Wilhelm Grosz

Wilhelm Grosz ( Hugh Williams) was an Austrian composer, pianist and conductor. Forced to flee his native land because of the Nazi takeover, Grosz resettled in England in 1934. However, he found little interest there for his avant-garde musical style. Luckily, he was able to apply a considerable melodic gift to setting the lyrics of popular songs some of which became international successes. Most of his most popular titles were written with lyricist Jimmy Kennedy:"Harbour Lights," "Red Sails in the Sunset," "When Budapest Was Young," and "Isle of Capri."Grosz's classical compositions include "Afrika-Songs", a song cycle for two vocal soloists and chamber ensemble. First performed in 1930, "Afrika-Songs" utilizes texts by Afro-American poets, mainly Langston Hughes, and a strongly blues-flavored sound. Both "Afrika-Songs" and a selection of the pop tunes, along with other Grosz works, were recorded in the mid-1990s by Decca Records, as part of their series called "Entartete Musik" (subtitled "Music Suppressed By the Third Reich").Wilhelm Grosz was born March 11, 1894 in Vienna, Austria and died December 10, 1939 in New York City.

External links

* [http://nfo.net/cal/tg5.html Wilhelm Grosz]