Adolph Deutsch

Adolph Sender Charles Deutsch (20 October 1897 – 1 January 1980) was a British-American composer, conductor and arranger.

Born in London, England, he emigrated to the United States in 1911, and settled in Buffalo, New York. His parents, Alex (Alexander) Deutsch and Dena née Gerst, were German Jews.

In 1914, Deutsch was "a Buffalo movie house musician", accompanying silent films. Deutsch began his composing career on Broadway in the 1920s and 1930s, and arranged for several American dance bands such as Paul Whiteman and Paul Ash before working for Hollywood films beginning in the late 1930s. For Broadway, he orchestrated Irving Berlin's As Thousands Cheer and George and Ira Gershwin's Pardon My English.

Deutsch won Oscars for his background music for Oklahoma! (1955), and for conducting the music for Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954) and Annie Get Your Gun (1950). He was nominated for The Band Wagon (1953) and the 1951 film version of Show Boat, for which he conducted the orchestra. For Broadway and Hollywood, he conducted, composed and arranged music, but did not write songs, not even for the Broadway shows on which he worked. In addition to his music for westerns and his conducting of the scores for musicals, Deutsch composed for films noir, including The Mask of Dimitrios (1944), The Maltese Falcon (1941), and Nobody Lives Forever (1946), as well as Little Women (the 1949 adaptation), and the Billy Wilder comedies Some Like It Hot (1959), and The Apartment (1960). His final film was Go Naked in the World.

Deutsch died of heart failure on 1 January 1980.

Birth and Death Data: Born October 20, 1897 (London), Died January 1, 1980 (Palm Desert)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1928 - 1936

Roles Represented in DAHR: director, composer

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 26-38 of 38 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor BS-98183 10-in. 12/2/1935 I'm the echo (You're the song that I sing) King’s Men ; Paul Whiteman Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet director  
Victor BS-98184 10-in. 12/2/1935 I got love Paul Whiteman Orchestra Jazz/dance band director  
Victor BS-99057 10-in. 2/6/1936 The wheel of the wagon is broken Bob Lawrence ; Paul Whiteman Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director  
Victor BS-99058 10-in. 2/6/1936 Awake in a dream Ken Darby ; Paul Whiteman Orchestra ; Ramona Jazz/dance band, with female-male vocal duet director  
Victor BS-99059 10-in. 2/6/1936 What's the name of that song? Johnny Hauser ; Paul Whiteman Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director  
Victor BS-99060 10-in. 2/6/1936 Saddle your blues to a wild mustang King’s Men ; Bob Lawrence ; Paul Whiteman Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and male vocal quartet director  
Victor BS-99061 10-in. 2/6/1936 Look for the silver lining King’s Men ; Paul Whiteman Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal quartet director  
Victor BS-99062 10-in. 2/6/1936 Wah-hoo Durelle Alexander ; Paul Whiteman Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo and vocal ensemble director  
Victor BS-99877 10-in. 3/13/1936 It's got to be love Johnny Hauser ; Paul Whiteman Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director  
Victor BS-99878 10-in. 3/13/1936 There's a small hotel Durelle Alexander ; Paul Whiteman Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director  
Victor BS-99879 10-in. 3/13/1936 Gloomy Sunday Johnny Hauser ; Paul Whiteman Orchestra Jazz/dance band, with male vocal solo director  
Columbia W145822 10-in. 3/21/1928 Salty Paul Ash Orchestra Jazz/dance band composer  
Columbia W145823 10-in. 3/21/1928 Deep blue Paul Ash Orchestra Jazz/dance band composer  
(Results 26-38 of 38 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Deutsch, Adolph," accessed April 19, 2024, https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105219.

Deutsch, Adolph. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved April 19, 2024, from https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105219.

"Deutsch, Adolph." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 19 April 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/105219

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