Kern, Jerome (EN)

Kern Jerome David, *27 January 1885 New York, †11 November 1945 New York, American composer of entertainment music. He received his first piano lessons from his mother. In 1902, he studied piano with P. Gallic and A. Lambert at the New York College of Music and privately studied music theory and harmony with A. Pierce. In 1903, during his stay in Europe, he studied music theory and composition privately in Heidelberg, and then composed songs for revue performances in London. Between 1904 and 1911, he worked in New York as a song plugger on Tin Pan Alley, an accompanist in Broadway theatres, and a composer of interludes for musical comedies and operettas. Until 1910, he visited London several times, featuring his songs in performances staged there. In 1911, he made his Broadway debut as co-author of the music for the comedy La belle Parée. In 1914, he achieved success with his own adaptation of the operetta The Girl from Utah by P. Rubens and S. Jones. Between 1915 and 1918, he composed four chamber musicals for the Princess Theatre in New York, known as the Princess Theatre Shows (Nobody Home; Very Good, Eddie; Oh, Boy! and Oh, Lady! Lady!). In 1927, he gained international fame after staging the musical Show Boat on Broadway. From 1931, he also collaborated with film studios; in 1934, he moved to Hollywood, and from 1939, he devoted himself exclusively to composing film music. He received Oscars for the songs The Way You Look Tonight from the film Swing Time (1936) and The Last Time I Saw Paris from the film Lady Be Good (1941).

Kern began his compositional career as a continuator of the European (especially English) operetta tradition, but starting with his first independently composed musicals, he gradually enriched his musical language with elements of traditional American music (folk ballads and dances, ragtime, Negro spirituals, syncopated rhythms), and through the appropriate selection of librettos, he also introduced indigenous American themes to the musical theatre stage; already in The Red Petticoat from 1912, the action takes place in the Wild West. Kern’s works illustrate the process of American musical theatre moving away from the models of European operetta towards native musical comedy (typical Kern musical comedies include Sally, Good Morning, Dearie, Stepping Stones, Sunny, Sweet Adeline, and Roberta). Kern is also one of the fathers of the American musical play, a new type of musical performance in which the plot, the realism of the conflicts, the originality of the characters and the dramatic logic became important. The musical play was modelled on his Princess Theatre Shows, intimate musicals that were innovative compared to the large-scale Broadway productions of, for example, F. Ziegfeld. The Princess Theatre Shows were of a high literary and musical standard; the music was subordinate to the dramatic concept of the work, and the intimate atmosphere, intelligent lyrics, original melodies, logical staging and good acting compensated for the modest sets and costumes and the small cast. The most outstanding achievement of the musical play in the 1920s was Show Boat, a bold, for its time, adaptation for musical theatre of E. Ferber’s novel of the same title. The type of conflicts presented, the social and moral issues addressed, and the broad concept of the whole work elevated it above the “easy and pleasant” operettas and musicals of those years. Its realism is enhanced by songs with echoes of ragtime and jazz, folk-style ballet scenes, and African-American songs modelled on Negro spirituals (the famous lament Ol’ Man River was believed to be of folk origin). Today, Show Boat is considered a classic of American national musical theatre; other well-known musical plays by Kern include The Cat and the Fiddle and Music in the Air. Many American composers of popular music, including G. Gershwin, referred to Kern’s works.

Literature: D. Ewen The World of Jerome Kern, New York 1960; H. Fordin Jerome Kern. The Man and His Music, Santa Monica (California) 1975; G. Bordman Jerome Kern. His Life and Music, New York 1980.