|
Alfred Solman (May 6, 1868 – November 15, 1937) was a prominent composer of popular songs in America in the first two decades of the twentieth century. ==Biography== Alfred Solman (Saloman or Salomon prior to 1894) was born in Berlin, Germany, and educated at the Berlin Conservatory of Music.〔''The ASCAP Biographical Dictionary,'' p. 470; “New Firm of Writers,” ''The New York Dramatic Mirror'', December 26, 1903, p. 20.〕 He arrived in the United States on February 8, 1894, with his wife Eugenie and young son Kurt (later Curt), settling in Chicago, where he worked as a musician or music teacher and where his daughter Lucy (sometimes Lucille) was born on December 1, 1895.〔New York Passenger List, ''SS Rhaetia'', February 8, 1894; Chicago City Directories, 1895–7; Cook County Illinois Birth Certificates Index.〕 Salmon’s cousin, Victor Kremer, had immigrated on November 29, 1892, and by 1898 Kremer had formed a music publishing firm and issued Solman’s first song, “Miss Phoebe Johnsing.”〔New York Passenger List, ''SS Dresden'', November 29, 1892; Chicago City Directories, 1896–1900.〕 Kremer and the Solman family shared a residence from 1898 to 1900, and during or shortly after that time the Solman couple became estranged and then divorced. On July 6, 1903 Eugenia Saloman married Victor Kremer.〔Chicago City Directories, 1898–1900; Cook County Illinois Marriages.〕 After the breakup of his marriage Alfred Solman led a somewhat restless life. In 1902 he was in San Francisco, writing songs and appearing in vaudeville as a baritone.〔“Bills Offered to Playgoers,” ''San Francisco Chronicle'', September 10, 1902, p. 20; “Music and Musicians,” ''The Billboard'' 14:51 (December 20, 1902), p. 6.〕 By December 1903 he was in New York City, where he joined with Walter Hawley to write sketches and monologues as well as songs.〔“New Firm of Writers,” ''loc. cit.''; New York City Directory, 1905, in which Solman is listed as a “dramatist.”〕 The following year he signed an exclusive contact with Joseph W. Stern & Co.; and from then until 1911, Stern published nearly all of Solman’s songs.〔“Down in Music Row,” ''The New York Dramatic Mirror'', January 16, 1904, p. 7; ''Catalog of Copyright Entries ... Musical Compositions'' (Washington: Government Printing Office), 1906–11.〕 Solman remained in New York through the decade, though he maintained a presence in Chicago and went to Europe at least once, in 1910.〔“The Music Belt,” ''The New York Star'', I:16 (January 15, 1909, p. 28; “Greetings from Alfred Solman,” ''The New York Clipper'' LVIII:33 (October 1, 1910), p. 818.〕 He remained very interested in theatre, writing music for ''Paris by Night'' (1904), ''The Errand Boy'' (1906), and other shows and revues; and he and Harry Bissing, a stage electrician, formed a short-lived management company.〔“Paris by Night,” ''The New York Dramatic Mirror'', July 17, 1904, p. 18; “At the Theatres,” ''The Atlanta Constitution'', February 25, 1906, p. C4; “Music: New York Publishers’ Notes,” ''The Billboard'' 18:26 (Jun 30, 1906), p. 10; “The Vaudeville Profession,” ''The Billboard'' 21:38 (September 18, 1909), p. 8.〕 In 1910 Solman won a prize offered by Carl Laemmle, a Chicago publisher and film maker. Jos. W. Stern & Co. sued for $10,000 in damages on the grounds that, at the time, it had Solman under an exclusive contract. Stern eventually won, though the case took three years to conclude; in the meantime, and probably as a consequence, Solman left Stern and signed a contract with Laemmle.〔“$10,000 Verdict for Song,” ''The New York Times'', December 7, 1913, p. 12; “Laemmle Signs Solman,” ''The Billboard'' 23:12 (March 25, 1911), p. 14.〕 Less than a year later Laemmle sold its music catalogue to Joe Morris, Inc., and Solman signed a new contract with Morris, continuing with that firm (though not exclusively) until the end of his career.〔“Morris Buys Laemmle Catalogue,” ''The New York Clipper'' LIX:49 (January 20, 1912); ''Catalog of Copyright Entries ... Musical Compositions'' (Washington: Government Printing Office), 1911–35.〕 Solman evidently remained on good terms with his children and his former wife. His son Curt (who took the surname Kremer) became a hotel and restaurant pianist; his daughter Lucille (also sometimes Kremer) wrote a small number of songs, some in partnership with her father. All the Kremers had moved to San Diego by 1913, and Solman made extended trips to Southern California in the summers of 1913 and 1914.〔San Diego City Directories, 1912–15; ''Catalog of Copyright Entries ... Musical Compositions'' (Washington: Government Printing Office), 1915–16; “Alfred Solman in California,” ''The New York Clipper'' LXI:14 (May 17, 1913), p. 13; “Music Notes," ''The Billboard'' 26:26, p.12.〕 Perhaps as a result of these, or perhaps through his connection with Laemmle, Solman began writing film scenarios and scripts in 1916, first for Fox and then for Bluebird.〔“Solman a Scenario Writer,” ''The New York Clipper'' LXIV:39, p. 7; “Bluebird’s Plans,” ''The Billboard'' 29:17, p. 79.〕 In 1920 his exclusive contract with Joe Morris ended, and Solman began to place his songs with other publishers. Musical tastes were changing, and Solman became associated with “old-time” music; he wrote fewer songs and placed more of them with outlying firms in Cleveland and Kansas City.〔“Song Notes, ''The Billboard'' 35:6 (February 10, 1923), p. 21; ''Catalog of Copyright Entries ... Musical Compositions'' (Washington: Government Printing Office), 1920–29.〕 A brief flurry of interest arose when an early song was used in a 1936 film, and the following year E. B. Marks promoted Solman’s final song, “Try Tappin’,” by announcing Solman’s “return” to composing.〔“Music in New York City,” ''The Billboard'' 48:52 (December 26, 1936); “Music Items,” ''The Billboard'' 49:25 (June 19, 1937), p. 13.〕 Solman’s son Curt moved to New York in the mid-1930s, and Solman was living with him at the time of his death.〔“Alfred Solman, 69, Song-hit Composer,” () ''The New York Times'', November 24, 1937, p. 23.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alfred Solman」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|