Robert Ginzler
Encyclopedia
Robert “Red” Ginzler was an influential American orchestrator,
principally remembered for his contributions to the landmark Broadway
shows Gypsy
, Bye Bye Birdie and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
. A frequent collaborator with fellow arrangers Sid Ramin
and Don Walker
, he was also billed as Seymour Robert Ginzler until his heyday in the late 50s.
Despite his relatively short career, Ginzler became an important musical
mentor for Robert Farnon
, John Kander
and Jonathan Tunick
.
Contemporary reviewers often singled out his racy arrangements as being
clever and first-class. Ginzler’s biographer quotes him as
having said, “The more music you know, the more music you love.”
teenager in Detroit in 1926. He joined the Jean Goldkette
band and
roomed with Bix Beiderbecke
, with whom he graduated to the Paul Whiteman
Orchestra. While playing at the famed Casa Loma
hotel he met his wife and by 1930 had joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
as first
trombone
.
In the early 30s he worked with Percy Faith
and the CBC Radio
Orchestra
where he met Don Walker
and found success arranging for the Luigi Romanelli band. During this period Robert Farnon
whom he knew from the brass section became his first protégé. "Red", as he was known, went back to the U.S. when the Canadian government declared that, in order to work at a radio station, a person had to be a British subject; Ginzler, who frequently had jobs at the CBC, was unwilling to give up his U.S. citizenship and, by the end of 1940, the family had settled in New York City.
and then became the pit
trombonist on the Rogers and Hart 1942 hit By Jupiter
under maestro Johnny Green
, from whom he took over conducting chores when the latter left to head the MGM music department.
Thereafter until the 50s Ginzler split his time between pit work and ghosting arrangements mainly for Walker and other composers (e.g. Irving Berlin
’s Miss Liberty
). Ginzler was a fast worker sometimes orchestrating as much as two-fifths of popular scores such as The Music Man
and Wonderful Town
. He specialized in jazzy dance numbers for the up-and-coming Bob Fosse
, notably “Steam Heat” and “Whatever Lola Wants,” both penned by the composing team of Adler and Ross. Occasionally Ginzler might receive assistant credits at the back of the Playbill
s for these shows.
In 1948 Ginzler was invited by Sid Ramin
to arrange for TV on the phenomenally-successful The Milton Berle Show, where the two found
steady, lucrative work under the musical direction of Alan Roth and Victor Young
until June 1956. This was the foundation of a long-standing
productive and artistic partnership between the two orchestrators. Ginzler’s first lead orchestrator credit was for 1958’s Oh, Captain!
featuring Tony Randall
in a famous extended dance sequence with the ballerina Alexandra Danilova
.
When Ramin moved to the record label RCA Victor he brought in Ginzler to help him reorchestrate the album version of Jule Styne
’s Say, Darling
performed by David Wayne
and Robert Morse
. Apparently, Styne was so impressed by their work that he picked them for his orchestrator team on his next show Gypsy: A Musical Fable
with lyricist Stephen Sondheim
and a book by Arthur Laurents
. The partnership continued with Ginzler finally gaining first billing on Wildcat
where Lucille Ball
in her only Broadway show introduced the marching-band
staple “Hey Look Me Over” in the 1960 season.
, Ginzler finally
went solo with the April 1960 premiere of the Elvis satire Bye Bye Birdie. His setting of Dick Van Dyke
’s choral number "Baby Talk to Me" stirred up quite a lot of excitement at the time. In this period until his untimely death,Ginzler was the primary orchestrator on 10 musicals with standouts being
Frank Loesser
’s How to Succeed, Cy Coleman
’s Wildcat and
Johnny Burke
’s musicalization of the film The Quiet Man
, called
Donnybrook!
. Ginzler returned earlier favors by asking his friends
Walker and Ramin to contribute guest charts to his shows.
In the final year of his life, Ginzler was busy on some well-received
soundtrack recordings for TV specials starring Fred Astaire
and Dave Rose
and his orchestra. He also gained notice for arranging flavorful Italian-themed dances for a wild troupe led by Maria Karnilova
in "Ah! Camminare."
The young John Kander
(future composer of Cabaret
among many
others) was frequently used as a dance music arranger on these shows (e.g.
Irma La Douche). The orchestrator Jonathan Tunick
also became
another protégé at this time and has paid credit to Ginzler’s influence on
the dominant style of the subsequent Prince-Sondheim
productions.
is regarded by many specialists as one of
musical theater’s greatest. Its brassy up-tempo sound has become synonymous with the
quintessential big Broadway book musical of the 50s and early 60s. Although
composer Jule Styne
was actively involved in writing the overture, he has
acknowledged that the final result was greatly helped by the thrilling
orchestrations created by Ramin and Ginzler: “So I wrote this [overture]
with Sid Ramin and Robert Ginzler, the orchestrators. We worked it out so
that, at the end, the trumpet player stood up and blew the rafters off. It
was just the most exciting thing.”
Ginzler’s felicitous handling of woodwind as heard in Gypsy and
Birdie was an especially important breakthrough to the traditional
Broadway sound. And in How to Succeed, he showed he could even bring
musicality to an office typewriter and humble kazoo
chorus (doubling as
electric razors). In November 1962 Ginzler began working on his last show
directed by Sidney Lumet
, prophetically titled No Where to Go But Up, when he died of a heart attack at just 52 years of age.
orchestrations, New York, Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 41-47.
Information
principally remembered for his contributions to the landmark Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
shows Gypsy
Gypsy: A Musical Fable
Gypsy is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Gypsy is loosely based on the 1957 memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, the famous striptease artist, and focuses on her mother, Rose, whose name has become synonymous with "the ultimate show business...
, Bye Bye Birdie and How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying is a musical with music and lyrics by Frank Loesser and book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert, based on Shepherd Mead's 1952 book of the same name....
. A frequent collaborator with fellow arrangers Sid Ramin
Sid Ramin
Sidney Norton Ramin is an American orchestrator, arranger, and composer.- Personal life :The son of Ezra Ramin, a window trimmer, and Beatrice D. Ramin, he was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 22, with various sources indicating either a birth year of 1919 or 1924. Ramin married Gloria...
and Don Walker
Don Walker
Don Walker may refer to:*Don Walker , Australian musician*Don Walker , American orchestrator*Don Walker...
, he was also billed as Seymour Robert Ginzler until his heyday in the late 50s.
Despite his relatively short career, Ginzler became an important musical
mentor for Robert Farnon
Robert Farnon
Robert Joseph Farnon was a Canadian-born composer, conductor, musical arranger and trumpet player. As well as being a famous composer of original works , he was recognised as one of the finest arrangers of his generation...
, John Kander
John Kander
John Harold Kander is the American composer of a number of musicals as part of the songwriting team of Kander and Ebb.-Life and career:Kander was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Bernice and Harold S. Kander...
and Jonathan Tunick
Jonathan Tunick
Jonathan Tunick is an American orchestrator, musical director, and composer, one of twelve people to have won all four major American show business awards: the Tony, Oscar, Emmy and Grammy. He has also worked with all of the other eleven people. His principal instrument is the clarinet...
.
Contemporary reviewers often singled out his racy arrangements as being
clever and first-class. Ginzler’s biographer quotes him as
having said, “The more music you know, the more music you love.”
Big band days
Ginzler was a self-taught trombonist who left his separated mother as ateenager in Detroit in 1926. He joined the Jean Goldkette
Jean Goldkette
John Jean Goldkette was a jazz pianist and bandleader born in Patras, Greece. Goldkette spent his childhood in Greece and Russia, and emigrated to the United States in 1911....
band and
roomed with Bix Beiderbecke
Bix Beiderbecke
Leon Bismark "Bix" Beiderbecke was an American jazz cornetist, jazz pianist, and composer.With Louis Armstrong, Beiderbecke was one of the most influential jazz soloists of the 1920s...
, with whom he graduated to the Paul Whiteman
Paul Whiteman
Paul Samuel Whiteman was an American bandleader and orchestral director.Leader of the most popular dance bands in the United States during the 1920s, Whiteman's recordings were immensely successful, and press notices often referred to him as the "King of Jazz"...
Orchestra. While playing at the famed Casa Loma
Casa Loma
Casa Loma is a Gothic Revival style house in midtown Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that is now a museum and landmark. It was originally a residence for financier Sir Henry Mill Pellatt. Casa Loma was constructed over a three-year period from 1911–1914. The architect of the mansion was E. J...
hotel he met his wife and by 1930 had joined the Toronto Symphony Orchestra
Toronto Symphony Orchestra
The Toronto Symphony Orchestra is a Canadian orchestra based in Toronto, Ontario.-History:The TSO was founded in 1922 as the New Symphony Orchestra, and gave its first concert at Massey Hall in April 1923. The orchestra changed its name to the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in 1927. The TSO...
as first
trombone
Trombone
The trombone is a musical instrument in the brass family. Like all brass instruments, sound is produced when the player’s vibrating lips cause the air column inside the instrument to vibrate...
.
In the early 30s he worked with Percy Faith
Percy Faith
Percy Faith was a Canadian-born American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with creating the "easy listening" or "mood music" format which became staples of American popular music in the 1950s and...
and the CBC Radio
CBC Radio
CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language...
Orchestra
where he met Don Walker
Don Walker
Don Walker may refer to:*Don Walker , Australian musician*Don Walker , American orchestrator*Don Walker...
and found success arranging for the Luigi Romanelli band. During this period Robert Farnon
Robert Farnon
Robert Joseph Farnon was a Canadian-born composer, conductor, musical arranger and trumpet player. As well as being a famous composer of original works , he was recognised as one of the finest arrangers of his generation...
whom he knew from the brass section became his first protégé. "Red", as he was known, went back to the U.S. when the Canadian government declared that, in order to work at a radio station, a person had to be a British subject; Ginzler, who frequently had jobs at the CBC, was unwilling to give up his U.S. citizenship and, by the end of 1940, the family had settled in New York City.
Broadway partnerships
In New York he picked up some gigs with Benny GoodmanBenny Goodman
Benjamin David “Benny” Goodman was an American jazz and swing musician, clarinetist and bandleader; widely known as the "King of Swing".In the mid-1930s, Benny Goodman led one of the most popular musical groups in America...
and then became the pit
Pit orchestra
A pit orchestra is a type of orchestra that accompanies performers in musicals, operas, and other shows involving music. In performances of operas and ballets, the pit orchestra is typically similar in size to a symphony orchestra, though it may contain smaller string and brass sections, depending...
trombonist on the Rogers and Hart 1942 hit By Jupiter
By Jupiter
By Jupiter is a musical with a book by Lorenz Hart and Richard Rodgers, music by Rodgers, and lyrics by Hart. The musical is based on the play The Warrior's Husband by Julian F. Thompson, set in the land of the Amazons...
under maestro Johnny Green
Johnny Green
Johnny Green was an American songwriter, composer, musical arranger, and conductor. He was given the nickname "Beulah" by colleague Conrad Salinger. His most famous song was one of his earliest, "Body and Soul"...
, from whom he took over conducting chores when the latter left to head the MGM music department.
Thereafter until the 50s Ginzler split his time between pit work and ghosting arrangements mainly for Walker and other composers (e.g. Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin was an American composer and lyricist of Jewish heritage, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history.His first hit song, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", became world famous...
’s Miss Liberty
Miss Liberty
Miss Liberty is a musical with a book by Robert E. Sherwood and music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. It is based on the sculpting of the Statue of Liberty in 1886...
). Ginzler was a fast worker sometimes orchestrating as much as two-fifths of popular scores such as The Music Man
The Music Man
The Music Man is a musical with book, music, and lyrics by Meredith Willson, based on a story by Willson and Franklin Lacey. The plot concerns con man Harold Hill, who poses as a boys' band organizer and leader and sells band instruments and uniforms to naive townsfolk before skipping town with...
and Wonderful Town
Wonderful Town
Wonderful Town is a musical with a book written by Joseph A. Fields and Jerome Chodorov, lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Leonard Bernstein...
. He specialized in jazzy dance numbers for the up-and-coming Bob Fosse
Bob Fosse
Robert Louis “Bob” Fosse was an American actor, dancer, musical theater choreographer, director, screenwriter, film editor and film director. He won an unprecedented eight Tony Awards for choreography, as well as one for direction...
, notably “Steam Heat” and “Whatever Lola Wants,” both penned by the composing team of Adler and Ross. Occasionally Ginzler might receive assistant credits at the back of the Playbill
Playbill
Playbill is a monthly U.S. magazine for theatregoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most Playbills are printed for particular shows to be distributed at the door...
s for these shows.
In 1948 Ginzler was invited by Sid Ramin
Sid Ramin
Sidney Norton Ramin is an American orchestrator, arranger, and composer.- Personal life :The son of Ezra Ramin, a window trimmer, and Beatrice D. Ramin, he was born in Boston, Massachusetts, on January 22, with various sources indicating either a birth year of 1919 or 1924. Ramin married Gloria...
to arrange for TV on the phenomenally-successful The Milton Berle Show, where the two found
steady, lucrative work under the musical direction of Alan Roth and Victor Young
Victor Young
Victor Young was an American composer, arranger, violinist and conductor. He was born in Chicago.-Biography:...
until June 1956. This was the foundation of a long-standing
productive and artistic partnership between the two orchestrators. Ginzler’s first lead orchestrator credit was for 1958’s Oh, Captain!
Oh, Captain!
Oh, Captain! is a musical comedy based on the film The Captain's Paradise, which had been written by Alec Coppel and Nicholas Phipps. The film starred Alec Guinness as a philandering ship's captain, with a wife in one port and a mistress in another. The musical starred Tony Randall, and updated the...
featuring Tony Randall
Tony Randall
Tony Randall was a U.S. actor, comic, producer and director.-Early years:Randall was born Arthur Leonard Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the son of Julia and Mogscha Rosenberg, an art and antiques dealer...
in a famous extended dance sequence with the ballerina Alexandra Danilova
Alexandra Danilova
Aleksandra Dionisyevna Danilova was a Russian-born prima ballerina who became an American citizen....
.
When Ramin moved to the record label RCA Victor he brought in Ginzler to help him reorchestrate the album version of Jule Styne
Jule Styne
Jule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...
’s Say, Darling
Say, Darling
Say, Darling is a three-act comic play by Abe Burrows and Marian and Richard Bissell about the creation of a Broadway musical. Although the play featured nine original songs with lyrics by Betty Comden and Adolph Green and music by Jule Styne, all of the songs were presented as either rehearsal or...
performed by David Wayne
David Wayne
David Wayne was an American actor with a career spanning nearly 50 years.-Early life and career:...
and Robert Morse
Robert Morse
Robert Morse is an American actor and singer. Morse is best known for his appearances in musicals and plays on Broadway. He has also acted in movies and television shows. His best known role is that of J. Pierrepont Finch in the 1961 Broadway musical, and 1967 film How to Succeed in Business...
. Apparently, Styne was so impressed by their work that he picked them for his orchestrator team on his next show Gypsy: A Musical Fable
Gypsy: A Musical Fable
Gypsy is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Gypsy is loosely based on the 1957 memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, the famous striptease artist, and focuses on her mother, Rose, whose name has become synonymous with "the ultimate show business...
with lyricist Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
and a book by Arthur Laurents
Arthur Laurents
Arthur Laurents was an American playwright, stage director and screenwriter.After writing scripts for radio shows after college and then training films for the U.S...
. The partnership continued with Ginzler finally gaining first billing on Wildcat
Wildcat (musical)
Wildcat is a musical with a book by N. Richard Nash, lyrics by Carolyn Leigh, and music by Cy Coleman.The original production opened on Broadway in 1960, starring a 48-year-old Lucille Ball in her only Broadway show.-Background and production:...
where Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
in her only Broadway show introduced the marching-band
Marching Band (band)
Marching Band is a musical duo consisting of Erik Sunbring and Jacob Lind from Linköping, Sweden. Marching Band combines eccentric musical elements with mainstay rock sounds, creating a sonic fusion that finds instrumentation of marimba, banjo and vibraphone meshing with guitars, bass, drums and...
staple “Hey Look Me Over” in the 1960 season.
Blaze of activity
On Ramin’s recommendation to composer Charles StrouseCharles Strouse
Charles Strouse is an American composer and lyricist.-Life and career:Strouse was born and raised in New York City, the son of Ira and Ethel Strouse...
, Ginzler finally
went solo with the April 1960 premiere of the Elvis satire Bye Bye Birdie. His setting of Dick Van Dyke
Dick Van Dyke
Richard Wayne "Dick" Van Dyke is an American actor, comedian, writer, and producer with a career spanning six decades. He is the older brother of Jerry Van Dyke, and father of Barry Van Dyke...
’s choral number "Baby Talk to Me" stirred up quite a lot of excitement at the time. In this period until his untimely death,Ginzler was the primary orchestrator on 10 musicals with standouts being
Frank Loesser
Frank Loesser
Frank Henry Loesser was an American songwriter who wrote the lyrics and scores to the Broadway hits Guys and Dolls and How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying, among others. He won separate Tony Awards for the music and lyrics in both shows, as well as sharing the Pulitzer Prize for...
’s How to Succeed, Cy Coleman
Cy Coleman
Cy Coleman was an American composer, songwriter, and jazz pianist.-Life and career:He was born Seymour Kaufman on June 14, 1929, in New York City to Eastern European Jewish parents, and was raised in the Bronx. His mother, Ida was an apartment landlady and his father was a brickmason...
’s Wildcat and
Johnny Burke
Johnny Burke
Johnny Burke was a Newfoundland songwriter and musician. He was nicknamed the 'Bard of Prescott Street'. He wrote many popular songs that artists in the 1930s and 1940s released.Popular songs by Burke include:* The Night Paddy Murphy Died...
’s musicalization of the film The Quiet Man
The Quiet Man
The Quiet Man is a 1952 American Technicolor romantic comedy-drama film. It was directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara, Victor McLaglen and Barry Fitzgerald. It was based on a 1933 Saturday Evening Post short story by Maurice Walsh...
, called
Donnybrook!
Donnybrook!
Donnybrook! is a musical from 1961, with music and lyrics by Johnny Burke and book by Robert E. McEnroe. It is based on the film The Quiet Man. It had 66 performances at Broadway's 46th Street Theatre, opening on May 18, 1961 and closing on July 15, 1961. Leading players Art Lund and Joan Fagan...
. Ginzler returned earlier favors by asking his friends
Walker and Ramin to contribute guest charts to his shows.
In the final year of his life, Ginzler was busy on some well-received
soundtrack recordings for TV specials starring Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire
Fred Astaire was an American film and Broadway stage dancer, choreographer, singer and actor. His stage and subsequent film career spanned a total of 76 years, during which he made 31 musical films. He was named the fifth Greatest Male Star of All Time by the American Film Institute...
and Dave Rose
David Rose
David Rose was a British-born American songwriter, composer, arranger, pianist, and orchestra leader. His most famous compositions were "The Stripper", "Holiday for Strings", and "Calypso Melody"...
and his orchestra. He also gained notice for arranging flavorful Italian-themed dances for a wild troupe led by Maria Karnilova
Maria Karnilova
Maria Karnilova was an American actress.Born as Maria Kasnilovich in Hartford, Connecticut, Maria Karnilova made her Broadway debut in Call Me Mister in 1946...
in "Ah! Camminare."
The young John Kander
John Kander
John Harold Kander is the American composer of a number of musicals as part of the songwriting team of Kander and Ebb.-Life and career:Kander was born in Kansas City, Missouri, the son of Bernice and Harold S. Kander...
(future composer of Cabaret
Cabaret
Cabaret is a form, or place, of entertainment featuring comedy, song, dance, and theatre, distinguished mainly by the performance venue: a restaurant or nightclub with a stage for performances and the audience sitting at tables watching the performance, as introduced by a master of ceremonies or...
among many
others) was frequently used as a dance music arranger on these shows (e.g.
Irma La Douche). The orchestrator Jonathan Tunick
Jonathan Tunick
Jonathan Tunick is an American orchestrator, musical director, and composer, one of twelve people to have won all four major American show business awards: the Tony, Oscar, Emmy and Grammy. He has also worked with all of the other eleven people. His principal instrument is the clarinet...
also became
another protégé at this time and has paid credit to Ginzler’s influence on
the dominant style of the subsequent Prince-Sondheim
productions.
Gypsy legacy
The overture from GypsyGypsy: A Musical Fable
Gypsy is a musical with music by Jule Styne, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a book by Arthur Laurents. Gypsy is loosely based on the 1957 memoirs of Gypsy Rose Lee, the famous striptease artist, and focuses on her mother, Rose, whose name has become synonymous with "the ultimate show business...
is regarded by many specialists as one of
musical theater’s greatest. Its brassy up-tempo sound has become synonymous with the
quintessential big Broadway book musical of the 50s and early 60s. Although
composer Jule Styne
Jule Styne
Jule Styne was a British-born American songwriter especially famous for a series of Broadway musicals, which included several very well known and frequently revived shows.-Early life:...
was actively involved in writing the overture, he has
acknowledged that the final result was greatly helped by the thrilling
orchestrations created by Ramin and Ginzler: “So I wrote this [overture]
with Sid Ramin and Robert Ginzler, the orchestrators. We worked it out so
that, at the end, the trumpet player stood up and blew the rafters off. It
was just the most exciting thing.”
Ginzler’s felicitous handling of woodwind as heard in Gypsy and
Birdie was an especially important breakthrough to the traditional
Broadway sound. And in How to Succeed, he showed he could even bring
musicality to an office typewriter and humble kazoo
Kazoo
The kazoo is a wind instrument which adds a "buzzing" timbral quality to a player's voice when the player vocalizes into it. The kazoo is a type of mirliton, which is a membranophone, a device which modifies the sound of a person's voice by way of a vibrating membrane."Kazoo" was the name given by...
chorus (doubling as
electric razors). In November 1962 Ginzler began working on his last show
directed by Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
, prophetically titled No Where to Go But Up, when he died of a heart attack at just 52 years of age.
Resources
- Suskin, Steven The Sound of Broadway Music: a book of orchestrators and
orchestrations, New York, Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 41-47.
- American Record Guide, vol. 54, 1991, p. 153.
- Gottfried, Martin, Broadway Musicals, 1984.
- The Internet Broadway Data Base: The Official Source for Broadway
Information