Ernö Rapeé (or Erno Rapee) (b. 4 June 1891 in Budapest, Hungary, d. Events 781 BC - The first historic Solar eclipse is recorded in China. Year 1891 ( MDCCCXCI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Budapest ( also /ˈbʊ-/) is the capital city of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary it serves as the country's principal Political, Hungary (Magyarország 'mɔɟɔrorsaːg) officially in English the Republic of Hungary ( Magyar Köztársaság, literally Magyar (Hungarian Republic 26 June 1945 in New York City], New York) was one of the most prolific conductors of the American symphony in the first half of the 1900s. Events 363 - Roman Emperor Julian is killed during the retreat from the Sassanid Empire. Year 1945 ( MCMXLV) was a Common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar The City of New York New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous His most famous tenure was that of the head conductor of the Radio City Symphony Orchestra, whose home base was located at Radio City Music Hall and whose music was heard by millions over the air. Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City 's Rockefeller Center.
A virtuoso pianist, Rapeé is also remembered for the popular few songs that he wrote in the late 1920's as Photoplay music that were premiered in New York at various theaters he worked at. Photoplay music is the term given to music written specifically for the accompaniment of Silent films. When not conducting live orchestras, he supervised film scores for sound pictures, compiling a substantial list of films on which he worked as composer, arranger or musical director.
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Life
Rapeé was born in Budapest, Hungary on June 4, 1891. He studied as a pianist and later conductor at the Budapest Conservatory. Later, he was assistant conductor to Ernst von Schuch in Dresden. Ernst Edler von Schuch, born Ernst Gottfried Schuch ( 23 November 1846, Graz &ndash 10 May 1914, Niederlößnitz/ Radebeul
As a composer, his first piano concerto was played by the Philharmonic Orchestra of Vienna, and after a tour of America as a guest conductor, began performing at the Rialto Theater in New York as assistant to Hugo Riesenfeld, where he began composing and conducting for silent films. Hugo Riesenfeld ( &ndash) was a pioneering Austrian-American film composer as well as Violinist and conductor.
Following positions at the Rialto and Rivoli theaters, he was hired by Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel as the musical director of the Capitol Theater's seventy-seven member orchestra in New York. Samuel Lionel "Roxy" Rothafel ( 9 July 1882, Stillwater Minnesota - 13 January 1936, New York City) was a showman It was at the Capitol that Rapeé made his most famous classical arrangement of Franz Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody, No. 13. While at the Capitol, he pioneered orchestral radio broadcasts over station WEAF as part of the "Roxy's Gang" programs; he also engaged Eugene Ormandy as the Capitol's concertmaster and assistant conductor. WikipediaWikiProject Classical music#Biographical_infoboxes --> Eugene Ormandy ( November 18, 1899 &ndash March The Capitol orchestra also made a number of commercial recordings under Rapeé's direction in 1923-24 for the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company. The Brunswick Corporation, formerly known as the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company, is a United States -based Corporation that has been involved in
Rapeé's next move was to Philadelphia, where he conducted an orchestra of sixty-eight at the Fox Theater. Percy Grainger was one of his guest artists during this engagement. George Percy Grainger (8 July 1882&ndash20 February 1961 was an Australian born Composer, Pianist and champion of the Saxophone and the
After his tenure at the Fox, Rapeé went on to international success in Berlin with an orchestra of eighty-five at the UFA Theater. While there he was invited to conduct the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in a concert. The Berlin Philharmonic (in German: Die Berliner Philharmoniker) is an Orchestra based in Berlin, Germany. Later he appeared as conductor of the Budapest Philharmonic and other famous orchestras.
In 1926, he returned to America after notable European successes and entered upon an engagement at the Roxy Theater in New York upon the theater's opening in March 1927, leading the 110-player Roxy Symphony Orchestra (at the time the world's largest permanent orchestra, outnumbering the New York Philharmonic by three musicians). Millions of listeners heard his symphonic concerts over the air on Sunday afternoon during The Roxy Hour radio broadcasts.
Finally, in 1932, Rapeé reached the apex of his career as the musical director and head conductor of Roxy's Radio City Music Hall Symphonic Orchestra. Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City 's Rockefeller Center. Rapeé held this position until his death from a heart attack on June 26, 1945.
Compositions
During his years conducting for silent films on Broadway, Rapeé arranged and composed a bulk of his library. In 1923, Robbins-Engel Music began publishing the music of Rapeé and his associates under the banner of the "Capitol Photoplay Series". Under their "Gold Seal" series (carefully selected pieces chosen to be printed on high-quality paper), his song "When Love Comes Stealing" was published the same year. Five years later, this became the theme song of the Paul Leni film, The Man Who Laughs. Paul Leni ( 8 July 1885, Stuttgart – 2 September 1929, Los Angeles) born Paul Josef Levi was a German The Man Who Laughs ( 1928) is an American Silent film directed by the German Expressionist filmmaker Paul Leni.
Collaborating with Dr. William Axt, Rapeé co-wrote an eminent collection of Photoplay music, which included such pieces as a series of three Agitatos, Appassionato No. 1, Debutante, Frozen North, Screening Preludes 1 and 2, and Tender Memories. Other pieces written solo included The Clown's Carnival and Pollywog's Frolic.
In 1928, Rapeé collaborated with composer Lew Pollack on "Charmaine" for the film, What Price Glory? and "Diane", for the Fox production, Seventh Heaven. Lew Pollack [[16 June] 1895 in New York, d 18 January 1946 in Hollywood was a Composer active during the 1920's and the "Charmaine" is a popular Song written by Erno Rapee, with lyrics by Lew Pollack. Diane is a song by Erno Rapee and Lew Pollack originally written as a theme song for the 1927 classic silent movie " Seventh Heaven " For other uses see Seventh Heaven (disambiguation. Seventh Heaven ( 1927) is a Silent film and one Rapeé and Pollack's songs were covered by Mantovani, Frank Sinatra, Jim Reeves, and numerous other artists throughout the 20th Century and gave hits in the Sixties for Irish M-O-R group The Bachelors. Annunzio Paolo Mantovani ( November 15, 1905 &ndash March 29, 1980) known by the Mononym Mantovani was a popular conductor Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra (December 12 1915 &ndash May 14 1998 was an American singer and actor James Travis "Jim" Reeves ( August 20 1923 &ndash July 31 1964) was an American country and Pop singer The Bachelors is a Popular music group, originating from Dublin, Ireland.
Publications
Rapeé also wrote several music books that were first published in the 1920s. The following books of his are still in print:
Encyclopedia of Music for Pictures, Belwin, NY, 1925. Reprinted in 1974 by the Arno Press. ISBN 0-405-01634-4
Motion Picture Moods for Pianists and Organists, G. Schirmer, NY, 1924. Reprinted in 1974 by the Arno Press. ISBN 0-405-01635-2