Samuel Sherman (1871 – 1948) was the court composer and conductor for Emperor Franz Josef I of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

between 1903 and 1909.

Sherman, Robert B. Robert Bernard Sherman (December 19, 1925 – March 6, 2012) was an American songwriter, best known for his work in musical films with his brother, Richard M. Sherman. The Sherman brothers produced more motion picture song scores than any ...

"Al's Time" in '' Walt's Time: From Before To Beyond''. Santa Clarita, CA: Camphor Tree Publishers, 1998, pg. 90.

Early life

Sherman was born in Stepenitz, a small fishing village near

Kiev Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. His father, Otto Sherman, was a

clarinet The clarinet is a musical instrument in the woodwind family. The instrument has a nearly cylindrical bore and a flared bell, and uses a single reed to produce sound. Clarinets comprise a family of instruments of differing sizes and pitches ...

player while Samuel and his younger brothers all studied the violin. In order to avoid conscription into

Russian Czar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...

Nicholas II Nicholas II or Nikolai II Alexandrovich Romanov; spelled in pre-revolutionary script. ( 186817 July 1918), known in the Russian Orthodox Church as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer,. was the last Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Pola ...

's army, in 1903, aged 32, Sherman fled Stepinetz, leaving his wife Lena and four young children behind. He eventually found his way to Prague (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), where his fortunes were to improve.

Prague

Within a year of his arrival, Samuel was appointed concertmaster, first violinist and intermittent court composer in the Royal Court of Emperor Franz Josef. Once Sherman had secured a position in the orchestra, wife Lena and their children, Olga, Avrum (later "Al" or "Albert"), Edith and Regina arrived in Prague where they lived for about six years.

New York

In 1909, the Sherman family emigrated once again, this time to the

United States of America The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

, settling in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. In America, Sherman found difficulty getting orchestra work which he deemed worthy of his talent and résumé. In 1910 Lena gave birth to their fifth child, a son named Harold. In 1911, Samuel separated from Lena leaving her to take care of their children.

, "My Time (part 1)" in '' Moose: Chapters from My Life''. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse Publishers, 2013, pgs. 40-41.

Musical legacy

In his absence, Sherman's thirteen-year-old son,

Al Sherman Avrum Sherman (September 7, 1897 – September 16, 1973), pen name Al Sherman, was a Russian-American songwriter and composer active during the Tin Pan Alley era in American music history. Some of his most recognizable song titles include: "Yo ...

, was forced to quit school to become the family's primary money earner. He took various odd jobs but his father specifically forbid him from becoming a musician. Nevertheless, Al was drawn toward music and taught himself the piano in secret. Eventually he became good enough to join the Musicians' Union. Samuel learned of his son's vocation when one day the Union sent teenaged Sherman to play piano in Sherman's orchestra. Al would continue in the music business, against Samuel's direct orders eventually becoming a successful

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It originally referred to a specific place: West 28th Street ...

songwriter from the 1920s-1950s. Al's sons

Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

and

Richard Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...

would also follow in their grandfather's footsteps becoming world renowned songwriters. Robert's son, fourth generation songwriter,

Robert J. Sherman Robert Jason Sherman (born July 16, 1968), known as Robbie Sherman, is an American songwriter based in London. He was born in Los Angeles to Joyce and Robert B. Sherman, the youngest of four siblings. Stemming from a long line of songwriters an ...

continues the songwriting line in the twenty-first century.

Death and the Stradivarius

After World War I, Samuel found less and less demand for his style of pre-war music. He eventually disbanded his orchestra and spent the last thirty-six years of his life working as a violinist in a small, indistinct Italian restaurant in Brooklyn. One morning, in the Winter of 1948, he was eating a breakfast at Yonah's restaurant when he toppled from his stool – dead. In his pocket was $1.15. At his side was the fiddle he had purchased fifty years earlier. His belongings were taken to the Clinton Street Police Station. Lt. Jeremiah Daly, who knew Sherman and had liked to hear him play, picked up the violin. The inscription on the inside read: 'Antonius Stradivarius, Cremonenfas . . . . Facie bat Anno 1717.'"

"My Time (part 1)" in '' Moose: Chapters From My Life'', p. 349

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherman, Samuel 1871 births 1947 deaths 20th-century Russian musicians American classical violinists Male classical violinists American male violinists Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the United States Jewish classical violinists Musicians from Prague Musicians from Kyiv People from the Kingdom of Bohemia

Samuel Samuel ''Šəmūʾēl'', Tiberian: ''Šămūʾēl''; ar, شموئيل or صموئيل '; el, Σαμουήλ ''Samouḗl''; la, Samūēl is a figure who, in the narratives of the Hebrew Bible, plays a key role in the transition from the bibl ...