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Biography
About|the American composer|collaborative work with Oscar Hammerstein|Rodgers and Hammerstein|the British architect|Richard RogersInfobox musical artist| name = Richard Rodgers| image = Rodgers.jpg| caption =| background = non_performing_personnel| birth_name = Richard Charles Rodgers| birth_date = birth date|mf=y|1902|06|28|birth_place = New York City, New York , United States|USA | death_date = death date and age|mf=y|1979|12|30|1902|06|28|death_place = New York City, New York , United States|USA | genre = Musical theatre | occupation = Composer , songwriter , playwright | years_active =| Richard Charles Rodgers (June 28, 1902 – December 31, 1979) was an American Musical composition|compose r of music for more than 900 songs and for 43 Broadway musicals. He also composed music for films and television. He is best known for his songwriting partnerships with the lyricist s Rodgers and Hart|Lorenz Hart and Oscar Hammerstein II . His compositions have had a significant impact on popular music down to the present day, and have an enduring broad appeal.
Rodgers was the first person to win what are considered the top show business awards in television, recording, movies and Broadway—an Emmy Award|Emmy , a Grammy Award|Grammy , an Academy Award|Oscar , and a Tony Award|Tony —now known collectively as an EGOT . He has also won a Pulitzer Prize , making him one of two people ( Marvin Hamlisch is the other) to receive each award.
Biography
Early life and education
Born into a prosperous ethnic German Jewish family in Arverne, Queens , New York City , Rodgers was the son of Mamie Levy and Dr. William Abrahams Rodgers, a prominent physician who had changed the family name from Abrahams. Richard began playing the piano at age six. He attended P.S. 10, Townsend Harris Hall and DeWitt Clinton High School . Rodgers spent his early teenage summers in Camp Wigwam (Waterford, Maine) where he composed some of his first songs. http://www.nytimes.com/books/first/h/hyland-rodgers.html Hyland, William G: Richard Rodgers . Chapter 1. Yale University Press, 1998
Rodgers, Lorenz Hart , and Rodgers's later collaborator Oscar Hammerstein II all attended Columbia University . At Columbia, Rodgers joined the Pi Lambda Phi fraternity. In 1921, Rodgers shifted his studies to the Institute of Musical Art (now Juilliard ).Richard Rodgers, Musical Stages: An Autobiography (2002 Reissue), pp. 12,20–21,44, DaCapo Press, ISBN 0-306-81134-0 Rodgers was influenced by composers such as Victor Herbert and Jerome Kern , as well as by the operetta s his parents took him to see on Broadway theatre|Broadway when he was a child.
Career
Rodgers and Hart
Main|Rodgers and HartIn 1919, Richard met Lorenz Hart , thanks to Phillip Leavitt, a friend of Richard's older brother. Rodgers and Hart struggled for years in the field of musical comedy, writing a number of amateur shows. They made their professional debut with the song "Any Old Place With You", featured in the 1919 Broadway musical comedy A Lonely Romeo . Their first professional production was the 1920 Poor Little Ritz Girl . Their next professional show, The Melody Man , did not premiere until 1924.
When he was just out of college Rodgers worked as musical director for Lew Fields . Among the stars he accompanied were Nora Bayes and Fred Allen . Rodgers was considering quitting show business altogether to sell children's underwear, when he and Hart finally broke through in 1925. They wrote the songs for a benefit show presented by the prestigious Theatre Guild , called The Garrick Gaieties , and the critics found the show fresh and delightful. Only meant to run one day, the Guild knew they had a success and allowed it to re-open later. The show's biggest hit — the song that Rodgers believed "made" Rodgers and Hart — was " Manhattan (song)|Manhattan " sung by Ruth Tester and Allan Gould. The two were now a Broadway songwriting force.
Throughout the rest of the decade, the duo wrote several hit shows for both Broadway and London, including Dearest Enemy (1925), The Girl Friend (1926), Peggy-Ann (1926), A Connecticut Yankee (musical)|A Connecticut Yankee (1927), and Present Arms (musical)|Present Arms (1928). Their 1920s shows produced standards such as " Here in My Arms ", " Mountain Greenery ", " Blue Room (song)|Blue Room ", " My Heart Stood Still " and " You Took Advantage of Me ".
With the Great Depression|Depression in full swing during the first half of the 1930s, the team sought greener pastures in Hollywood. The hardworking Rodgers later regretted these relatively fallow years, but he and Hart did write a number of classic songs and film scores while out west, including Love Me Tonight (1932) (directed by Rouben Mamoulian , who would later direct Rodgers' Oklahoma! on Broadway), which introduced three standards: " Lover (song)|Lover ", " Mimi (song)|Mimi ", and " Isn't It Romantic? ". Rodgers also wrote a melody for which Hart wrote three consecutive lyrics which either were cut, not recorded or not a hit. The fourth lyric resulted in one of their most famous songs, " Blue Moon (song)|Blue Moon ". Other film work includes the scores to The Phantom President (1932), starring George M. Cohan , ''Hallelujah, I'm a Bum (1933), starring Al Jolson , and, in a quick return after having left Hollywood, Mississippi (1935), starring Bing Crosby and W.C. Fields .
In 1935, they returned to Broadway wrote an almost unbroken string of hit shows that ended only with Hart's death in 1943. Among the most notable are Jumbo (musical)|Jumbo (1935), On Your Toes (1936, which included the ballet "Slaughter on Tenth Avenue", choreographed by George Balanchine), Babes in Arms (1937), I Married an Angel (1938), The Boys from Syracuse (1938), Pal Joey (musical)|Pal Joey (1940), and their last original work, By Jupiter (1942). Rodgers also contributed to the book on several of these shows.
Many of the songs from these shows are still sung and remembered, including " The Most Beautiful Girl in the World (1935 song)|The Most Beautiful Girl in the World ", " My Romance (song)|My Romance ", " Little Girl Blue (song)|Little Girl Blue ", " I'll Tell the Man in the Street ", " There's a Small Hotel ", " Where or When ", " My Funny Valentine ", " The Lady is a Tramp ", " Falling in Love with Love ", " Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered ", and " Wait Till You See Her ".
In 1939 he wrote the ballet Ghost Town (ballet)|Ghost Town for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo , with choreography by Marc Platoff . http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html? res=9C03E1D9173CF930A15753C1A9649C8B63 DANCE REVIEW; Rodgers As Ideal Dance Partner
Rodgers and Hammerstein
Main|Rodgers and HammersteinHis partnership with Hart having problems because of the lyricist's unreliability and declining health, Rodgers began working with Oscar Hammerstein II , with whom he had previously written a number of songs (before ever working with Lorenz Hart). Their first musical, the groundbreaking hit, Oklahoma! (1943), marked the beginning of the most successful partnership in American musical theatre history. Their work revolutionized the form. What was once a collection of songs, dances and comic turns held together by a tenuous plot became an integrated masterpiece.
The team went on to create four more hits that are among the most popular of all musicals and were each made into successful films: Carousel (musical)|Carousel (1945), South Pacific (musical)|South Pacific (1949, winner of the 1950 Pulitzer Prize for Drama), The King and I (1951), and The Sound of Music (1959). Other shows include the minor hit, Flower Drum Song (1958), as well as relative failures Allegro (musical)|Allegro (1947), Me and Juliet (1953) and Pipe Dream (musical)|Pipe Dream (1955). They also wrote the score to the film State Fair (1945 film)|State Fair (1945) (which was remade in 1962 with Pat Boone ), and a special TV musical of Cinderella (TV)|Cinderella (1957).
Their collaboration produced many well-known songs, including " Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin' ", " People Will Say We're in Love ", " Oklahoma! " (which also became the state Oklahoma's state song), " If I Loved You ", " You'll Never Walk Alone (song)|You'll Never Walk Alone ", " It Might as Well Be Spring ", " Some Enchanted Evening (song)|Some Enchanted Evening ", " Getting to Know You (song)|Getting to Know You ", " My Favorite Things (song)|My Favorite Things ", " The Sound of Music (song)|The Sound of Music ", " Sixteen Going on Seventeen ", " Climb Ev'ry Mountain ", " Do-Re-Mi ", and " Edelweiss (song)|Edelweiss ", Hammerstein's last song.
Much of Rodgers's work with both Hart and Hammerstein was orchestrated by Robert Russell Bennett . Rodgers composed twelve themes, which Bennett scored for the 26-episode World War II television documentary Victory at Sea (1952–53). This NBC production pioneered the "compilation documentary"--programming based on pre-existing footage—and was eventually broadcast in dozens of countries. The melody of the popular song No Other Love (1953 song)|No Other Love was later taken from the 'Victory at Sea' theme entitled "Beneath the Southern Cross". Rodgers won an Emmy for the theme music for the ABC documentary Winston Churchill: The Valiant Years , scored by Eddie Sauter and Robert Emmett Dolan. He contributed the musical theme for the 1963–64 historical anthology television series The Great Adventure (TV series)| The Great Adventure .
In 1950, Rodgers and Hammerstein received The Hundred Year Association of New York 's Gold Medal Award "in recognition of outstanding contributions to the City of New York."
In 1954, Rodgers conducted the New York Philharmonic Orchestra in excerpts from Victory at Sea , Slaughter on Tenth Avenue and the Carousel Waltz for a special LP released by Columbia Records .
Rodgers and Hammerstein musicals earned a total of 35 Tony Awards , 15 Academy Awards , two Pulitzer Prizes , two Grammy Awards, and two Emmy Awards.
After Hammerstein
After Hammerstein's death in 1960, Rodgers wrote both words and music for his first new Broadway project No Strings (1962, which earned two Tony Awards). The show was a minor hit and featured perhaps his last great song, " The Sweetest Sounds (song)|The Sweetest Sounds ".
Rodgers also wrote both the words and music for two new songs used in the film version of "The Sound of Music". (Other songs in that film were from Rodgers and Hammerstein.)
Rodgers went on to work with lyricists Stephen Sondheim ( Do I Hear A Waltz? ), a protege of Hammerstein; Martin Charnin ( Two by Two (musical)|Two By Two , I Remember Mama (musical)|I Remember Mama ); and Sheldon Harnick ( Rex (musical)|Rex ).
At its 1978 commencement ceremonies, Barnard College awarded Rodgers its highest honor, the List of Barnard College people#Recipients of the Medal of Distinction|Barnard Medal of Distinction .
Death and legacy
Rodgers died in 1979 at age 77 after surviving cancer of the jaw, a heart attack, and a laryngectomy. He was cremation|cremated and his ashes were scattered at sea.
In 1990, the 46th Street Theatre was renamed "The Richard Rodgers Theatre" in his memory. In 1999, Rodgers and Hart were each commemorated on United States postage stamps. 2002 was the centennial year of Rodgers's birth, celebrated worldwide with books, retrospectives, performances, new recordings of his music, and a Broadway revival of Oklahoma! . The BBC Proms that year devoted an entire evening to Rodgers' music including a concert performance of Oklahoma!
Several American schools are Richard Rodgers School (disambiguation)|named after Richard Rodgers .
Alec Wilder wrote the following about Rodgers: Quotation|Of all the writers whose songs are considered and examined in this book, those of Rodgers show the highest degree of consistent excellence, inventiveness, and sophistication...After spending weeks playing his songs, I am more than impressed and respectful: I am astonished.Wilder, Alec, 1973. American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900–1950 Oxford University Press: 163. ISBN 0-19-501445-6
Relationship with performers
Rosemary Clooney recorded a version of "Falling In Love With Love" by Rodgers, using a swing style. After the recording session Richard Rodgers told her pointedly that it should be sung as a waltz.cite book |title=A Fine Romance|last=Lehman |first=David |authorlink= |coauthors= |year=2009|publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=0-8052-4250-3|page=140 |page=249 |url= http://books.google.com/books? id=-nYWq-8qjHMC& dq=A+Fine+Romance The 1961 doo-wop arrangement of the Rodgers and Hart song "Blue Moon" by The Marcels so incensed Rodgers that he wanted to litigate. Hammerstein talked him out of it, arguing that the recording would ultimately increase royalties, which turned out to be the case.Citation needed|date=September 2011 After Peggy Lee recorded her version of "Lover", a Rodgers song with a dramatically different arrangement than originally conceived by him, Rodgers said, "I don't know why Peggy picked on me, she could have ****ed up " Silent Night ".A Fine Romance, p.140Mary Martin said that Richard Rodgers composed songs for her for South Pacific , knowing she had a small vocal range, and the songs generally made her look her best. She also said that Rodgers and Hammerstein listened to all her suggestions and she worked extremely well with them.A Fine Romance, p.142–143
Personal life
In 1930, Rodgers married Dorothy Belle Feiner. Their daughter, Mary Rodgers|Mary , is the composer of Once Upon a Mattress and an author of children's books. The Rodgerses later lost a daughter at birth, but another daughter, Linda, was born in the 1930s. Rodgers' grandson, Adam Guettel , also a musical theatre composer, won Tony Awards for Best Score and Best Orchestrations for The Light in the Piazza (musical)|The Light in the Piazza in 2005. Peter Melnick , another grandson, is the composer of Adrift In Macao , which debuted at the Philadelphia Theatre Company in 2005 and was produced Off Broadway in 2007.
Shows with music by Rodgers
Lyrics by Lorenz Hart
One Minute Please
Fly with Me (Rodgers and Hart)|Fly with Me (1920)
Poor Little Ritz Girl (1920)
The Melody Man (1924)
The Garrick Gaieties (1925–26)
Dearest Enemy (1925)
The Girl Friend (1926)
Peggy-Ann (1926)
Betsy (1926)
A Connecticut Yankee (musical)|A Connecticut Yankee (1927)
Two by Two (musical)|Two by Two (1970) ( Martin Charnin )
Rex (musical)|Rex (1976) ( Sheldon Harnick )
I Remember Mama (musical)|I Remember Mama (1979) ( Martin Charnin /Raymond Jessel)
Wider influence
The Internet Movie Database lists 276 film and TV soundtracks using songs by Rodgers, as well as 46 films and TV events that credit him as the composer.
In 1960, the saxophonist John Coltrane recorded a jazz version of " My Favorite Things (song)|My Favorite Things " from The Sound of Music whose rich musical mode|modal improvisations proved germane. The tune became a regular part of his repertoire.
The entry " You'll Never Walk Alone (song)|You'll Never Walk Alone " (from Carousel (musical)|Carousel ) discusses in detail the many cover versions of this song, and its extraordinary popularity with professional soccer teams and their fans.
Jerry Lewis ends his Labor Day telethon by singing " You'll Never Walk Alone (song)|You'll Never Walk Alone ".
" Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin' " from Oklahoma! is sometimes mistaken for a traditional folk song.
" Edelweiss (song)|Edelweiss ", " Ländler " (Rodgers' adaption of a traditional Austrian folk dance tune), and " Do-Re-Mi ", all from The Sound of Music , frequently go unrecognized as Rodgers' tunes.
"Happy Talk" is covered by Daniel Johnston and Jad Fair. Captain Sensible did a jaunty rendition in the 1980s, complete with burlesque organ. The British rapper Dizzee Rascal uses the chorus of this song.
Several professional Richard Rodgers Award (disambiguation)|awards in musical theater are named for Rodgers.
Footnotes
Reflist
References
cite book | author=Secrest, Meryle | title=Somewhere For Me | publisher = Alfred A. Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. | year=2001| isbn = 1-55783-581-0
http://www.rnh.com/bio/175/Rodgers-Richard Biography from the RNH Official Site
http://www2.wwnorton.com/classical/composers/rodgers.htm Profile of Rodgers.
http://www.maurice-abravanel.com/rogers_more.html Another biography.Dead link|date=February 2012
http://c250.columbia.edu/c250_celebrates/remarkable_columbians/rodgers_hammerstein.html A feature on Rodgers and Hammerstein.
External links
Portal|Biography
IBDB name|id=8323|name=Richard Rodgers
IMDb name|0006256|name=Richard Rodgers
http://www.rnh.com The Rodgers and Hammerstein Organization
http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_4_urbanities-richard_rodgers.html City Journal article on Rodgers
http://www.npr.org/programs/specials/rr100/npraudio.html Centennial features on Rodgers
http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu002002.3 The Richard Rodgers Collection at the Library of Congress
http://www.nypl.org/research/manuscripts/the/rodgers.xml Richard Rodgers Papers in the Billy Rose Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
http://www.sbgmusic.com/html/teacher/reference/composers/rodg-hamm.html Musicals by Rodgers and Hammerstein
http://www.pbs.org/weta/onstage/rodgers/about_timeline.html TimeLine of Rodgers' Life
http://pluto.huji.ac.il/~msyfalk/RodgersLater.html Review and analysis of Rodgers' later plays
PulitzerPrize DramaAuthors 1926-1950PulitzerPrize SpecialCitations ArtsTonyAward MusicalScore 1947–1975Rodgers and HammersteinKennedy Center Honorees 1970sAcademyAwardBestOriginalSong 1941–1950 Persondata|NAME = Rodgers, Richard |ALTERNATIVE NAMES = |SHORT DESCRIPTION = |DATE OF BIRTH = June 28, 1902 |PLACE OF BIRTH = New York City, New York , United States|USA |DATE OF DEATH = December 30, 1979 |PLACE OF DEATH = New York City, New York , United States|USA DEFAULTSORT:Rodgers, Richard Category:1902 births Category:1979 deaths Category:American dramatists and playwrights Category:American musical theatre composers Category:American people of German-Jewish descent Category:Songwriters from New York Category:Ballet composers Category:Best Song Academy Award winning songwriters Category:Columbia University alumni Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Handel Medallion recipients Category:Jewish American composers and songwriters Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Pulitzer Prize for Drama winners Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees
