Viennese-born composer, pianist, musicologist and record producer whose career traversed concert stage, cabaret and popular music.

Wilhelm Grosz's music featured in all of the 'Out of the Shadows: Rediscovering Jewish Music and Theatre' festivals, organised by Performing the Jewish Archive, in 2016 and 2017. All of the festivals played host to modern premieres of his works, edited and curated by PtJA researcher Joseph Toltz.

Grosz was born in Vienna in 1894, received piano lessons with Professor Richard Robert, and composition classes with Richard Heuberger, Robert Fuchs and Franz Schreker. He completed his doctorate in music under Guido Adler. Grosz won the Zusner Prize at the Academy in 1917. His large orchestral works were premiered in 1921 by the Staatskapelle Dresden and the Vienna Philharmonic. Following graduation from the Akademie in 1920, Grosz began work for the Mannheim National Theatre.

In 1927 Grosz took up the position of artistic director of Ultraphon Recording Company, relocating to Berlin with his wife and stepson. Grosz set the poetry of Langston Hughes for baritone, mezzo soprano and orchestra (Afrika Singt), and continued to compose for theatre: Der Arme Reinhold (ballet), Baby in Der Bar (jazz ballet), Achtung, Aufnahme! (tragicomic burlesque). Grosz’s first film score was Wer nimmt die Liebe ernst (1933); he wrote popular song and set a series of cabaret-style songs for orchestra, Bänkel und Balladen.

In 1930 Grosz’s daughter Eva Annelise was born. Following the election of Hitler, the family fled back to Vienna. In 1934, concerns about the darkening clouds in Germany convinced the family to move to London. Because of the British Musician's Union bans on foreign composers and performers, Grosz was unable to compose under his own name. A partnership with the Irish lyricist Jimmy Kennedy convinced Peter Maurice Ltd (EMI) to agree to pseudonyms: Will Grant, Hugh Williams, and André Milos. Together, Grosz and Kennedy wrote some of the most successful hits of London's Tin Pan Alley: Isle of Capri, Red Sails in the Sunset, Harbour Lights, At the Cafe Continental and more. Grosz continued to write incidental music for cabaret, and music for children, including collaborations with Rose Fyleman: Red-Riding-Hood (1938) and Fairy Tales (1937).

Grosz was invited by Warner Studios to Hollywood. In April 1939 he travelled to New York with his wife Elisabeth, leaving daughter Eva in the care of her grandmother and other family. Negotiations were successful, and the composer began to write music for The Santa Fe Trail. Outbreak of war prevented the couple from reuniting with Eva, as she was considered an “enemy alien” by the UK authorities, having been born in Berlin. The strain of this separation paid the ultimate toll on the composer – on December 10, 1939, while performing in a recital from Strauss’s Rosenkavalier, he collapsed at the piano from a massive heart attack, and passed away. The rest of the family were reunited in New York after the war, and they carefully preserved his legacy for 78 years. Grosz’s estate is currently managed by the ExilArte Zentrum at the MDW.

© Dr Joseph Toltz, The University of Sydney

Video of a performance of Wilhelm Grosz's 5 songs from the Japanese Spring, poetry by Hans Bethge.

Jolene McCleland (mezzo soprano) and José Dias (piano) perform Wilhelm Grosz's Fünf Gedichte aus dem „Japanische Frühling” von Hans Bethge, Op. 3, written in Vienna in 1915. As noted in the title, the original poetry is Japanese, and was translated by Hans Bethge. The movements are as follows:

I Trübes Lied  (words by Ozi)

II Die Verlassene (anonymous)

III Das Mädchen auf der Brücke (anonymous)

IV Jubel (words by Tsurayuki)

V Noch einmal ... (words by Ms Izumi Shikibu)

The score was published by Universal Edition in 1919, and is in the public domain.

Video of the Goldner String Quartet performing the third movement of Wilhelm Grosz's String Quartet.

Video of the world premiere performance of Wilhelm Grosz's String Quartet in D Major, Op. 4.

Petrus de Beer (violin 1), David Bester (violin 2), Karin Gaertner (viola) and Peter Martens (cello) perform the world premiere of the extant movements of Wilhelm Grosz's long-lost String Quartet in D major, Op. 4.  The work was rediscovered by Joseph Toltz in 2016. Movements are as follows:

I Sehr ruhig, mit größtem Ausdruck

II So schnell als möglich

III Intermezzo (second performance)

The modern premiere of Wilhelm Grosz's Serenade für Grosses Orchester, performed by the Cape Town Philharmonic Orchestra, under Conrad van Alphen.

Wilhelm Grosz began instruction at the Vienna Music Academy, studying piano under Richard Robert, and compositional theory with Richard Heaberger, Robert Fuchs and Franz Schreker. He won the Zusner Prize at the Academy in 1917, and works were performed by the Vienna Philhamonic under Felix Weingartner. Recent evidence suggests that Serenade received its premiere with the Staatskapelle Dresden in early 1921, with the work repeated in performance by the Vienna Philharmonic a month later. Serenade is one of the works of the early period, where interest is still firmly typical of the late Romantic idiom, through the use of large and unusual orchestration and complex harmonic relations. During this period, Grosz wrote Lieder for piano and orchestra, violin and piano sonatas, solo works for piano and a piano concerto. 

Following graduation in 1920, Grosz began work as chorus master for the Mannheim National Theatre. He began to write music for the stage from 1921, with settings for two of Franz Werfel’s plays, and found success with the premiere of his one-act opera Sganarell (after Molière). In 1924 the feared critic Julius Korngold (father of composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold) wrote that ‘in comparison with all of these other would-be Mahlerians, Wilhelm Grosz rises far above and is already much more established.’ Grosz changed aesthetic direction after attending the 1922 Festival of Chamber Music in Salzburg, and committed the rest of his compositional career to exploring complex rhythms and popular contemporary art forms, particularly jazz and dance. In 1927 he moved to Berlin to take up post as artistic director of Ultraphon Recording Company. Here the composer wrote a song cycle with the poetry of Langston Hughes, two ballets and a burlesque, and began to compose movie scores and popular schlagers. In 1933 he fled back to Vienna, and moved to London a year later, where he adopted pseudonyms and wrote some of the most popular songs of the 1930s: Isle of Capri, Harbor Lights, Red Sails in the Sunset and a dozen others. In 1939 he travelled to the United States to negotiate a contract with Warner Studios. Stranded by the war and separated from his young daughter, the strain of these factors induced a fatal heart attack in December that year. © Dr. Joseph Toltz, The University of Sydney

A video of a performance of Wilhelm Grosz's Rondels Op. 11, recorded at Out of the Shadows Festival, Madison Wisconsin.

Dr Benjamin Schultz (bass-baritone) and Thomas Kasdorf (piano) perform Wilhelm Grosz's Rondels Op. 11, at a concert entitled Wilhelm Grosz - Lieder and Piano Music, held in May 2016 at the First Congregational Church, Madison Wisconsin as part of Out of the Shadows Festival. The movements of the work are as follows:

I   Geh! Leise (Go quietly!), text by Ernst Feigl

II  Rondel, text by Georg Trakl

III Irgendwohin weht der Wind (Somewhere the wind blows), text by Viktor Aufricht

This performance lasts approximately 8 minutes 43 seconds.

Wilhelm Grosz's Rondels in its chamber music format, performed by Cynthia Clarey and the Matrix Ensemble, directed by Robert Ziegler

This recording by the Matrix Ensemble directed by Robert Ziegler, featuring the mezzo-soprano Cynthia Clarey, is part of DECCA's iconic Entartete Musik series, and was published in March 1997.

The movements of Rondels are as follows:

I Geh! Leise (Go quietly!), text by Ernst Feigl

II Rondel, text by Georg Trakl

III Irgendwohin weht der Wind (Somewhere the wind blows), text by Viktor Aufricht

A video of a performance of Wilhelm Grosz's Tanzsuite (1922), recorded at Out of the Shadows Festival, Madison Wisconsin.

Thomas Kasdorf (piano) performs Wilhelm Grosz's Tanzsuite (1922), at a concert entitled Wilhelm Grosz - Lieder and Piano Music, held in May 2016 at the First Congregational Church, Madison Wisconsin as part of Out of the Shadows Festival. The movements of the work are as follows:

I    Menuette

II   Gavotte und Musette

III  Walzer

IV  Polka

This performance lasts approximately 11 minutes 36 seconds.

A video recording of Kristina Pranlová (violin) and Petr Novák (piano) performing Wilhelm Grosz's Jazzband for violin and piano.

Professor Petr Novak (piano) and Kristina Pranlová (violin) perform Wilhelm Grosz's Jazzband for violin and piano at the Pilsen Conservatory, in the concert Osud a Pohádky (Fate and Fairytales), a chamber music recital for Ze stínu (Out of the Shadows) Festival, Czech Republic, September 2016. The performance lasts approximately 7 minutes, 13 seconds.

A video of Wilhelm Grosz's Kleine Sonata Op. 16 performed by Ian Buckle at Out of the Shadows Festival, Leeds.

Ian Buckle performs Wilhelm Grosz's Kleine Sonata Op. 16 for piano solo, at the Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall, School of Music, The University of Leeds. The performance is part of a chamber music recital entitled Fates and Fairytales: the Music of Wilhelm Grosz and Zigmund Schul. 

The movements of the Sonata are as follows:

I    Sehr rhythmisch (very rhythmical)

II   So schnell als möglich; Trio (as fast as possible, trio)

III  Sehr ruhig und einfach, wie ein Lied (Very peaceful and simple, like a song)

IV  Sehr lustig. Variationen über 'Liebe läßt sich nicht vergessen (Very humorous. Variations after the song 'Love cannot be forgotten').  Note: 'Love cannot be forgotten' is from Grosz's Liebeslieder Op. 10

The performance lasts approximately 15 minutes 27 seconds.

A video of a performance of Wilhelm Grosz's second Tanzsuite, Op. 20, recorded at Out of the Shadows Festival, Madison Wisconsin.

Thomas Kasdorf (piano) performs Wilhelm Grosz's second Tanzsuite, Op. 20 (1926), at a concert entitled Wilhelm Grosz - Lieder and Piano Music, held in May 2016 at the First Congregational Church, Madison Wisconsin as part of Out of the Shadows Festival. The movements of the work are as follows:

I Foxtrot

II Boston

III Tango

IV Shimmy

V  Quasi Fivestep

This performance lasts approximately 17 minutes 56 seconds.

A video of a performance of Wilhelm Grosz's Ostjüdische Volkslieder, recorded at Out of the Shadows Festival, Madison Wisconsin.

Jessica Kasinski (mezzo-soprano) and Thomas Kasdorf (piano) perform Wilhelm Grosz's Ostjüdische Volkslieder für eine mittlere Singstimme und Klavier (1926), at a concert entitled Wilhelm Grosz - Lieder and Piano Music, held in May 2016 at the First Congregational Church, Madison Wisconsin as part of Out of the Shadows Festival. The songs in the collection are as follows:

I   Unzer rebenyu

II  Gevaldzhe brider

III Er hot mir tsigezugt

IV  Zitsen zitsen ziben vayber

V  Amol iz geven a kleyn yidele

VI Vuzhe vilstu

VII Ikh bin a balegole

This performance lasts approximately 15 minutes 10 seconds.

A YouTube excerpt from The John Harle Collection, Vol. 10: Berlinermusik (The Berliner Bands 1983-2013)

Released on Sospiro Noir, this is an excerpt of Wilhelm Grosz's Baby in Der Bar Op. 23, performed by The Berliner Band, on the John Harle Collection, Vol. 10: Berlinermusik.  The work was composed in 1925 in piano reduction, and completed as an orchestration in 1927, with original words by Bela Balasz.

The Berliner Band:

Producer: John Harle, Banjo: Mitch Dalton, Cello: Justin Pearson, Double Bass: Barry Guy, Drums: John Harrod, Lead Vocals: Susan Bickley, Lead Vocals: Ed Bishop, Lead Vocals: Tessa Worsley, Mastering Engineer: Simon Haram, Piano: John Lenehan, Piano: Shelagh Sutherland, Saxophone: John Harle, Sound Engineer: Roland Heap, Sound Engineer: John Whiting, Trombone: Dave Stewart, Trumpet: Henry Lowther, Trumpet: John Wilbraham, Viola: Rupert Bawden, Viola: Clare Finnimore, Violin: Alexander Balanescu, Violin: Miranda Fulleylove, Violin: Elisabeth Perry, Violin: Perry Montague-Mason.

A YouTube upload of the 1931 romantic comedy,  Wer nimmt die Liebe ernst?, with music by Wilhelm Grosz.

Wer nimmt die Liebe ernst? (Who takes love seriously?) was Wilhelm Grosz's first foray into motion picture composition. The film was directed by Erich Engel, written by Henry Koster and Curt Alexander, and starred Max Hansen, Jenny Jugo, Otto Wallburg, Willi Schur and Hedwig Wangel.

A video of a performance of Wilhelm Grosz's Zwei Gesänge nach Jüdischen Volkslieder, recorded in Madison Wisconsin.

Jessica Kasinski (mezzo-soprano) and Thomas Kasdorf (piano) perform Wilhelm Grosz's Zwei Gesänge nach Jüdischen Volkslieder, Op. 40 (1936), at a concert entitled Wilhelm Grosz - Lieder and Piano Music, held in May 2016 at the First Congregational Church, Madison Wisconsin as part of Out of the Shadows Festival. The texts were set in the German by Ludwig Strauss.

The two songs are as follows:

I   Ein Lied an Gott

II  Marschlied

This performance lasts approximately 5 minutes.

A video of Wilhelm Grosz's Vom Morgen bis zum Abend at Out of the Shadows Festival, Leeds.

Kate Rotheroe (soprano) and Ian Buckle (piano) perform Wilhelm Grosz's Vom Morgen bis zum Abend: Kleine Lieder Kinder vorzusingen (From morning to evening: Little songs for children), Op. 43, at the Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall, School of Music, The University of Leeds. The performance is part of a chamber music recital entitled Fates and Fairytales: the Music of Wilhelm Grosz and Zigmund Schul. The texts can be found in Wolfgang Tischendorf and Emil Stahl (eds), Mein erstes Reimbuch (Berlin: Grunewald, Pestalozzi Verlags-Anstalt, 1927).

The movements are in order:

I. Steht auf, ihr Kinderlein! (Get up, little children!)

II. Die bösen Beinchen (Those naughty legs)

III. Fünf Englein kommen gesungen (Five angels came a-singing)

IV. Guten Tag, Herr Montag (Good day, Mr Monday)

V. Morgen fruh um sechs (Tomorrow morning around six)

VI. Wenn mein Kind nicht essen will (When my child will not eat)

VII. Gutenacht Liedchen (A little goodnight song)

The performance lasts approximately 7 minutes and 6 seconds.

A video of Wilhelm Grosz's Neue Kinderlieder Op. 43a at Out of the Shadows Festival, Leeds.

Kate Rotheroe (soprano) and Ian Buckle (piano) perform Wilhelm Grosz's Neue Kinderlieder (New children's songs) Op. 43a, at the Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall, School of Music, The University of Leeds. The performance is part of a chamber music recital entitled Fates and Fairytales: the Music of Wilhelm Grosz and Zigmund Schul.  The first three texts are from Wolfgang Tischendorf and Emil Stahl (eds), Mein erstes Reimbuch (Berlin: Grunewald, Pestalozzi VerlagsAnstalt, 1927). The fourth song is from Gustav Falke und Jakob Loewenberg (eds), Steht auf, ihr lieben Kinderlein: Gedichte aus älterer und neurer Zeit für Schule und Haus (Köln am Rhein: Schaffstein, 1906) 

The movements are in order:

i. Sonne (The sun) by Achim von Arnim (1781-1831) from Des Knaben Wunderhorn 

ii. Vom Riesen Timpetu (The giant Timpetu) by Alwin Freudenberg (1873-1930) 

iii. Vom Christ Kind (The Christ child) by Anna Ritter (1865-1921) 

iv. Schlummerliedchen (Wenn das Kind seine Puppe zu Bett bringt) (Little slumber song: when the child brings his doll to bed) by Richard Leander (1830-89)

The performance lasts approximately 7 minutes.

A video recording of Wilhelm Grosz's cantata Fairy Tales Op. 39, performed at Out of the Shadows Festival, Leeds.

Kate Rotheroe (soprano), the Cassia String Quartet, Eleanor Hudson (harp) and Rhian Hughes (flute) perform Wilhelm Grosz's Fairy Tales Op. 39, a cantata for soprano, string quartet, flute and harp. The Cassia String Quartet comprises Amy Welch (violin I), Tory Clarke (violin II), Laurie Dempsey (viola) and Joshua Lynch (cello), conducted by Stephen Muir.  The performance took place at the Clothworkers Centenary Concert Hall, School of Music, The University of Leeds. The performance is part of a chamber music recital entitled Fates and Fairytales: the Music of Wilhelm Grosz and Zigmund Schul.  The text is taken from Rose Fyleman's publication The Fairy Flute (London: Methuen & Co. Ltd, 1921).

The movements of the cantata are as follows:

Präludium - Allegretto (quasi pastorale)

I. If you meet a fairy Interlude I - Vivacissimo 

II. Fairy lore Interlude II - Tempo di Valse 

III. Every fairy has a star Interlude III - Andantino 

IV. Fairy flute Interlude IV - Allegro con spirit 

V. Fairy lullaby for a mortal 

Postludium - Poco allegro

This performance lasts approximately 15 minutes 30 seconds.

Video recording from the Madison Out of the Shadows Festival

Elizabeth Hagedorn (soprano) and Thomas Kasdorf (piano) perform Wilhelm Grosz's A Song in Exile, composed in 1938. The lyrics are by Herman Ould, after original words by Siegfried Trebitsch. 

Video recording of Red-Riding-Hood, produced for the Sydney Out of the Shadows Festival.

Red-Riding-Hood was performed in Sydney by members of the Sydney Children's Choir, accompanied by the SSO Fellows. The show was directed by Christopher Harley, with chorus-master and stage manager Atalya Masi, and accompanist and assistant chorus-master Owen Elsley. 

Costume design was by Aleisa Jelbart, with choreography by Ana Maria Belo. 

The show was conducted by Joseph Toltz, who was also producer.

These performances of Red-Riding-Hood by Will Grant (arranged by Roy Douglas) are given by permission of Hal Leonard Australia Pty Ltd, exclusive agents for Oxford University Press of Oxford.