Richard Hageman: The Becoming of a Song Composer

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