Robert Katscher

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Robert Katscher (born May 20, 1894 in Vienna , † February 23, 1942 in Los Angeles ) was an Austrian composer , songwriter and film composer . As the author of Viennese songs , dance music, hits and some operetta music, he was one of the most popular Austrian entertainment composers before 1938. "If Elisabeth didn't have such beautiful legs" (1930) achieved great international fame.

Live and act

Robert Katscher was a jurist doctorate and became first a law firm , but later studied at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts under Hans Gál to become a composer.

Katscher's comedy Die Wunder-Bar with texts by Géza Herczeg and others was premiered in Vienna in 1930 with the subtitle A Game in Nightlife . A year later it aired on Broadway ( The Wonder Bar ) and was filmed in America in 1934 ( Wonder Bar ), both times with Al Jolson in the lead role.

After Austria's annexation in 1938, Katscher had to emigrate to New York as a Jew before the Nazi regime and was accepted there as the first refugee in the ASCAP collecting society .

Around 1940 Katscher moved to Hollywood , where he socialized with Ernst Haeusserman and Ernst Deutsch . His few compositional contributions to films mostly remained unproven. However, his piece " When Day Is Done ", interpreted by Paul Whiteman in 1927, found repeated use in film soundtracks even after his death.

Works

Operetta music

Bat

Other hits , unless already mentioned under “Operetta Music”. Unless otherwise stated, Robert Katscher was responsible for the music:

  • "Where did you get those beautiful blue eyes from?" ( Shimmy ), 1923 (text only)
  • "The Lou-Lila" (Lied and Foxtrot ), 1924
  • "Madonna, you are more beautiful than the sunshine", 1924 (also text; in the same year interpreted as "When Day is Done" by Paul Whiteman )
  • “Now the world should sink in” ( English Waltz ), 1930
  • "Doctor Lueger once shook hands with me" (made from vinegar and oil ), 1932
  • "Yes, the wine I mean" (made from vinegar and oil ), 1932
  • “The most beautiful sport is cycling”, 1933
  • "Good evening friends"

The blues “Madonna you are more beautiful than the sunshine” comes from the revue Kisses at Midnight , written by Katscher and Karl Farkas and performed in 1924 at the Wiener Kammerspiele. Other pieces used in it were the Foxtrot song "The Bobby Cohn is no traffic for you" by Austin Egen and the Fox "Chili Bom Bom" by Walter Donaldson and Cliff Friend .

For the song “Madonna, you are more beautiful than the sunshine” published by Katscher in 1924 and the success of the musician friend Paul Whiteman under the title “When Day is Done” (newly recorded in English) there are differences in the year in the sources, it is also called 1926 or 1927. The title "When Day is Done" was then used in 1940 in Hot Rhythms in Chicago (Strike Up the Band) and in 1999 in Sweet and Lowdown .

Film music

Audio documents

  • "I Love My Chili Bom Bom", Fox Trot (Friend & Donaldson) Savoy Havana Band. Columbia 3435 (mx. A 794), up. March 1924
  • “Bobby Cohn is no traffic for you!” Song and foxtrot (Katscher - Farkas - Egen) Jacques Rotter . At the piano Prof. Zilzer. Odeon A 44 823 (mx. Ve 1182) c. 1925
  • "The Dr. Lueger shook my hand once ” , a song made from vinegar and oil (Rob. Katscher, text by Siegfried Geyer). Hans Moser with orchestra. Columbia DV 1634 [mx. WHA 483-2] Date: 1932.
  • “Yes, the wine that I mean” , song made from vinegar and oil (Rob. Katscher, text by Siegfried Geyer), Hans Moser with orchestra. Columbia DV 1634 [mx. WHA 484-4] Date: 1932.

Audio samples

Film hit

  • “You shouldn't look so deep into women’s beautiful eyes” . Spanish March from the Ufa sound film Stern von Valencia (Richard Stauch) Chapel Eugen Jahn, vocals: Ernst Harten (= Erwin Hartung ). Brillant Spezial (with record overlay) No. 148, Matr. B 158. Photo from summer 1933.
  • "Fidéle" . Tango from the sound film Stern von Valencia (Richard Stauch, French text by P. Collins), French version L'Étoile de Valencia 1932 with Brigitte Helm . Odéon France 150.490 (mx.Ki 6128), up. in Berlin, pressed in France, not published in Germany.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Katscher, Robert
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian composer, songwriter and film composer
DATE OF BIRTH May 20, 1894
PLACE OF BIRTH Vienna
DATE OF DEATH February 23, 1942
Place of death Hollywood