George Richard Marek (13 July 1902 – 7 January 1987) was an Austrian-born American

music executive A music executive or record executive is a person within a record label who works in senior management and makes executive decisions over the label's artists. Their role varies greatly but in essence, they can oversee one, or many, aspects of a re ...

and author of

biographies A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

of classical

composers A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

. Marek was born in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, then the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the son of dentist Martin Marek and Emily Weisberger. From 1918, Marek studied at the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (german: Universität Wien) is a public research university located in Vienna, Austria. It was founded by Duke Rudolph IV in 1365 and is the oldest university in the German-speaking world. With its long and rich hist ...

until he emigrated to the United States in 1920, where he became a citizen in 1925. He married Muriel Heppner the following year; the couple had one son, editor, publisher, and author

Richard Marek Richard Marek (June 14, 1933 – March 22, 2020) was an American writer, editor, and publisher who is best known for his novel ''Works of Genius'' that explores the odd relationships between authors and publishers in the publishing industry. Life ...

. Marek's first job in the US was as a stock boy in the ostrich-feather department of a

milliner Hat-making or millinery is the design, manufacture and sale of hats and other headwear. A person engaged in this trade is called a milliner or hatter. Historically, milliners, typically women shopkeepers, produced or imported an inventory of ...

, but he soon became involved in advertising. From 1930 until 1950, he was vice president of the J. D. Tarcher Agency. In 1950 Marek unsuccessfully attempted to gain RCA Victor's advertising account for Tarcher; instead, he was offered the position of manager of artists and repertory at RCA Victor. Seven years later he became vice president and general manager of RCA Victor; he remained in that position until 1972. When he grew up in Vienna, Marek had regularly visited the

Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera (, ) is an opera house and opera company based in Vienna, Austria. The 1,709-seat Renaissance Revival venue was the first major building on the Vienna Ring Road. It was built from 1861 to 1869 following plans by August ...

; after his arrival in New York City, he became a devoted

standee A standee is an American term for a large self-standing display promoting a movie, product or event, or point-of-sale advertising, often in the form of a life-size cut-out figure. They are typically made of foam-board, and may range from large ...

at the old Metropolitan Opera House. Marek was the music editor of ''

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Hous ...

'' from 1941 until 1957 and a co-founder of the ''

Reader's Digest ''Reader's Digest'' is an American general-interest family magazine, published ten times a year. Formerly based in Chappaqua, New York, it is now headquartered in midtown Manhattan. The magazine was founded in 1922 by DeWitt Wallace and his wif ...

'' Record Club. He was for many years a panel member on the radio broadcasts of the '' Metropolitan Opera Quiz''. Marek introduced some pronounced changes in the marketing of classical music at RCA Victor. Record jackets became more colorful and classical records were sold in drugstores and supermarkets. He was responsible for the best selling album ''Classical Music for People Who Hate Classical Music'' in 1953. Marek was instrumental in promoting the recordings of pianists

Gary Graffman Gary Graffman (born October 14, 1928) is an American classical pianist, teacher and administrator. Early life Graffman was born in New York City to Russian-Jewish parents. Having started piano at age 3, Graffman entered the Curtis Institute of M ...

and Arthur Rubinstein and conductors Pierre Monteux,

Fritz Reiner Frederick Martin "Fritz" Reiner (December 19, 1888 – November 15, 1963) was a prominent conductor of opera and symphonic music in the twentieth century. Hungarian born and trained, he emigrated to the United States in 1922, where he rose to ...

, and Arturo Toscanini. Marek continued in retirement as a consultant to RCA and the ''Reader's Digest'' Record Club. He died at the age of 84 at St. Luke's-Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York City; he was survived by his wife and their son, and two brothers, Carl and Frederick, both of Manhattan, and a sister, Anneliese Fish, of White Plains. Some of his books have been translated into other languages. Marek also wrote magazine articles, e.g. for '' Harper's Bazaar'', and

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes. Origin Liner notes are desc ...

; he was nominated for the

1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...

Grammy Award for Best Album Notes The Grammy Award – Best Album Notes has been presented since 1964. From 1973 to 1976 (the 15th through 18th Awards), a second award was presented for Best Album Notes – Classical. Those awards are listed under those years below. The award recog ...

for ''Beethoven: The Five Piano Concertos'', with Daniel Barenboim conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra and Arthur Rubinstein playing the piano.

Bibliography

*"Guiding your child to music", ''

Pictorial Review The ''Pictorial Review'' was an American women's magazine published from 1899 to 1939. Based in New York, the ''Pictorial Review'' was first published in September 1899. The magazine was originally designed to showcase dress patterns of German i ...

'', 1935 *"How to Listen to Music Over the Radio", ''Pictorial Review'', 1937 *''

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the ''Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wor ...

on Records'', foreword by

Leopold Stokowski Leopold Anthony Stokowski (18 April 1882 – 13 September 1977) was a British conductor. One of the leading conductors of the early and mid-20th century, he is best known for his long association with the Philadelphia Orchestra and his appear ...

, Four Corners, 1942 *''

Beethoven Ludwig van Beethoven (baptised 17 December 177026 March 1827) was a German composer and pianist. Beethoven remains one of the most admired composers in the history of Western music; his works rank amongst the most performed of the classic ...

on Records'', foreword by

Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the U ...

, Four Corners, 1942 *''A Front Seat at the

Opera Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a libr ...

'', Allen, Towne & Heath, 1948 *''The Good Housekeeping Guide to Musical Enjoyment'',

Rinehart & Company Rinehart & Company was an American publishing company founded in 1946. Renamed Rinehart & Company in 1946, the publishing company merged with Henry Holt and Company and the John C. Winston Company in 1960, to form Holt, Rinehart and Winston (HRW). ...

, 1949 *''

Puccini Giacomo Puccini ( Lucca, 22 December 1858Bruxelles, 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he was descended from a long ...

: A Biography'',

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

, 1951 *''Opera as Theater'',

Harper & Row Harper is an American publishing house, the flagship imprint of global publisher HarperCollins based in New York City. History J. & J. Harper (1817–1833) James Harper and his brother John, printers by training, started their book publishin ...

, 1962, (reprint by Greenwood Press, 1977, ) *''The World Treasury of Grand Opera, Its Triumphs, Trials and Great Personalities'' (editor), Harper, January 1957 *'' Richard Strauss, Gentleman Genius'', Simon & Schuster, 1966 *''Richard Strauss: Life of a Non-Hero'',

Victor Gollancz Ltd Victor Gollancz Ltd () was a major British book publishing house of the twentieth century and continues to publish science fiction and fantasy titles as an imprint of Orion Publishing Group. Gollancz was founded in 1927 by Victor Gollancz, an ...

, November 1967, **in Spanish: ''Vida de un Antihero'', 1985, Javier Vergara, *''Beethoven: Biography of a Genius'', Funk & Wagnalls, 1969 **in Polish: ''Beethoven: biografia geniusza'', Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, 1997, , **in German: ''Ludwig van Beethoven: Das Leben eines Genies'', mvg, 1970, **in Spanish: Javier Vergara, 1985, **in Russian (as Джордж Марек): ''Рихард Штраус: Последний романтик'', , *''The Eagles Die:

Franz Joseph Franz Joseph I or Francis Joseph I (german: Franz Joseph Karl, hu, Ferenc József Károly, 18 August 1830 – 21 November 1916) was Emperor of Austria, King of Hungary, and the other states of the Habsburg monarchy from 2 December 1848 until his ...

, Elisabeth, and Their

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

'',

, 1974, *''Gentle Genius: The Story of Felix Mendelssohn'', Apollo Editions, 1972, *''

Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orch ...

: A Biography'', Vision Press, June 1976, *''The Bed and the Throne: The Life of

Isabella d'Este Isabella d'Este (19 May 1474 – 13 February 1539) was Marchioness of Mantua and one of the leading women of the Italian Renaissance as a major cultural and political figure. She was a patron of the arts as well as a leader of fashion, whos ...

'', Harper & Row, 1976, *'' Chopin'', with Maria Gordon-Smith, Littlehampton Book Services, 1978, **in Polish: Warszawa Czytelnik, 1990, , *''

Cosima Wagner Francesca Gaetana Cosima Wagner (née Liszt; 24 December 1837 – 1 April 1930) was the daughter of the Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt and Franco-German romantic author Marie d'Agoult. She became the second wife of the German comp ...

'', Julia Macrae, February 1983, **in German: Hestia, 1982, **in Japanese: (ワーグナーの妻コジマ: リストの娘の愛と策謀 / Wāgunā no tsuma kojima: risuto no musume no ai to sakubō), 中央公論社 / Chūō Kōronsha, 1983, , *"Richard Strauss and

Hugo von Hofmannsthal Hugo Laurenz August Hofmann von Hofmannsthal (; 1 February 1874 – 15 July 1929) was an Austrian novelist, librettist, poet, dramatist, narrator, and essayist. Early life Hofmannsthal was born in Landstraße, Vienna, the son of an upper-cl ...

, a Reevaluation" in ''Richard Strauss:

Der Rosenkavalier (''The Knight of the Rose'' or ''The Rose-Bearer''), Op. 59, is a comic opera in three acts by Richard Strauss to an original German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. It is loosely adapted from the novel ''Les amours du chevalier de Faublas'' ...

'' (The Metropolitan Opera Classics Library), Little & Brown, 1982, *''

Schubert Franz Peter Schubert (; 31 January 179719 November 1828) was an Austrian composer of the late Classical and early Romantic eras. Despite his short lifetime, Schubert left behind a vast ''oeuvre'', including more than 600 secular vocal wor ...

: A Biography'', Viking Adult, November 1985, **also in Spanish: Javier Vergara, 1986, ,

References

Marek, George Richard
by Paula Morgan in '' American National Biography Online'', February 2000
"George R. Marek, 84, author and ex-RCA Victor official"
obituary by

Bernard Holland Bernard Holland (born 1933) is an American music critic. He served on the staff of '' The New York Times'' from 1981 until 2008 and held the post of chief music critic from 1995, contributing 4,575 articles to the newspaper. He then became the Nat ...

, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' (8 January 1987)

External links

*
George R. Marek

authority file In information science, authority control is a process that organizes information, for example in library catalogs, by using a single, distinct spelling of a name (heading) or a numeric identifier for each topic. The word ''authority'' in ''aut ...

at the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library ...

br>authorities recordsGeorge R. Marek
at the

National Library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marek, George Richard 1902 births 1987 deaths Austrian emigrants to the United States American music industry executives Classical music critics American music journalists 20th-century American biographers