Fred Raymond

Fred Raymond, actually Raimund Friedrich Vesely (20 April, 1900 – 10 January, 1954) was an Austrian composer.

Raymond, born in Vienna, was the third child (after two daughters) of Vinzenz Vesely, an employee of the Austrian state railway system, and his wife Henriette, née Dluhos. Both parents were of Czech descent. They intended their son to study mining after high school, and pursure a career in the civil service. After the premature death of both his parents, Raymond studied at a commercial academy and trained as a banker.

Raymond composed operetta music as well as copious pieces for films and Schlager, which were very successful in the 1920s and 1930s and were commonly heard being sung and whistled in the streets. He became world-famous with his 1925 composition "Ich hab mein Herz in Heidelberg verloren" ("I lost my Heart in Heidelberg"), and his pieces were considered to be very much in the typical style of the 1920s, especially "Ich hab’ das Fräulein Helen baden seh’n" ("I Saw Miss Helen Bathing") or "Ich reiß' mir eine Wimper aus" ("I Lost An Eyelash").

Due to a weak heart, he spent his military service with a propaganda company which served the Belgrade military transmitter. After the war, he took a short break from the Salzburg Radio Orchestra to go to Hamburg, were he finished his last two operettas, "Geliebte Manuela" ("Beloved Manuela") and "Flieder aus Wien" ("Lilacs from Vienna").

In 1951, he moved to a new home in Überlingen, where he spent three years with his young wife Eva-Maria before dying of a heart failure shortly before the birth of their son, Thomas. His marble grave is located in Überlingen, on the shore of the Bodensee, and is decorated with a lyre. To commemorate the eightieth year of his birth, a street was named after him in the Donaustadt district.

Operettas

* "Lauf ins Glück" ("Run into Happiness") (1934)
* "Ball der Nationen" ("Ball of the Nations") (1935)
* "Fahrt ins Abenteuer" ("A Trip into Adventure") (1935)
* "Auf großer Fahrt" ("On a Great Voyage") (1936)
* "Marielu" (1936)
* "Maske in Blau" ("Blue Mask"), book by Heinz Hentschke, lyrics by Günther Schwenn (1937)
* "Saison in Salzburg (Salzburger Nockerln)" ("Season in Salzburg - Salzburg dumplings") (1938)
* "Die Perle von Tokaj" ("The Tokay Pearls") (1941)
* "Konfetti" ("Confetti") (1948)
* "Flieder aus Wien" ("Lilacs from Vienna") (1949)
* "Geliebte Manuela" ("Beloved Manuela") (1951)

ources

"Much of the content of this article comes from the corresponding German language Wikipedia article".
*Lamb, Andrew. 2001. "Raymond, Fred". "The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians", ed. S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell. London: Macmillan.

Films Based on Raymond's Works

With year and director [ [http://www.citwf.com/person31936.htm The Complete Index To World Film since 1895] ] :
* "Ich Hab mein Herz in Heidelberg verloren" (1952, Ernst Neubach)
* "Saison in Salzburg" (1961, Franz Joseph Gottlieb)
* "Ball der Nationen" (1954, Karl Ritter)
* "Una Notte con te" (1932, Ferruccio Biancini)
* "Staatsanwaltin Corda" (1954, Karl Ritter)
* "Die Perle von Tokay" (1954, Hubert Marischka)
* "Nur am Rhein" (1930, Max Mack)
* "Mein Heidelberg, Ich kann dich nicht vergessen" (1927, James Bauer)
* "Saison in Salzburg" (1952, Ernst Marischka)
* "Maske in Blau" (1942, Paul Martin)
* "Maske in Blau" (1953, Georg Jacoby)
* "Das Glück wohnt nebenan" (1939, Hubert Marischka)

External links (German)

* [http://www.gema.de/presse/news/n161/raymond.shtml "Zum 100. Geburtstag: Fred Raymond und die Operette"] ("Happy 100th Birthday: Fred Raymond and Operetta")
* [http://www.felix-bloch-erben.de/index.php5/aid/144/cid/3/autor/Fred+Raymond/Action/showAuthor/fbe/101/ Biography]
* [http://www.operone.de/komponist/raymond.html List of stage works]

Notes