Wilhelm Grosz
Austrian composer of classical works and popular songs.
Wilhelm Grosz (11 August 1894 – 10 December 1939), also known as Hugh Williams, was an Austrian composer, pianist, and conductor. He composed classical concert works and, after fleeing to England and the United States, wrote internationally successful popular songs.
Quick Facts
- Born
- 11 August 1894
- Died
- 10 December 1939
- Birthplace
- Vienna
- Deathplace
- New York City
- Also known as
- Hugh Williams
- Notable lyricist collaborator
- Jimmy Kennedy
- Key popular song
- Isle of Capri
Facts from the source article.
Life
Wilhelm Grosz was born in Vienna to a wealthy Jewish family. He studied piano with Richard Robert, composition with Franz Schreker, and musicology with Guido Adler. In 1921 he became conductor of the Mannheim Opera, returning to Vienna the following year to work as a pianist and composer. From 1927 he was artistic manager of the Ultraphone Gramophone Company in Berlin, engaging with popular music. In 1933 he conducted the Kammerspiele Theater in Vienna. Forced to flee the Nazi takeover, he resettled in England in 1934. Finding little interest in his avant garde style, he set lyrics for popular songs, many with Jimmy Kennedy, including "Harbour Lights", "Red Sails in the Sunset", and "Isle of Capri". He used the names Will Grosz and later Hugh Williams. He emigrated to the United States in 1938 but died in New York City in 1939, aged 45, months after arriving, en route to Hollywood. His children remained in Europe.
Music
Grosz's classical output includes three operas: the one-act opera buffa Sganarell (after Molière, produced in Dessau in 1925), Der arme Reinhold (Berlin, December 1928, subtitled "a danced fable"), and Achtung, Aufnahme! (Frankfurt, March 1930, a zeitoper with libretto by Bela Balazs). He also wrote two ballets, incidental music for three plays, film scores, orchestral works, a Symphonic Dance for piano and orchestra, chamber music (including a 1925 violin sonata), piano pieces, and songs (including the cycle Liebeslieder). Works such as Jazzband for violin and piano (1924) introduced jazz elements into concert music. Afrika-Songs, a song cycle for two vocal soloists and chamber ensemble first performed in 1930, sets texts by African-American poets, mainly Langston Hughes, with a strongly blues-flavored sound. It was recorded in the mid-1990s by Decca Records as part of their Entartete Musik series. Gottlieb Wallisch has issued two CDs of Grosz's piano music.
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