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Rudolf Friml

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Rudolf Friml was born in 1879 in Prague and died in 1972 in Los Angeles. He was a Czech-American composer of operettas, musicals, songs and piano music, and also a pianist. He entered the Prague Conservatoire in 1895, where he studied piano and composition with Antonín Dvořák. In 1901 he was sent away because he had performed without permission. After that he was the pianist for the violinist Jan Kubelík, with whom he toured the United States twice. In 1906 he settled there permanently, and in 1904 he had performed his own Piano Concerto in B flat major at Carnegie Hall.

Music and breakthrough

His breakthrough as a theatre composer came in 1912 with The Firefly, an operetta that Victor Herbert had dropped. The show ran in New York for months. High Jinks, Katinka and You're in Love followed. He wrote his greatest successes in the 1920s, with Rose-Marie from 1924 and The Vagabond King. Both were successful on Broadway and in London and were filmed. His music is romantic and melodic, with above all European operetta traditions.

Influence

Friml went on composing and giving concerts well into his nineties. The Donkey Serenade from the film version of The Firefly, The Mounties and Indian Love Call are still played, often as parody. In Japan Song of the Vagabonds is known. He was one of the first members of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. In this way he formed a bridge between European operetta and the American musical.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to Indian Love Call from Rose-Marie and notice the big, singing melody. Can you hear how romantic and theatrical it sounds?

Discography

Studio albums

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

Categories: Artists