Nineteenth-century New York was, after Berlin and Vienna, the third largest German-populated city in the world. German-language musical plays and light operas held an important niche in the lives of German immigrants and their families. John Koegel's Music in German Immigrant Theater: New York City, 1840-1940, tells, for the first time, the engrossing story of these theater works, and the many musical numbers from them that became popular as separate songs.
Koegel documents performances, in German, of plays by Shakespeare and Goethe and operas by Offenbach, Verdi, and Johann Strauss. And he draws long-needed attention to German-American musical comedies written, beginning in the 1890s, by ethnic parodist Adolf Philipp. As their titles suggest -- Der Corner Grocer aus der Avenue A and Der Pawnbroker von der Eastside -- these musicals related directly to the daily experiences of the immigrant population.
Music in German Immigrant Theater is enriched by copious photographs, sheet-music title pages, and musical examples, as well as numerous sets of song lyrics -- some uproarious, others touching -- in German and in English translation. The accompanying CD includes recordings of many of the songs discussed in the book.
John Koegel is professor of musicology at California State University, Fullerton. WINNER - 2009 ForeWord Reviews' Book of the Year Award, music category. This book is also included in the AAUP's 2010 University Press Books Selected for Public and Secondary School Libraries along with a number of other URP books.
Reviews
Thanks to John Koegel's magnificent and substantial tome, long-overdue light is shed on . . . long-forgotten legacies of shows, theaters, impresarios, composers, conductors, and performers. . . . The prose is lively, and many well-produced illustrations . . . add to the book's charm. . . . [The CD] allows the reader to hear gems from the repertory described in the prose. . . . [This] fine book will also appeal to a broader readership.--AMERICAN MUSIC [William A. Everett]Deep-delving. . . . Readable and entertaining. . . . A tour guide down a forgotten byway of the American immigrant experience, where life, at least sometimes, really was a cabaret. --OPERA NEWS [John W. Freeman]
A worthy successor to Fritz Leuchs's pioneering work on German drama in 19th-century America. John Koegel's book is the first to examine the complete range of music used on the German-language stage in New York. It provides an interpretive framework for a century full of activity-thousands of plays and tens of thousands of performances from 1840 to 1940. --Thomas L. Riis, Director, American Music Research Center, University of Colorado
From the foreword: Music in German Immigrant Theater represents an effort of archival research that can only be imagined. The supporting cast of hundreds, even thousands, makes this book a great addition to the history of American musical theater. Koegel's palette is rich, his canvas, huge: the reader will see both the forest and its trees. --Peter Conolly-Smith, Queens College, the City University of New York
Music in German immigrant theatre in New York from the late 19th through the early 20th centuries has gone from scantily documented to scrupulously researched, precisely annotated, and brought vividly to life with John Koegel's graceful and wisely informed prose. The reader is wafted back in time to meet dozens of long-forgotten composers, writers, and actors, and to visit many Manhattan playhouses that have barely been discussed in previous histories. Koegel's book, with its numerous illustrations, takes its place in the pantheon of basic literature about the wondrous history of New York theatre. --Miles Kreuger, president, The Institute of the American Musical
Thoroughly fascinating. . . . This beautiful, comprehensive book [with CD] has everything! --NEWSLETTER OF THE SOCIETY FOR GERMAN-AMERICAN STUDIES
