Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music.
He showed an early aptitude for music and was taught to play the piano and organ by his mother, an accomplished player and teacher. In 1897, the family moved to Newark, New Jersey, where Kern attended Newark High School (which became Barringer High School in 1907).
He wrote songs for the school's first musical, a minstrel show, in 1901, and for an amateur musical adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin put on at the Newark Yacht Club in January 1902.
He wrote songs for the school's first musical, a minstrel show, in 1901, and for an amateur musical adaptation of Uncle Tom's Cabin put on at the Newark Yacht Club in January 1902.
Kern left high school before graduation in the spring of his senior year in 1902.
His father relented, and later in 1902, Kern became a student at the New York College of Music, studying the piano under Alexander Lambert and Paolo Gallico, and harmony under Dr.
Between 1903 and 1905, he continued his musical training under private tutors in Heidelberg, Germany, returning to New York via London. ===First compositions=== For a time, Kern worked as a rehearsal pianist in Broadway theatres and as a song-plugger for Tin Pan Alley music publishers.
He began to provide these additions in 1904 to British scores for An English Daisy, by Seymour Hicks and Walter Slaughter, and Mr.
Between 1903 and 1905, he continued his musical training under private tutors in Heidelberg, Germany, returning to New York via London. ===First compositions=== For a time, Kern worked as a rehearsal pianist in Broadway theatres and as a song-plugger for Tin Pan Alley music publishers.
Wix of Wickham, for which he wrote most of the songs. In 1905, Kern contributed the song "How'd you like to spoon with me?" to Ivan Caryll's hit musical The Earl and the Girl when the show transferred to Chicago and New York in 1905.
From 1905 on, he spent long periods of time in London, contributing songs to West End shows like The Beauty of Bath (1906; with lyricist P.
Kern's exquisitely flowing melodies were employed to further the action or develop characterization." The shows featured modern American settings and simple scene changes to suit the small theatre. The team's first Princess Theatre show was an adaptation of Paul Rubens' 1905 London show, Mr.
During visits to London beginning in 1905, he also composed songs that were first performed in several London shows.
He showed an early aptitude for music and was taught to play the piano and organ by his mother, an accomplished player and teacher. In 1897, the family moved to Newark, New Jersey, where Kern attended Newark High School (which became Barringer High School in 1907).
In 1909 during one of his stays in England, Kern took a boat trip on the River Thames with some friends, and when the boat stopped at Walton-on-Thames, they went to an inn called the Swan for a drink.
Mary's in Walton on October 25, 1910.
The couple then lived at the Swan when Kern was in England. Kern is believed to have composed music for silent films as early as 1912, but the earliest documented film music which he is known to have written was for a twenty-part serial, Gloria's Romance in 1916.
Theatre historian John Kenrick writes that the song put Kern in great demand on Broadway and established a pattern for musical comedy love songs that lasted through the 1960s. In May 1915, Kern was due to sail with Charles Frohman from New York to London on board the RMS Lusitania, but Kern missed the boat, having overslept after staying up late playing poker.
Frohman died in the sinking of the ship. ===Princess Theatre musicals=== Kern composed 16 Broadway scores between 1915 and 1920 and also contributed songs to the London hit Theodore & Co (1916; most of the songs are by the young Ivor Novello) and to revues like the Ziegfeld Follies.
The couple then lived at the Swan when Kern was in England. Kern is believed to have composed music for silent films as early as 1912, but the earliest documented film music which he is known to have written was for a twenty-part serial, Gloria's Romance in 1916.
Wodehouse joined the Princess team in 1917, adding his skill as a lyricist to the succeeding shows.
Kern and Bolton next created an original piece, Very Good Eddie, which was a surprise hit, running for 341 performances, with additional touring productions that went on into the 1918-19 season.
The second played elsewhere during the long run of Oh Boy! An anonymous admirer wrote a verse in their praise that begins: In February 1918, Dorothy Parker wrote in Vanity Fair: Oh, Lady! Lady!! was the last successful "Princess Theatre show".
Another score for the silent movies, Jubilo, followed in 1919.
Frohman died in the sinking of the ship. ===Princess Theatre musicals=== Kern composed 16 Broadway scores between 1915 and 1920 and also contributed songs to the London hit Theodore & Co (1916; most of the songs are by the young Ivor Novello) and to revues like the Ziegfeld Follies.
The rest of the show was composed by Louis Hirsch and ran for 189 performances: "Despite a respectable run, everyone realized there was little point in continuing the series without Kern." ===Early 1920s=== The 1920s were an extremely productive period in American musical theatre, and Kern created at least one show every year for the entire decade.
His first show of 1920 was The Night Boat, with book and lyrics by Anne Caldwell, which ran for more than 300 performances in New York and for three seasons on tour.
In response to the commission, Kern oversaw an arrangement by Charles Miller and Emil Gerstenberger of numbers from the show into the orchestral work Scenario for Orchestra: Themes from Show Boat, premiered in 1941 by the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Rodziński. Kern's last Broadway show in the 1920s was Sweet Adeline (1929), with a libretto by Hammerstein.
It also had a long run in London in 1921, produced by George Grossmith Jr.
He never orchestrated his own scores, leaving that to musical assistants, principally Frank Saddler (until 1921) and Russell Bennett (from 1923).
He never orchestrated his own scores, leaving that to musical assistants, principally Frank Saddler (until 1921) and Russell Bennett (from 1923).
The show ran for 517 performances on Broadway, and the following year ran for 363 performances in the West End, starring Binnie Hale and Jack Buchanan. ===Show Boat=== Because of the strong success of Sally and Sunny and consistent good results with his other shows, Ziegfeld was willing to gamble on Kern's next project in 1927.
It was the first musical to enter a major opera company's repertory (New York City Opera, 1954), and the rediscovery of the 1927 score with Robert Russell Bennett's original orchestrations led to a large-scale EMI recording in 1987 and several opera-house productions.
Although Ferber's novel was filmed unsuccessfully as a part-talkie in 1929 (using some songs from the Kern score), the musical itself was filmed twice, in 1936, and, with Technicolor, in 1951.
In January 1929, at the height of the Jazz Age, and with Show Boat still playing on Broadway, Kern made news on both sides of the Atlantic for reasons wholly unconnected with music.
Among the books he sold were first or early editions of poems by Robert Burns and Percy Bysshe Shelley, and works by Jonathan Swift, Henry Fielding and Charles Dickens, as well as manuscripts by Alexander Pope, John Keats, Shelley, Lord Byron, Thomas Hardy and others. ===First films and later shows=== In 1929 Kern made his first trip to Hollywood to supervise the 1929 film version of Sally, one of the first "all-talking" Technicolor films.
The following year, he was there a second time to work on Men of the Sky, released in 1931 without his songs, and a 1930 film version of Sunny.
There was a public reaction against the early glut of film musicals after the advent of film sound; Hollywood released more than 100 musical films in 1930, but only 14 in 1931.
Although the movie is remembered as one of the great dance musicals, it also boasts one of the best film scores of the 1930s." For the 1936 film version of Show Boat, Kern and Hammerstein wrote three new songs, including "I Have The Room Above Her" and "Ah Still Suits Me".
The following year, he was there a second time to work on Men of the Sky, released in 1931 without his songs, and a 1930 film version of Sunny.
There was a public reaction against the early glut of film musicals after the advent of film sound; Hollywood released more than 100 musical films in 1930, but only 14 in 1931.
It was filmed in 1934 with Jeanette MacDonald. Music in the Air (1932) was another Kern-Hammerstein collaboration and another show-biz plot, best remembered today for "The Song Is You" and "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star".
Kern's last Broadway show (other than revivals) was Very Warm for May (1939), another show-biz story and another disappointment, although the score included the Kern and Hammerstein classic "All The Things You Are". ===Kern in Hollywood=== In 1935, when musical films had become popular once again, thanks to Busby Berkeley, Kern returned to Hollywood, where he composed the scores to a dozen more films, although he also continued working on Broadway productions.
Although Ferber's novel was filmed unsuccessfully as a part-talkie in 1929 (using some songs from the Kern score), the musical itself was filmed twice, in 1936, and, with Technicolor, in 1951.
This was given a 1952 remake called Lovely to Look At. Their next film, Swing Time (1936) included the song "The Way You Look Tonight", which won the Academy Award in 1936 for the best song.
Although the movie is remembered as one of the great dance musicals, it also boasts one of the best film scores of the 1930s." For the 1936 film version of Show Boat, Kern and Hammerstein wrote three new songs, including "I Have The Room Above Her" and "Ah Still Suits Me".
He settled permanently in Hollywood in 1937.
After suffering a heart attack in 1939, he was told by his doctors to concentrate on film scores, a less stressful task, as Hollywood songwriters were not as deeply involved with the production of their works as Broadway songwriters.
In 1940, Hammerstein wrote the lyric "The Last Time I Saw Paris", in homage to the French capital, recently occupied by the Germans.
In 1941, the conductor Artur Rodziński wished to commission a symphonic suite from the score, but Kern considered himself a songwriter and not a symphonist.
In response to the commission, Kern oversaw an arrangement by Charles Miller and Emil Gerstenberger of numbers from the show into the orchestral work Scenario for Orchestra: Themes from Show Boat, premiered in 1941 by the Cleveland Orchestra conducted by Rodziński. Kern's last Broadway show in the 1920s was Sweet Adeline (1929), with a libretto by Hammerstein.
His daughter, Betty Jane (1913–1996) married Artie Shaw in 1942 and later Jack Cummings.
Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music.
Many of the biographical facts are fictionalized. In the fall of 1945, Kern returned to New York City to oversee auditions for a new revival of Show Boat, and began to work on the score for what would become the musical Annie Get Your Gun, to be produced by Rodgers and Hammerstein.
On November 5, 1945, at 60 years of age, he suffered a cerebral hemorrhage while walking at the corner of Park Avenue and 57th Street.
Seven nominations were for Best Original Song; these included a posthumous nomination in each of 1945 and 1946.
One nomination was in 1945 for Best Original Music Score.
A 1946 revival integrated choreography into the show, in the manner of a Rodgers and Hammerstein production, as did the 1994 Harold Prince–Susan Stroman revival, which was nominated for ten Tony Awards, winning five, including best revival.
At the time of Kern's death, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer was filming a fictionalized version of his life, Till the Clouds Roll By, which was released in 1946 starring Robert Walker as Kern.
Seven nominations were for Best Original Song; these included a posthumous nomination in each of 1945 and 1946.
Kern was not eligible for any Tony Awards, which were not created until 1947.
Although Ferber's novel was filmed unsuccessfully as a part-talkie in 1929 (using some songs from the Kern score), the musical itself was filmed twice, in 1936, and, with Technicolor, in 1951.
This was given a 1952 remake called Lovely to Look At. Their next film, Swing Time (1936) included the song "The Way You Look Tonight", which won the Academy Award in 1936 for the best song.
It was the first musical to enter a major opera company's repertory (New York City Opera, 1954), and the rediscovery of the 1927 score with Robert Russell Bennett's original orchestrations led to a large-scale EMI recording in 1987 and several opera-house productions.
Theatre historian John Kenrick writes that the song put Kern in great demand on Broadway and established a pattern for musical comedy love songs that lasted through the 1960s. In May 1915, Kern was due to sail with Charles Frohman from New York to London on board the RMS Lusitania, but Kern missed the boat, having overslept after staying up late playing poker.
The World of Jerome Kern (New York, 1960) Fordin, Hugh.
In 2004, Never Gonna Dance received two Tony nominations. Kern was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame posthumously, in 1970.
Wodehouse – Portrait of a Master, Garnstone Press, London, 1972.
Jerome Kern: the Man and his Music Santa Monica, CA, 1975 Freedland, M.
In 1976, Very Good Eddie was nominated for a Drama Desk Award as Outstanding Revival, and the director and actors received various Tony, Drama Desk and other awards and nominations.
Jerome Kern: a Biography (London, 1978) Green, Benny.
Jerome Kern: his Life and Music (New York, 1980) Davis, L.
Wodehouse – A Literary Biography, Pavilion Books, London, 1981.
Jerome Kern in Edwardian London (Littlehampton, 1981; 1985) McLean, Lorraine Arnal.
Elisabeth Welsh was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood in 1986, and Show Boat received Tony nominations in both 1983 and 1995, winning for best revival in 1995 (among numerous other awards and nominations), and won the Laurence Olivier Award for best revival in 2008.
Jerome Kern in Edwardian London (Littlehampton, 1981; 1985) McLean, Lorraine Arnal.
Elisabeth Welsh was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood in 1986, and Show Boat received Tony nominations in both 1983 and 1995, winning for best revival in 1995 (among numerous other awards and nominations), and won the Laurence Olivier Award for best revival in 2008.
In 1986, Big Deal was nominated for the Tony for best musical, among other awards, and Bob Fosse won as best choreographer.
It was the first musical to enter a major opera company's repertory (New York City Opera, 1954), and the rediscovery of the 1927 score with Robert Russell Bennett's original orchestrations led to a large-scale EMI recording in 1987 and several opera-house productions.
In 1989, a stage version of the musical was presented on television for the first time, in a production from the Paper Mill Playhouse telecast by PBS on Great Performances. While most Kern musicals have largely been forgotten, except for their songs, Show Boat remains well-remembered and frequently seen.
Bolton and Wodehouse and Kern: the Men who made Musical Comedy (New York, 1993) Denison, Chuck, and Duncan Schiedt.
A 1946 revival integrated choreography into the show, in the manner of a Rodgers and Hammerstein production, as did the 1994 Harold Prince–Susan Stroman revival, which was nominated for ten Tony Awards, winning five, including best revival.
Elisabeth Welsh was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood in 1986, and Show Boat received Tony nominations in both 1983 and 1995, winning for best revival in 1995 (among numerous other awards and nominations), and won the Laurence Olivier Award for best revival in 2008.
Green, Kay (ed.) Broadway Musicals, Show by Show, Hal Leonard Corporation, 1996.
"Show Boat: In the Beginning", Enchanted Evenings: the Broadway Musical from 'Show Boat' to Sondheim (New York, 1997), pp, 19–40; 319–24 Bloom, Ken and Vlastnik, Frank.
Jefferson, North Carolina, McFarlan, 1999.
In 2000, Swing!, featuring Kern's "I Won't Dance" was nominated for the Tony for Best Musical, among others.
In 2002, Elaine Stritch at Liberty, featuring Kern's "All in Fun", won the Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event.
In 2004, Never Gonna Dance received two Tony nominations. Kern was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame posthumously, in 1970.
Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, New York, 2004.
Reed Publishers, 2004.
Jerome Kern, New Haven, Connecticut, Yale University Press, 2006.
Elisabeth Welsh was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood in 1986, and Show Boat received Tony nominations in both 1983 and 1995, winning for best revival in 1995 (among numerous other awards and nominations), and won the Laurence Olivier Award for best revival in 2008.
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