Hammerstein Oscar II, born Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein, *12 July 1895 New York, †23 August 1960 Doylestown, Pennsylvania, American librettist and lyricist for musical theatre. He was the grandson of Oscar Hammerstein I (1846–1919), the noted opera impresario, opera producer and founder of the Manhattan Opera House. His father William and uncle Arthur were also producers in musical theatre. Hammerstein wrote his first song lyrics for the annual Columbia Varsity Shows while studying at Columbia College in New York (1912–17). In 1917, he began studying law at Columbia Law School but soon abandoned his studies to work in musical theatre. Between 1917 and 1919, as an assistant stage director, he participated in the preparation of productions of operettas by R. Friml: You’re in Love, Sometime, and Tumble In. In 1919, he wrote the play The Light, and in 1920 the libretto and lyrics for his first musical, Always You (music by H. Stothart). From 1920 for several years, he collaborated with Otto Harbach. Together they wrote the texts for musicals including Tickle Me (music by H. Stothart, 1920), Wildflower (music by V. Youmans, 1923), Rose Marie (music by R. Friml, 1924), Sunny (music by J. Kern, 1925), and The Desert Song (music by S. Romberg, 1926), among others. From 1924, Hammerstein wrote librettos for J. Kern; their collaborations include Show Boat (1927), Sweet Adeline (1929), Music in the Air (1932), and Very Warm for May (1939). In 1943, he adapted Georges Bizet’s Carmen as Carmen Jones for contemporary American audiences. After a period of lesser success (1932–43), Hammerstein began his celebrated partnership with R. Rodgers. Their collaboration achieved enormous success with Oklahoma! (1943), which received the Pulitzer Prize. Subsequent works by the Rodgers and Hammerstein team include Carousel (1945), South Pacific (1949, Pulitzer Prize), The King and I (1951), Me and Juliet (1953), Pipe Dream (1955), Flower Drum Song (1958), and The Sound of Music (1959). Hammerstein was the most significant lyricist of musical theatre in his time. He collaborated with nearly all the leading composers of American musical theatre, including G. Gershwin (Song of the Flame, 1925) and I. Berlin (Annie Get Your Gun, 1946). By broadening thematic scope and deepening dramatic treatment in musical theatre, he contributed decisively to the development of the distinctive American musical. In his lyrics, he strove for authenticity of language, frequently employing idiomatic expressions, regionalisms, and addressing significant social issues.
Literature: H. Fordin Getting to Know Him. A Biography of Oscar Hammerstein II, New York 1977; S. Green The Rodgers & Hammerstein Fact Book, New York 1980.
