mary Rodgers - Broadway Composer Mary Rodgers Dies At 83
  8. ^ Members: Richard Rodgers. American Academy of Arts and Letters, accessed April 22, 2019 .
  9. ^ Rolf Tönnes: Jazz Classics for Classical Guitar: Richard Rodgers. Schott, Mainz etc. 1996, p. 15 (cited).