Richard Hageman: The Becoming of a Song Composer
Nico de Villiers
Peter Lang Publishing (2025)
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As an important contributor to the arts in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century, Richard Hageman (1881-1966) is recognized as one of the Academy Award-winning film composers for John Ford’s Stagecoach (1939). While routinely referred to in the same context as Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, William Grant Still, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold in Hollywood, Hageman was also a celebrated pianist, coach, conductor, and composer of concert music. During his lifetime the gamut of singers of the day sang his songs, from opera stars Geraldine Farrar, Kirsten Flagstad, Lauritz Melchior, Lawrence Tibbett and recital stalwarts Lotte Lehmann, Nan Merriman, John McCormack to silver screen songbirds Jeanette MacDonald and Deanna Durbin. Later Kiri Te Kanawa, Thomas Hampson, and Roberta Alexander recorded some Hageman songs, but nowadays these songs remain generally unexplored. This volume considers these songs in depth from the unique perspective of an art song scholar-pianist.
“In our century, Richard Hageman is known throughout the vocal world for only one song. In this well-researched volume, Nico de Villiers corrects this injustice by passionately showing us the unknown, uncelebrated Hageman. Any serious fan of vocal repertoire will find this a treasure trove of information about this composer, his life, and his music.”
– Martin Katz, internationally acclaimed pianist and author
“The devoted expertise of Nico de Villiers will certainly excite singers, performers, and public alike to explore this extraordinary forgotten chapter of American creativity.”
– Thomas Hampson, world-renowned baritone
Richard Hageman: From Holland to Hollywood is the first critical biography to reconstruct Hageman’s colorful life while recreating the cultural milieu in which he flourished: opera in America during the first half of the twentieth century and film scoring in Hollywood in the heyday of the studio system. Here Hageman’s most important works are analyzed in depth for the first time, from his famous art song, "Do Not Go, My Love" and his opera Caponsacchi, to his film scores such as She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and 3 Godfathers. This biography offers a compelling read for opera lovers, film fans, and American history enthusiasts alike.
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Please click here to order your copy.
Richard Hageman: From Holland to Hollywood
Nico de Villiers, Kathryn Kalinak, Asing Walthaus
Peter Lang Publishing (2020)
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Richard Hageman (1881-1966) was celebrated during his lifetime as a conductor, pianist, vocal coach, and composer. His art songs put him solidly in the vanguard of mid-century composers and he was routinely referred to in the same context as Aaron Copland, Virgil Thomson, William Grant Still, and Erich Wolfgang Korngold. His opera Caponsacchi was the first American opera to premiere in Freiburg-im-Breisgau and Vienna. A conductor at the Metropolitan Opera, Hageman knew the great singers of the age, conducting Enrico Caruso and Geraldine Farrar, and accompanying Nellie Melba and Emmy Destinn. He wrote songs for John McCormack and Lotte Lehmann. By the late 1930s Hageman was composing in Hollywood, scoring westerns for John Ford and earning six Academy Award nominations. In Hollywood, he had drinks with John Wayne, rubbed shoulders with Jeanette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, and shared the screen with Louis Armstrong and Elizabeth Taylor.
Richard Hageman: From Holland to Hollywood is the first critical biography to reconstruct Hageman’s colorful life while recreating the cultural milieu in which he flourished: opera in America during the first half of the twentieth century and film scoring in Hollywood in the heyday of the studio system. Here Hageman’s most important works are analyzed in depth for the first time, from his famous art song, "Do Not Go, My Love" and his opera Caponsacchi, to his film scores such as She Wore a Yellow Ribbon and 3 Godfathers. This biography offers a compelling read for opera lovers, film fans, and American history enthusiasts alike.
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Please click here to order your copy.