| Oscar Hammerstein II (1895-1960), American librettist, who helped
raise American musical comedy to true musical theater.
The grandson of the impresario Oscar Hammerstein, he was
born in New York City and studied law at Columbia
University. His earliest notable librettos were for Rose
Marie (1924), by the Bohemian-American composer
Rudolf Friml; The Desert Song (1926), by the
Hungarian-American Sigmund Romberg; and Show Boat
(1927), by the American Jerome Kern. In 1943 he began
working with Richard Rodgers. Their first work, Oklahoma!
(1943; Pulitzer Prize, 1944), won extraordinary acclaim,
and their South Pacific (1949; Pulitzer Prize,
1950) is regarded as one of the best musical plays ever
written. Their other musicals include Carousel (1945), The King and I (1951),
Me and Juliet (1953),
and The Sound of Music (1959). Hammerstein's most
famous song lyrics include "Indian Love Call,"
"Ol' Man River," "People Will Say We're in
Love," and "Some Enchanted Evening." |
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