We recently brought up the subject of the tribute act called the Berlin Comedian Harmonists, which I was delighted to see perform on my first voyage with the Deutschland in 2000. They were apparently performing on the ship fresh from the Berlin stage. We should understand the original Comedian Harmonists, as well as the popular music of the 1920's and 1930's, usually elegant and sophisticated, occasionally madcap. Then, while we are still in the mood, it's worth taking a look at Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester, since Max Raabe has taken the genre and run with it to worldwide success in the present day.

Comedian Harmonists   So to understand the story of the Comedian Harmonists, set your mind to the music of the 1920's and 1930's, much of it spreading internationally from Broadway, and also from Hollywood. Picture Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to get you started and in the mood. Then take into consideration the political change in Germany with the rise of the Nazis in 1933, and you'll understand why these two decades of often sophisticated music are sometimes considered in Germany music of the Weimar Republic, which lasted from 1918 to 1933, and which point limitations were put on life, including entertainment, particularly Jewish life. This was the world of the Comedian Harmonists, whose very popular international musical output was stifled by 1935, and whose singing careers were forced into decline.

From the first time I read about the Comedian Harmonists, it was made clear that they were strongly influenced by the music of an American group called the Revelers, sometimes misspelled in German usage as "Revellers". They were so famous internationally, that not only did the Comedian Harmonists follow in their steps, so did others, including a Berlin group called the Spree-Revellers (the Spree is Berlin's river). The fact that the name of the Revelers is no longer familiar, as wildly famous as they were in the same period, shows how fleeting fame is, even when it isn't politically squelched. Still, I had to go back to check out the Revelers.

THE REVELERS The Revelers were an American quintet consisting of four close-harmony singers, plus a pianist (the Comedian Harmonists had one more singer). This was the era that phonograph records came into their own and the Revelers' recordings of "Dinah", "Old Man River", "Valencia", "Baby Face", "Birth of the Blues", and many others, were very popular. They had been organized in 1918 under the name The Shannon Four, and changed their name in 1925. They also starred on radio and vaudeville. Recordings of the Revelers inspired the Comedian Harmonists to form in 1927. Apparently the two groups actually met in August 1929 when they both appeared on the same bill at the Scala in Berlin and became good friends.

We need just one example of the Revelers singing, and I found a gem. There are a number of examples on YouTube of records playing with a few still pictures of the performers, or morel likely, a picture of the label. We'll have to use some of those later. But for the Revelers, I've found a perfect gem online that brings together movie history with a vocal presentation. In 1927, the Revelers made a short movie of them singing three songs. Given the early date, it's a surprise that it's a sound film, but it is one made in an unusual way by today's standards. The one-reel film was made in the Vitaphone process, which used the sound-on-disc system. That means the soundtrack was not printed on the film itself, but was recorded on a phonograph record, which was played on a turntable physically coupled to the motor of the film projector to synchronize the sound. Many films and shorts of the period were done this way from 1926 to 1931, including early talkies such as the 1927 "Jazz Singer". This film we'll now see, though, has been restored and modernized. On it the Revelers sing three songs, but I know only the middle one, "Dinah", and I suggest you move to that at 2:33.

I was surprised to read further that the Revelers, as influential a group as they were in their day, had their last big hit in 1931, after which the public lost interest in them. That means that, for a few years anyway until politics intervened, their protégés, the Comedian Harmonists, were more famous than they were. Such is fame.

THE RISE OF THE COMEDIAN HARMONISTS Technically, the Comedian Harmonists started up in mid-December 1927, but they didn't start performing until early 1928, which means that the period of their prime activity spans just over seven years, until the curtain was forced down totally in early 1935. As I see it, those years can be divided into three periods: the early rise in 1928-1929, the unfettered height of their career in 1930-1931-1932, and the continuing height of their career in 1933-1934 (and into the first two months of 1935) that was overshadowed by the Nazi regime coming to power in January 1933, which ended their career two years later. But the birthplace and time was propitious, the Goldene Zwangiger in Berlin, when they became perhaps the most beloved German singers and one of the most successful musical groups in Europe.

It all began with a newspaper ad looking for singers on 18 December 1927 in the Berliner Lokal-Anzeiger placed by unemployed actor Harry Frommerman. He was young and had no formal musical background. Given the difficult economic times, about 70 men showed up to audition in Frommermann's flat at Stubenrauchstraße 47 in Berlin-Friedenau, which is to the southwest of central Berlin. Frommermann accepted only Robert Biberti, who had an outstanding bass voice and was also enthusiastic about the Revelers. A few days later, Biberti brought along two foreign choral colleagues, Ari Leschnikoff from Bulgaria and Roman Cycowsky from Poland (Łódź). One more singer was added, but was replaced a year later with Erich Collin. The final addition to the original group was Leschnikoff's piano-playing friend Erwin Bootz. All members of the sextet, five singers and a pianist, were in their twenties. Since they apparently decided from early on to add some frivolity to their close-harmony singing, they chose the name Comedian Harmonists. Why they chose a name in English is unclear, but were perhaps influenced by the Revelers' name being in English, and perhaps by the fact that so much of the material they were interested in singing emanated from the US.

This is the picture of the Comedian Harmonists most often seen. From the left there is Robert Biberti, the bass; Erich Collin, the second tenor; Erwin Bootz, the pianist; Roman Cycowski, the baritone; founder Harry Frommermann, the tenor buffo; and Ari Leschnikoff (whose real first name was Asparuh), the first tenor. I checked to see just what a tenor buffo is defined as, and it seemed to fit the needs of this group perfectly. A tenor buffo specializes in smaller comic roles, and has the ability to create distinct voices for his characters. In other words, a clown for comic relief. They were noted for their ability to blend their voices together so that individuals could appear, then blend back into the group. Their wide repertoire included the international songs coming across the Atlantic, the witty popular songs of the day locally, and to folk music and classical selections. Perhaps to highlight much of the elegance of the music of the era, the Comedian Harmonists always appeared in tuxedos.

THE REIGN OF THE COMEDIAN HARMONISTS Their popularity rose quickly during that first two-year period, 1928-1929, although they are listed on one record label from 1929 as "Comedian Harmonists gen[annt] die deutschen Revellers", or "Comedian Harmonists, called the German Revelers' (note the LL spelling) to give a boost to their image. But by 1930 there was no longer even a need for advertising. A short notice in the paper resulted in packed houses. Two years after that, in 1932, the Comedian Harmonists appeared at the Berliner Philharmonie, the Concert Hall of the Berlin Philharmonic, a place not intended for light music, but even that lofty audience had no problem with their appearing at that venue and 2,700 in the audience gave them a rousing reception. From this point on, their music was considered art, and the usual entertainment tax on light music, but not on art, no longer had to be collected. They sang their repertoire in English, French, and German—also on occasion in Italian and Spanish—and were therefore also very successful abroad. By 1933, the year the Nazis took over in January, they were giving 150 concerts a year and over time had appeared in 21 films. It seemed as though nothing could change.

THE OEUVRE OF THE COMEDIAN HARMONISTS Let's pause in the story to finally demonstrate what it was that the Comedian Harmonists presented to their international public that was received so enthusiastically. Theirs is a large repertoire, and YouTube has numerous examples of their work—search for more on your own if you wish. Instead of presenting selections chronologically, I'll start with international music from the twenties and thirties that most people will recognize.

From the USA, Sung in English "Whispering" is a popular song most famously recorded by Paul Whiteman and his Ambassador Orchestra in 1920. It became a huge hit and made Whiteman and his orchestra famous overnight. It was the first record in popular music to sell a million copies, and in its first year, almost reached two million. That's even more impressive considering that that was also about the total number of phonographs in the USA at the time. It wasn't until 17 December 1934, a couple of months before what was to be the forced end of their musical career, that the Comedian harmonists recorded Whispering in English in Berlin.

The 1925 Broadway musical "No, No Nanette" yielded the hit "Tea for Two". The Comedian Harmonists recorded their version, in English, also on 17 December 1934. But the person who put together the following YouTube video added two additional treats. Although the song is from New York, the video shows scenes of London, perhaps because of the tea reference. However, these are fabulous scenes of London in 1927, and in addition, they're in Technicolor. Since that struck me as an early date for film color of any kind, I had to research the subject. Technicolor was invented in Boston back in 1916, and was the most widely used color process in Hollywood for thirty years, from 1922 to 1952. It was famous for its lush, saturated levels of color, but was later replaced by color systems providing more muted tones. TECHnicolor was named after MIT, the Massachusetts Institute of TECHnology, where its inventor had studied, and later taught. Here are the Comedian Harmonists singing Tea for Two, in English, with lush Technicolor pictures of 1927 London.

From the USA, but Sung in a German Version I see no indication that the Comedian Harmonists ever sang the following two songs in English, but their German versions of them became wildly popular and have become among the most popular of the Comedian Harmonists' songs. But translations often change the tenor of the song, as we noted in 2007/17, when we compared the original French Les feuilles mortes with the English Autumn Leaves, and that will carry through here.

"Happy Days are Here Again" was written and recorded in 1929 in the USA, but then was featured in the 1930 film Chasing Rainbows, where it closed the film as a happy-days-again reference to life after the Armistice of the Great War (WWI). The film survives, although the song finale has been lost. Still, this is actor Charles King from the film singing Happy Days are Here Again.

It's of course no secret that this song was promptly adopted two years later by Franklin Delano Roosevelt as a campaign song in the 1932 presidential election, and has been used to some extent by the Democratic party ever since. It's also associated with the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. Thus, in the US, the song that originally referred to peace after war has come to also refer, probably moreso, to both political change and legal alcohol.

In the same year of the film, 1930, the German text was written and the Comedian Harmonists recorded it, and it became one of their classics. It was Wochenend und Sonnenschein ("Weekend and Sunshine"). It's just as exuberant, but is instead about a couple's happy romp in the woods. I have the principal German text below, with my literal translation.

Here is the Comedian Harmonists' Wochenend und Sonnenschein, where they pull all the stops out. Note how individual voices suddenly come to the fore, then quickly recede, and also note the humorous closing.

"You're Driving me Crazy" came from a 1930 musical comedy called "Smiles" and was recorded the same year by Guy Lombardo & His Royal Canadians and became a hit. This is Guy Lombardo's You're Driving me Crazy".

In English, it's a wistful song of rejection and hoped-for reconciliation. It's rather amusing how it changes in the German version, called Hallo, was machst du heut' Daisy?. To correspond to the final word "crazy", the German version uses the English-language name "Daisy", and suddenly it's a peppy song about someone on the phone trying to get a date with Daisy! Below is the principal text.

Along with "Wochenend', it's one of the classics of the Comedian Harmonists, recorded in 1931: Hallo, was machst du heut' Daisy? This video adds to our visualizing the time period by showing Berlin in 1930:

From the USA, Sung in German & French While "Wochenend" and "Daisy" are Comedian Harmonist classics, there are many other very popular songs that they did, and here we have two that they did, apparently not in English, but in both German and French, the versions of "Night and Day" and "Stormy Weather". The German versions appeared on flip sides of the same record, recorded on 4 September 1933. The French versions were recorded at another time.

It was in the 1934 film "The Gay Divorcée" that Cole Porter's Night and Day was sung by Fred Astaire, with Ginger Rogers. Here's the principal text.

The German version, "Tag und Nacht" ("Day and Night") reverses the order in the title but otherwise is very close to the original in meaning. Here is some principal text.

This is the Comedian Harmonists' Tag und Nacht.

The French version of "Night and Day", "Nuit et jour", is quite charming, and keeps the same theme as the original. The title is as it is in English, but the first line, Tout le jour, toute la nuit reverses the order. I particularly like how this first line fits the music.

This is the Comedian Harmonists' Nuit et jour. Note the numerous pictures of the singers later in life.

"Stormy Weather" was written in 1933. Ethel Waters first sang in at the Cotton Club in Harlem that year, and also recorded it. This is her Stormy Weather.

The song appears in German as "Ohne dich" ("Without You"), and the title already indicates that, while the English version sings about the boyfriend in the third person, the German version moves to the second person and speaks directly to the person who's gone. The weather metaphor is continued to some extent, but less fully. While the English version speaks of no sun, of the rain, and of the gloom, the German version has nothing to do with rain, although there's also no sun and there is gloom.

Here is the Comedian Harmonists' Ohne dich.

The French version is "Quand il pleut" ("When it Rains"), and the title already shows that it's all about rain, with any gloom or lack of sun during the rain being just assumed. This version is very, very "dark" and refers to homelessness and possible suicide. Framing that, it's primarily about sad emotions and memories felt during rainy weather. The only reference to a lost love is relegated to the end. It's very long, and I've cut the text considerably, as indicated.

This is the Comedian Harmonists' Quand il pleut.

Sung in Italian & Spanish There are two well-known songs that I'll insert here only to show that the Comedian Harmonists also did some work in Spanish and Italian. In Spanish, this is La Paloma ("The Dove"), which they did in 1934. In 1931 they did Ah Maria, Marì, done, as is customary, in Neapolitan dialect (more about that later).

From German Sources, Sung in German Our two Comedian Harmonist classics so far are "Wochenend" and "Daisy", but we're now coming to three more, and these are home-grown. Why shouldn't there be a wealth of material available? These were after all the Goldene Zwanziger, and they were working out of Berlin, no less. I have no knowledge that any of these made it into an English version, although the first two do appear in French.

Perhaps the best known of the Comedian Harmonist songs is Veronika, der Lenz ist da ("Veronika, Spring is Here"), from 1930. "Veronika", which appeared with "Wochenend" on flip sides of the same record, celebrates springtime, and is peppy and "up".

This is the principal text.

It's interesting that "Veronika" and "Wochenend" came out originally on two sides of the same record, because they're about the same thing. They're both lively songs, where a couple is headed for the woods for a little hanky-panky.

It's absolutely true that asparagus, particularly white asparagus, is prized in both Germany and France, and does appear in the spring, when people rush to country markets to get the earliest harvest. However, to put it gently, they're not really talking about asparagus coming up here, which can also be seen in this modern album cover. And, when pointing out that even an older generation gets frisky in the spring (!!!), the antiquated forms "papa" and "mama" are used to make them sound even more elderly. This is the Comedian Harmonists' Veronika, der Lenz ist da.

We saw some old films above, and I was surprised to find this rare 1931 footage of them singing "Veronika". This is the only film in which I've ever seen the actual Comedian Harmonists performing. Forgive that it does jump, and forgive someone's clumsy editing. You can get a sample of their comedy here.

They did "Veronika" in French, and it's rather different. Here's the principal text.

Well, only the title, which is a literal translation of the German title, and a bit of the intro, mention Véronique, and the woods don't enter into it either, just the birds. This is their recording of Véronique, le printemps est là.

Now get ready for some silliness, but silliness that people have really enjoyed. While the era was known for sophistication and elegance in music, there were also plenty of novelty songs, and Mein kleiner grüner Kaktus ("My Little Green Cactus") is a beloved, popular example. It was recorded in December 1934, during the bad times, just three months before their careers were forced to end. Maybe a little silliness was necessary then.

It's almost childish in style, about a guy who doesn't have a fancy garden, just a cactus on his balcony. Whenever some rogue comes along and says something rude, just as someone else might sic his dog on him, he instead has his cactus stick him: Stick! Stick! Stick! You can imagine the opportunity for the Comedian Harmonists to fool around on stage with this number. I'll present the whole song rather than just the principal text, and interweave the English.

Many German songs traditionally repeat a word like "hollari", with the last vowel varying, as a lustier version of "tralala". Think of The Happy Wanderer using "Valderi, Valdera". In the video, the stone balcony shown later on is the purported Juliet's balcony in Verona. And listen for "Bösewicht (rogue)", as well as "Sticht, sticht, sticht!" This is the Comedian Harmonists singing Mein kleiner grüner Kaktus.

You will hardly believe what happened to "Kaktus" in the French version, which is totally different. It's called J'aime une Tyrolienne ("I Love a Tyrolean [Girl]"), supposedly sung by a Tyrolien, a Tyrolean [boy]. (Just as we sometimes still use in English the French word "comedienne" for a woman, thereby limiting "comedian (French: comedien)" to refer to a man, French often distinguishes female/male in that way: Italienne/Italien; Tyrolienne/Tyrolien. The words in these pairs are each pronounced differently from each other.) This is the principal text.

This is the Comedian Harmonists singing J'aime une Tyrolienne in 1934.

Finally, the Comedian Harmonists did sing more serious songs, including beautiful, traditional German folk songs and classical selections. One of the most popular of their serious songs is the poignant Irgendwo auf der Welt ("Somewhere in the World"), recorded in September 1932, just four months before the Nazis took power. It's a song of hope.

This is Irgendwo auf der Welt. You can't miss the picture someone added to the video obviously long after the song was performed.

Earlier, sometime in 1933, they recorded a similar song, given the turmoil Germany was moving into. It begins: Ein neuer Frühling wird in die Heimat kommen, / schöner noch, wie's einmal war. ("A new spring will come to my homeland, / more beautiful than it ever was.") Later it has the line: Auch die grauen Wintertage gehen mal vorbei. ("Even gray winter days eventually go away.")

EMIGRATION OF THE COMPOSERS & LYRICISTS I haven't mentioned composers or lyricists (other than Cole Porter), since they were across the sea, but it's now worth mentioning the ones in Berlin, who wrote the last three songs. Every one of them was Jewish, and every one of them emigrated. Starting in 1933 was the period of harassment of Jews, where Jewish doctors couldn't practice, professors and teachers couldn't teach, Jewish students couldn't attend school, Jews were removed from civil service. Many Jews who could, thus emigrated, as did others, on moral grounds, such as Thomas Mann and Marlene Dietrich. Germany then suffered a brain drain (Einstein, Freud from Austria, many others) and the entertainment world in Berlin suffered in particular. This is where Hollywood, also Broadway, gained Dietrich, Peter Lorre, Kurt Weill, Billy Wilder (from Austria) and many others. They also gained most of the composers and lyricists of "Veronika", "Kaktus", and "Welt".

Some emigrated nearby, others far away. Some fled twice, first nearby, then further. Anne Frank and her family left Frankfurt for Amsterdam, and we know how that ended. It has crossed my mind that the parents of my friend Sol, who was born in Tangier (2013/7), might have not waited until the last minute to flee Berlin during a pregnancy, but might have made a stop somewhere outside Germany, and were then fleeing for the second time. I'll never know.

I talked about studying Cabaret in Middlebury under Herbert Nelson (2007/6 "Cabaret and the Nelsons"). His father was Rudolf Nelson, a seminal figure in Berlin entertainment in the Goldene Zwanziger. He had the Chat Noir cabaret on Unter den Linden and his Nelson Theater on the Kurfürstendamm, where he wrote and presented about 20 revues.. He was forced to flee in 1933. He brought his Revue to Vienna, but that was later also cancelled. Then he went to Zürich, and finally settled in Amsterdam, where he founded a new cabaret-in-exile. During the war, he went into hiding, survived, and in 1949, returned to Berlin and wrote and presented his last revue. During the war, while in Amsterdam, his son Herbert presented clandestine underground cabarets, and eventually settled in the USA, where Beverly and I, happily, studied and performed Cabaret under him at Middlebury.

Thus was the atmosphere in Berlin and its entertainment world in 1933, so now let's look at the composers and lyricists of "Veroniika", "Kaktus", and "Welt" who fled Berlin.

"Veronika" Composer Walter Jurmann Walter Jurmann was born in Vienna, then moved to Berlin. "Veronika" is probably his most famous song from the 1920's. In 1933 he left Berlin for Paris, but then got an MGM contract and moved to Hollywood, where he specialized in film scores and soundtracks. He worked on "Mutiny on the Bounty" (1935) with Charles Laughton (2009/12), "San Francisco" (1936) with Jeanette MacDonald and Clark Gable, "A Day at the Races" (1937) with the Marx Brothers, and "Presenting Lily Mars" (1943) with Judy Garland. He settled in Los Angeles, but withdrew from the film business in the early 1940's. From what I can tell, his most successful music from this period is the song "San Francisco" ("San Francisco, open your Golden Gate . . . ") from the above film that depicted the 1906 earthquake. "San Francisco" is today one of the two official songs of the city of San Francisco (along with "I left my Heart in San Francisco" from 1953) and is sung at public events. Can we say that Veronika moved to San Francisco? Just kidding.

"Veronika" Lyricist Fritz Rotter Fritz Rotter was also born in Vienna and was writing cabaret music from a young age, but then also moved to Berlin, as did so many artists, where he was known for the lyrics of many songs, including "Ich küsse Ihre Hand, Madame" ("I Kiss Your Hand, Madame"), which also became popular in English. But then he, too, had to leave Berlin in 1933, and returned to Vienna, but left there in 1936 for England, and in 1937 for the USA, where he wrote screenplays for many films. After the war, he returned to Europe, ending up in Switzerland, and continued writing screenplays and hit songs. Probably his most famous postwar song were the lyrics to "That's All I Want from You" (1954): "A little love, / that slowly grows and grows, / not one that comes and goes, / that's all I want from you."

"Kaktus" Composer Bert Reisfeld Bert Reisfeld was also born in Vienna, composing at first serious music, then light music, moving to Berlin. In 1933 he emigrated first to Paris, then in 1938 to the USA. He worked in Hollywood as a music-and-film journalist, an arranger for Benny Goodman and Glenn Miller. He was nominated for Grammys and won a Golden Globe, and was President of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which awards the Golden Globes.

"Kaktus" Lyricist Albrecht Marcuse Albrecht Marcuse was from Germany, and was a lawyer, author, composer, and music publisher. He left Germany in 1932 for Paris, and joined the Foreign Legion in 1939. He lived under cover in Lyon from 1940 to 1945, using the pseudonym Rolf Marbot, which he had used earlier as an author. He kept using the pseudonym after the war and led two French music publishing companies for mainly French and Latin-American hit song music, as well as the repertoire of the 1920's.

"Welt" Composer Werner Heymann Werner Heymann was a German film composer who also wrote serious music and cabaret songs. He, too, fled in 1933, first to Paris, then Hollywood. He was nominated for an Oscar for best score four times, for "One Million BC" (1940), "That Uncertain Feeling" (1941), "To Be or Not to Be" (1942), and "Knickerbocker Holiday" (1944). He returned to Germany in 1951, but on arrival, as he's pointed out, he didn't shake everyone's hand. He knew who had collaborated with the Nazis and who had not. He did become a citizen in 1957.

"Welt" Lyricist Robert Gilbert Robert Gilbert, born in Hamburg, was a composer of light music, lyricist, singer, and actor. In 1933, he fled to Vienna, and then escaped from there in 1939 with great difficulty, since Jews were not allowed to travel. He went first to France, and then to the USA, where he lived in New York with hopes of eventually reaching Broadway. That never happened, and in 1949 he returned to Germany, where he performed in Munich and Berlin, but it had been twenty years and musical tastes had changed, and his later songs couldn't reach the popularity of his earlier ones. Still, there was a fortunate outcome connected with his ten years in New York learning English. In the 1960's, he embarked on a successful second career translating Broadway musicals into German. A former close boyhood friend was Frederick Loewe, who introduced Gilbert to his partner, Allan Jay Lerner, and the result was a string of successful translations by Gilbert of "Annie Get Your Gun", "Hello Dolly", "Gigi", "My Fair Lady", and "Man of la Mancha", translations still played in revivals in the German-speaking countries. [I refer back to our experience with "My Fair Lady" as explained in further detail in 2002/5. While we had seen the film version in English in 1964, it was in Israel with Hebrew and Arabic subtitles. The only live version we ever saw was the German version in Berlin in the Theater des Westens. This would mean that we saw Gilbert's translation, including some of the lines I quote in 2002/5.]

THE FORCED DECLINE OF THE COMEDIAN HARMONISTS Given what was happening to the other entertainers and Jews in general, we can see that the writing was on the wall for the Comedian Harmonists, despite their huge popularity, since half of them, Frommermann, Collin, and Cycowski, were Jewish. Although all six members survived the war, the sextet was doomed. It started in 1933 with the first cancellations of contractually agreed-upon concerts. The first legal barriers started on 1 November 1933 based on the law passed at the instigation of Goebbels creating the Reichskulturkammer / Reich Culture Chamber, subdivided according to fields, such as the Reichsmusikkammer / Reich Music Chamber. It was supposedly a professional organization of German creative artists, and it was required that all artists who wanted to work be members. But then Goebbels also made it clear that Jews would not be accepted as members, so that it was a de facto ban on Jewish artists performing legally. The Comedian Harmonists were allowed a transitory period until 1 May 1934 where they could fulfill contracts that were already signed. The group's last concert in Germany was in Hannover on 25 March 1934.

But they could still perform outside Germany, so in the last months of their existence they went abroad, first to Denmark and Norway. This is a poster for their concert at the University of Oslo on 25 April 1934. Look closely at the program and note that they started out with that song we made reference to above after "Welt", Ein neuer Frühling wird in die Heimat kommen ("A New Spring will Come to my Homeland"). They also sang Ohne dich ("Without You" = "Stormy Weather") and Tag und Nacht ("Day and Night" = "Night and Day").

This was the point where a very welcome invitation arrived to sing in the USA, and in 1934 they sailed to New York on the Europa. When I read what the ship was that they sailed on, it was a thrill, and was one more distant, yet real, connection for me to this time period. You may recall that the Europa, built in 1928, was turned over to the Allies after WWII and ended up being the French ship Liberté, and it was on one of the last voyages of the Liberté, in the fall of 1961 that Beverly and I sailed, on our third voyage ever, to France to go study in Germany for a year. The fact that I now know that she used to be the Europa has pleased me, and the fact that I've just learned that the Comedian Harmonists had sailed on her just 27 years earlier has pleased me even more.

What was particularly spectacular about their stay in New York was the huge honor they were paid, based on their fame and on the problems they were now facing. They were asked to perform in New York harbor before the combined Atlantic and Pacific fleets of the US Navy on the deck of the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, shown here in 1935 landing aircraft on the deck. They also appeared more than thirty times on the radio, appeared with Paul Whiteman and his orchestra, the leading orchestra of the time, and they made a joint appearance with the Boswell Sisters.

Their very positive reception in the US plus the problems facing them at home caused some of the Comedian Harmonists to consider staying and not returning. It's easy to try to speculate and see how their careers would have been different. Could they have found success on Broadway and in Hollywood? Many others had. Perhaps they would have remained popular for decades more. But mainly Biberti insisted on going back, primarily because of his elderly mother. And then, as so many thought—or hoped—the Nazis couldn't continue on much longer. Could they?

They went back to Berlin in August 1934 and did some recordings. In November 1934 they recorded La Paloma (above) in Spanish. And it was in December 1934 that they recorded "Whispering" and "Tea for Two" (above) as well as—believe it or not—"Kaktus". In this period they also toured fascist, but not antisemitic, Italy. In February 1935, they went back to Norway, where the last public concert of the entire original ensemble of the Comedian Harmonists was held.

On 13 February 1935 they recorded two folk songs in the Electrola Studio in Berlin. One was the beautiful folk song I've known for a long time, Am Brunnen vor dem Tore ("At the Fountain by the Gate") as well as one I've never heard of before, but which is powerfully significant given the situation Morgen muss ich fort von hier ("Tomorrow I have to leave here"). It was their last legal recording together. On 1 March 1935, they recorded two more, Offenbach's "Barcarole" and Brahms's "Hungarian Dance No 5", both with German lyrics. This pair was actually their very last recording together, but it was already illegal. All four of these can be found on YouTube.

Shortly afterward they agreed that they'd split the group in two, and each half would then add three more members, making two sextets. The non-Jewish group stayed in Berlin and the Jewish group went to Vienna, at first.

Meistersextett In Berlin, Biberti, Bootz, and Leschnikoff were accepted into the Reichsmusikkammer as of 21 November 1935, but with the restriction that they not work with Jews. They also had to give up the English name Comedian Harmonists in favor of a German name, and they became the Meistersextett ("Master Sextet"), although they were allowed to bill them selves as "Meistersextett, früher [formerly] Comedian Harmonists". But then on 17 December 1937, a further regulation came out forbidding the sale of the old records of the Comedian Harmonists, which had the further effect of cutting back severely on royalties. It was over with "Wochenend", "Daisy", "Veronika", "Kaktus", and all the others. The censorship and lack of acceptance precluded any success, and the Meistersextett broke up in 1941.

Comedy Harmonists The Vienna exile group also started in 1935. They began with the same name, but in 1937 altered it to Comedy Harmonists. Their first recording had on one side, quite appropriately Drüben in der Heimat ("Over in my Homeland"). Starting first with Vienna as a base, but later London, they very successfully toured Europe (without Germany), the Soviet Union, Australia, and South America. But then while they were touring the US at the end of 1941, the US entered the war, and they found themselves stuck in New York. Worse, while no one could be more anti-Nazi then they were, they couldn't find work because of the growing anti-German feeling and the hostility to German entertainers. And so the ensemble fell apart. Frommermann tried to put together another ensemble in New York, but didn't have the funding. Thus the two new groups emanating out of the original Comedian Harmonists each lasted from 1935 to 1941.

American Postwar Group Although all members survived the war, they never re-formed after the war. However, Collin founded in the spring of 1948 a new group with American singers and used the name Comedian Harmonists. A tour of Europe followed in the summer of 1948 and as of September, Harry Frommermann joined the group, but with a shortened name, Harry Frohman. Still, the group lasted only until 1949.

Final Years Harry Frommermann (Frohman) was drafted into the US Army and entertained the troops. After the war he went back to Berlin and worked as a translator, including at the Nuremberg Trials. He also lived in Zürich, Rome, and the US. In 1960, he applied to the German government for compensation for the loss of his previous existence because of the racist laws of the Nazis, and in 1962 he received a life pension. He returned to Germany, but was chronically sick, and died in Bremen in 1975.

Erich Collin went to Los Angeles in 1935 and died there in 1961. He was the first of the group to die, before Frommermann.

Ari Leschnikov tried a solo career in Germany unsuccessfully in 1939, then went back to Bulgaria, where he died in poverty in Sofia in 1978.

Erwin Bootz lived after the war for a decade in Canada, but then lived in Hamburg, where he died in 1982.

Robert Biberti stayed in Berlin and later ran an antiques shop and wrote articles about the Comedian Harmonists. He died in 1985.

Roman Cycowski settled in Los Angeles in 1941, then lived in San Francisco. He died in Palm Springs in 1998 at the age of 97. He was the last surviving member of the sextet.

THE REDISCOVERY OF THE COMEDIAN HARMONISTS After the turmoil of the war, the Comedian Harmonists remained largely forgotten, their vinyl records languishing on closet shelves and in attics as silent witnesses of a past world.

Sechs Lebensläufe But change started to come about in 1975 when filmmaker Eberhard Fechner decided to do a four-hour black-and-white television documentary in which he traveled internationally to find and interview the surviving members. The excellent documentary was called "Sechs Lebensläufe", which is literally "Six Résumés", but which I'd rather translate as "Six Lives". It was aired in two parts and caused a renewal of interest, and rereleases of their records on vinyl.

Erich Collin had died fourteen years earlier, in 1961, but Fechner was going to interview the remaining five. He had plans in place to interview Harry Frommermann, the founder, but unfortunately, the chronically ill Frommermann died two weeks before filming was to start, so Fechner ended up interviewing only four of the sextet. Still, Fechner was known for being a gifted interviewer and understood how, through patient listening and follow-up questions to draw from his interviewees very personal, controversial, and deeply hidden memories.

A short selection of scenes from the documentary is available on YouTube in the original German. Even non-speakers of German should at least skim it—it runs 7:47--and I'll paraphrase, not translate, highlights to assist with Sechs Lebensläufe.

"Comedian Harmonists" (Film) Finally, in 1997 a film was made called "Comedian Harmonists", a name that was shortened, inexplicably, for the American market to "The Harmonists". Perhaps the American distributor felt both English words in the title was more than Americans could handle in a German film. At least they seemed to feel that adding "The" wouldn't tip the scales into bafflement.

The film was based on the story of you-know-who, but with the usual degree of artistic license. The six actors playing the sextet lip-synched to genuine records of the Comedian Harmonists. Over three million people saw the film, making it a popular success, and it won numerous awards, primarily German, including best film, director, actors, more. The ensemble of five actors portraying the sextet won a special award from the Bavarian Film Awards. I saw the film in Tampa shortly after it came out, then, after seeing the tribute group perform on the Deutschland in 2000, I saw the film a second time, in the Deutschland's cinema, on the Spitsbergen trip in 2006.

The film is available on YouTube, but in the original German. I think non-speakers of German already knowing the story—readers must know it backwards by now--would follow most of the plot reasonably well, including the Jewish wedding and scenes with the Nazis, but still, I'll point out highlights. Remember, all songs are original recordings, with lip-synching. Note the humorous use of the monocle, which is also done by the tribute group. This is the 1997 film called Comedian Harmonists.

I have some additional information about the film. The Saratoga scenes and the cemetery scenes were the costliest to do. The Saratoga scenes had to be processed digitally to include the singers on stage, some 1500 sailors, and a 1934 New York skyline. The film was very successful in Europe, and President Bill Clinton told film critic Roger Ebert that it was among his favorite films of the year. But the film didn't get wide release in the US, so it, and the Comedian Harmonists remain mostly unknown there. I mentioned how the distributor played around with the title, but the distributor also censored a small bit of the film. When the camera pans over the mostly white sailors, it stops at a black sailor who is obviously enjoying the music but then looks toward some officers, which the camera also shows. One of the officers gives the sailor a glance of rebuke, so that the sailor turns away. This short segment was cut by the distributor in the American release, but is visible in this video at 1:25:09. This is particularly unfortunate, since the film is about racism in Germany, and was perhaps trying to just show a glimpse of racism in the US, but the distributor cut it out.

Veronika, der Lenz ist da--Die Comedian Harmonists (Musical Play) In 1994 a musical was developed about the Comedian Harmonists and was given a lengthy name based on—what else—"Veronika". It premiered three years later on 19 December 1997, the same year as the film, at the Komödie am Kurfürstendamm in Berlin and played to numerous performances there and elsewhere in Germany. When the Berlin production closed, the actor-singers who had played the original sextet—and really sang, unlike the lip-synching actors in the film—formed themselves into a new group called the Berlin Comedian Harmonists and have appeared since as a tribute act to the original sextet (below).

In 1998, the Deutsche Phono-Akademie posthumously awarded the original Comedian Harmonists the Echo Prize in recognition of outstanding achievement in the music industry. Each year's winner is based on the previous year's sales, so apparently the film and play both had a good effect. In addition, there is now a Gedenktafel (Memorial Plaque) on the building in Stubenrauchstraße 47 in Berlin-Friedenau (Photo by OTFW), which translates as:

Berlin Comedian Harmonists   The sophisticated, sometimes comic, music of the 1920's and 1930's has been making a comeback now that people remember the Comedian Harmonists. I've noted that there are other tribute groups that portray them, but the best known are the actors from the 1997 musical, who had been culled from hundreds who had auditioned for the original gig. The show was so successful that the sextet from the show was asked to make other concert and gala appearances. After the Berlin production closed those actors formed what they call the Berlin Comedian Harmonists, who have since performed across Europe, in the US, Australia, and South America. Their repertoire includes not the old Comedian Harmonist favorites, but new arrangements of other famous hits, and also their own compositions. However, over time, the membership of the group has changed, and there are only three of the original actors in the current sextet (Photo by Claudius Schutte). In addition to the tuxedos you expect to see, you'll spot a monocle that's used as humorously as the original Comedian Harmonists used one. Take a look at their website. You know, of course, what song will greet you, but click on "Ensemble" to see names and vocal ranges (Klavier is "piano"), and to spot the monocle again.

It was the original six Berlin Comedian Harmonists I saw perform on the Deutschland in July 2000 (2013/9), and the décor of the ship and of the Kaisersaal where they performed was ideal, since the Deutschland is completely in period Art Deco style. I only recently found out that the Berlin Comedian Harmonists went to the Sydney Olympics in September that year, where they represented Germany, performing two concerts in the German Pavilion. Friend Janet in Australia also pointed out to me last year that the Deutschland was in Sydney as well, where it housed the German equestrian team. That was also news to me, although I knew that after I was on the Deutschland in Greenland last year, it went to the London Olympics to house the German Olympic Committee and to serve as a public hotel.

Most performances on YouTube by the Berlin Comedian Harmonists are in conjunction with the Dutch conductor André Rieu and his orchestra, so these examples are not the usual "a cappella plus piano" style. These are the five singers (Photo by Karl-Heinz Meurer), in Köln/Cologne, with the Rieu orchestra in the background.

Max Raabe   We should be done here. We've discussed the original group, and the Berlin tribute group. But the popularity of this music has revived, and there are other tribute groups, and still others who just want to play this style of music, most notably Max Raabe (RAH.buh) and his Palast Orchester (Palace Orchestra). Raabe plays this style of music while having a stage presence reminiscent of the Comedian Harmonists. He plays their songs, other songs in their style, or new songs he writes, also in that style. He started loving this music when he found old vinyl records in his parents' closet and saw the Comedian Harmonists on television. He's been quoted as calling the music of that period "The most elegant pop music ever." Musically trained in Berlin to become a baritone opera singer, he founded the orchestra with a dozen friends in 1985 when he was just 23. He found musical arrangements of this music shopping in flea markets, and the orchestra spent a year learning the style. They first performed publicly in 1987 with great success, and by 1992 they had their first hit. They have performed across Europe, and in 2010 toured Israel, where the concerts were enthusiastically received by German-speaking Jews, in the realization that his repertoire includes numerous songs by Jewish composers from that prewar period that were fundamental to the entertainment life of Berlin.

Raabe first performed in the US in 2004, has performed in many other places there, as well as in New York's Carnegie Hall three times, in 2005, 2007, and 2010. It is significant that Raabe and all musicians in the orchestra are classically trained. They total 13: Raabe, 11 male musicians, and 1 woman, the violinist. Raabe has claimed that their compositions are of great quality and that they don't handle the pieces any differently than they would handle lieder by Schubert. In 2012, Raabe was given the Verdienstorden des Landes Berlin / Order of Merit of Berlin.

We should now insert one of his performances, so we can see what we're talking about. There are videos of dozens of his songs on YouTube, many in English, but I think this is the best one to start with. This is Max Raabe and the Palast Orchester with Hallo, hallo was machst du heut', Daisy?

Where to begin? So much is an hommage to the Comedian Harmonists. The stage setting and bandstand vary, but are usually Art Deco. All the men are in tuxedos, and the female violinist is in a gown. It always starts with an instrumental, then Raabe sings. This is the only video I found that uses a chorus line, and in period costumes. The orchestra usually has something funny to do, such as chasing after the chorus line here, leaving a disappointed pianist.

As for Raabe himself, do understand that you're watching a stage persona. At a loss to describe this persona myself, I've collected some comments from his reviewers and included some of my own in the mix. He's been described as having "ageless Peter Pan looks and impeccable style" both on- and offstage. Onstage he appears "dashing, dapper, and debonair", not only evoking the Goldene Zwanziger in Berlin, but looking like he might have just walked out of them. He has "elegant poise and suave sophistication". He leans on the piano, is nonchalant, insouciant, ultra-sophisticated. He presents an air of being über-cool. (I love that word. German "über" is used as a prefix in English, English "cool" is used in German, and "über-cool" can be used in both.)

His bio as Visiting Artist with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra described his slicked-back hair and cheeky look. It mentions his "incredibly straight face, ironically raised eyebrow and slightly bent elbow". Another reviewer points out that he could easily pass for one of the Comedian Harmonists, with his pomaded hair and tailcoat, and the way he "raises his eyebrows meaningfully as if fresh out of a silent film".

Noticeable are his exaggerated facial expressions, and melodramatically r-r-r-rolled R's, which are not normal in either English or German and which he often does when singing in both languages. If you missed it, go back to "Daisy" at 0:55 and see if you can hear him exaggeratedly rolling his R's in "bRennen", "Rennen" "hieR geschRieben", and more. He has a large vocal range, from the baritone he was trained in up to, when needed, a falsetto.

His real name is Matthias Otto, and Max Raabe is the stage name he uses both on- and offstage. If you check back in 2007/17 to where we discussed Poe's "The Raven", we said that in German, it's called "Der Rabe". He uses a variant spelling in Raabe, pronounced the same. But think about it. German speakers hear his name as Max Raven. How much slicker can you get than that?

Before we get to more songs, you might enjoy this video connected with his tour of the US, including Carnegie Hall. He speaks in English, and comments on the music. The tour is called Tonight or Never. The video is meant to look like a period movie preview.

Max Raabe Oeuvre   There are dozens of pieces by Raabe on YouTube—one playlist has 138 selections--and there are several full-length performances, up to two hours. I've watched interviews with him during his emotional visit to Israel, where former émigrés from Berlin were interviewed, but it's in German. Still, if you've gotten hooked, just go check out more music. Otherwise, I've put a few selected videos below.

Let's start with Comedian Harmonists music. Here is Raabe doing Mein kleiner grüner Kaktus. Note the enthusiastic rhythmic applause. His Veronika, der Lenz ist da unfortunately just has a still picture in the video, as does his Wochenend und Sonnenschein.

Let's insert here a bit of clowning in the Comedian Harmonists' tradition with Raabe's and the Palast Orchester's version of 'O Sole mio, the Neapolitan song written in 1898. What Raabe says on reaching the mike is "Die Gondel hatte Verspätung--Italien!" (The gondola was late--Italy!)

We can be a little more serious about the title of the song. The traditional definite articles ("the") in Neapolitan are Lo (masculine) and La (feminine), but in regular usage the L is lost, and written with an apostrophe, 'O and 'A. These compare to standard Italian il and la. Thus the title, which in Italian would be "Il Sole mio" means "My Sun". Raabe sings the song, as most do, in Neapolitan, not standard Italian. After the opening (not sung here) declares what a nice thing a sunny day is after a storm, this is the famous chorus, which Raabe sings amid the goofing around:

We'll now move to Raabe in English. We'll first go back for a bit more Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Irving Berlin wrote for the 1935 film "Top Hat" Cheek to Cheek.

A song that one may think is much newer, because one has heard other people sing it more recently, actually dates from 1931, and was first recorded by Ozzie Nelson. It's Dream a Little Dream of Me.

There's another song that's older than one realizes, "Singin' in the Rain", which dates from 1929. Raabe does sing it here in English, but his intro about the older and newer version, which is quintessential Raabe, is in German. This is what the Raabe persona says in his precise, elegant style:

This is Raabe's Singin' in the Rain. Do enjoy the intro.

I was pleasantly surprised to discover Raabe's recording of what started out as Yiddish song, then got an English text, but retained the Yiddish title. It's of course "Bei Mir Bistu Schein", usually Germanized to "Bei mir bist du schön" ("To Me You're Beautiful"). It was written in 1932 for a Yiddish musical play, and eventually became the Andrews Sisters' first hit, reaching worldwide fame. There is sometimes a question of how to pronounce the Yiddish word "schein" in the title, even when it's Germanized to "schön". However, most performers, including native German speakers such as Raabe, have logically adopted the Yiddish pronunciation, where "schein" rhymes with "rain". Here is Raabe's Bei mir bist du schön. It was of course included in his show in Israel.

But Raabe doesn't just stay in the past. He writes new songs, yet presented in the style of the rest of his oeuvre. Still, the songs are typical of him in that the lyrics are humorous, yet very cleverly put together. We'll present here the three of his own songs that are probably the best known among his following, with appropriate explanations of what makes them clever.

We said above that in 1992 they had their first big hit, and it was one of these three, set in 1920's style. It's a lament about non-communication that has an unusual name with a rhyme in it, Kein Schwein ruft mich an. It would seem that it means "No Swine Calls me Up", which is part of the humor, but that's what needs explanation. It all comes down to that rhyme.

In English, in place of saying "no one", you can include a noun, and say instead "not a soul". You don't really mean a soul in the metaphysical sense. It's just being used as a synonym of "person". Something similar is happening here, built around the rhyme. To rhyme with "kein", "Schwein" works nicely, so the title really means "Not a Soul Calls Me Up", "soul" referring to "person", but with the rhyming humor built in. This is a perfect example of the joke being lost in translation. I'll just provide the three best verses here:

He follows up immediately on the Schwein/swine theme by then changing it to Sau/sow. That change makes no sense, except as an extension of the joke—unless he wants to make a point about females. Furthermore, he, typically, falls back into rhyme, using in one line wohn, Hohn, Telefon, and two lines later, mich, gelegentlich, mich We now skip down a bit in the song.

There would be no reason to refer to Danes or hyenas except that by doing so, he works it out to have a lovely four-way rhyme at the end of two adjacent lines between Dänen, wähnen, Hyänen, gähnen. He ends it:

Keep the above in mind as Max Raabe sings Kein Schwein ruft mich an. Note his r-r-r-rolling R's, and watch for the pig.

Ten years later, in 2002, Raabe had a hit with Klonen kann sich lohnen. There are no language tricks here, it's pretty straightforward about a sign of the times: "Cloning can be Worth It". I'll pick the cutest sections.

He goes right into rhymes and vowels here again. Klonen, lohnen, Bohnen, Personen all rhyme, and those four, along with Obst, komisch, vor, Genlabor, Ohr all have a long O, which he happily lengthens even further when he sings those nine words. He also purposely says "Personen/persons" instead of "Leute/people", just because of the rhyme and the vowel. And when he says to lend him your ear—is that to hear him or for cloning?

Lucky for me that, just as Gnu/du is a rhyme in German, gnu/you works in English. Here's the last verse.

Find these three verses as Max Raabe sings his Klonen kann sich lohnen. He ends with the look of a naughty little boy that's just gotten away with something. Maybe he has.

His newest original hit just came out in 2011, and it states a basic truth: Küssen kann man nicht alleine ("You Can't Kiss Alone"). It's rather long, so I'll paraphrase the beginning and then cut to the chase. "I can do everything by myself, you'd be amazed. I can play poker with myself, psychoanalyze myself, read poems to myself, win at chess with myself, bribe myself, take my own confession. But there's one thing I can't do, nor can anyone else."

Then we can jump to the last verse.

We'll end this story that started with the style of music of the 1920's and 1930's that the Comedian Harmonists were a large part of, as it's been brought into the 21C by Max Raabe, with Raabe's Küssen kann man nicht alleine.