Leonard Liebling (February 7, 1874 – October 28, 1945) was an American

music critic ''The Oxford Companion to Music'' defines music criticism as "the intellectual activity of formulating judgments on the value and degree of excellence of individual works of music, or whole groups or genres". In this sense, it is a branch of mus ...

, writer,

librettist A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the text of major litu ...

, editor,

pianist A pianist ( , ) is an individual musician who plays the piano. Since most forms of Western music can make use of the piano, pianists have a wide repertoire and a wide variety of styles to choose from, among them traditional classical music, ja ...

, and

composer 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 ...

. He is best remembered as the long time editor-in-chief of the ''

Musical Courier The ''Musical Courier'' was a weekly 19th- and 20th-century American music trade magazine that began publication in 1880. The publication included editorials, obituaries, announcements, scholarly articles and investigatory writing about musical ...

'' from 1911 to 1945.

Life and career

Born into a

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family in New York City, Liebling was the son of composer

Max Liebling Max Liebling (1845 – September 24, 1927) was a German-born American concert pianist, composer, conductor, and music educator. He was the patriarch of a prominent Jewish American musical family in New York City. Several of his children had succ ...

(1845–1927) and his wife Matilde née de Perkiewicz. His father and his three uncles,

George George may refer to: People * George (given name) * George (surname) * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Washington, First President of the United States * George W. Bush, 43rd Presiden ...

Emil Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *''Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *''Emil and the Detective ...

, and Solly Liebling, were all pupils of

Franz Liszt Franz Liszt, in modern usage ''Liszt Ferenc'' . Liszt's Hungarian passport spelled his given name as "Ferencz". An orthographic reform of the Hungarian language in 1922 (which was 36 years after Liszt's death) changed the letter "cz" to simpl ...

and had successful careers as pianists and composers. His brother James Liebling was also a professional musician, and his sister

Estelle Liebling Estelle Liebling (April 21, 1880 – September 25, 1970) was an American soprano, composer, arranger, music editor, and celebrated voice teacher and vocal coach. Born into the Liebling family of musicians, she began her professional opera car ...

was a soprano with the

Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera (commonly known as the Met) is an American opera company based in New York City, resident at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, currently situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The company is operat ...

who became a famous voice teacher and coach. After graduating from the

City College of New York The City College of the City University of New York (also known as the City College of New York, or simply City College or CCNY) is a public university within the City University of New York (CUNY) system in New York City. Founded in 1847, Cit ...

in 1897, Liebling pursued music studies in Berlin where he was a pupil of

Leopold Godowsky Leopold Mordkhelovich Godowsky Sr. (13 February 1870 – 21 November 1938) was a Lithuanian-born American virtuoso pianist, composer and teacher. He was one of the most highly regarded performers of his time, known for his theories concernin ...

(piano),

Theodor Kullak Theodor is a masculine given name. It is a German form of Theodore. It is also a variant of Teodor. List of people with the given name Theodor * Theodor Adorno, (1903–1969), German philosopher * Theodor Aman, Romanian painter * Theodor Blueger, ...

(piano),

Karl Heinrich Barth Karl Heinrich Barth (12 July 1847 – 23 December 1922) was a noted German pianist and pedagogue. Life and early training Karl Heinrich Barth was born in Pillau, East Prussia (modern day Baltiysk, Russia) on July 12, 1847. Little is known about ...

(piano), and

Heinrich Urban Heinrich Urban (27 August 1837 – 24 November 1901) was a German violinist and composer. Life and career Heinrich Urban was born in Berlin, and studied with Ferdinand Laub, Hubert Ries and Friedrich Kiel. He sang alto in the Königlich Domchor ...

(composition). He then worked as a concert pianist and piano teacher in Europe before returning to the United States to join the staff of the ''

'', a music journal published weekly, in 1902. He remained with that publication until his death 43 years later, first serving as a music critic, and then rising to post of editor-in-chief from 1911 to 1945. Liebling's column in the ''Musical Courier'' was entitled "Variations", and he was known for his insightful wit. He also concurrently served as music critic for the ''

New York Journal-American :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 t ...

'' from 1923 to 1936. In 1904 he married Eda Baxter of Brooklyn. Outside of music criticism, Liebling wrote the libretti for five comic operas: ''The Glass Blowers'' (1893, music by

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dist ...

) '' The Girl and the Kaiser'' (1910, with music by

Georg Jarno Georg Jarno (3 June 1868, in Buda – 25 May 1920, in Breslau) was a Hungarian composer, mainly of operettas. Biography After he finished his studies in Budapest, he worked as Theaterkapellmeister in Bremen, Gera, Halle, Saxony-Anhalt, Metz, ...

), ''

Vera Violetta ''Vera Violetta'' was an operetta, with a libretto by Louis Stein and music by Edmund Eysler Edmund Samuel Eysler (12 March 1874 – 4 October 1949), was an Austrian composer. Biography Edmund Eysler was born in Vienna to a merchant famil ...

'' (1911, with music by

Edmund Eysler Edmund Samuel Eysler (12 March 1874 – 4 October 1949), was an Austrian composer. Biography Edmund Eysler was born in Vienna to a merchant family. He was supposed to enter the engineering profession, but his acquaintance with Leo Fall led ...

), ''The American Maid'' (1913, with music by Sousa), and

Frederick Lonsdale Frederick Lonsdale (5 February 1881 – 4 April 1954) was a British playwright known for his librettos to several successful musicals early in the 20th century, including '' King of Cadonia'' (1908), ''The Balkan Princess'' (1910), ''Betty'' (1 ...

and

Frank Curzon Frank Curzon (17 September 1868 – 2 July 1927) was an English actor who became an important theatre manager, leasing the Royal Strand Theatre, Avenue Theatre, Criterion Theatre, Comedy Theatre, Prince of Wales Theatre and Wyndham's Theatre, am ...

's ''

The Balkan Princess ''The Balkan Princess'' is a musical theater, musical in three acts by Frederick Lonsdale and Frank Curzon, with lyrics by Paul Rubens (composer), Paul Rubens and Arthur Wimperis, and music by Paul Rubens (composer), Paul Rubens. It opened at Lond ...

'' (1911 Broadway version). As a composer he wrote an orchestral overture, a trio, several works for solo piano, and several art songs. He was an active member of the

Lotos Club The Lotos Club was founded in 1870 as a gentlemen's club in New York City; it has since also admitted women as members. Its founders were primarily a young group of writers and critics. Mark Twain, an early member, called it the "Ace of Clubs". ...

and

The Lambs The Lambs, Inc. (also known as The Lambs Club) is a social club in New York City for actors, songwriters, and others involved in the theatre. It is America's oldest theatrical organization. "The Lambs" is a registered trademark of The Lambs, Inc ...

. He also served as the arbiter for the nationally broadcast radio quiz show ''So You Think You Know Music'' from 1939 to 1941 on

CBS Radio CBS Radio was a radio broadcasting company and radio network operator owned by CBS Corporation and founded in 1928, with consolidated radio station groups owned by CBS and Westinghouse Broadcasting/Group W since the 1920s, and Infinity Broadc ...

. Liebling died of a heart attack at the Hotel Buckingham in New York City in 1945.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Liebling, Leonard 1874 births 1945 deaths American composers American music critics American opera librettists American pianists Jewish American classical composers City College of New York alumni Musicians from New York City