Victor Herbert
Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, cellist and conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is best known for composing many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I. He was also prominent among the Tin Pan Alley composers and was later a founder of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). A prolific composer, Herbert produced two operas, a cantata, 43 operettas, incidental music to 10 plays, 31 compositions for orchestra, nine band compositions, nine cello compositions, five violin compositions with piano or orchestra, 22 piano compositions and numerous songs, choral compositions and orchestrations of works by other composers, among other music. In the early 1880s, Herbert began a career as a cellist in Vienna and Stuttgart, during which he began to compose orchestral music. Herbert and his opera singer wife, Therese Förster, moved to the U.S. in 1886 when both were engaged by the Metropolitan Opera. In the U.S., Herbert continued his performing career, while also teaching at the National Conservatory of Music, conducting and composing. His most notable instrumental compositions were his Cello Concerto No. 2 in E minor, Op. 30 (1894), which entered the standard repertoire, and his Auditorium Festival March (1901). He conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony from 1898 to 1904 and then founded the Victor Herbert Orchestra, which he conducted throughout the rest of his life. Herbert began to compose operettas in 1894, producing several successes, including The Serenade (1897) and The Fortune Teller (1898). Some of the operettas that he wrote after the turn of the 20th century were even more successful: Babes in Toyland (1903), Mlle. Modiste (1905), The Red Mill (1906), Naughty Marietta (1910), Sweethearts (1913) and Eileen (1917). After World War I, with the change of popular musical tastes, Herbert began to compose musicals and contributed music to other composers' shows. While some of these were well-received, he never again achieved the level of success that he had enjoyed with his most popular operettas. |
Birth and Death Data: Born February 1, 1859 (Dublin), Died May 24, 1924 (New York City)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1896 - 1950
Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, conductor, arranger, cello, orchestrator
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 776-800 of 867 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Brunswick | AL169-AL170 | 10-in. | 2/8/1928 | Gypsy love song | All Star Entertainers | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
Brunswick | TC2843 | 10-in. | 1/22/1929 | Ah! Sweet mystery of life | Wm. J. O'Donnell | Male vocal solo | composer | |
Brunswick | 3431½br | 10-in. | 1931 | Fleurette | Ilja Livschakoff Tanz-Orchester | Instrumental ensemble | composer | |
Edison | 234 | Not documented | approximately Aug. 1910 | Concert polka | Victor Herbert's Orchestra | Orchestra | conductor, composer | |
Edison | 235 | Not documented | approximately Aug. 1910 | Madamoiselle Modeste : Selections | Victor Herbert's Orchestra | Orchestra | conductor | |
Edison | 243 | Not documented | 8/25/1910 | Red Mill : Selections | Victor Herbert's Orchestra | Orchestra | composer, conductor | |
Edison | 244 | Not documented | 8/25/1910 | Dragon fly | Victor Herbert's Orchestra | Orchestra | conductor | |
Edison | 245 | Not documented | 8/25/1910 | Scarf dance | Victor Herbert's Orchestra | Orchestra | conductor | |
Edison | 599 | 12-in. | approximately Apr. 1911 | Jubal : Overture | Victor Herbert's Orchestra | Orchestra | conductor | |
Edison | 600 | 10-in. | 4/10/1911 | Italians in Algiers : Overture | Victor Herbert's Orchestra | Orchestra | conductor | |
Edison | 696 | Not documented | 7/7/1911 | Gypsy love song | Croxton Mixed Quartet | Mixed vocal quartet | composer | |
Edison | 1301 | 10-in. | 10/17/1912 | Because you're you | Thomas Chalmers ; Elizabeth Spencer | Vocal duet (soprano and Male), with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 2431 | 10-in. | 8/28/1913 | Italian street song | Marie De Kyser | Female vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 2772 | 10-in. | Jan. 1914 | Italian street song | Mary Carson | Female vocal solo and vocal ensemble, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 2848 | 10-in. | Mar. 1914 | Babes in Toyland | Elizabeth Spencer | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 2950 | 10-in. | between 4/9/1914 and 4/15/1914 | A little girl at home | Harvey Hindermyer ; Elizabeth Spencer | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 3503 | 10-in. | 1/8/1915 | When you're away | Marie De Kyser | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 3633 | 10-in. | 3/9/1915 | When you're away | Marie De Kyser | Soprano vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 3684 | 10-in. | 4/2/1915 | Only girl | Jaudas' Society Orchestra | Jazz/dance band | composer | |
Edison | 4164 | 10-in. | 10/1/1915 | I'd like to have you around | Gladys Rice ; Walter Van Brunt | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 4171 | 10-in. | 10/6/1915 | Love is the best of all | Blanche Duffield | Soprano vocal solo and mixed vocal ensemble, with orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 4671 | 10-in. | 4/20/1916 | American fantasie | New York Military Band | Band | composer | |
Edison | 4969 | 10-in. | 9/5/1916 | In the toy-maker's workshop | American Symphony Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 4974 | 10-in. | 9/7/1916 | March of the toys | American Symphony Orchestra | Orchestra | composer | |
Edison | 5938 | 10-in. | 12/19/1917 | Some day | Vernon Dalhart ; Gladys Rice | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Herbert, Victor," accessed May 2, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102518.
Herbert, Victor. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved May 2, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/102518.
"Herbert, Victor." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 2 May 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Victor Herbert
Discogs: Victor Herbert
Allmusic: Victor Herbert
Grove: Victor Herbert
IMSLP: Victor Herbert
IMDb: Victor Herbert
Britannica: Victor Herbert
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Herbert, Victor, 1859-1924 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n79105792
Wikidata: Victor Herbert - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q1275145
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/12491557
MusicBrainz: Victor Herbert - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/717d1c41-76a2-4203-9f36-f5d2dc873cc6
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