Rudolf Friml (December 7, 1879 - November 12, 1972) was a composer of operettas, musicals, songs, as well as a pianist. December 7 is the 341st day (342nd on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1879 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... November 12 is the 316th day of the year (317th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 49 days remaining. ... 1972 was a leap year that started on a Saturday. ... A composer is a person who writes music. ... Operetta (literally, little opera) is a performance art-form similar to opera, though it generally deals with less serious topics. ... The art of singing and dancing in a prepared fictional play has been a time-honored tradition ranging to the early days of civilization. ... A song is a relatively short musical composition for the human voice (possibly accompanied by other musical instruments), which features words (lyrics). ... A pianist is a person who plays the piano. ...

Early Life

Born in in Prague, at that time part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and now capital of the Czech Republic, Friml showed aptitude for music at an early age. His abilities gained him acceptance into the Prague Conservatory where he studied music composition with Antonin Dvorak. While studying at the conservatory he began to compose light songs and airs. After graduation he took a position as accompanist to violinist Jan Kubelik. He toured with Kubelik twice in the United States and at the end of the second tour remained there to compose. He premiered his Piano Concerto in B-Major in 1904 with the New York Philharmonic under the baton of Walter Damrosch. Prague (Praha in Czech) is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. ... Official languages Latin, German, Hungarian Established church Roman Catholic Capital & Largest City Vienna pop. ... Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Music Look up Music in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikicities has a wiki about Music: Music Music City : a collaborative music database All Music Guide: includes a comprehensive and flexible Genre and Style system MusicWiki: A Collaborative Music-related encyclopedia Science... Antonín Dvořák Antonín Leopold Dvořák  listen (September 8, 1841 – May 1, 1904) was a Czech composer of classical music. ... In music accompaniment is the art of playing along with a soloist or ensemble in a supporting manner. ... A violinist is an instrumentalist who plays the violin. ... Jan Kubelík (July 5, 1880 - December 5, 1940) was a Czech violinist and composer. ... 1904 is a leap year starting on a Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The New York Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in New York City. ... Baton is the name of one of two leaders of the Illyrian uprising against the Romans in Pannonia in 6 AD. The term baton refers to any of several types of cylindrical or tapered instruments composed of a wide variety of materials, and of differing functions: A baton (billy, billy...

The Firefly

One of the most popular theatrical forms in the early decades of the 20th Century in America was the operetta and its most famous composer was Irish-born Victor Herbert. It was announced in 1912 that operetta diva Emma Trentini would be starring in a new operetta by Herbert with lyricist Otto Harbach entitled The Firefly. Shortly before the writing of the operetta, Trentini appeared in a special performance of Herbert's Naughty Marietta conducted by Herbert himself. When Trentini refused to sing "Italian Street Song" for the encore, an enraged Herbert stormed out of the orchestra pit refusing any further work with Trentini. (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: United States Wikinews has news related to this article: United States United States government Official website of the United States government - Gateway to governmental sites White House - Official site of the US President Senate. ... Victor Herbert (February 1, 1859 - May 26, 1924) was a popular composer of light opera. ... 1912 is a leap year starting on Monday. ... A lyricist is an author of song lyrics. ... Naughty Marietta is a musical comedy, with libretto by Rida Johnson Young and music by Victor Herbert, which opened on Broadway on November 7, 1910: one of its best-known songs is Ah! Sweet Mystery Of Life. ... Encore may be referring to one of the following: Adobe Encore, a software program by Adobe Systems intended for authoring DVDs. ... An orchestra pit is the usually lowered area (hence pit) in front of a stage where an orchestra accompanies the performers. ...

Arthur Hammerstein, the operetta's sponsor, frantically began to search for a composer. Not finding anyone who could compose as well as Herbert, Hammerstein settled on the almost unknown Friml for his classical training. After a month of work, Friml produced a glittering score for what would be his first theatrical success. Score can mean one of several things: A score is a group of twenty things; four score means eighty. ...

After the success of The Firefly, Friml followed with three more operettas that were successful, though not as successful as The Firefly. These were High Jinks (1913), Katinka (1915) and You're in Love (1917). He also contributed songs to a musical in 1915 entitled The Peasant Girl. 1913 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ... 1915 was a common year starting on Friday (see link for calendar). ... 1917 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... The art of singing and dancing in a prepared fictional play has been a time-honored tradition ranging to the early days of civilization. ...

Musical Comedies

With operetta falling out of fashion as the 1920s neared, Friml moved onto to musical comedy. He scored his first major musical comedy success in 1924 with Rose-Marie. This musical, on which Friml collaborated with lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II, was a hit worldwide and a few of the songs from it also became hits including "The Mounties" and "Indian Love Call". Friml's use of murder as part of the plot as well as his integrating the music and the plot was ground-breaking for its time. Sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or primarily in North America as the Roaring Twenties. Events and trends Technology John T. Thompson invents Thompson submachine gun, also known as Tommy gun John Logie Baird invents the first working television system (1925) Charles Lindbergh becomes the first person to fly... Musical theater (or theatre) is a form of theater combining music, songs, dance, and spoken dialogue. ... 1924 was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ... Rose Marie (born August 15, 1923) is an actress who had a career as a child star under the name Baby Rose Marie but is best known for her adult role as Sally Rogers in the The Dick Van Dyke Show. ... A lyricist is an author of song lyrics. ... (For work done with Richard Rodgers, see Rodgers and Hammerstein) Oscar Hammerstein II ( July 12, 1895 – August 23, 1960) was an American writer and producer of musical comedies for almost forty years. ...

After Rose-Marie's success came two other musical comedies, The Vagabond King in 1925 with lyrics by P.G. Wodehouse and Clifford Grey, and The Thee Musketeers in 1928. In addition, Friml contributed to Florenz Ziegfeld's follies of 1921 and 1923. 1925 was a common year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ... Called English literatures performing flea, P. G. Wodehouse, pictured in 1904, became famous for his complex plots, ingenious wordplay, and prolific output. ... 1928 was a leap year starting on Sunday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1928 Time cover featuring Ziegfeld Florenz Ziegfeld (March 21, 1869–July 22, 1932) was a Broadway impresario who achieved fame by perfecting the United States revue. ... Follies is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and a book by James Goldman. ... 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ...

Like his contemporary, Ivor Novello, he was sometimes ridiculed for the insubstantial nature of his compositions and often dubbed as trite. Friml was also criticized for the old-fashioned, Old World sentiments found in his works. By the end of the 1930s, Friml had fallen out of fashion. Ivor Novello David Ivor Davies (January 15, 1893 – March 6, 1951), better known as Ivor Novello, was one of the most popular entertainers of the 20th century. ... Events and trends The 1930s were spent struggling for a solution to the global depression. ...

Friml retired after writing the operetta Music Hath Charms in 1934. He died in Los Angeles in 1972. 1934 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... This article is about the largest city in California. ...

A few of Friml's works have seen revivals on Broadway, these include a 1943 production of The Vagabond King and a 1984 production of The Three Musketeers. This article should be split into multiple articles accessible from a disambiguation page. ... This article is about the street in New York City. ... 1943 is a common year starting on Friday. ... 1984 is a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Works

• The Firefly (1912)
• High Jinks (1913)
• Katinka (1915)
• THe Peasant Girl (1915) - contributor.
• Kitty Darlin' (1917)
• Sometime (1918)
• Glorianna (1918)
• Tumble In (1919)
• June Love (1921)
• Ziegfeld Follies of 1921 - contributor.
• Cinders (1923)
• Ziegfeld Follies of 1923 - contributor.
• Rose-Marie (1924)
• The Vagabond King (1925)
• Ziegfeld's Revue "No Foolin'" (1926)
• The Wild Rose (1926)
• White Eagle (1927)
• The Three Musketeers (1928)
• Luana (1930)
• Music Hath Charms (1934)

1917 was a common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar). ... 1918 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1919 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... 1921 was a common year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1923 was a common year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1926 was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1927 was a common year starting on Saturday (link will take you to calendar). ... 1930 is a common year starting on Wednesday. ...

External Links

Friml's entry in the Internet Broadway Database (http://www.ibdb.com/person.asp?ID=11702)

Works Cited

• Cambridge Guide to Theatre, 1992.
• Green, Stanley. Broadway Musicals Show by Show, 5th Ed. Hal Leonard, New York. 1996.
• Green, Stanley. The World of Muical Comedy. Ziff-Davis, New York. 1960.