Kern, Jerome

Kern, Jerome

▪ American composer
born Jan. 27, 1885, New York City
died Nov. 11, 1945, New York City
 one of the major U.S. composers of musical comedy, whose Show Boat (with libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II) inaugurated the serious musical play in U.S. theatre.

      Kern studied music in New York City and in 1903 in Heidelberg, Ger., later gaining theatrical experience in London. After his return to New York in 1905, he worked as a pianist and salesman for various music publishers and wrote new numbers for revivals of European operettas.

      In 1912 he produced The Red Petticoat, the first musical comedy containing only his own music; its success was surpassed by Very Good Eddie in 1915. Subsequent musicals included Oh, Boy! (1917), Sally (1920), Sunny (1925), Show Boat (1927), The Cat and the Fiddle (1931), Music in the Air (1932), and Roberta (1933). In 1933 he moved to Hollywood, where he was active as a composer of film music.

      Kern's music is noted for its natural flow of rhythm and for the often folk-song-like quality of its melodies, which possess an indefinable but unmistakably American character. Show Boat, based on the novel by Edna Ferber, was the earliest U.S. musical play with a serious plot drawn from a literary source.

      Kern's songs that have become classics include “The Song is You,” “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes,” and “Ol' Man River.” In 1946 a film biography of Kern, Till the Clouds Roll By, was released.

Additional Reading
Gerald Bordman, Jerome Kern (1980, reissued 1990), discusses his life and music.

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Universalium. 2010.

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  • KERN, JEROME DAVID — (1885–1945), U.S. composer of popular music. Born in New York, Kern published his first song, At the Casino, in 1902. In 1903, while working in London, he had his first real success – a political song Mr. Chamberlain with lyrics by P.G. Wodehouse …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Kern,Jerome David — Kern (kûrn), Jerome David. 1885 1945. American composer of numerous musicals, including Show Boat (1927), and more than a thousand songs, such as “Ol Man River” and “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes.” * * * …   Universalium

  • Kern, Jerome (David) — born Jan. 27, 1885, New York, N.Y., U.S. died Nov. 11, 1945, New York City U.S. composer, one of the major U.S. creators of the musical. Kern studied music in his native New York City and in Heidelberg, Ger., and he later gained theatrical… …   Universalium

  • Kern, Jerome (David) — (27 ene. 1885, Nueva York, N.Y., EE.UU.–11 nov. 1945, Nueva York). Compositor estadounidense, uno de los principales creadores de la comedia musical de su país. Kern estudió música en su Nueva York natal y en Heidelberg, Alemania, y… …   Enciclopedia Universal

  • Kern, Jerome David — (1885–1945)    US composer. Born in New York, Kern was the composer of more than a thousand popular songs and lyrics, some of which, like Ol’ Man River and Smoke Gets in your Eyes, became classics of popular music. Kern composed for Broadway… …   Who’s Who in Jewish History after the period of the Old Testament

  • Kern, Jerome — (1885 1945)    American composer. Born in New York, he published his first song in 1902. Later he wrote his first hit song: How d You Like to Spoon with Me? Until the outbreak of World War I, many of his songs were written for New York… …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • Kern, Jerome —  (1885–1945) American composer …   Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors

  • Jerome Kern — Born January 27, 1885(1885 01 27) New York City, New York Died November 11, 1945(1945 …   Wikipedia

  • Jerome Kern — Jerome David Kern (* 27. Januar 1885 in New York, N.Y.; † 11. November 1945 in New York, N.Y.) war ein US amerikanischer Komponist. Inhaltsverzeichnis 1 Biografie 2 Werke (Auswahl) …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Jérôme Kern — Jerome Kern Pour les articles homonymes, voir Jerome et Kern. Jerome Kern est un compositeur américain, né le 27 janvier 1885 à New York (État de New York), décédé le 11 novembre 1945 à New York. Jerome Kern étudie la musique… …   Wikipédia en Français

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