David Braham (1834 – April 11, 1905) was a

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

-born musical theatre composer most famous for his work with

Edward Harrigan Edward Harrigan (October 26, 1844June 6, 1911), sometimes called Ned Harrigan, was an Irish-American actor, singer, dancer, playwright, lyricist and theater producer who, together with Tony Hart (as Harrigan & Hart), formed one of the most celebr ...

and Tony Hart. He has been called "the American Offenbach".

Early life (1834–1873)

David Braham was born in

in 1834. As a young man, he aspired to become a professional musician and began studying the harp. However, because he was unable to get his bulky instrument on board a stagecoach, he later switched to the

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 ...

. He proved to be an adept violinist, performing in concerts at a young age. He was the uncle of John Joseph Braham Sr. The Braham family immigrated to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

when David was 15. Upon arriving in New York, Braham began working as a violinist in the orchestra accompanying the Pony Moore Minstrels. He played in the pit orchestras of various New York

auditorium An auditorium is a room built to enable an audience to hear and watch performances. For movie theatres, the number of auditoria (or auditoriums) is expressed as the number of screens. Auditoria can be found in entertainment venues, community ...

s, headed an 18-piece orchestra at the New Canterbury concert saloon at 585 Broadway, and led a

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the ti ...

. The first

Broadway musical Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

to feature music by David Braham was ''Pluto'', produced by William Horace Lingard at the

Theatre Comique The Theatre Comique, formerly Wood's Minstrel Hall, was a venue on Broadway in Manhattan, New York City. It was built in 1862, replacing a synagogue on the site. History William Lingard debuted at the theater in 1868. ''Pluto'', the first Broa ...

in 1869. Braham's success as a composer continued through the early 1870s, during which time he wrote numbers for such performers as James McKee, then-child star Annie Yeamans, and P. T. Barnum performer

General Tom Thumb Charles Sherwood Stratton (January 4, 1838 – July 15, 1883), better known by his stage name "General Tom Thumb", was an American dwarf who achieved great fame as a performer under circus pioneer P. T. Barnum. Childhood and early life Bo ...

Harrigan and Hart (1873–1885)

In 1873, David Braham collaborated with

and Tony Hart on the song ''The Mulligan Guard'', with music by Braham and lyrics by Harrigan. The song was presented on July 15, 1873 as part of a vaudeville sketch which featured Harrigan and Hart wearing unusual

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

-era military costumes. This collaboration marked the first of many between Braham, Harrigan, and Hart. From that point onwards, Braham became firmly associated with the two. Although he did go on to write melodies for other lyricists, his success in

Broadway theater Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...

came almost entirely as a result of his Harrigan and Hart scores. In November 1876, Harrigan married Braham's daughter Annie. The success of ''The Mulligan Guard'' led to a series of burlesques which would become known as the "Mulligan plays". The Mulligan plays focused on the everyday life of New York City, appealing to a variety of racial groups, including Irish Americans, German Americans, and

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

s. The first of these Mulligan plays was ''The Mulligan Guard's Ball'', followed by ''The Mulligan Guard's Picnic'', ''The Mulligan Guard's Chowder'', ''The Mulligan Guard's Christmas'', and various others. Although most of the Mulligan plays followed the same naming pattern, the final two shows in the series were titled ''Cordelia's Aspirations'' and ''Dan's Tribulations''. The Mulligan plays featured several popular songs, all of which were written by Braham, including ''The Pitcher of Beer'' and ''Hats Off to Me''.

Late life (1884–1905)

The last Mulligan play to be produced was ''Dan's Tribulations'' on April 7, 1884. Shortly after it opened, the New Theatre Comique, at which many of the Harrigan and Hart shows had been produced, burned down. In 1885, Harrigan and Hart separated, and neither they nor Braham were ever able to singularly attain the same level of success that they had achieved as a team. David Braham died in 1905. On May 21, 1906, Harrigan produced a revival of ''

Old Lavender Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England * Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Ma ...

'', a musical he and Braham had written together. In 1985, a musical, ''Harrigan 'n Hart'', was produced at the

Longacre Theatre The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theater at 220 West 48th Street in the Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Opened in 1913, it was designed by Henry B. Herts and was named for Longacre Square, now known a ...

, featuring songs by Harrigan and Braham.

Notes

External links

*
Harrigan and Braham
at Music of the United States of America (MUSA) {{DEFAULTSORT:Braham, David 1834 births 1905 deaths English musical theatre composers English male composers English emigrants to the United States English violinists American male violinists Musicians from London Musicians from New York City American violinists American musical theatre composers 19th-century English musicians 19th-century British male musicians

Early life (1834–1873)

Harrigan and Hart (1873–1885)

Late life (1884–1905)

Notes

Further reading

External links