Joseph Carl Breil (29 June 1870 – 23 January 1926) was an American

lyric tenor A tenor is a type of classical male singing voice whose vocal range lies between the countertenor and baritone voice types. It is the highest male chest voice type. The tenor's vocal range extends up to C5. The low extreme for tenors is widel ...

, stage director,

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 Def ...

and conductor. He was one of the earliest American composers to compose specific music for motion pictures. His first film was ''

Les amours de la reine Élisabeth ''Les Amours de la reine Élisabeth'' (''The Loves of Queen Elizabeth''), ''Les Amours d'Élisabeth, Reine d'Angleterre'' (''The Loves of Elizabeth, Queen of England'') or ''La reine Élisabeth'' (''Queen Elizabeth'') is a 1912 feature 4-reel F ...

'' (1912) starring

Sarah Bernhardt Sarah Bernhardt (; born Henriette-Rosine Bernard; 22 or 23 October 1844 – 26 March 1923) was a French stage actress who starred in some of the most popular French plays of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, including ''La Dame Aux Cameli ...

. He later composed and arranged scores for several other early motion pictures, including such epics as

D. W. Griffith David Wark Griffith (January 22, 1875 – July 23, 1948) was an American film director. Considered one of the most influential figures in the history of the motion picture, he pioneered many aspects of film editing and expanded the art of the n ...

's ''

The Birth of a Nation ''The Birth of a Nation'', originally called ''The Clansman'', is a 1915 American silent epic drama film directed by D. W. Griffith and starring Lillian Gish. The screenplay is adapted from Thomas Dixon Jr.'s 1905 novel and play ''The Clan ...

'' (1915) and '' Intolerance'' (1916), as well as scoring the preview version of ''

The Phantom of the Opera ''The Phantom of the Opera'' (french: Le Fantôme de l'Opéra) is a novel by French author Gaston Leroux. It was first published as a serial in from 23 September 1909 to 8 January 1910, and was released in volume form in late March 1910 by Pier ...

'' (1925), a score that is now lost. His love theme for "Birth of a Nation", titled "The Perfect Song", was published by Chappell & Co. in an arrangement for voice and keyboard. It was later used as the theme for the radio show "Amos and Andy".M. Marks: ''Music and the Silent Film'' (New York, 1997)

Life

Joseph was the first of four children born to Joseph and Margaret Breil of Pittsburgh. (Joseph Sr., a lawyer, was an immigrant from Prussia and his wife was born in Pennsylvania.) Breil graduated from

Duquesne University Duquesne University of the Holy Spirit ( or ; Duquesne University or Duquesne) is a private Catholic research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded by members of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit , image = Holy Gh ...

(then the Pittsburgh Catholic College of the Holy Ghost) in 1888. He later composed the alma mater for the university, which was first performed in October 1920. He also pursued studies at St Fidelis College (Butler, Pennsylvania) and Curry Commercial College in

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

before being sent by his family to the

University of Leipzig Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

to study law. While in Leipzig he began to study music composition and singing at the Leipzig Conservatory. These were followed by singing lessons in Milan and Philadelphia (with Giuseppe del Puente). He toured as principal tenor of the Emma Juch Opera Company (1891–1892) before returning to Pittsburgh to teach singing and to direct the choir of

St Paul's Cathedral St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglicanism, Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London ...

(1892–1897). From 1897 to 1903 he was music director for several theatre companies. An article in ''The

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', dated 12 June 1914, noted that he "...will conduct the orchestra at the Illinois Theatre,

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

, during the engagement of the second presentation of Gabriele D'Annunzio's ''

Cabiria ''Cabiria'' is a 1914 Italian epic silent film, directed by Giovanni Pastrone and shot in Turin. The film is set in ancient Sicily, Carthage, and Cirta during the period of the Second Punic War (218–202 BC). It follows a melodramatic ma ...

'', which opens on Thursday night." Between 1903 and 1910 he was employed by the music publisher Chappell, for whom he composed many instrumental pieces and songs in addition to his role there as a staff arranger and music editor. His first critical success as a composer came in 1909 with his incidental music, including ''Song of the Soul'' (recorded by

Marguerite Dunlap Marguerite Dunlap (July 20, 1887 – January 7, 1959) was an American contralto opera singer. She is mainly remembered for her recordings for Victor Records from 1904–1928. She recorded a wide range of music from operas to Broadway musicals to ...

for

Victor Records The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer that operated independently from 1901 until 1929, when it was acquired by the Radio Corporation of America and subsequently operated as a subsidi ...

in 1910), for Edward Locke's three-act play, '' The Climax'', which premiered on 12 April 1909, at Joseph W. Weber's Music Hall, New York City. After this he spent the next decade composing mostly film music. It is his work in this medium that his legacy rests on. He also composed the one-act lyric opera, ''The Legend'', one of the first such works by an American. ''The Legend'', on which Breil had begun work in 1907, premièred at 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 opera ...

on 12 March 1919, to less-than-favorable reviews. He died of heart disease on 23 January 1926, following a nervous breakdown suffered on account of the failure of his final opera, ''Der Asra''. He is interred at

Hollywood Forever Cemetery Hollywood Forever Cemetery is a full-service cemetery, funeral home, crematory, and cultural events center which regularly hosts community events such as live music and summer movie screenings. It is one of the oldest cemeteries in Los Angel ...

Personal

Breil married Alta (Dot) Gelvin. She was the great Aunt of film writer Kim Gelvin (Wilks) born November 17, 1965.

Operas

*''Orlando of Milan'' (c. 1888) *''Love Laughs at Locksmiths'' (27 October 1910,

Portland, Maine Portland is the largest city in the U.S. state of Maine and the seat of Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 in April 2020. The Greater Portland metropolitan area is home to over half a million people, the 104th-largest metropo ...

) *''Prof. Tattle'' (1913) *''The Seventh Chord'' (1913) *'' The Legend'' (12 March 1919,

) *''Der Asra'' (24 November 1925,

Los Angeles Opera The Los Angeles Opera is an American opera company in Los Angeles, California. It is the fourth-largest opera company in the United States. The company's home base is the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, part of the Los Angeles Music Center. Leader ...

)

References and notes

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

. Sheet music
''The Perfect Song''
at th
Sheet Music Consortium.''Song of the Soul''
at th
Sheet Music Consortium.
Select ''view sheet music''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Breil, Joseph Carl 1870 births 1926 deaths 19th-century American male opera singers 20th-century American male opera singers American film score composers American male film score composers American opera composers American operatic tenors Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery Classical musicians from Pennsylvania Curry College alumni Duquesne University alumni Leipzig University alumni Male opera composers Musicians from Pittsburgh Singers from Pennsylvania

Life

Personal

Operas

References and notes

External links