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Encyclopedia > Frederic Loewe

Frederic Loewe (June 10, 1901 - February 14, 1988) was a highly successful Austrian-American composer. June 10 is the 161st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (162nd in leap years), with 204 days remaining. ... 1901 (MCMI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... February 14 is the 45th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ...


Frederick Loewe was born on June 10, 1901 in Vienna to Edmond and Rosa Loewe. His father Edmond was a very famous Jewish operetta star who traveled considerably, including North and South America, and much of Europe. Fritz grew up in Berlin and attended a Prussian cadet school from the age of five until he was thirteen. He hated the school because his parents would leave him there while they toured worldwide. One of Fritz's most bitter memories was spending even the Christmas holidays at school with two or three other boys. He never cared for Christmas very much because of that experience. Vienna (German: Wien ) is the capital of Austria, and also one of the nine States of Austria. ... The word Jew ( Hebrew: יהודי) is used in a wide number of ways, but generally refers to a follower of the Jewish faith, a child of a Jewish mother, or someone of Jewish descent with a connection to Jewish culture or ethnicity and often a combination... Berlin is the capital city and one of the sixteen states of the Federal Republic of Germany. ...


By the age of seven or eight, Fritz learned by ear and played on piano, every new song his father rehearsed for a new musical in which he was appearing. He was able to play the entire score and help his father in rehearsals. This impressed his father greatly, and Edmond suggested giving Fritz music lessons. His mother, however, was never moved by Fritz's talent, saying; "Oh, they all do that!"


Fritz eventually did attend a famous conservatory in Berlin, one year behind the virtuoso Claudio Arrau. Both won the coveted Hollander Medal, awarded by the school, and Fritz gave performances as a concert pianist while still in Germany.


In 1925, Edmond received an offer to appear in New York, and Fritz traveled there with him. Deciding to go separate ways, Fritz decided he was going to "crash Broadway".


But this proved to be difficult, and Fritz was on the verge of starvation many times, with memories of sleeping on benches in the snow in Central Park. Finding work in the German section of New York at the time, "Yorkville", he made his way playing German clubs and in the movie theaters, accompanying silent pictures as they appeared on the screen. He would be given a prepared score for each film. Fritz's first action would be to throw the score in the trash, composing his own melodies to suit the action on-screen. He discovered that he had a great facility for this type of improvisation and enjoyed his work. He did encounter one problem at his first theater: Each performance was to begin with a rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner", and Fritz didn't know how it went. So, he improvised a new national anthem on the spot. This didn't go well with the theater owners, who threatened to fire him unless he learned the piece properly.


When the Depression hit, Fritz was having a difficult time trying to get one of his musical pieces produced, or at least to get his songs published. He decided to go out West and see more of the country. For a while, he delivered the mail in rural Montana on horseback. After a year, he returned to New York and did some odd jobs, including a stint at prize fighting.


Fritz began to visit a famous NY night spot of the time, "The Lambs Club", frequented by theater people, stars, producers, managers, and directors. One evening, "on the way to the men's room", he encountered Alan Jay Lerner at a nearby table. Fritz went up to him, saying "I understand you write lyrics". Alan replied "Well, I understand you write music". Alan Jay Lerner (August 31, 1918 – June 14, 1986) was an American Broadway lyricist and librettist. ...


Alan was working on an idea for a show, "Great Lady", and they decided to collaborate. It was not a major hit, but the score received favorable notices. It was the first time Fritz ever had his music reviewed. Their next effort, "The Day Before Spring", did a little better, and the team was beginning to receive very positive recognition.


Their first real hit was Brigadoon, with its Scottish theme, and the combination Lerner and Loewe was finally recognized in theaters around the world. Fritz was 47 before his fame was Established. In 1952 the musical Paint Your Wagon hit Broadway, followed by the classic My Fair Lady in 1956 - the longest running musical of all time until the record was broken by at first A Chorus Line, then Cats and most recently The Phantom of the Opera. During the first year of "My Fair Lady's" success, Fritz would go up to people sleeping on the sidewalk for tickets and offer them cups of coffee. "Why are you doing this!?" they would ask, looking at him as if he were crazy. "Because I'm the composer" Fritz would answer. "Yeah, sure!," they'd respond, "…and I'm the King of Denmark!". They never would believe him. DVD cover Brigadoon is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, first produced in 1947. ... Paint Your Wagon is a 1951 Broadway musical comedy, with book and lyrics by Alan J. Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, set in a mining camp in Gold Rush-era California. ... The original poster for the Broadway production of the show designed by Al Hirschfeld My Fair Lady is a 1956 musical theater production with lyrics and book by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. ... A Chorus Line is a Broadway musical that opened at the Shubert Theatre on July 25, 1975 and closed on April 28, 1990 after 6,137 performances. ... Cats is a musical composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber based on Old Possums Book of Practical Cats and other poems by T. S. Eliot. ... This article is about the Gaston Leroux novel. ...


With My Fair Lady a smash hit, MGM took notice, and commissioned them to write a musical with Maurice Chevalier and Leslie Caron in Paris called Gigi, which won the Academy Award as the Best Picture in 1958. MGM logo Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer or MGM, is a large media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of cinema and television programs. ... French singer Maurice Chevalier with stars of Hellzapoppin at Expo 67, in Montreal, Quebec. ... Leslie Caron (born July 1, 1931) is an Academy Award-nominated French film actress and dancer. ... Gigi is a 1958 motion picture musical set in Paris, France. ... Academy Award The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are the most prominent and most watched film awards ceremony in the world. ... The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the awards given to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; the awards are voted on by other people within the industry. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...


Their next Broadway production, Camelot, received terrible reviews when it opened. The director and producer of the play got the brilliant idea of having the stars, Richard Burton, Julie Andrews, and Robert Goulet appear on the Ed Sullivan Show and sing a few numbers from the musical, along with an appearance by Alan and Fritz. The next morning the ticket office was swamped with requests, and Camelot became a huge hit. The musical, Camelot, was written by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe and is loosely based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T.H. White novel The Once and Future King. ...


Fritz then decided on retirement, not writing anything until he was approached by Alan Lerner with the book "The Little Prince", by Antoine de Saint Exupery. Fritz fell in love with the story and began work on the new production at age 71. Fritz and Alan created a simple script and score that truly captured the magical feeling of the book. The new musical fell victim to an overblown and overproduced Hollywood treatment that ruined the feeling of the play as written. Fritz, in the meantime, refused to visit London and supervise the arrangement and recording of the score. The resulting production was their only real flop.


Fritz remained in Palm Springs, California, in retirement until his death in 1988.


Lerner and Loewe musicals include:

Year 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ... The Day Before Spring is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. ... Year 1947 (MCMXLVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (the link is to a full 1947 calendar). ... DVD cover Brigadoon is a musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, first produced in 1947. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ... Paint Your Wagon is a 1951 Broadway musical comedy, with book and lyrics by Alan J. Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe, set in a mining camp in Gold Rush-era California. ... Year 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The original poster for the Broadway production of the show designed by Al Hirschfeld My Fair Lady is a 1956 musical theater production with lyrics and book by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. ... Year 1958 (MCMLVIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Gigi is a 1945 novel by the French sentimental romance writer Colette about a wealthy cultured man of fashion who discovers that he is in love with a young Parisian girl who is being groomed for a career as a grande cocotte, and eventually marries her. ... 1960 (MCMLX) was a leap year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1960 calendar). ... The musical, Camelot, was written by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe and is loosely based on the King Arthur legend as adapted from the T.H. White novel The Once and Future King. ... The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. ...

External link

  • Frederick Loewe's entry at the Songwriters' Hall of Fame

  Results from FactBites:
 
Alan J. Lerner - Free Encyclopedia (408 words)
In 1942 he was introduced to Austrian composer Frederic Loewe, who needed a lyricist for an out-of-town musical.
Their partnership cracked during the stress of Camelot in 1960, with Loewe resisting Lerner's desire to direct as well as write.
Loewe retired to Palm Springs, California while Lerner went through a series of unsuccessful musicals with such esteemed composers as Andre Previn, Leonard Bernstein and Charles Strouse.
  More results at FactBites »


 
 

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