André Previn
André Previn (1929–2019) was a German-born American pianist, conductor, and composer whose work ranged across classical music, jazz, and film scores.
My Fair Lady (1956 film): A 1956 American musical film adapted from the stage musical based on George Bernard Shaw’s Pygmalion. Previn arranged and conducted the film’s orchestral score.
Jazz piano: A style of piano performance shaped by jazz harmony, improvisation, rhythm, and ensemble interaction. Previn’s jazz recordings established him as a pianist as well as a classical conductor.
Dory Previn: An American lyricist and singer-songwriter who collaborated with André Previn during their marriage. Their songwriting partnership produced songs for Hollywood films.
Berlin: The capital and largest city of Germany. Previn was born there in 1929.
Leonard Bernstein: An American composer, conductor, pianist, and educator who led the New York Philharmonic and composed West Side Story. Like Previn, Bernstein crossed composing, piano, and conducting, but became especially identified with public musical education.
Gigi: A 1958 American musical film directed by Vincente Minnelli, with songs by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. Previn won an Academy Award for arranging its musical score.
Classical music: A tradition of art music associated with written scores, diverse historical periods, and formal concert performance. Much of Previn’s conducting and composition belonged to this tradition.
Rainer Maria Rilke: A German-language poet whose work includes the Duino Elegies and Sonnets to Orpheus. Previn adapted Rilke’s poetry in his song cycle The Giraffes Go to Hamburg.
Nazi Germany: The German state under Adolf Hitler’s dictatorship from 1933 to 1945. Previn’s Jewish family left Germany in 1938 as Nazi persecution intensified.
John Williams: An American composer and conductor known for film scores including Star Wars and Jaws. Williams also worked as a studio pianist before becoming a leading film composer, but remained more closely tied to screen music.