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#15658 Herbert-Stothart

Herbert-Stothart - Of Scottish and German ancestry, Herbert Stothart was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1885. At first, he was slated for a career as a teacher of history. However, he became enamored with music while singing in a school choir, and again, later, while attending the University of Wisconsin. There, he composed and conducted musicals for the Haresfoot Dramatic Club (the actor Otis Skinner was a noted alumnus). The success of one of these amateur productions, Manicure Shop, which was staged professionally in Chicago, led to further musical studies in Europe, followed by full-time work as a composer for vaudeville and musical theatre.In 1914, Stothart was hired by legendary lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II as musical director for the Rudolf Friml operetta High Jinks. After three years on the road with various shows, Stothart scored his first Broadway musical, the farce Furs and Frills, in October 1917. During the next decade, he continued a string of successful collaborations with top-flight composers, lyricists and playwrights, including Otto A. Harbach and Vincent Youmans. After 1922, Stotharts own original compositions began to be featured, and, within two years, he was able to celebrate his first major hit with the musical Rose-Marie. Rose-Marie was written in conjunction with Rudolf Friml and ran for an impressive 557 performances at the Imperial Theatre. Stothart followed this success with the opera/ballet Song of the Flame, co-written with George Gershwin. In 1929, the success of talking pictures, combined with the popularity of musicals, prompted studio boss Louis B. Mayer to lure Stothart to Hollywood.Within just a few years, Stothart established himself as MGMs foremost film composer, working exclusively on the studios prestige output. Many of his scores were for productions derived from literary classics, such as Bunt na Bounty (1935), Ziemia blogoslawiona (1937) and Duma i uprzedzenie (1940). Stotharts preferred musical style was subtle and melodic, sometimes mournful, often prominently featuring violins. He was prone to use leitmotifs from classical composers, for example in W cieniu gilotyny (1935) and Portret Doriana Graya (1945) (Chopin), or Pani Walewska (1937) and Pozegnalny walc (1940) (Tchaikovsky). In his dual capacity as musical director, Stothart also supervised or orchestrated almost all of the popular Nelson Eddy-Jeanette MacDonald operettas. He composed a number of songs, one of the best-known being the Donkey Serenade, sung by Allan Jones in Hiszpanski motyl (1937). Most importantly, perhaps, he became the first composer at MGM to win an Academy Award for a musical score for Czarnoksieznik z Oz (1939).Herbert Stothart spent his entire Hollywood career at MGM. In 1947, he suffered a heart attack while visiting Scotland, and, afterwards, composed an orchestral piece (Heart Attack: A Symphonic Poem), based on his tribulations. He worked on another (The Voice of Liberation), when he died two years later at the age of 63 from cancer of the spine. He is an inductee in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.. Date of Birth, 11September 1885,Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA ,Date of Death, 1February 1949,Los Angeles, California, USA (spinal cancer)

Of Scottish and German ancestry, Herbert Stothart was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1885. At first, he was slated for a career as a teacher of history. However, he became enamored with music while singing in a school choir, and again, later, while attending the University of Wisconsin. There, he composed and conducted musicals for the Haresfoot Dramatic Club (the actor Otis Skinner was a noted alumnus). The success of one of these amateur productions, Manicure Shop, which was staged professionally in Chicago, led to further musical studies in Europe, followed by full-time work as a composer for vaudeville and musical theatre.In 1914, Stothart was hired by legendary lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II as musical director for the Rudolf Friml operetta High Jinks. After three years on the road with various shows, Stothart scored his first Broadway musical, the farce Furs and Frills, in October 1917. During the next decade, he continued a string of successful collaborations with top-flight composers, lyricists and playwrights, including Otto A. Harbach and Vincent Youmans. After 1922, Stotharts own original compositions began to be featured, and, within two years, he was able to celebrate his first major hit with the musical Rose-Marie. Rose-Marie was written in conjunction with Rudolf Friml and ran for an impressive 557 performances at the Imperial Theatre. Stothart followed this success with the opera/ballet Song of the Flame, co-written with George Gershwin. In 1929, the success of talking pictures, combined with the popularity of musicals, prompted studio boss Louis B. Mayer to lure Stothart to Hollywood.Within just a few years, Stothart established himself as MGMs foremost film composer, working exclusively on the studios prestige output. Many of his scores were for productions derived from literary classics, such as Bunt na Bounty (1935), Ziemia blogoslawiona (1937) and Duma i uprzedzenie (1940). Stotharts preferred musical style was subtle and melodic, sometimes mournful, often prominently featuring violins. He was prone to use leitmotifs from classical composers, for example in W cieniu gilotyny (1935) and Portret Doriana Graya (1945) (Chopin), or Pani Walewska (1937) and Pozegnalny walc (1940) (Tchaikovsky). In his dual capacity as musical director, Stothart also supervised or orchestrated almost all of the popular Nelson Eddy-Jeanette MacDonald operettas. He composed a number of songs, one of the best-known being the Donkey Serenade, sung by Allan Jones in Hiszpanski motyl (1937). Most importantly, perhaps, he became the first composer at MGM to win an Academy Award for a musical score for Czarnoksieznik z Oz (1939).Herbert Stothart spent his entire Hollywood career at MGM. In 1947, he suffered a heart attack while visiting Scotland, and, afterwards, composed an orchestral piece (Heart Attack: A Symphonic Poem), based on his tribulations. He worked on another (The Voice of Liberation), when he died two years later at the age of 63 from cancer of the spine. He is an inductee in the Songwriters Hall of Fame.. Date of Birth, 11September 1885,Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA ,Date of Death, 1February 1949,Los Angeles, California, USA (spinal cancer) .

Herbert-Stothart

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#15658 Herbert-Stothart