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Comedian Harmonists
The Comedian Harmonists were an all-male German close harmony ensemble that performed between 1928 and 1934. The group consisted of Harry Frommermann (tenor buffo), Asparuh "Ari" Leschnikoff (first tenor), Erich A. Collin (second tenor), Roman Cycowski (baritone), Robert Biberti (bass), and Erwin Bootz (pianist).
The hallmark of the Comedian Harmonists was its members' ability to blend their voices together so that the individual singers could appear and disappear back into the vocal texture.[citation needed] Its repertoire ranged from the folk and classical songs arranged by Frommermann to popular songs of the day by writers such as Peter Igelhoff, Werner R. Heymann and Paul Abraham.
In 1927, unemployed actor Harry Frommermann was inspired by The Revelers, a jazz-influenced popular vocal group from the United States, to create a German group of the same format. According to Douglas Friedman's 2010 book The Comedian Harmonists, in August 1929 both groups appeared on the same bill at the Scala (Berlin) (former Berliner Eispalast) and became friends. Frommermann held auditions in his flat on Stubenrauchstraße 47 in Berlin-Friedenau, and, once the group was assembled, it began rehearsals. After some initial failures, the Harmonists became popular throughout Europe, visiting the United States, and appearing in 21 films.
The members of the group were:
The group's success continued into the early 1930s, but eventually ran into trouble with the Nazi regime: three of the group members – Frommermann, Collin, and Cycowski – were either Jewish or of Jewish descent, and Bootz had married a Jewish woman. The Nazis progressively made the group's professional life more difficult, initially banning pieces by Jewish composers, and finally prohibiting them from performing in public. The group's last concert in Germany was in Hanover on March 25, 1934, after which they sailed to the United States on SS Europa and gave several concerts. Fearing internment if they stayed abroad, however, they eventually returned home amid bitter internal disputes.[citation needed]
Frommermann, Cycowski, and Collin subsequently fled Germany and formed a new group in Vienna, which performed under the names "Comedian Harmonists" and "Comedy Harmonists" with a new pianist, bass, and high tenor. The remaining members in Germany likewise replaced their counterparts in a successor group named "Das Meistersextett" (as the authorities forbade an English-language name). Neither group was able to achieve the original success of the Comedian Harmonists, with the German group stifled by political in-fighting and heavy censorship, as well as the war draft (call-up). The emigrant group toured across Europe (excluding Germany and, from 1938 on, Austria), but also in the Soviet Union, South Africa, South America, and Australia where they were particularly successful and considered settling down after the Australian government offered them citizenship.[citation needed] However, after a North American concert tour in 1940, they were unable to return to Australia. Their last concert was in Richmond, Indiana, on May 1, 1940. After that, they were unable to find work in America due to hostility toward German entertainers, and the group split up.[citation needed]
The Bulgarian Asparuh Leschnikoff (also spelt Leshnikov) returned to his fatherland in 1938 and started a solo career. By 1941, both groups had broken up. Although all members survived the war, they never re-formed after the war.[citation needed]
Erich Collin created a new group in the late 1940s, consisting of himself (now as a baritone), Jack Cathcart (Piano), Fred Bixler (First Tenor), Murray Pollack (Second Tenor), Nicolai Shutorev (Buffo) and Arthur Atkins (Bass). When Shutorev died unexpectedly while the group was on tour in Norway in September 1948, Erich Collin asked Harry Frommermann to jump in as a replacement, and so two of the original Comedian Harmonists were reunited on stage. They continued the tour and recorded six songs for the label "Le Chant du Monde" in Basel in 1949. Shortly afterwards the group disbanded, allegedly due to a lack of discipline among the American members.[citation needed]
Comedian Harmonists
The Comedian Harmonists were an all-male German close harmony ensemble that performed between 1928 and 1934. The group consisted of Harry Frommermann (tenor buffo), Asparuh "Ari" Leschnikoff (first tenor), Erich A. Collin (second tenor), Roman Cycowski (baritone), Robert Biberti (bass), and Erwin Bootz (pianist).
The hallmark of the Comedian Harmonists was its members' ability to blend their voices together so that the individual singers could appear and disappear back into the vocal texture.[citation needed] Its repertoire ranged from the folk and classical songs arranged by Frommermann to popular songs of the day by writers such as Peter Igelhoff, Werner R. Heymann and Paul Abraham.
In 1927, unemployed actor Harry Frommermann was inspired by The Revelers, a jazz-influenced popular vocal group from the United States, to create a German group of the same format. According to Douglas Friedman's 2010 book The Comedian Harmonists, in August 1929 both groups appeared on the same bill at the Scala (Berlin) (former Berliner Eispalast) and became friends. Frommermann held auditions in his flat on Stubenrauchstraße 47 in Berlin-Friedenau, and, once the group was assembled, it began rehearsals. After some initial failures, the Harmonists became popular throughout Europe, visiting the United States, and appearing in 21 films.
The members of the group were:
The group's success continued into the early 1930s, but eventually ran into trouble with the Nazi regime: three of the group members – Frommermann, Collin, and Cycowski – were either Jewish or of Jewish descent, and Bootz had married a Jewish woman. The Nazis progressively made the group's professional life more difficult, initially banning pieces by Jewish composers, and finally prohibiting them from performing in public. The group's last concert in Germany was in Hanover on March 25, 1934, after which they sailed to the United States on SS Europa and gave several concerts. Fearing internment if they stayed abroad, however, they eventually returned home amid bitter internal disputes.[citation needed]
Frommermann, Cycowski, and Collin subsequently fled Germany and formed a new group in Vienna, which performed under the names "Comedian Harmonists" and "Comedy Harmonists" with a new pianist, bass, and high tenor. The remaining members in Germany likewise replaced their counterparts in a successor group named "Das Meistersextett" (as the authorities forbade an English-language name). Neither group was able to achieve the original success of the Comedian Harmonists, with the German group stifled by political in-fighting and heavy censorship, as well as the war draft (call-up). The emigrant group toured across Europe (excluding Germany and, from 1938 on, Austria), but also in the Soviet Union, South Africa, South America, and Australia where they were particularly successful and considered settling down after the Australian government offered them citizenship.[citation needed] However, after a North American concert tour in 1940, they were unable to return to Australia. Their last concert was in Richmond, Indiana, on May 1, 1940. After that, they were unable to find work in America due to hostility toward German entertainers, and the group split up.[citation needed]
The Bulgarian Asparuh Leschnikoff (also spelt Leshnikov) returned to his fatherland in 1938 and started a solo career. By 1941, both groups had broken up. Although all members survived the war, they never re-formed after the war.[citation needed]
Erich Collin created a new group in the late 1940s, consisting of himself (now as a baritone), Jack Cathcart (Piano), Fred Bixler (First Tenor), Murray Pollack (Second Tenor), Nicolai Shutorev (Buffo) and Arthur Atkins (Bass). When Shutorev died unexpectedly while the group was on tour in Norway in September 1948, Erich Collin asked Harry Frommermann to jump in as a replacement, and so two of the original Comedian Harmonists were reunited on stage. They continued the tour and recorded six songs for the label "Le Chant du Monde" in Basel in 1949. Shortly afterwards the group disbanded, allegedly due to a lack of discipline among the American members.[citation needed]