Rudolf Friml

Rudolf Friml (December 7, 1879 – November 12, 1972) was a composer of operettas, musicals, songs, as well as a pianist.

Early Life

Born in in Prague, Czechoslovakia, 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.

The Firefly

One of the most popular theatrical forms in the early decades of the 20th Century in America was the operetta and it's most famous composer was Irish-born Victor Herbert. It was announced in 1912 that operetta diva Emma Trentini would be starring in a new operatta 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Friml retired after writing the operetta Music Hath Charms in 1934. He died in Los Angeles in 1972.

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 Muskateers.

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)

External Links

Friml's entry in the Internet Broadway Database

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.