Walter Jurmann’s Life in
Brief
English | Deutsch
- 1903
- Walter Jurmann is born on October 12 in Vienna
- 1921
- Begins to study medicine at the University of Vienna
Takes a job as pianist at the Hotel Panhans, in a resort
near Vienna
Abandons medical studies for a career in music
- 1924
- Meets the lyricist Fritz Rotter
- 1927
- Moves to Berlin
- 1928
- Was weißt denn du, wie ich verliebt bin, sung
by Richard Tauber, becomes his first big hit
- 1930
- Veronika, der Lenz ist da is popularized by
the Comedian Harmonists, who adopt it as their signature
tune
Begins to compose for film
- 1931
- First film success with music for the film Ihre
Majestät, die Liebe
Begins his long, successful collaboration with the composer
Bronislaw Kaper
- 1932
- The composing team provides music for eight films,
among them Melodie der Liebe,
starring Richard Tauber
- 1933
- Mein Gorilla hat ’ne Villa im Zoo, sung by
Hans Albers, is featured in the film Heut'
kommt’s drauf an; Jan Kiepura appears in the film Ein
Lied für dich and helps make Jurmann’s song Ninon the
most popular love song in Europe
Jurmann and Kaper move to Paris; Jurmann composes some
works under the pseudonym Pierre Candel
- 1934
- Composes music for the revue Parade
de France at the Casino de Paris and for five
films, among them Les nuits
moscovites, starring Harry Bauer, Annabella,
and Tino Rossi
Marries Anni Wassermann (the marriage ends soon after)
MGM contract to the Jurmann-Kaper team leads to their
immigrating to the United States
- 1935
- Writes the song You’re All I Need for the
film Escapade, which remains
Number 1 in the charts for nine weeks
Writes music for Mutiny on the
Bounty, starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable
- 1936
- Writes music for the film San
Francisco, starring Jeanette MacDonald, Clark
Gable, and Spencer Tracy; the song San Francisco becomes
an independent world hit
- 1937
- Writes songs for the Marx Brothers’ film A
Day at the Races
- 1938
- Named honorary citizen of San Francisco
- 1941
- Decides not to renew his MGM contract but instead to
return to career as solo freelance composer
Becomes a U.S. citizen
Volunteers for the army when the United States enters
the war
Deanna Durbin sings the song Thank you, America at
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s third inauguration
- 1942
- Discharged from the army for health reasons in May
but continues work for the USO entertaining the troops
until end of the war
- 1943
- Three Letters in the Mailbox helps make the
film Thousands Cheer one
of the most successful films of the year
Composes music for the film Presenting
Lily Mars, starring Judy Garland, Van Heflin,
and Marta Eggert
- 1946
- Collaborates with Paul Francis Webster on the musical Windy
City
- 1953
- Marries the fashion designer Yvonne Jellinek
- 1961
- Judy Garland sings San Francisco at her farewell
concert at Carnegie Hall
- 1966
- Composes text and music to the song San Antonio,
the City of So Many Charms
- 1967
- 19 January: San Antonio receives a standing
ovation at its debut performance by the San Antonio Symphony
Orchestra
Named Honorary Ambassador by San Antonio mayor Walter
W. McAlister
The song Houston is performed by the Houston
Grand Opera Chorus at the benefit dinner of the Heritage
Society and Jurmann is made Honorary Mayor of Houston
Composes text and music to A Better World to Live
In, which is performed under the aegis of the Council
of International Relations in San Antonio on 21 September
by the Fourth USA Army Male Chorus
- 1971
- 17 June: Dies from a heart attack while on holiday
with his wife in Budapest
- 1977
- Rosita Fernandez, representing the State of Texas,
performs the song San Antonio at Jimmy Carter’s
presidential inauguration
- 1984
- San Francisco is named the official City Song
of that city
- 1985
- San Antonio is named the official City Song
of that city
- 1986
- Austrian TV broadcasts a program on Jurmann titled Weltbürger
der Musik (Musical Cosmopolitan)
- 1989
- 26 March: A Better World to Live In is featured
in the Easter Sunrise service at the Hollywood Bowl in
Los Angeles
- 1995
- 12 March: UCLA, Los Angeles, hosts A
Song for You: A Tribute to the Music of Walter Jurmann
- 2000
- 22. August: The U.S. Army Band plays a tribute to Walter Jurmann
on the steps of the U.S. Capitol
- 2001
- 17 June: A Walter Jurmann Gala in
the Vienna Konzerthaus
22 August: Max Raabe and the Palast Orchestra perform
Jurmann music at the official opening ceremony of the
Wiener Festwochen
5 December: Max Raabe and Christoph Israel perform the
all-Jurmann concert From Vienna
to Hollywood: A Tribute to the Music of Walter Jurmann at
the Austrian Embassy in Washington DC
7 December: Max Raabe and Christoph Israel perform the
all-Jurmann concert Songs of
Love and Exile at UCLA, Los Angeles
- 2003
- Centennial concerts celebrate Jurmann’s 100th birthday
in Europe and the United States, including in Vienna,
Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Cologne, Leipzig, Washington
DC, and Los Angeles
Opening ceremony for the newly named Walter Jurmann Gasse
in Vienna’s 23rd district
- 2004
- 16 November: Max Raabe and the Palast Orchestra perform
an all-Jurmann concert at Royce Hall, UCLA, Los Angeles
- 2005
- 20 July: Memorial plaque is placed at the house in
Berlin-Wilmersdorf where Jurmann lived 1927–1933
- 2006
- 10 January: The all-Jurmann concert Hollywood
in Cologne in the Cologne Philharmonie
3 February: Andrea Rost sings an all-Jurmann concert
at the Musikverein in Vienna
12 October: Memorial plaque is placed at Jurmann’s birthplace
in Vienna-Leopoldstadt
- 2007
- The Austrian Walter Jurmann Verein is founded in Vienna
21 April: An all-Jurmann concert in Baden bei Wien
- 2008
- A sister organization, Freunde und Förderer des Werks
von Walter Jurmann (Friends and Supporters of Walter
Jurmann), is established in Berlin
- COMING EVENTS
- 22 January 2010: Premiere of a musical with exclusively
Jurmann music, in Vienna, at the Konservatorium Wien
Privatuniversität’s department of musical theater
- 13 February 2010: Performance of A Better World
to Live In by Matthias Grünert conducting the
Kammerchor der Frauenkirche Dresden, as part of the
annual commemoration of the destruction of Dresden
on this date in 1945
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