Georg Kreisler

Georg Kreisler
Georg Kreisler, October 2009
Background information
Born	18 July 1922(1922-07-18) Vienna, Austria
Died	22 November 2011(2011-11-22) (aged 89) Salzburg, Austria
Occupations	pianist, composer, singer/songwriter, writer
Instruments	Vocals, piano
Years active	1944–2011, retired as singer 2001
Labels	Amadeo, Electrola, Preiser, Philips, kip

Georg Kreisler (18 July 1922 – 22 November 2011) was an Austrian-American Viennese-language cabarettist, satirist, composer, and author. He was particularly popular in the 1950s and 1960s. From 2007 he lived in Salzburg, Austria with his third wife, Barbara Peters. He died there on November 22, 2011 "after a severe infection," according to his wife Barbara.

Life

Kreisler went to high school in Vienna, where he studied music theory, and learned to play violin and piano. In 1938, he was forced to flee with his parents due to increasing Nazi restrictions on Jews. In 1943, he became an American citizen. He enlisted in the Army, and was stationed in Europe. He wrote songs for soldiers in Britain and France with the help of Marcel Prawy. After the war, he went to Hollywood and worked on movies with Charlie Chaplin. He performed at nightclubs and bars to make ends meet. In 1947, he was rejected by the record companies because his songs were "Un-American", especially songs with titles such as "Please Shoot Your Husband". In 1955, he returned to Europe, first to Vienna, then Munich in 1958, Berlin in 1976, Salzburg in 1988, Basel in 1992, and back to Salzburg in 2007.

Style

Kreisler's songs are characterized by black humor and uncompromising criticism of society and politics. This caused him many difficulties and also contributed to appearance prohibitions in radio and television.

Kreisler may occasionally have used ideas and material from other artists in his work. His song "Die Hand" shows strong similarities to Tom Lehrer's "I Hold Your Hand in Mine", first recorded in 1953 Songs by Tom Lehrer. Lehrer's recording predates by several years any documented recording or performance of "Die Hand" by Kreisler as well as Kreisler's return to performance in German-speaking countries in 1955. Kreisler's "Taubenvergiften im Park" has strong similarities to Lehrer's "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park". Kreisler and Lehrer each deny copying from the other; so far no one has succeeded in establishing which song was written first. Kreisler's "Das Mädchen mit den drei blauen Augen" appears to be related to the Abe Burrows song "The Girl with the Three Blue Eyes" (first recording: 1950).

External links

• Media related to Georg Kreisler at Wikimedia Commons
• Georg Kreisler at the Internet Movie Database