Herman Darewski (17 April 1883 – 2 June 1947) was a British composer and conductor of light music. His most successful work was perhaps ''

The Better 'Ole ''The Better 'Ole'', also called ''The Romance of Old Bill'', is an Edwardian musical comedy with a book by Bruce Bairnsfather and Arthur Elliot, music by Herman Darewski, and lyrics by Percival Knight and James Heard, based on the cartoon charac ...

'', which ran for over 800 performances in its original London production in 1917. Some of his songs became very successful in musical

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own duri ...

s. Born in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, and musically trained in Vienna, he worked in London, for the first 15 years of the new century, as a composer of light songs, some of which were written for the new theatre form, revue. After the First World War, Darewski had a long career as a conductor of light music, both in London and at English coastal resorts.

Life and career

Darewski was born in

, then part of the Russian empire, where his father Eduard Darewski, a Polish singing professor, was working. The family moved to London, where Herman was educated. He studied at the

London College of Music London College of Music (LCM) is a music school in London, England. It is one of eight separate schools that make up the University of West London. History LCM was founded in 1887 and existed as an independent music conservatoire based at Gr ...

, where he distinguished himself as a piano student, passing examinations in record time. One of his brothers was the theatre producer Ernest C. Rolls, and his younger brother Max (1894–1929) followed him into the musical profession. Herman went to Vienna to study music, between 1897 and 1900.Lamb, Andrew
"Darewski, Herman,"
Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online, accessed 18 May 2011 He was engaged by the London music publishers Francis, Day and Hunter as one of their composing staff. He remained with them for 15 years. In 1914 he visited Australia with his wife, the musical comedy actress Madge Temple, who was playing leading roles there.Obituary, ''The Times'', 3 June 1947, p. 7 After his return to Britain during the First World War, Darewski combined administrative work for charities and prolific composition. He was one of the first British composers to compose for the new theatrical form,

, writing, among others, ''Business as Usual'' and ''Push and Go'' for

Albert de Courville Albert Pierre de Courville (26 March 1887 – 15 March 1960) (born in Croydon, England) was a writer and director of theatrical revues, many of which featured the actress and singer Shirley Kellogg, whom he married in June 1913. Career In abo ...

, and ''

'' and ''Carminetta'' for

Charles B. Cochran Sir Charles Blake Cochran (25 September 1872 31 January 1951), generally known as C. B. Cochran, was an English theatrical manager and impresario. He produced some of the most successful musical revues, musicals and plays of the 1920s and 193 ...

. Among Darewski's songs are "

Sister Susie's Sewing Shirts for Soldiers "Sister Susie's Sewing Shirts for Soldiers" is a World War I era song that tells about a young girl sewing shirts for soldiers fighting abroad. Her efforts are in vain however, as "Some soldiers send epistles, say they'd sooner sleep in thistles, ...

", "The Big Brass Band", and "Ours is a Nice 'Ouse Ours Is." He also wrote songs for the London production of ''

Phi-Phi ''Phi-Phi'' is an opérette légère in three acts with music by Henri Christiné and a French libretto by Albert Willemetz and Fabien Solar. The piece was one which founded the new style of French comédie musicale, the first to really use the la ...

''.Traubner, Richard
"Continental varieties"
''Operetta: a theatrical history'', pp. 291–92, Psychology Press, 2003 After the war, a brief and unsuccessful attempt to strike out on his own as a publisher was followed by a new career as the conductor of light music orchestras. ''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

'' wrote, "When British light orchestras were being ousted wholesale by foreign competition, he gave them new life, and was the precursor of men like Mr.

Jack Hylton Jack Hylton (born John Greenhalgh Hilton; 2 July 1892 – 29 January 1965) was an English pianist, composer, band leader and impresario. Hylton rose to prominence during the British dance band era, being referred as the "British King of Jazz" a ...

and Mr. Debroy Somers." Between 1924 and 1937 he was in charge of the music at the resorts of

Bridlington Bridlington is a coastal town and a civil parish on the Holderness Coast of the North Sea in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is about north of Hull and east of York. The Gypsey Race enters the North Sea at its harbour. The 2011 Cen ...

and

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...

, with an interval in 1930 to 1932 when he conducted at one of London's largest cinemas. Darewski died in London at the age of 64.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Darewski, Herman 1883 births 1947 deaths British musical theatre composers English composers