Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works.
Jerome Kern was born in New York City. He studied piano with his mother and in high school was often asked to play piano and organ and compose music for school theatrical productions. In 1902, at the age of 17, he tried his hand at a business career working for his father, who owned a merchandizing house. But the young Kern’s enthusiasm for music led to his ordering 200 pianos from an Italian dealer instead of two — the number he was supposed to purchase. This action almost cost his father his business, and to Kern’s relief, it was agreed that he should pursue a career in music.
Kern enrolled in the New York College of Music in 1902 and in 1903 went abroad to study music in Germany. He took up permanent residence in London, where he began writing songs for British musical hall productions. A year later, he returned to New York, taking jobs with music publishers — first the Lyceum Publishing Company and then Shapiro-Remick. At this time, British productions dominated Broadway. Kern was hired in 1904 to adapt one of these shows, “Mr. Wix of Wickham,” for the Broadway stage by “Americanizing” some of the numbers and by writing some additional songs of his own.
A year later, Kern took a job at another music publisher, T. B. Harms & Co. (which eventually became the publisher of his own works) and continued writing musical interpolations for British shows. Ewen noted that: “Almost a hundred of his songs were heard this way, in approximately thirty musicals. This apprenticeship prepared him for giant tasks and achievements that lay before him.”
The 1910s were a productive and noteworthy period for Kern. He married an English woman, Eva Leale, in 1910 and in 1914 had his first hit, “The Girl from Utah” which was another adaptation of a British show. In 1915 Kern began writing musicals for the Princess Theatre in New York. These productions, “Nobody Home,” “Very Good Eddie,” “Oh Boy!,” and “Oh Lady! Lady!!,” were distinguished by a new approach to musical theater, developed by Kern in collaboration with librettist Guy Bolton, and, beginning in 1917, the talents of lyricist P. G. Wodehouse.
The musical revue format, with unrelated numbers strung together, was replaced by a more coherent story, more sophisticated songs, and characters that were more believable and realistic. The transformation of the Broadway musical did not happen overnight, however, and Kern also wrote the music for more conventional shows, including “Leave It to Jane,” “Sally,” which included the popular “Look for the Silver Lining,” and “Sunny.”
Kern wrote his most important work, “Show Boat,” in 1927 with lyricist Oscar Hammerstein II. The production, which included the songs “Ol’ Man River,” “Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man,” and “Make Believe,” is notable for the richness of its music and its influence on other Broadway composers, who saw it as a model of writing for the musical stage.
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| Kern with Oscar Hammerstein II |
Today some believe it reflects racist attitudes; protesters tried to ban a 1993 revival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, but the production went on to great success and re-opened on Broadway in 1994. “Show Boat” was made into a film musical three times — in 1929, 1936, and 1951. In 1954 it became part of the New York City Opera’s standard repertory — the first musical to be adopted by an opera company.
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| Kern with George Gershwin |
The 1930s saw a string of Kern musicals: “The Cat and the Fiddle”; “Music in the Air”; “Roberta,” which was made into a film starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in 1935 and which included the song “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes”; the Astaire/Rogers film musical Swing Time, featuring “A Fine Romance” and the Oscar-winning “The Way You Look Tonight”; and Very Warm For May, which was a flop but from which the song “All the Things You Are” perhaps Kern’s best song, if not the best popular song by any composer survives.
In the 1940s Kern moved to Hollywood and devoted the rest of his career to writing music for films. He contributed the songs “The Last Time I Saw Paris” to Lady Be Good, “Dearly Beloved” to You Were Never Lovelier, and “Long Ago and Far Away” to Cover Girl. His last score was for the film Centennial Summer which was released in 1946.
On November 5, 1945, at 60 years of age, he suffered a stroke while walking at the corner of Park Avenue and 57th Street. Identifiable only by his ASCAP card, Kern was initially taken to the indigent ward at City Hospital, later being transferred to Doctors Hospital in Manhattan. Hammerstein was at his side when Kern's breathing stopped. Hammerstein hummed or sang the song "I've Told Ev'ry Little Star" from Music in the Air (a personal favourite of the composer's) into Kern's ear. Receiving no response, Hammerstein realized Kern had died.
(Edited from Pbs.org Broadway & Wikipedia)