Sigmund Romberg

Classical Music Dateline: July 29

Musicals & Operetta Composer

Sigmund Romberg, Hungarian-born American composer, was born July 29, 1887, in Nagy-Kaniza. Romberg wrote film scores and adapted his own work for film.

He became famous by adapting some endearing music of the greatest melodist of all time, Franz Schubert.  Blossom Time, which was produced in the UK as Lilac Time was popular.  His most successful and best known operettas include The Student Prince, The Desert Song and The New Moon. He also styled some of his music to that of Franz Lehar.  He was a contemporary of George Gershwin, with whom he co-write Rosalie.

Early in his career, Romberg was employed by the Shubert brothers  to write music for their musicals and revues. Still for the Shuberts, he also adapted several European operettas for American audiences, including the successful Maytime (1917) and Blossom Time (1921). His three hit operettas of the mid-1920s, named above, are in the style of Viennese operetta, but his other works mostly employ the style of American musicals of their eras. He also composed film scores including "Student Prince" and "The Desert Song." 



Resources:

Sigmund Romberg. en.wikipedia.org.
The Grove Concise Dictionary of Music, Edited by Stanley Sadie. New Update Edition. London: Macmillan Publishers, 1994.

Video Credit:

Sigmund Romberg. en.wikipedia.org / Public Domain.