Julius Brammer
Encyclopedia
Julius Brammer was an Austrian librettist
and lyricist
. Some of his better-known works were written in conjunction with the composer
s Emmerich Kálmán
, Oscar Straus
, Leo Ascher
, Edmund Eysler
and Robert Stolz
.
Brammer was born in Sehraditz, Moravia
(now: Sehradice
near Zlín
), the son of Hermann and Julie. He trained as an actor and first appeared in the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz
in Munich
. He later transferred to Vienna
where he became involved in operetta productions at the Theater an der Wien
. From 1908 he concentrated on writing libretti, often with Alfred Grünwald
, and became one of the leading creative artists of the Vienna "Silver Operetta Period" (about 1900 to 1920).
After the Anschluss
, as a Jew, he was forced to emigrate and went to Paris
, and after the fall of that city to the unoccupied south of France, where he died in Juan-les-Pins
.
One of his most enduring numbers, still popular in several translations, is "Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo
", in English "Just a Gigolo" (lyrics by Julius Brammer, music by Leonello Casucci
). It was recorded by many musicians of the time, including Bing Crosby
, Louis Armstrong
, Dajos Béla
and Richard Tauber
, later by Louis Prima
, and is still being recorded in different languages. The song appeared in a 1931 film, a 1932 Betty Boop
cartoon, a 1978 movie and a 1993 TV-series, all titled after the song.
Libretto
A libretto is the text used in an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata, or musical. The term "libretto" is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major liturgical works, such as mass, requiem, and sacred cantata, or even the story line of a...
and lyricist
Lyricist
A lyricist is a songwriter who specializes in lyrics. A singer who writes the lyrics to songs is a singer-lyricist. This differentiates from a singer-composer, who composes the song's melody.-Collaboration:...
. Some of his better-known works were written in conjunction with the composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
s 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...
, Oscar Straus
Oscar Straus (composer)
Oscar Nathan Straus was a Viennese composer of operettas and film scores and songs. He also wrote about 500 cabaret songs, chamber music, and orchestral and choral works...
, Leo Ascher
Leo Ascher
Leo Ascher was a composer of operettas, popular songs and film scores.-Biography:Ascher was born in Vienna as Leonem Ascher. His father, Moritz Ascher, was a local umbrella manufacturer. Leo wrote his first composition, a waltz, at the age of 13 in 1893. He studied law at the University of Vienna...
, Edmund Eysler
Edmund Eysler
Edmund Samuel Eysler , was an Austrian composer.-Biography:Edmund Eysler was born in Vienna to a merchant family...
and Robert Stolz
Robert Stolz
Robert Elisabeth Stolz was an Austrian songwriter and conductor as well as a composer of operettas and film music.- Biography :...
.
Brammer was born in Sehraditz, Moravia
Moravia
Moravia is a historical region in Central Europe in the east of the Czech Republic, and one of the former Czech lands, together with Bohemia and Silesia. It takes its name from the Morava River which rises in the northwest of the region...
(now: Sehradice
Sehradice
Sehradice is a village and municipality in Zlín District in the Zlín Region of the Czech Republic.The municipality covers an area of , and has a population of 747 ....
near Zlín
Zlín
Zlín , from 1949 to 1989 Gottwaldov , is a city in the Zlín Region, southeastern Moravia, Czech Republic, on the Dřevnice River. The development of the modern city is closely connected to the Bata Shoes company...
), the son of Hermann and Julie. He trained as an actor and first appeared in the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz
Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz
Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz is an opera house and opera company in Munich. Designed by the architect Michael Reiffenstuel, it opened on 5 November 1865 as the city's second opera house after the National Theatre....
in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. He later transferred to Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
where he became involved in operetta productions at the Theater an der Wien
Theater an der Wien
The Theater an der Wien is a historic theatre on the Left Wienzeile in the Mariahilf district of Vienna. Completed in 1801, it has seen the premieres of many celebrated works of theatre, opera, and symphonic music...
. From 1908 he concentrated on writing libretti, often with Alfred Grünwald
Alfred Grünwald
Alfred Grünwald may refer to:*Alfred Grünwald , Austrian librettist*Johannes Theodor Baargeld, pseudonym of Alfred Emanuel Ferdinand Grünwald , German painter and poet...
, and became one of the leading creative artists of the Vienna "Silver Operetta Period" (about 1900 to 1920).
After the Anschluss
Anschluss
The Anschluss , also known as the ', was the occupation and annexation of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938....
, as a Jew, he was forced to emigrate and went to Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, and after the fall of that city to the unoccupied south of France, where he died in Juan-les-Pins
Juan-les-Pins
Juan-les-PinsCountry:Region:Department: Alpes-MaritimesArrondissement: GrasseCanton: Vallauris-Antibes-OuestMunicipality: AntibesPopulation:?Coordinates:Time zone:CET, UTC+1Elevation:10 amslPostal code:06600...
.
One of his most enduring numbers, still popular in several translations, is "Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo
Just a Gigolo (song)
"Just a Gigolo" is a popular song, adapted by Irving Caesar in 1929 from the Austrian song "Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo", written in 1928 by Leonello Casucci and Julius Brammer .-History:...
", in English "Just a Gigolo" (lyrics by Julius Brammer, music by Leonello Casucci
Leonello Casucci
Leonello Casucci was a composer.Casucci is best known for composing the music of the world-famous song "Schöner Gigolo" in 1929, with lyrics by Julius Brammer). The English lyrics for "Just a Gigolo" were provided by Irving Caesar....
). It was recorded by many musicians of the time, including Bing Crosby
Bing Crosby
Harry Lillis "Bing" Crosby was an American singer and actor. Crosby's trademark bass-baritone voice made him one of the best-selling recording artists of the 20th century, with over half a billion records in circulation....
, Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong
Louis Armstrong , nicknamed Satchmo or Pops, was an American jazz trumpeter and singer from New Orleans, Louisiana....
, Dajos Béla
Dajos Béla
Dajos Béla was a Russian fiddle-player and band-leader.-Career:Golzmann was born in Kiev, now part of the Ukraine, of a Russian father and Hungarian mother. He served as a soldier during World War I, after which he studied music in Moscow...
and Richard Tauber
Richard Tauber
Richard Tauber was an Austrian tenor acclaimed as one of the greatest singers of the 20th century. Some critics commented that "his heart felt every word he sang".-Early life:...
, later by Louis Prima
Louis Prima
Louis Prima was a Sicilian American singer, actor, songwriter, and trumpeter. Prima rode the musical trends of his time, starting with his seven-piece New Orleans style jazz band in the 1920s, then successively leading a swing combo in the 1930s, a big band in the 1940s, a Vegas lounge act in the...
, and is still being recorded in different languages. The song appeared in a 1931 film, a 1932 Betty Boop
Betty Boop
Betty Boop is an animated cartoon character created by Max Fleischer, with help from animators including Grim Natwick. She originally appeared in the Talkartoon and Betty Boop film series, which were produced by Fleischer Studios and released by Paramount Pictures. She has also been featured in...
cartoon, a 1978 movie and a 1993 TV-series, all titled after the song.
Select works (libretti)
- 1905 Elektra, with Alfred Grünwald, Musik by Béla Laszky.
- 1911 Die Dame in Rot, with Alfred Grünwald, Musik by Robert Winterberg.
- 1912 Hoheit tanzt WalzerHoheit tanzt WalzerHoheit tanzt Walzer is an operetta in three acts by Leo Ascher to a libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald, loosely based on Ein Walzertraum. It premiered on 24 February 1912 at the Raimund Theater in Vienna...
, with Alfred Grünwald, music by Leo AscherLeo AscherLeo Ascher was a composer of operettas, popular songs and film scores.-Biography:Ascher was born in Vienna as Leonem Ascher. His father, Moritz Ascher, was a local umbrella manufacturer. Leo wrote his first composition, a waltz, at the age of 13 in 1893. He studied law at the University of Vienna... - 1913 Der lachende Ehemann, with Alfred Grünwald, musik by Edmund EyslerEdmund EyslerEdmund Samuel Eysler , was an Austrian composer.-Biography:Edmund Eysler was born in Vienna to a merchant family...
. - 1913 Die ideale Gattin, with Alfred Grünwald, musik by Franz LehárFranz LehárFranz Lehár was an Austrian-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow .-Biography:...
.. - 1915 Die schöne Schwedin, with Alfred Grünwald, musik by Robert Winterberg.
- 1916 Die Kaiserin, a.k.a. Fürstenliebe, with Alfred Grünwald, musik by Leo FallLeo FallLeo Fall was an Austrian composer of operettas.-Life:Born in Olmütz , Leo Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall , a bandmaster and composer, who settled in Berlin. The younger Fall studied at the Vienna Conservatory before rejoining his father in Berlin...
. - 1916 Die Rose von Stambul, with Alfred Grünwald, musik by Leo Fall.
- 1917 Bruder Leichtsinn, with Alfred Grünwald, musik by Leo Ascher.
- 1918 Dichterliebe, (Heinrich Heine). with Alfred Grünwald, musik by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.
- 1920 Der letzte Walzer (The Last Waltz), with Alfred Grünwald, music by Oscar StrausOscar Straus (composer)Oscar Nathan Straus was a Viennese composer of operettas and film scores and songs. He also wrote about 500 cabaret songs, chamber music, and orchestral and choral works...
- 1924 Gräfin Mariza (Countess Maritza), with Alfred Grünwald, music by Emmerich KálmánEmmerich KalmanEmmerich 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...
- 1926 Die ZirkusprinzessinDie ZirkusprinzessinDie Zirkusprinzessin is an operetta in three acts by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán to a German libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald. It premiered at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna on 26 March 1926 and went on to 344 performances there.The plot revolves around a romantic intrigue...
(The Circus Princess), with Alfred Grünwald, music by Emmerich Kálmán - 1928 Die Herzogin von ChicagoDie Herzogin von ChicagoDie Herzogin von Chicago is an operetta in two acts, a prologue, and an epilogue. The music was composed by Hungarian composer Emmerich Kálmán with a libretto by Julius Brammer and Alfred Grünwald. It premiered in Vienna at the Theater an der Wien, on April 5, 1928 and played for 372 performances...
(The Duchess of Chicago), with Alfred Grünwald, music by Emmerich Kálmán