Victor Herbert

Victor August Herbert (February 1, 1859 – May 26, 1924) was an American composer, cellist and conductor of English and Irish ancestry and German training. Although Herbert enjoyed important careers as a cello soloist and conductor, he is best known for composing many successful operettas that premiered on Broadway from the 1890s to World War I. He was also prominent among the Tin Pan Alley composers and was later a founder of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP). A prolific composer, Herbert produced two operas, a cantata, 43 operettas, incidental music to 10 plays, 31 compositions for orchestra, nine band compositions, nine cello compositions, five violin compositions with piano or orchestra, 22 piano compositions and numerous songs, choral compositions and orchestrations of works by other composers, among other music.

In the early 1880s, Herbert began a career as a cellist in Vienna and Stuttgart, during which he began to compose orchestral music. Herbert and his opera singer wife, Therese Förster, moved to the U.S. in 1886 when both were engaged by the Metropolitan Opera. In the U.S., Herbert continued his performing career, while also teaching at the National Conservatory of Music, conducting and composing. His most notable instrumental compositions were his Cello Concerto No. 2 in E minor, Op. 30 (1894), which entered the standard repertoire, and his Auditorium Festival March (1901). He conducted the Pittsburgh Symphony from 1898 to 1904 and then founded the Victor Herbert Orchestra, which he conducted throughout the rest of his life.

Herbert began to compose operettas in 1894, producing several successes, including The Serenade (1897) and The Fortune Teller (1898). Some of the operettas that he wrote after the turn of the 20th century were even more successful: Babes in Toyland (1903), Mlle. Modiste (1905), The Red Mill (1906), Naughty Marietta (1910), Sweethearts (1913) and Eileen (1917). After World War I, with the change of popular musical tastes, Herbert began to compose musicals and contributed music to other composers' shows. While some of these were well-received, he never again achieved the level of success that he had enjoyed with his most popular operettas.

Birth and Death Data: Born February 1, 1859 (Dublin), Died May 24, 1924 (New York City)

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1896 - 1950

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, conductor, arranger, cello, orchestrator

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings (Results 1-25 of 877 records)

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Berliner 113 7-in. Apr. 1898 The serenade : Waltz Sousa's Band Band composer  
Berliner 138 7-in. June 1898 The idol's eye : Waltz Band (unidentified; Berliner Gramophone Co.) Band composer  
Berliner 471 7-in. 10/9/1897 The serenade Artists vary Banjo solo (10/9/1897 take); Banjo duet (take Z) composer  
Berliner 953 7-in. 4/17/1896 Star light, star bright Artists vary Male vocal solo composer  
Berliner 1000 7-in. Before June 1896 My Angeline Frank Daniels Male vocal solo composer  
Berliner 1485 7-in. 4/7/1898 The idol’s eye : March Artists vary Orchestra composer  
Berliner 1488 7-in. Before June 1898 The serenade : March Instrumentalist(s) (unidentified; Berliner Gramophone Co.) Instrumental solo composer  
Berliner 1489 7-in. May 1898 The American girl Artists vary Orchestra composer  
Berliner 1858 7-in. 6/11/1898 I love thee, I adore thee Albert Campbell Male vocal solo composer  
Berliner 1909 7-in. 10/20/1898 Gypsy love song Eugene Cowles Male vocal solo composer  
Berliner 3020 7-in. 5/3/1898 Don José of Seville Jesse Bartlett Davis ; W. H. MacDonald Female-male vocal duet composer  
Berliner 3179 7-in. Late 1898 Opening chorus of school girls, Act 1 Chorus from "The fortune teller" Vocal chorus composer  
Berliner 3180 7-in. Late 1898 Always do as people say you should Chorus from "The fortune teller" ; Alice Neilson Female vocal solo, with vocal chorus composer  
Berliner 3181 7-in. Late 1898 Finale, 2nd Act Chorus from "The fortune teller" ; Trumpet and drums from "The fortune teller" Vocal chorus, with trumpet and drums composer  
Berliner 4266 7-in. 5/7/1898 Dreaming, dreaming Henry Clay Barnabee Male vocal solo, with female-male vocal duet composer  
Berliner 4267 7-in. 5/7/1898 Dreaming, dreaming Helena Frederick Female vocal solo, with male vocal duet composer  
Berliner 4268 7-in. 5/7/1898 Dreaming, dreaming George B. Frothingham Male vocal solo, with female-male vocal duet composer  
Berliner 5906 7-in. 3/21/1899 The fortune teller : March Joseph P. Cullen Banjo solo composer  
Berliner 7004 7-in. Before Apr. 1899 The fortune teller : Czardas Artists vary Orchestra composer  
Berliner 7005 7-in. Before Apr. 1899 The fortune teller : March Artists vary Orchestra composer  
Berliner 8001 7-in. 4/22/1898 The fortune teller : March Victor Herbert’s 22nd Regiment Band Band composer  
Berliner 8007 7-in. Dec. 1898 Gypsy love song Sousa's Band Band composer  
Berliner 8008 7-in. 4/22/1899 The fortune teller : Waltz Sousa's Band Band composer  
Berliner 8014 7-in. 4/22/1899 Cyrano de Bergerac : Waltzes Sousa's Band Band composer  
Berliner 8016 7-in. Before Apr. 1899 Ah! Cupid Victor Herbert’s 22nd Regiment Band Band composer  
(Results 1-25 of 877 records)

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Herbert, Victor," accessed October 15, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102518.

Herbert, Victor. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved October 15, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102518.

"Herbert, Victor." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 15 October 2024.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102518

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