Author Description

Hermann Leopoldi (1888-1959) was a master of popular music who enthralled audiences as a self-described piano humorist. Steeped in trenchant wit and satire yet going far beyond these, his songs mirror the profound political and social upheavals of his time. He created them in an astonishing range of environments, from the Vienna coffeehouses of the 1920's and 30's through the concentration camp at Buchenwald to the club scene in Manhattan during his period of American exile. Socialized in the long and venerable tradition of the Viennese Volkssänger, he shaped his own musical idiom through his encounter with American jazz and dance music, enjoying great success in the entertainment world of the cabaret and the variety revue, and as a star of the new mass media of the sound recording and radio. This book tells the story of Leopoldi's life in parallel with the life of his songs. Twenty historical recordings can be heard on the accompanying CD. Several of these are being reissued here for the first time since the 1920's.