Albert Szirmai
Encyclopedia
Albert Szirmai (2 July 1880 –15 January 1967) was a Hungarian
operetta
composer. A graduate of the Budapest Academy of Music, studying piano and composition, Szirmai was devoted to creating works for the stage. He wrote music for 12 one-act plays and over 300 songs for the Budapest theater Népszínház-Vígopera, at which he was musical director. When his first operetta, The Yellow Domino, met with success, he decided to continue in the genre; it is due to the works of Szirmai, Emmerich Kálmán
, and Victor Jacobi
, among others, that the Hungarian operetta gained recognition internationally at the beginning of the 20th century.
Szirmai was born in Budapest
. In 1926, he moved to New York
and took a post as music director for Chappell Music (a publishing house now owned by Warner Music Group
), and was music editor for such Broadway
luminaries as Jerome Kern
, Cole Porter
, and George Gershwin
. Szirmai made headlines in 1965, when he discovered 100 unpublished songs Porter had written, 1924-1955, in Porter's nine room apartment in the Waldorf Towers shortly after Porter's death. "I would call the material a rich musical heritage," Sirmay told the New York Times. "There is enough material for one or two Broadway musical scores. There are dozens of excellent songs." Though he lived in America for most of his later years and was a good friend of Gershwin, Szirmai eschewed the jazz
styles popular at the time; in addition to the folk music of his native Hungary, his music shows the influence of German Romanticism, particularly Felix Mendelssohn
and Robert Schumann
, whom he most admired. He died in New York.
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
operetta
Operetta
Operetta is a genre of light opera, light in terms both of music and subject matter. It is also closely related, in English-language works, to forms of musical theatre.-Origins:...
composer. A graduate of the Budapest Academy of Music, studying piano and composition, Szirmai was devoted to creating works for the stage. He wrote music for 12 one-act plays and over 300 songs for the Budapest theater Népszínház-Vígopera, at which he was musical director. When his first operetta, The Yellow Domino, met with success, he decided to continue in the genre; it is due to the works of Szirmai, Emmerich Kálmán
Emmerich Kalman
Emmerich Kálmán was a Hungarian-born composer of operettas.- Biography :Kálmán was born Imre Koppstein in Siófok, on the southern shore of Lake Balaton, Hungary in a Jewish family.Kálmán initially intended to become a concert pianist, but because of early-onset arthritis, he focused on composition...
, and Victor Jacobi
Victor Jacobi
Victor Jacobi, Jakobi Viktor was a Hungarian operetta composer.He studied at Zeneakadémia in Budapest at the same time as the noted Hungarian composers Imre Kálmán and Albert Szirmai...
, among others, that the Hungarian operetta gained recognition internationally at the beginning of the 20th century.
Szirmai was born in Budapest
Budapest
Budapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
. In 1926, he moved to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
and took a post as music director for Chappell Music (a publishing house now owned by Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
), and was music editor for such Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
luminaries as Jerome Kern
Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A...
, Cole Porter
Cole Porter
Cole Albert Porter was an American composer and songwriter. Born to a wealthy family in Indiana, he defied the wishes of his domineering grandfather and took up music as a profession. Classically trained, he was drawn towards musical theatre...
, and George Gershwin
George Gershwin
George Gershwin was an American composer and pianist. Gershwin's compositions spanned both popular and classical genres, and his most popular melodies are widely known...
. Szirmai made headlines in 1965, when he discovered 100 unpublished songs Porter had written, 1924-1955, in Porter's nine room apartment in the Waldorf Towers shortly after Porter's death. "I would call the material a rich musical heritage," Sirmay told the New York Times. "There is enough material for one or two Broadway musical scores. There are dozens of excellent songs." Though he lived in America for most of his later years and was a good friend of Gershwin, Szirmai eschewed the jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
styles popular at the time; in addition to the folk music of his native Hungary, his music shows the influence of German Romanticism, particularly Felix Mendelssohn
Felix Mendelssohn
Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Barthóldy , use the form 'Mendelssohn' and not 'Mendelssohn Bartholdy'. The Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians gives ' Felix Mendelssohn' as the entry, with 'Mendelssohn' used in the body text...
and Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann
Robert Schumann, sometimes known as Robert Alexander Schumann, was a German composer, aesthete and influential music critic. He is regarded as one of the greatest and most representative composers of the Romantic era....
, whom he most admired. He died in New York.
Selected works
- A sárga dominó (The Yellow Domino), operetta, 1907
- Bálkirályné (The Belle of the Ball), operetta, 1907
- Naftalin (Naphthalene), musical comedy, 1908
- Táncos huszárok (Dancing Hussars), operetta, 1909
- A mexikói lány (The Mexican Girl), operetta, 1912
- The Girl on the FilmThe Girl on the FilmFilmzauber, literally 'Film Magic', is a Posse mit Gesang in four scenes by Walter Kollo and Willy Bredschneider, with a German libretto by Rudolf Bernauer and Rudolf Schanzer. A parody of silent films, Filmzauber premiered in Berlin in 1912. An English version, The Girl on the Film, translated...
, musical play, 1913 - Ezüstpille (Silver Butterfly), operetta, 1914
- Mágnás Miska (Magnate Miska), operetta, 1916
- Harangvirág (Bellflower), ballad, 2 tableaux, 1918
- Gróf Rinaldo (Count Rinaldo), operetta, 1918
- Mézeskalács (Honey Cake), musical comedy, 1923
- The Bamboula, operetta, 1925
- Alexandra, operetta, 1925 (first presented in English as Princess CharmingPrincess CharmingPrincess Charming is a Filipino television drama series aired on GMA Network from January 29, 2007 to April 27, 2007 and was part of GMA’s afternoon programming block called Drama Rama sa Hapon.. The series was directed by Argel Joseph...
in 1926) - Éva grófnő (Countess Eva), operetta, 1928
- Lady Mary, musical play, 1928
- Ripples, musical comedy, 1930
- A ballerina, operetta, 1931
- A Treasury of Gilbert & Sullivan, Simon & Schuster, New York 1941 (later published as Martyn GreenMartyn GreenWilliam Martyn-Green , better known as Martyn Green, was an English actor and singer. He is best known for his work as principal comedian in the Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas, which he performed and recorded with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and other troupes.After army service in World War I,...
's Treasury of Gilbert & Sullivan). Szirmai is probably best known to music lovers through this book. Szirmai reduced Sullivan's orchestrations of several songs from each Gilbert and Sullivan opera and simplified them so that they can be played by intermediate piano students of average skill. - A Treasury of Grand Opera, Simon & Schuster, New York 1946. Szirmai created piano solos of arias from famous operas—Mozart's Don Giovanni, Carmen, La Traviata, Gounod's Faust, Lohengrin, et al., but this book never achieved the popularity of the Gilbert & Sullivan book. The pieces are more difficult to play, and operatic arias are more difficult to sing than Gilbert & Sullivan.
- Tabáni legenda (The Legend of Tabán), operetta, 1957
- A Tündérlaki lányok (The Tündérlaki Sisters), operetta, 1964