Herbert "Herb" Rehbein (15 April 1922 – 28 July 1979) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

songwriter, composer and arranger of light orchestral music. Together with his friend and collaborator

Bert Kaempfert Bert Kaempfert (born Berthold Heinrich Kämpfert; 16 October 1923 – 21 June 1980) was a German orchestra leader, multi-instrumentalist, music producer, arranger, and composer. He made easy listening and jazz-oriented records and wrote the m ...

, he was posthumously inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1993.

Biography

He was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

, and studied classical

violin The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...

and composition at the Hamburger Konservatorium. At the age of 19 he was conscripted into the German Army, but was assigned to the Music Corps and stationed in

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, ...

. Later, he became a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of ...

Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; names in other languages) is the capital and largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and the crossroads of the Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. Nearly 1,166,763 mi ...

, where he stayed after the end of the war. There he became musical director of the Belgrade Radio Orchestra, until he left

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label= Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavij ...

in 1952. Returning to Germany, he worked as composer, arranger and violinist with

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

orchestras, and met fellow musician and songwriter Bert Kaempfert. The pair became friends and songwriting partners, encouraged by

Milt Gabler Milton Gabler (May 20, 1911 – July 20, 2001) was an American record producer, responsible for many innovations in the recording industry of the 20th century. These included being the first person to deal in record reissues, the first to se ...

of Decca Records. Several of their songs together, including " Lady," " The World We Knew (Over and Over)," and "Sweet Maria," became international successes and were recorded by such singers as Frank Sinatra, Sammy Davis Jr., Dean Martin and Al Martino. He produced three albums of instrumentals with his own orchestra, including ''Music to Soothe That Tiger'' (1964), in a highly romantic style. He also won the competition to provide the Olympic Fanfare for the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 19 ...

. He died of cancer in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (B ...

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, in 1979 at the age of 57.

References

External links

Herbert Rehbein
at Broadcast Music, Inc. * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rehbein, Herbert 1922 births 1979 deaths German violinists German male violinists German songwriters Easy listening musicians Musicians from Hamburg 20th-century violinists 20th-century German musicians Deaths from cancer in Switzerland 20th-century German male musicians German Army soldiers of World War II German prisoners of war in World War II