For his collaborative work with Richard Rodgers, see Rodgers and Hammerstein
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II ( ; July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960 ) was an american lyricist, librettist, theatrical producer, and ( normally uncredited ) conductor in the musical field for about 40 years. He won eight Tony Awards and two Academy Awards for Best Original Song. many of his songs are standard repertoire for vocalists and jazz musicians. He co-wrote 850 songs.
Reading: Oscar Hammerstein II – Wikipedia
He is well known for his collaborations with composer Richard Rodgers, as the couple Rodgers and Hammerstein, whose musicals include Oklahoma!, Carousel, South Pacific, The King and I, and The Sound of Music. Described by Stephen Sondheim as an “ experimental dramatist ”, [ 1 ] Hammerstein helped bring the american musical to new adulthood by popularizing musicals that focused on stories and quality rather than the blithe entertainment that the musical had been known for ahead. He besides collaborated with Jerome Kern ( with whom he wrote Show Boat ), Vincent Youmans, Rudolf Friml, Richard A. Whiting, and Sigmund Romberg .
early biography [edit ]
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was born in New York City, the son of Alice Hammerstein ( née Nimmo ) and theatrical performance director William Hammerstein. [ 2 ] His grandfather was the german theater showman Oscar Hammerstein I. His father was from a jewish family, and his mother was the daughter of british parents. [ 3 ] He attended the Church of the Divine Paternity, now the Fourth Universalist Society in the City of New York. [ 4 ] Although Hammerstein ‘s forefather managed the Victoria Theatre and was a producer of vaudeville shows, he was opposed to his son ‘s desire to participate in the arts. [ 5 ] Hammerstein attended Columbia University ( 1912–1916 ) and studied at Columbia Law School until 1917. [ 6 ] As a scholar, he maintained gamey grades and engaged in numerous extracurricular activities. These included play inaugural base on the baseball team, performing in the Varsity Show and becoming an active member of Pi Lambda Phi, a largely jewish brotherhood. [ 7 ] After his father ‘s death, in June 1914, when he was 19, he participated in his first play with the Varsity Show, entitled On Your Way. Throughout the rest of his college career, Hammerstein wrote and performed in several Varsity Shows. [ 8 ] [ 9 ]
early career [edit ]
After quitting jurisprudence school to pursue field, Hammerstein began his foremost professional collaboration, with Herbert Stothart, Otto Harbach and Frank Mandel. [ 10 ] He began as an apprentice and went on to form a 20-year collaboration with Harbach. Out of this collaboration came his inaugural melodious, Always You, for which he wrote the bible and lyrics. It opened on Broadway in 1920. [ 11 ] In 1921 Hammerstein joined The Lambs club. [ 12 ] Throughout the following forty years, Hammerstein teamed up with many other composers, including Jerome Kern, with whom Hammerstein enjoyed a highly successful collaboration. In 1927, Kern and Hammerstein wrote their biggest murder based on Edna Ferber ‘s bestselling eponymous novel, Show Boat, which is often revived, as it is considered one of the masterpieces of American musical field. “ here we come to a completely new genre—the musical play as distinguished from musical drollery. immediately … the play was the thing, and everything else was implemental to that play. now … came accomplished integration of song, wit and production numbers into a single and inextricable artistic entity. “ [ citation needed ] Many years late, Hammerstein ‘s wife Dorothy bristled when she overheard person note that Jerome Kern had written “ Ol ‘ Man River “. “ indeed not ”, she retorted. “ Jerome Kern wrote ‘dum, dum, dum-dum ‘. My conserve wrote ‘Ol ‘ Man River ‘. ” [ 13 ] other Kern–Hammerstein musicals include Sweet Adeline, Music in the Air, Three Sisters, and Very Warm for May. Hammerstein besides collaborated with Vincent Youmans ( Wildflower ), Rudolf Friml ( Rose-Marie ), and Sigmund Romberg ( The Desert Song and The New Moon ). [ 14 ]
Rodgers and Hammerstein [edit ]
Hammerstein ‘s most successful and sustain collaboration began when he teamed up with Richard Rodgers to write a musical adaptation of the play Green Grow the Lilacs. [ 15 ] Rodgers ‘ inaugural partner, Lorenz Hart, in the first place planned to collaborate with Rodgers on this part, but his dipsomania had spiraled out of manipulate, rendering him disable. [ 16 ] Hart was besides not certain that the idea had a lot deserve, and the two therefore separated. [ 17 ] The adaptation became the first Rodgers and Hammerstein collaboration, entitled Oklahoma!, which opened on Broadway in 1943. [ 16 ] It furthered the revolution begun by Show Boat, by thoroughly integrating all the aspects of musical theater, with the songs and dances arising out of and further developing the plot and characters. [ 18 ] William A. Everett and Paul R. Laird wrote that this was a “ show, that, like Show Boat, became a milestone, such that that subsequent historians writing about important moments in twentieth-century theater began to identify eras according to their relationship to Oklahoma! “ [ 19 ] After Oklahoma!, Rodgers and Hammerstein were the most crucial contributors to the musical-play form—with such masterworks as Carousel, The King and I and South Pacific. The examples they set in creating vital plays, often rich with social think, provided the necessary encouragement for early endow writers to create melodious plays of their own ”. [ 18 ] The partnership went on to produce not entirely the aforesaid, but besides other Broadway musicals such as Allegro, Me and Juliet, Pipe Dream, Flower Drum Song, and The Sound of Music, ampere well as the melodious film State Fair ( and its degree adaptation of the like name ), and the television musical Cinderella, all featured in the revue A Grand Night for Singing. Hammerstein besides wrote the reserve and lyrics for Carmen Jones, an adaptation of Georges Bizet ‘s opera Carmen, with an all-black project that became a 1943 Broadway melodious and a 1954 movie, starring Dorothy Dandridge. [ 20 ]
advocacy [edit ]
An active advocate for writers ‘ rights within the theater industry, Hammerstein was a member of the Dramatists Guild of America. In 1956, he was elected as the eleventh president of the nonprofit organization constitution. [ 21 ] He continued his presidency at the Guild until 1960 ; he was succeeded by Alan Jay Lerner. [ 22 ]
death [edit ]
Hammerstein with his foremost wife, Myra Finn, photographed aboard a transport Hammerstein died of digest cancer on August 23, 1960, at his home Highland Farm in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, aged 65, [ 23 ] nine months after the first step of The Sound of Music on Broadway. [ 24 ] The concluding song he wrote was “ edelweiss “, which was added near the end of the irregular work during rehearsal. [ 25 ] [ 26 ] After Hammerstein ‘s death, The Sound of Music was adapted as a 1965 film, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture. [ 24 ] [ 27 ] The lights of Times Square were turned off for one minute, [ 28 ] and London ‘s West End [ 29 ] lights were dimmed in realization of his contribution to the melodious. He was cremated, and his ashes were buried at the Ferncliff Cemetery in Hartsdale, New York. [ 30 ] A memorial brass was unveiled at Southwark Cathedral, England, on May 24, 1961. [ 31 ]
personal liveliness [edit ]
Hammerstein married his first wife, Myra Finn, in 1917 ; the couple divorced in 1929. [ 9 ] [ 32 ] He married his second wife, the Australian-born Dorothy ( Blanchard ) Jacobson ( 1899–1987 ), in 1929. [ 33 ] He had three children : William Hammerstein ( 1918–2001 ) [ 34 ] and Alice Hammerstein Mathias ( 1922–2015 ) [ 35 ] by his foremost wife, and James Hammerstein ( 1931–1999 ) [ 36 ] by his second wife, with whom he besides had a stepson, Henry Jacobson, and a stepdaughter, Susan Blanchard. [ 33 ]
reputation [edit ]
Hammerstein was one of the most crucial “ book writers ” in Broadway history —– he made the narrative, not the songs or the stars, central to the musical and brought musical dramaturgy to full adulthood as an art form. [ 37 ] [ 38 ] According to Stephen Sondheim, “ What few people understand is that Oscar ‘s adult contribution to the field was as a theorist, as a Peter Brook, as an pioneer. People do n’t understand how experimental Show Boat and Oklahoma! felt at the time they were done. Oscar is not about the ‘lark that is learning to pray’—that ‘s easily to make fun of. He ‘s about Allegro “, Hammerstein ‘s most experimental musical. [ 39 ] His reputation for being sentimental is based largely on the movie versions of the musicals, specially The Sound of Music, in which a birdcall sing by those in favor of reaching an accommodation with the Nazis, “ No Way to Stop It “, was cut. As late revivals of Show Boat, Oklahoma!, Carousel, and The King and I in London and New York show, Hammerstein was one of the more tough-minded and socially conscious american english melodious theater artists. According to Richard Kislan, “ The shows of Rodgers and Hammerstein were the product of sincerity. In the light of criticism directed against them and their population of sweet and light, it is authoritative to understand that they believed sincerely in what they wrote. ” [ 40 ] According to Marc Bauch, “ The Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals are amatory musical plays. Love is crucial. ” [ 41 ]
According to The Rodgers and Hammerstein Story by Stanley Green, “ For three minutes, on the night of September first, the entire Times Square area in New York City was blacked out in award of the valet who had done so much to light up that particular region of the world. From 8:57 to 9:00 post meridiem, every neon sign and every sparkle bulb was turned off and all dealings was halted between 42nd Street and 53rd Street, and between 8th Ave and the Avenue of the Americas. A crowd of 5,000 people, many with heads bowed, assembled at the basis of the statue of Father Duffy on Times Square where two trumpeters blew taps. It was the most complete blackout on Broadway since World War II, and the greatest tribute of its kind ever paid to one valet. ” [ 42 ]
Songs [edit ]
According to The Complete Lyrics of Oscar Hammerstein II, edited by Amy Asch, Hammerstein contributed the lyrics to 850 songs, [ 43 ] including “ Ol ‘ Man River “, “ Ca n’t Help Lovin ‘ That Man “ and “ Make Believe “ from Show Boat ; [ 44 ] “ indian Love Call “ from Rose-Marie ; [ 45 ] “ People Will Say We ‘re in Love “ [ citation needed ] and “ Oklahoma “ ( which has been the official state song of Oklahoma since 1953 ) from Oklahoma! ; [ 46 ] “ Some Enchanted Evening “, from South Pacific ; “ Getting to Know You “ [ 47 ] and “ Shall We Dance “ from The King and I ; and the title song deoxyadenosine monophosphate well as “ Climb Ev’ry Mountain “ from The Sound of Music. [ citation needed ] several albums of Hammerstein ‘s musicals were named to the “ Songs of the Century “ list as compiled by the Recording Industry Association of America ( RIAA ), the National Endowment for the Arts, and scholastic pot : [ 48 ]
- The Sound of Music — # 36
- Oklahoma! — # 66
- South Pacific — # 224
- The King and I — # 249
- Show Boat — # 312
Awards and nominations [edit ]
Hammerstein won two Oscars for best original song—in 1941 for “ The last Time I Saw Paris “ in the film Lady Be Good, and in 1945 for “ It Might angstrom well Be Spring “ in State Fair. In 1950, the team of Rodgers and Hammerstein received The Hundred Year Association of New York ‘s Gold Medal Award “ in recognition of great contributions to the City of New York. ” [ 49 ] Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards, six for lyrics or koran, and two as manufacturer of the Best Musical ( South Pacific and The Sound of Music ). Rodgers and Hammerstein began writing together before the earned run average of the Tonys : Oklahoma! opened in 1943 and Carousel in 1945, and the Tony Awards were not awarded until 1947. They won a special Pulitzer Prize in 1944 for Oklahoma! [ 50 ] and, with Joshua Logan, the annual Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1950 for South Pacific. [ 51 ] The Oscar Hammerstein II Center for Theater Studies at Columbia University was established in 1981 with a $ 1 million endow from his class. [ 52 ]
bequest [edit ]
His advice and work influenced Stephen Sondheim, a supporter of the Hammerstein class from childhood. Sondheim has attributed his success in dramaturgy, and specially as a lyricist, directly to Hammerstein ‘s influence and guidance. [ 37 ] The Oscar Hammerstein Award for Lifetime Achievement in Musical Theater is presented annually. The York Theatre Company of New York City is the administrator of the award. [ 56 ] Past awardees are composers such as Stephen Sondheim and performers such as Carol Channing. [ 57 ] Oscar Hammerstein was a member of the american Theater Hall of Fame. [ 58 ]
References [edit ]
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