Comedian Harmonists

Comedian Harmonists (from left: Robert Biberti, Erich Collin, Erwin Bootz, Roman Cycowski, Harry Frommermann, Asparuh "Ari" Leschnikoff)

The Comedian Harmonists were an internationally famous, all-male German close harmony ensemble that performed between 1928 and 1934 as one of the most successful musical groups in Europe before World War II. The group consisted of Harry Frommermann (tenor buffo), Asparuh "Ari" Leschnikoff (first tenor), Erich Collin (second tenor), Roman Cycowski (baritone), Robert Biberti (bass), and Erwin Bootz (pianist).

The hallmark of the Comedian Harmonists was its members' ability to blend their voices together so that the individual singers could appear and disappear back into the vocal texture. Its repertoire was wide, ranging from the folk and classical songs arranged by Frommermann to appealing and witty popular songs of the day by writers such as Peter Igelhoff, Werner Richard Heymann and Paul Abraham (composer).

History

In 1927, unemployed actor Harry Frommermann was inspired by The Revelers, a jazz-influenced popular vocal group from the United States , to create a German group of the same format. Frommermann held auditions in his flat on Stubenrauchstraße 47 in Berlin-Friedenau, and, once the group was assembled, it quickly began rehearsals. After some initial failures, the Harmonists soon found success, becoming popular throughout Europe, visiting the United States, and appearing in 21 films.^[1]

The members of the group were:

Ari Leschnikoff	(1897–1978)	first tenor
Erich A. Collin	(1899–1961)	second tenor
Harry Frommermann	(1906–1975)	Tenor buffo
Roman Cycowski	(1901–1998)	Baritone
Robert Biberti	(1902–1985)	Bass
Erwin Bootz	(1907–1982)	Pianist

The group's success continued into the early 1930s, but eventually ran into trouble with the Nazi regime: three of the group members – Frommermann, Collin, and Cycowski – were either Jewish or of Jewish descent, and Bootz had married a Jewish woman. The Nazis progressively made the group's professional life more difficult, initially banning pieces by Jewish composers, and finally prohibiting them from performing in public. The group's last concert in Germany was in Hannover on March 25, 1934.

Frommermann, Cycowski, and Collin subsequently fled Germany and formed a new group, which performed under the names "Comedian Harmonists" and "Comedy Harmonists" with a new pianist, bass, and high tenor. The remaining members in Germany likewise replaced their counterparts in a successor group named "Das Meistersextett" (as the authorities forbade an English-language name). Neither group was able to achieve the original success of the Comedian Harmonists, with the German group stifled by political in-fighting and heavy censorship, as well as the war draft (call-up); the emigrant group was unable to find work in America due to hostility to German entertainers, and they were unable to return to Austria, where they had enjoyed extensive success in the 1930s. The Bulgarian Asparuh Leschnikoff /Leshnikov/ returned to his fatherland in 1938 and started a successful career. By 1941, both groups had broken up. Although all members survived the war, they never re-formed after the war.

The group remained largely forgotten until filmmaker Eberhard Fechner created a four-hour black-and-white television documentary, in which he interviewed the surviving members, who were scattered throughout the world. The documentary aired over two nights in German in 1975 and caused a resurgence of interest in the music of the Comedian Harmonists, with their records being released on vinyl.

They won recognition from the musical entertainment industry in 1998 when they won the Echo Prize from the Deutsche Phonoakademie. They were also the subject of an award winning 1997 movie titled 'The Harmonists' ^[2].

Following the death of the last surviving member of the group, Roman Cycowski, in 1998, German a cappella group Wise Guys wrote a tribute song, called Die Comedian Harmonists, which was released as part of the album 'Skandal' in Spring 1999.

Discography

• Ah Maria, Mari
• Ali Baba
• An Der Schönen Blauen Donau ("The Blue Danube")
• Auf Dem Heuboden ("In the Hayloft")
• Auf Wiedersehen, My Dear ("See You, My Dear")
• Baby
• Barcarole
• Bin Kein Hauptmann, Bin Kein Großes Tier ("I'm No Officer, I'm No Hot Shot")
• Blume Von Hawaii ("Flower From Hawaii")
• Creole Love Call by Duke Ellington
• Das Ist Die Liebe Der Matrosen ("That's The Sailors' Love")
• Der Onkel Bumba Aus Kalumba Tanzt Nur Rumba ("Uncle Bumba From Kalumba Only Dances The Rumba")
• Die Dorfmusik ("The Village Music")
• Die Liebe Kommt, Die Liebe Geht ("Love Comes, Love Goes")
• Du Bist Nicht Die Erste ("You're Not The First One")
• Ein bißchen Leichtsinn kann nicht schaden ("A Little Carelessness Can't Hurt")
• Ein Freund, Ein Guter Freund ("A Friend, A Good Friend")
• Ein Lied Geht Um Die Welt ("A Song Goes Around The World")
• Ein Neuer Frühling Wird In Die Heimat Kommen ("A New Spring Will Come Home")
• Eine Kleine Frühlingsweise ("A Little Spring Melody")
• Einmal Schafft's Jeder ("Everyone Does It Once")
• Eins, Zwei, Drei Und Vier, Glücklich Bin Ich Nur Mit Dir ("One, Two, Three And Four, I'm Only Happy When I'm With You")
• Es Führt Kein And'rer Weg Zur Seligkeit ("There's No Other Way to Bliss")
• Florestan 1., Prince De Monaco ("Florestan The First, Prince Of Monaco")
• Fünf-Uhr-Tee Bei Familie Kraus ("Five-O'-Clock-Tea With The Kraus Family")
• Gitarren, Spielt Auf ("Guitars, Play")
• Guten Tag, gnädige Frau ("Good Day, Madam")
• Hallo, was machst Du heut', Daisy? ("Hello, Whatcha Doin' Today, Daisy?" from "You're Driving Me Crazy)
• Ich küsse Ihre Hand, Madam ("I kiss Your Hand Madam")
• In einem kühlen Grunde ("In A Cool Place")
• Irgendwo auf der Welt ("Somewhere In the World")
• Kannst Du pfeifen, Johanna? ("Can you Whistle, Johanna?")
• Mein kleiner grüner Kaktus ("My Little Green Cactus")
• Puppenhochzeit ("Dolls' Wedding")
• Schlafe, mein Prinzchen, schlaf ein ("Sleep, My little Prince, Go To Sleep")
• Schöne Isabella von Kastilien ("Beautiful Isabel from Castile")
• Schöne Lisa, süße Lisa ("Beautiful Lisa, Sweet Lisa")
• Ungarischer Tanz Nr. 5 ("Hungarian Dance No. 5")
• Veronika, der Lenz ist da ("Veronika, Spring is here")
• Wenn die Sonja russisch tanzt ("When Sonja Dances Russian-like")
• Wenn der Wind weht über das Meer ("When The Wind Blows Over The Sea")
• Wenn ich vergnügt bin, muß ich singen ("When I'm Merry, I Must Sing")
• Whispering
• Wir sind von Kopf bis Fuß auf Liebe eingestellt ("Falling in Love Again (Can't Help It)")
• Wochenend und Sonnenschein ("Weekend and Sunshine")/ Happy Days Are Here Again

Film biography

In 1997, a German biopic entitled Comedian Harmonists (The Harmonists in the American version), with the actors synching their lips in the musical performances to the group's original recordings.

Literature and References

• Fechner, Eberhard (1988) (in German). Die Comedian Harmonists. Sechs Lebensläufe. Weinheim: Quadriga. ISBN 3-88679-174-2. 
• Etscheit, Ulrich; Metzger, Julian, eds (in German). Comedian Harmonists. Das Original. Kassel: Bosse.  (Sheet music)
  • Vol. 1 (1997): ISBN 3-7649-0433-X, ISMN M-2011-0433-1
  • Vol. 2 (1999): ISBN 3-7649-0437-2, ISMN M-2011-0437-9
  • Vol. 3 (2000): ISBN 3-7649-0443-7, ISMN M-2011-0443-0
  • Vol. 4 (2001): ISMN M-2011-0450-8

1. ^ The Internet Movie Database, http://www.imdb,com
2. ^ The Internet Movie Database, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0128133/

External links

• The Web's Resources for The Comedian Harmonists Lyrics, photos, discography, and more.
• Comedian Harmonists at the Internet Movie Database
• Comedian Harmonists (1997 movie) entry at the Internet Movie Database
• Fan page currently in German only, English promised to follow
• History and pictures
• Discography
• Links to audio samples
• [1] Link to Barry Manilow's HARMONY – The new Musical website
• Comedian Harmonists arrangement of Am Brunnen vor dem Tore, sung by Christoph Wendel, Julien Neel, Daniel Westphal and Patrick von Massow