A titan of American music, Victor Herbert (1859-1924) composed more than fifty complete operettas and musicals and contributed songs to an additional fifty shows. He was also a founder of ASCAP and a driving force behind the protection of creative rights. His work, both as an artist and as an advocate, was foundational in the development of American musical theatre as we know it, influencing the likes of Jerome Kern, George Gershwin, Richard Rodgers, and Vincent Youmans.
This volume offers the first complete and accurate documentation of the stage music of Victor Herbert. In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of his death, the book fulfils many objectives: it is first and foremost a traditional thematic catalogue, bringing to light all of Herbert's more than 2,000 songs, encompassing 3,600 musical themes for the stage and his entire non-theatrical vocal output for the very first time. It also serves as a finding aid for researchers and provides complete and detailed show credits. It features a complete song list, a title index, a first-line index, and Herbert's complete Broadway chronology-all in one volume. Herbert's theatrical output is set forth in such a way that it can be studied and cross-referenced. Every theatrical work of his career is investigated and accompanied by copious details, and every song is documented and illustrated by a short section of its musical notation, known as an incipit. Additionally, for each show discussed, information is provided about Herbert's collaborators, including librettists, music directors, and musical assistants. The repository location of all existing Herbert theatre manuscripts, librettos, and performance materials is also provided.
The result of more than twenty years of research, this volume allows the musical oeuvre of this most important founding father of the American musical theatre to be fully surveyed, and in doing so sets right the confusion, mystery, and inaccuracies of the existing literature.
