Comedian Harmonists

The Comedian Harmonists were an internationally known Berlin vocal ensemble of the years 1928-1935. There were two direct successor groups, the Master sextet in Germany and the Comedy Harmonists in other European and wider countries.

The members of the group were:

Ari Leschnikoff (1897-1978) 1st tenor.

Erich A. Collin (1899-1961) 2nd tenor

Harry Frommermann (1906-1975) 3rd tenor

Roman Cycowski (1901-1998) baritone

Robert Biberti (1902-1985) bass

Erwin Bootz (1907-1982) pianist

Formation:

The Comedian Harmonists were founded in the apartment of Harry Frommermann in Berlin-Friedenau. A plaque at the house at Stubenrauchstrasse 47 commemorates the singing group.

Inspired by the recordings of the U.S. group The Revelers, an advertisement appeared in the Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger on December 18, 1927, in which Harry Frommermann was looking for singers for a new group:

"Attention. Rare. Tenor, bass (professional singer, not over 25), very musical, beautiful sounding voices, wanted for unique ensemble, stating daily time available. Ej. 25 Scherlfiliale, Friedrichstr. 136."

Frommermann, who had just come of age, had no academic training in singing or music. At least 70 men responded to his ad in the difficult economic situation of the time. Among them was Robert Biberti, who was the only one of the later cast to be accepted by Frommermann at this audition. Not only did he have an exceptional bass voice, but he also shared Frommermann's enthusiasm for the Revelers.

In January 1928, the first rehearsals of the group took place, with the cast consisting of Frommermann, Biberti, Theodor Steiner (Frommermann's roommate and co-initiator of the idea), as well as Louis Kaliger and Max Colani (whether the latter is identical with the actor Victor Colani is not completely clear).

A few weeks later Kaliger and Colani were replaced by Biberti's chorus colleagues from the Großes Schauspielhaus, the Bulgarians Ari Leschnikoff (first tenor) and Walter Nussbaum (second tenor). Pole Roman Cycowski, also from the Schauspielhaus Chorus, stepped in as baritone. Leschnikoff subsequently brought his friend Erwin Bootz into the group, who now took over piano accompaniments for Steiner. Bootz, a finished music student, was the only one of the six with a good income. The group called itself Melody Makers initially and, as of April 1, 1928, contractually.

Initially, the ensemble rehearsed in Harry Frommermann's attic apartment, later the silent film actress Asta Nielsen provided the music salon of her apartment on what was then Kaiserallee available as a rehearsal room. It turned out that many months of hard rehearsals were ahead, for which there was no income. Choir singing or other odd jobs were the source of income instead.

In May 1928, Theodor Steiner left the project. Thus the group now consisted of Harry Frommermann (buffo), Robert Biberti (bass), Ari Leschnikoff (first tenor), Walter Nussbaum (second tenor), Roman Cycowski (baritone) and Erwin Bootz (piano).

In June 1928, the six musicians sang for the first time at La Scala in Berlin. This failed because their style did not correspond to the musical ideas of this entertainment venue. Finally, in late summer, a second audition took place at the home of the agent Bruno Levy, to whom Frommermann was related. Levy listened to the recital, picked up the phone and called Berlin vaudeville king Erik Charell, where the sextet performed its entire repertoire once again. Charell made an offer, which Levy declined, to the surprise of the young men. He took them to Charell's biggest competitor, operetta director Herman Haller, who had been director at the Admiralspalast since 1923. Finally they ended up with Charell, who paid an evening fee of 16 Reichsmark. He suggested the name Comedian Harmonists.

First performances :

Comedian Harmonists 1930. Standing from left: Roman Cycowski, Robert Biberti, Ari Leschnikoff; standing far right: Erich A. Collin; seated left: Erwin Bootz; seated right: Harry Frommermann

On September 1, 1928, the first appearance was in the revue-operetta Casanova in Charell's Grosses Schauspielhaus with a seating capacity of 5000.[6] The play was to be on the schedule until the end of February 1929. A few weeks later, the Comedian Harmonists had several engagements, and soon all the renowned promoters in Berlin engaged the group.

In February 1929, there was a change of cast: Walter Nussbaum had to leave the group and was initially replaced by Willi Steiner. On March 1, 1929, the first guest performance outside of Berlin followed with this cast at the Hansa Theater in Hamburg. Steiner, however, proved to be vocally inadequate and his engagement was terminated after the performances at the Hansa Theater. Instead, Erwin Bootz brought Erich A. Collin, a former fellow student from the Musikhochschule, into the group, and he took over the part as second tenor from then on.

In the course of 1929, after Hamburg, the group also went to other German cities, for example to Cologne and, at the end of 1929, to Leipzig. Here the sextet experienced its breakthrough at the Leipzig Schauspielhaus on Sophienstrasse. The sold-out evenings took place in front of an enthusiastic audience. Up to this point, the Comedian Harmonists were merely part of a larger revue program.

A first radio appearance took place on December 18, 1929, on Funk-Stunde Berlin. For all their popularity, which was boosted by gramophone records and numerous radio appearances, they were not yet known nationwide. Therefore, a concert tour of their own meant a greater risk for the organizers, so that the ensemble had to rent halls for the performances themselves and bear all the organizer risks. Leipzig was chosen as the first venue for their own concert because they had been celebrated there four weeks earlier. This was repeated at the premiere on January 26, 1930. Popularity had grown rapidly, and from 1930 on, a newspaper notice that the Comedian Harmonists would be performing was enough. Elaborate advertising was no longer necessary, and the halls were usually sold out.

Concerts, record sales, and appearances in the still-young talkies provided a high level of income for everyone. In their best years, Roman Cycowski later recalled, they had each individual member 40,000-60,000 marks of annual income to be taxed. Long before the first performance, the members of the ensemble had signed a contract that ensured everyone an equal share of the income.

In 1932, the Comedian Harmonists performed at the Berlin Philharmonic Hall, which was not exactly designed for light music. The rather conservative music audience seemed to have no trouble with this "desecration", because 2700 visitors applauded enthusiastically. From now on, the group's concerts were considered art: no more entertainment tax had to be paid to the local authorities from the proceeds.

First recordings and breakthrough:

Only a few months after the group's founding, the first recordings were made for Deutsche Grammophon on May 10, 1928, but they remained unreleased.  The next recordings were made for Electrola, subsidiary of the Gramophone Company, in August 1928 as part of the Casanova operetta stage revue for Charell. Subsequently, on October 28, 1928, the sextet received a one-year recording contract with Odeon, the parent label of the Carl Lindström concern, but after 15 records, the contract was not renewed in October 1929.

Following this, on October 31, 1929, they signed a favorable exclusive contract with Electrola for a guaranteed 30 titles per year. They also made radio appearances and toured with the Tempo-Varieté program. In January 1930, they gave a guest performance at the Leipzig Schauspielhaus. There they achieved their final breakthrough - sold-out performances, enthusiastic reviews, also on the following tour of Germany. They became an attraction.

In total, 69 records were produced by Electrola until their separation in the spring of 1935. The first record on Electrola was the single Puppenhochzeit / Musketiermarsch (EG #1647), recorded on November 11, 1929. This was followed on December 16, 1929 by the recording of the Schlager potpourri Hallo, consisting of the titles Armes kleines Mädel vom Chor / Schöner Gigolo / Einmal im Leben erblüht uns die Liebe / Ich hab' kein Auto, which was released as EG #1685 in January 1930. The classic Ein Freund, ein guter Freund / Liebling, mein Herz lässt Dich grüßen (EG #2032) was recorded on August 22, 1930 and was released in September 1930. The classic Veronika, der Lenz ist da / Wochenend und Sonnenschein (EG #2033), which was also released in September 1930, was also recorded on this date.

In the process, Wochenend und Sonnenschein was their first cover version, of the title Happy Days Are Here Again, for which the German lyrics to the music of Milton Ager were written by Charles Amberg. The Comedian Harmonists rarely wrote their own songs; an exception to this is Hof-Serenade as the B-side of Marie, Marie! (EG #2204), recorded on January 19, 1931, and released in February 1931. Almost all of the recordings took place in Berlin, but some took place in Paris, such as the French version of Das ist die Liebe der Matrosen (EG #2382), released in Germany in September 1931. As Les Gars de la Marine, the French version was recorded in Paris on August 24, 1931. Their repertoire evolved from pure revue songs and songs of the day to wittily lyrical songs and classical adaptations to German and European folk songs and Goethe's Sah' ein Knab' ein Röslein stehn' (EG #2483), recorded on January 29, 1932. On September 17, 1932, the humorous Maskenball im Gänsestall / Eins, Zwei, Drei, Vier (EG #2642) was recorded and released in October 1932.

The Comedian Harmonists were now at the height of their career - their vocal style was fully developed; they sang their big hits in several languages and thus were able to achieve success abroad as well celebrate. After the NSDAP took power, the cover version of Harold Arlen's Stormy Weather was recorded on September 4, 1933 under the German title Ohne Dich together with the B-side Tag und Nacht (German version of Cole Porter's Night And Day), which was released in September 1933 (EG #2848). Komm' im Traum / Das alte Spinnrad (EG #3047), recorded on May 5, 1934, was released in May 1934. One of the classics, Mein kleiner grüner Kaktus / Lebe wohl, gute Reise (EG #3204), was written on November 15, 1934 and released in December 1934.

National Socialism period:

With 150 concerts annually, the musical career of the Comedian Harmonists had reached its temporary peak in 1933. At first, nothing seemed to change. However, since three of the six members of the Comedian Harmonists (Collin, Frommermann and Cycowski) were Jews, the first cancellations of contractually agreed concerts occurred as early as 1933. The first restrictions were imposed by the Reich Chamber of Culture Act of September 22, 1933, which, among other things, provided for the establishment of a Reich Chamber of Music, required musicians to be members of it in order to practice their profession, and was founded specifically for the purpose of what was called cultural "Gleichschaltung". The situation intensified after Reich Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels issued the decree on compulsory membership as of March 5, 1934, which was linked to the Aryan certificate. However, the group was ultimately granted special permission until May 1, 1934, to fulfill its concert obligations for the current tour, which was, however, partly accompanied by organized protests by National Socialist groups.

Concerts abroad remained as a possibility. In the last months of their existence, starting in April 1934, they traveled to Denmark, Norway, and the United States, where the group performed in New York Harbor before the assembled Atlantic and Pacific fleets on the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, as well as on the radio more than 30 times. In some cases they performed with the Boswell Sisters and Paul Whiteman's leading orchestra of the time. A return to Berlin in August 1934 and further recordings were followed in November by a tour of fascist but not anti-Semitic Italy. In February 1935, the Comedian Harmonists made their last public appearance in Norway. On February 13, 1935, they recorded the meaningful title Morgen muss ich fort von hier / Am Brunnen vor dem Tore (EG #3282) at the Electrola studio in Berlin - their last legal joint record production. Another, already illegal studio session followed on March 1, 1935, with Jacques Offenbach's Barcarole and Brahms' Hungarian Dance No. 5 (EG #3303).

Days earlier, the unmolested members, Biberti, Bootz and Leschnikoff, had been admitted to the Reichsmusikkammer by letter of February 22, 1935, but with the prohibition "to continue making music with these non-Aryans. However, you are free to carry on your musical activities with other Aryan musicians after adding a German name instead of the name Comedian Harmonists."

At the same time, with this letter, the remaining three singers Collin, Frommermann and Cycowski were expressly banned from performing because of their Jewish origins. A short time later, the group agreed to form two separate groups out of the now forcibly divided ensemble, both of which, however, were to continue to perform under the same previous name: one in Germany, the other only abroad.

On November 21, 1935, the singers who remained in Germany were permitted by the Reich Chamber of Music to temporarily call themselves the Meistersextett, formerly the Comedian Harmonists. The remaining members hired replacements for the emigrated singers. However, the new singers were not equal members of the ensemble, but employees.

of its existence, the composition of the master sextet changed frequently. In the summer of 1936, for example, the former first tenor of the Kardosch singers, Zeno Coste, was engaged for some recordings, including Ich wollt' ich wär ein Huhn and the sound recording for the film Und du mein Schatz fährst mit.

First recordings were made at Electrola on August 20, 1935, of which Tausendmal war ich im Traum bei Dir / Drüben in der Heimat (EG #3417) was the first to be released. On December 17, 1937, a record order forbade the further distribution of all previous records by the Comedian Harmonists - Electrola had archived almost one hundred recordings by the original Harmonists in its catalog - which also brought a significant loss of royalties.

What became well known was their version of Ich wollt' ich wär' ein Huhn (EG #3723), recorded on August 28, 1936 and marketed from September 1936. It was a cover version of the UFA film hit from the film Glückskinder (1936).

At the end of 1938, after artistic differences, especially with Biberti, pianist and musical director Bootz left the group and joined the Berlin Cabaret of Comedians as composer/lyricist and musical director. Rudolf Zeller became the new pianist, and Bruno Seidler-Winkler, in particular, who later served as conductor on Lale Andersen's soldier song Lili Marleen, acted as arranger.

The decline of the sextet was unstoppable. After a final tour of Italy, on May 26, 1939, Electrola refused to release the songs Bel ami and Penny-Serenade on the grounds that "these recordings lack liveliness and performance differentiation and balance." As Biberti became more articulate as founder and artistic director, conflicts grew with the only remaining founding member, Ari Leschnikoff, and new members such as, briefly, Hans von Bachmayr-Heyda. After the beginning of World War II, the group's situation became more and more confused, and ultimately Biberti had terminated all contracts. This confused situation was sealed by a ban on performances by the Reich Chamber of Music on November 24, 1941, ending the existence of the master sextet.

Comedy Harmonists (1935-1941)

This Viennese exile group consisted since May 1935 of Collin, Cycowski and Frommermann, who initially emigrated to Vienna, and who also engaged Hans Rexeis (tenor), Rudolf Mayreder (bass) and Ernst Engel (piano) to complete the group. At first they continued under the name Comedian Harmonists, but from 1937 they called themselves Comedy Harmonists. First recordings were made for the Gramophone Company (Disque Gramophone) in Paris on July 19, 1935, which probably remained unreleased. The recordings of Continental / Guitare d'amour (Disque Gramophone K-7584), made in a repeat session on September 30, 1935, were the first to be released.[20] Surviving recordings include Sous le ciel d'Afrique, which they recorded with Josephine Baker in Paris in August 1935. In January 1936, the group made a visible appearance in the film Katharina die Letzte, with the title Du passt so gut zu mir wie Zucker zum Kaffee. In the summer of 1937 Ernst Engel was replaced by the Austrian Fritz Kramer. After the annexation of Austria to the German Reich, the group had to flee Vienna in a hurry.

During their existence, the Comedy Harmonists completed extensive and successful tours in Europe (Scandinavia, France, Italy, Benelux, until 1938 also in Austria and Czechoslovakia), Russia (including engagements of several weeks in Moscow and Leningrad), South Africa and South America. Recordings took place in London, Stockholm and Paris. Their repertoire was international in character.

In the summer of 1937, at the invitation of the Australian Broadcasting Company, the group traveled for the first time to Australia, where they gave numerous concerts until December. In 1939 there was a tour of North America and from June a second stay of several months in Australia. Because of their great popularity there, the government had offered the ensemble members Australian citizenship and the group had hoped to settle there. However, after the outbreak of war, there were concerns about possible internment as "enemy aliens."

The group was unable to return to Australia from a North American tour in 1940 because of the naval war. All members initially remained in the United States. Mayreder later became a singer at the Metropolitan Opera and eventually returned to Austria; Fritz Kramer worked in New York as a pianist and later taught musicology at the Manhattan School of Music.

American Successor Group (1947-1949)

Collin formed a new group with American members in the fall of 1947 under the name Comedian Harmonists, in which he now served as baritone. The members of this group besides Collin were Jack Cathcart (piano and arrangements), Fred Bixler (first tenor), Murray Pollack (second tenor), Nicolai Shutorev (buffo), and Arthur Atkins (bass).

Beginning in July 1948, the group undertook an extensive European tour with a program influenced by contemporary swing, with concerts in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, the Netherlands, France, Switzerland, and Italy. Already at the beginning of the tour, in September 1948, Shutorev died unexpectedly in Bergen, whereupon the group initially completed its planned concerts in Norway with five members. A concert from Oslo on September 26, 1948 was recorded for Norwegian radio. From this concert on, Harry Frommermann, who in the meantime had changed his name to Harry Frohman after his naturalization in the USA, participated as a substitute for Shutorev. On November 23, 1948, the ensemble participated in a radio broadcast from the Kursaal in Lugano. Only six commercially made recordings exist of this group, made on February 8, 1949, for the Swiss label Le Chant du Monde/Tell Record in Basel. The project failed because of differing opinions about the direction to take.

All six members of the Comedian Harmonists survived World War II, but did not perform together again. In 1998, a few months before the death of the last living member Cycowski, they received the Echo music award for their life's work.

Singing style and repertoire:

The Comedian Harmonists belonged to the category of a cappella vocal groups that did without instruments except for piano accompaniment and whose singing was tuned to close-harmony effects. Their model were the US-American Revelers. The ever-growing repertoire of the Comedian Harmonists included titles composed by Bootz to texts by Gerd Karlick (Ich hab' für dich 'nen Blumentopf bestellt; Guten Tag, gnädige Frau; Schöne Isabella aus Kastilien), rearranged jazz titles (Hallo, was machst Du heut', Daisy is the cover of You're Driving Me Crazy; Ohne Dich is from the original Stormy Weather; Tag und Nacht is from Night and Day) and vaudeville and operetta hits (Veronika, der Lenz ist da, Wochenend und Sonnenschein, Blume von Hawaii) also numerous popular songs from films, in which they did not participate or are sung on screen by other performers (Wir sind von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt from Der blaue Engel; Ein Freund, ein guter Freund from Die Drei von der Tankstelle or Baby from Das Lied vom Leben). Thus, they had a close collaboration with the composer Werner Richard Heymann. Their biographers Peter Czada and Günter Grosse wrote about the musical style of the Comedian Harmonists - especially in comparison to their role models, the Revelers: "The Comedian Harmonists relegated hot and swing elements to the background in favor of a vocal line oriented toward euphony and melody. This allowed them to sing folk songs and even Christmas carols quite simply in perfect, heartfelt harmony. Their interpretation of hits and dance music was extremely brisk, rhythmically precise, and often marked by parodistic wit, but at the same time always held in such a way that even banal melodies were 'ennobled'."

Films as contributors:

The Comedian Harmonists first appeared in front of a movie camera on July 19, 1930. For the contemporary UFA film operetta Die Drei von der Tankstelle (The Three from the Gas Station), they played bartenders and sang the hit Liebling, mein Herz lässt dich grüßen (Darling, My Heart Sends Greetings) together with Leo Monosson during a nightclub appearance. Their daily fee was 1500 marks. On March 4, 1931, the film Ihre Hoheit befiehlt was released, in which they appeared as cooks. The group made another visible appearance in Spione im Savoy-Hotel. In Ich bei Tag und Du bei Nacht they accompany the action with the song Wenn ich sonntags in mein Kino geh'.

About the film It began in Berlin