Jerome Kern
Jerome David Kern (January 27, 1885 – November 11, 1945) was an American composer of musical theatre and popular music. One of the most important American theatre composers of the early 20th century, he wrote more than 700 songs, used in over 100 stage works, including such classics as "Ol' Man River", "Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man", "A Fine Romance", "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes", "The Song Is You", "All the Things You Are", "The Way You Look Tonight" and "Long Ago (and Far Away)". He collaborated with many of the leading librettists and lyricists of his era, including George Grossmith Jr., Guy Bolton, P. G. Wodehouse, Otto Harbach, Oscar Hammerstein II, Dorothy Fields, Johnny Mercer, Ira Gershwin and Yip Harburg. A native New Yorker, Kern created dozens of Broadway musicals and Hollywood films in a career that lasted for more than four decades. His musical innovations, such as 4/4 dance rhythms and the employment of syncopation and jazz progressions, built on, rather than rejected, earlier musical theatre tradition. He and his collaborators also employed his melodies to further the action or develop characterization to a greater extent than in the other musicals of his day, creating the model for later musicals. Although dozens of Kern's musicals and musical films were hits, only Show Boat is now regularly revived. Songs from his other shows, however, are still frequently performed and adapted. Many of Kern's songs have been adapted by jazz musicians to become standard tunes. |
Birth and Death Data: Born January 27, 1885 (Manhattan), Died November 11, 1945 (New York City)
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1905 - 1960
Roles Represented in DAHR: composer, lyricist, piano, songwriter
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings (Results 26-50 of 611 records)
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | C-16054 | 12-in. | 5/27/1915 | Gems from A modern Eve | Victor Light Opera Company | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-16055 | 12-in. | 5/27/1915 | Gems from Nobody home | Victor Light Opera Company | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-16056 | 12-in. | 5/28/1915 | Gems from The lady in red | Victor Light Opera Company | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-16462 | 12-in. | 9/8/1915 | They didn't believe me | Alice Green ; Harry Macdonough | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-16466 | 10-in. | 9/10/1915 | Those come-hither eyes | Elsie Baker | Female vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-17099 | 12-in. | 2/2/1916 | Some sort of somebody | Victor Military Band | Band | composer | |
Victor | C-17100 | 12-in. | 2/2/1916 | Very good Eddie | Victor Military Band | Band | composer | |
Victor | C-17126 | 12-in. | 2/7/1916 | Gems from Very good Eddie | Victor Light Opera Company | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-17299 | 10-in. | 3/13/1916 | Some sort of somebody | Edna Brown ; Billy Murray | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-18038 | 10-in. | 6/29/1916 | Have a heart | Raymond Dixon [i.e., Lambert Murphy] ; Alice Green | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-18064 | 12-in. | 7/6/1916 | Have a heart | Conway's Band | Band, with xylophone | composer | |
Victor | B-18169 | 10-in. | 8/1/1916 | Old Bill Baker | M. J. O'Connell | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-18532 | 10-in. | 10/5/1916 | Babes in the wood | Anna Howard ; Harry Macdonough | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-19039 | 10-in. | 1/12/1917 | My castle in the air | George MacFarlane | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-19068 | 10-in. | 2/2/1917 | You said something | Alice Green ; Harry Macdonough | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | lyricist, composer | |
Victor | B-19069 | 10-in. | 2/2/1917 | Napoleon | Billy Murray | Male vocal solo, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-19151 | 10-in. | 2/1/1917 | Honeymoon Inn | Elizabeth Spencer | Female vocal solo, with xylophone and orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-19174 | 12-in. | 2/13/1917 | Have a heart | Victor Military Band | Band | composer | |
Victor | C-19301 | 12-in. | 2/20/1917 | Have a heart | Victor Military Band | Band | composer | |
Victor | C-19302 | 12-in. | 2/20/1917 | Love o' Mike | Victor Military Band | Band | composer | |
Victor | C-19308 | 12-in. | 2/23/1917 | Gems from Love o' Mike | Victor Light Opera Company | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | C-19309 | 12-in. | 2/23/1917 | Gems from Have a heart | Victor Light Opera Company | Vocal chorus and soloists, with orchestra | lyricist, composer | |
Victor | B-19317 | 10-in. | 2/28/1917 | I wonder why | Marion Harris ; Billy Murray | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-19334 | 10-in. | 3/2/1917 | You never knew about me | Edna Brown ; Edward Hamilton | Female-male vocal duet, with orchestra | composer | |
Victor | B-19335 | 10-in. | 3/2/1917 | An old fashioned wife | Alice Green | Female vocal solo, with orchestra | composer |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Kern, Jerome," accessed November 4, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102963.
Kern, Jerome. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved November 4, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/102963.
"Kern, Jerome." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 4 November 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
External Sources
Wikipedia: Jerome Kern
Discogs: Jerome Kern
Allmusic: Jerome Kern
Grove: Jerome Kern
IMSLP: Jerome Kern
RILM: Jerome Kern
RISM: Jerome Kern
IMDb: Jerome Kern
Britannica: Jerome Kern
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Kern, Jerome, 1885-1945 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n80149466
Wikidata: Jerome Kern - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q313270
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/196726
MusicBrainz: Jerome Kern - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/8fb64b2e-db8b-4579-ad08-f324ef1bf494
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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