Happy Father’s Day!

Proud papa Erich Wolfgang Korngold wrote his “Baby Serenade” after receiving news from his wife, Luzi, that she was expecting another child. This was in the spring of 1928. Korngold completed the work in time for the birth of his second son, Georg. It was good training for the composer, as there would certainly be plenty of firm deadlines in his future.

Korngold, of course, became one of the great composers of Hollywood’s Golden Age, fondly remembered especially for his scores for the films of Errol Flynn. But he was also an astounding prodigy who achieved international fame for his operas and concert works.

He came to the U.S. to assist theatrical impresario Max Reinhardt on a film adaptation of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” for Warner Bros. Warner Bros. understood a good thing when they had it and offered Korngold a very generous contract, allowing him to pick his own projects and even permitting him to coach the actors on-set to get performances that would suit his musical ideas.

It was while he was here scoring “The Adventures of Robin Hood” in 1938 that the Nazis marched into Austria and changed the course of Korngold’s life. For the safety of his family, he remained in California and became a U.S. citizen in 1943.

The “Baby Serenade” was composed years before Korngold’s American adventure. Still, there’s plenty in it to suggest the cinematic Korngold to come. Also, there are saxophones and some jazz-inflected passages that very much reflect the era in which it was written. It’s certainly a lighthearted work, with leaner texters than those of the rich orchestral utterances of his larger concert pieces.

Georg (whose family nickname was Schurli, but he went by George) repaid the favor years later, as a record producer who would help revive and preserve his father’s legacy.

The “Baby Serenade” falls into five movements:

I. Overture: Baby Comes Into the World

II. Song: It’s a Good Baby

III. Scherzino: It Has the Most Beautiful Toys

IV. Jazz: Baby Tells a Story

V. Epilogue: And Now It Sings Itself to Sleep

Listen to it here:

The arrival of Georg was one premiere which could not be postponed!

PHOTO: Korngold and family, with Georg front and center