Jean Gilbert (11 February 1879 – 20 December 1942), born Max Winterfeld, 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 **Ger ...

operetta composer and

conductor Conductor or conduction may refer to: Music * Conductor (music), a person who leads a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra. * ''Conductor'' (album), an album by indie rock band The Comas * Conduction, a type of structured free improvisation ...

Life and career

Gilbert 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 ...

into a family of musicians; his ancestors were cantors of the

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

community, his cousin

Paul Dessau Paul Dessau (19 December 189428 June 1979) was a German composer and conductor. He collaborated with Bertolt Brecht and composed incidental music for his plays, and several operas based on them. Biography Dessau was born in Hamburg into a mu ...

became a famous composer and conductor. He attended composition lessons held by Philipp Scharwenka in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

and studied at the conservatories in

Sondershausen Sondershausen is a town in Thuringia, central Germany, capital of the Kyffhäuserkreis district, situated about 50 km north of Erfurt. On 1 December 2007, the former municipality Schernberg was incorporated by Sondershausen. Until 1918 i ...

and

Weimar Weimar is a city in the state (Germany), state of Thuringia, Germany. It is located in Central Germany (cultural area), Central Germany between Erfurt in the west and Jena in the east, approximately southwest of Leipzig, north of Nuremberg an ...

. After first public appearances as a pianist, the 18-year-old obtained an appointment as ''

Kapellmeister (, also , ) from German ''Kapelle'' (chapel) and ''Meister'' (master)'','' literally "master of the chapel choir" designates the leader of an ensemble of musicians. Originally used to refer to somebody in charge of music in a chapel, the term ha ...

'' in Bremerhaven. Soon after he moved to the

Carl Schultze Theater Carl-Schultze-Theater was a theatre in St. Pauli, Hamburg, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most po ...

in Hamburg and, at the age of 20, succeeded

Leo Fall Leopold Fall (2 February 187316 September 1925) was an Austrian Kapellmeister and composer of operettas. Life Born in Olmütz (Olomouc), Leo (or Leopold) Fall was taught by his father Moritz Fall (1848–1922), a bandmaster and composer, who se ...

as musical director of the Centralhalle theatre. He adopted the name of Jean Gilbert for the production of his first operetta ''Das Jungfernstift'' in 1901. He continued to work as a ''Kapellmeister'' at the Berlin Apollo-Theater on

Friedrichstraße The Friedrichstraße () (lit. ''Frederick Street'') is a major culture and shopping street in central Berlin, forming the core of the Friedrichstadt neighborhood and giving the name to Berlin Friedrichstraße station. It runs from the northern ...

, where he enacted operettas by

Paul Lincke Carl Emil Paul Lincke (7 November 1866 – 3 September 1946) was a German composer and theater conductor. He is considered the "father" of the Berlin operetta. His well-known compositions include "" ("Berlin Air"), the unofficial anthem of Berlin, ...

. In 1908, Gilbert moved to

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in ...

and again turned to composing. Back in Berlin by 1910, he composed more than 50 operettas before and after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

. His most successful work was '' Die keusche Susanne'' (1910), which was also popular in an English adaptation as '' The Girl in the Taxi''. As a Jew, Gilbert was forced to leave Germany after the

Nazi seizure of power Adolf Hitler's rise to power began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919 when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He rose to a place of prominence in the early years of the party. Be ...

in January 1933. He first emigrated to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...

and later to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, t ...

, where he once again worked as a

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 transm ...

orchestra leader. He died in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the Capital city, capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata ...

. His elder son Robert Gilbert (1899–1978) was also a composer, his younger son Henry Winterfeld (1901–1990) became a well-known author of books for young readers.

Selected works

*''Das Jungfernstift'', 1901, Hamburg *''Polnische Wirtschaft'', 1909, Cottbus *'' Die keusche Susanne'', 1910, Magdeburg *''Das Autoliebchen'', 1912, Berlin :''Ja, das haben die Mädchen so gerne'' *''Puppchen'', 1912, Berlin :''Puppchen, du bist mein Augenstern'' *''Die Kino-Königin'', 1913 *''Die Frau im Hermelin'', 1919, Berlin *''Katja, die Tänzerin'', 1923, Vienna *''Das Weib in Purpur'', 1923, Vienna *''Annemarie'', 1925, Berlin *''

Yvonne Yvonne is a female given name. It is the feminine form of Yvon, which is derived from the French name Yves and Yvette. It is from the French word ''iv'', meaning "yew" (or tree). Since yew wood was used for bows, Ivo may have been an occupatio ...

'', 1926, London (with

Vernon Duke Vernon Duke ( 16 January 1969) was a Russian-born American composer/songwriter who also wrote under his birth name, Vladimir Dukelsky. He is best known for " Taking a Chance on Love," with lyrics by Ted Fetter and John Latouche (1940), " I Can ...

)Jazz Age Club.
Accessed 22 April 2013 *''Hotel Stadt Lemberg'', 1929, Hamburg

Selected filmography

* '' One Hour of Happiness'' (1931) * '' The Girl and the Boy'' (1931) * '' Two Hearts Beat as One'' (1932)

References

*''Reclams Operettenführer'', Anton Würz (ed.), Stuttgart 1962 ;Specific

External links

* *
Stage works
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilbert, Jean 1879 births 1942 deaths German classical composers German male classical composers German operetta composers Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Argentina Musicians from Hamburg