Sandor Harmati (9 July 18924 April 1936) was a Hungarian-American violinist, conductor and composer, best known for his song "

Bluebird of Happiness The symbol of a bluebird as the harbinger of happiness is found in many cultures and may date back thousands of years. Origins of idiom Chinese mythology One of the oldest examples of a blue bird in myth (found on oracle bone inscriptions of th ...

" written in 1934 for

Jan Peerce Jan Peerce (born Yehoshua Pinkhes Perelmuth; June 3, 1904 December 15, 1984) was an American operatic tenor. Peerce was an accomplished performer on the operatic and Broadway theatre, Broadway concert stages, in solo recitals, and as a recordi ...

Biography

Sandor Harmati (''Harmati Sándor'' in Hungarian orthography) was born into a Jewish family in Budapest on 9 July 1892. Österreichisches Biographisches Lexikon 1815 – 1950 (German)
/ref> He studied at the Budapest Music Academy in 1909, becoming a professor at age 17. From 1910 to 1912 he was Concertmaster of the Hungarian State Orchestra. He emigrated to the United States in 1914. From 1917 to 1921 he played with the Letz String Quartet, becoming leader in 1922; and the Elki Piano Trio ( Ernö Rapée, piano; Paul Gruppe, cello; Sandor Harmati, violin). From 1922 to 1925 he played first violin with the Lenox String Quartet, which he co-founded. In 1921 Sandor Harmati was a founding member of the American Music Guild, created by a group of young American composers "to learn each other's music and to present worthy works by other American composers to the New York public". The other charter members were Frederick Jacobi, Marion Bauer,

Emerson Whithorne Emerson Whithorne (birth surname ''Whittern'') (September 6, 1884 in Cleveland, Ohio - March 25, 1958) was a notable American composer and researcher into the history of music. He had a reputation as an authority on the music of China. He wrote mu ...

, Louis Gruenberg,

Charles Haubiel Charles Trowbridge Haubiel (born Delta, Ohio, January 30, 1892 - died Los Angeles, August 26, 1978) was an American composer. He toured as a pianist and a lecturer. He composed three operas in addition to much orchestral and chamber music. His musi ...

, A. Walter Kramer, Harold Morris, Albert Stoessel and Deems Taylor. On 11 November 1923, at the Klaw Theater in New York, Harold Bauer and the Lenox Quartet gave the first performance of

Ernest Bloch Ernest Bloch (July 24, 1880 – July 15, 1959) was a Swiss-born American composer. Bloch was a preeminent artist in his day, and left a lasting legacy. He is recognized as one of the greatest Swiss composers in history. As well as producing music ...

's Piano Quintet No. 1, which was dedicated to the performers (Harold Bauer, piano; Sandor Harmati and Wolfe Wolfinsohn, violins; Nicolas Moldavan, viola; and Emmeran Stoeber, cello). On 19 September 1924, at the 7th Berkshire Festival of Chamber Music, the Lenox Quartet took part in the first performance of ''La Belle Dame sans Merci'', Wallingford Riegger's setting of

John Keats John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets, with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His poems had been in publication for less than four years when he died of tuberculo ...

' poem, for two sopranos, contralto, tenor, violin, viola, cello, double bass, oboe (English horn), clarinet and French horn. From October 1925 until 1929, when he retired due to illness, Sandor Harmati was music director of the

Omaha Symphony Orchestra The Omaha Symphony is a professional orchestra performing more than 200 concerts and presentations annually in Omaha, Nebraska and throughout the orchestra's home region. The orchestra was established in 1921. It is considered a major American orc ...

. In 1927 he was invited to conduct several concerts at the International Festival in Frankfurt, Germany.Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol 5
/ref> He also had various guest conducting engagements in Paris and Berlin. In 1933 he succeeded Albert Stoessel as conductor of the Westchester County Music Festival, and appeared with the Westchester Festival Orchestra in 1934 and 1935. In February 1935, Sandor Harmati conducted the first United States performance of Gustav Holst's opera ''

At the Boar's Head ''At the Boar's Head'' is an opera in one act by the English composer Gustav Holst, his op. 42. Holst himself described the work as "A Musical Interlude in One Act". The libretto, by the composer himself, is based on Shakespeare's '' Henry IV, ...

'', at the MacDowell Club in New York. On 1 March 1935, at New York's Adelphi Theatre, he conducted for the

American Ballet The American Ballet was the first professional ballet company George Balanchine created in the United States. The company was founded with the help of Lincoln Kirstein and Edward Warburg, managed by Alexander Merovitch and populated by students of ...

's New York City premiere of

George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze; ka, გიორგი მელიტონის ძე ბალანჩივაძე; January 22, 1904 (O. S. January 9) – April 30, 1983) was ...

's ballet ''

Serenade In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honor of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Italian w ...

'' (music from Tchaikovsky's Serenade for Strings arr. George Antheil). On 5 March 1935, in New York, he again conducted the American Ballet at the world premiere of Balanchine's ballet ''Dreams'' (music by George Antheil). Sandor Harmati died in Flemington, New Jersey on 4 April 1936, aged only 43.

Bluebird of Happiness

Sandor Harmati is best remembered now for his song "

", written in 1934 for his friend, the tenor

. The words were by Edward Heyman, with additional lyrics by

Harry Parr-Davies Harry may refer to: TV shows * ''Harry'' (American TV series), a 1987 American comedy series starring Alan Arkin * ''Harry'' (British TV series), a 1993 BBC drama that ran for two seasons * ''Harry'' (talk show), a 2016 American daytime talk show ...

. Peerce made three recordings of the song: in 1936, under the pseudonym Paul Robinson; in 1945, under his own name, with an orchestra conducted by

Sylvan Levin Sylvan Levin (190310 August 1996) was an American concert pianist and conductor. He served as the assistant conductor of the Philadelphia Orchestra and the New York City Symphony under Leopold Stokowski for many years. He also founded the Philadelp ...

; and in 1958 (the Las Vegas version) with Joe Reisman and his Orchestra. The 1945 recording became a worldwide hit for Peerce, outselling all his many operatic recordings, and becoming second only to

Enrico Caruso Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian operatic first lyrical tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles (74) ...

's recording of

George M. Cohan George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer. Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudev ...

's "

Over There "Over There" is a 1917 song written by George M. Cohan that was popular with the United States military and public during both world wars. It is a patriotic song designed to galvanize American young men to enlist and fight the "Hun". The song i ...

" among the best-selling records made by opera and concert singers.

Compositions

His other compositions included: * an opera (''Sweetmeat Game'') * two symphonic poems (''Folio'', ''Primavera'';American Composers: A Record Of Works Written Between 1912 And 1932; Second Edition
/ref> one of which won a Pulitzer Scholarship in 1922) * two ''Caprices'' (1914, 1932) * ''Phantasy Variations'' * Suite for String Orchestra * ''Prelude to a Melodrama'' (this was first performed in 1928 by the

Philadelphia Orchestra The Philadelphia Orchestra is an American symphony orchestra, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. One of the " Big Five" American orchestras, the orchestra is based at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, where it performs its subscription ...

under Leopold Stokowski, and won a Juilliard Foundation Award)Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Vol 5
/ref> *

incidental music Incidental music is music in a play, television program, radio program, video game, or some other presentation form that is not primarily musical. The term is less frequently applied to film music, with such music being referred to instead as t ...

to ''The Jeweled Tree'' * ''Elysian Idyll'' for flute and small orchestra * three string quartets * works for violin and orchestra, and violin and piano * ''Indian Serenade'' (a cappella) * Psalm 103 (mixed voices and orchestra) * songs such as "God's World" (

Edna St. Vincent Millay Edna St. Vincent Millay (February 22, 1892 – October 19, 1950) was an American lyrical poet and playwright. Millay was a renowned social figure and noted feminist in New York City during the Roaring Twenties and beyond. She wrote much of he ...

), "Nod" ( Walter de la Mare), and "The Owl and the Pussycat" (

Edward Lear Edward Lear (12 May 1812 – 29 January 1888) was an English artist, illustrator, musician, author and poet, who is known mostly for his literary nonsense in poetry and prose and especially his limerick (poetry), limericks, a form he popularised. ...

).Lied and Art Song Texts Page
/ref> * Illusion for Theremin and piano (written for Lucie Bigelow Rosen)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harmati, Sandor 1892 births 1936 deaths 20th-century Hungarian people 20th-century American composers Hungarian classical violinists American classical violinists Male classical violinists American male violinists Jewish classical violinists Hungarian conductors (music) Male conductors (music) American male conductors (music) Hungarian composers Hungarian male composers American male composers Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to the United States Musicians from Budapest 20th-century American conductors (music) 20th-century classical violinists 20th-century American male musicians 20th-century American violinists