Paul Burkhard
{{Short description|Swiss composer (1911–1977)}}
{{One source|date=December 2024}}
File:Paul Burkhard 1950s Com X-B093-001-002 (cropped).tif
Paul Burkhard (21 December 1911 – 6 September 1977) was a Swiss composer. He primarily wrote oratorios, musicals and operettas. The contemporaneous and similarly named Swiss composer Willy Burkhard was no relation to him.
Probably his most famous artistic creation was the song "{{Lang|de|O mein Papa|italic=no}}" ("Oh! My Pa-Pa") about the death of a beloved clown-father, written for the musical {{Lang|de|Der schwarze Hecht}} (re-issued in 1950 as {{Lang|de|Das Feuerwerk}}) that premiered in April 1939. The song rose to #1 on the Sheet Music Chart and stayed in the chart for 26 weeks. The song has been performed and recorded by numerous artists since then, including Alan Breeze, Billy Cotton, Billy Vaughn, Connie Francis, Diana Decker, Eddie Calvert, Eddie Fisher, The Everly Brothers, Harry James, Lys Assia, Ray Anthony & his Orchestra, Russ Morgan & his Orchestra, and many others.
Works (selection)
- 1935: {{Interlanguage link|Hopsa|de}}
- 1950: Das Feuerwerk (Original: Der schwarze Hecht, 1939) with the hit song O mein Papa
- 1951: {{Interlanguage link|Die kleine Niederdorf-Oper|de}}
- 1960: {{Interlanguage link|Frank der Fünfte|de}} – Comedy with Music; Oper einer Privatbank, by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
- 1960: {{Interlanguage link|D Zäller Wiehnacht|de}} – Christmas play
- 1965: Noah – The story of Noah and the Arc – for children
- 1971: Zäller Oschtere – Passion play
References
{{reflist|refs=
|last = Flury
|first = Philipp
|author2=Kaufmann, Peter
|title = O mein Papa... Paul Burkhard: Leben und Werk
|year = 1979
|publisher = Orell Füssli/Neue Schweizer Bibliothek
|location = Zürich
|language = German
|oclc = 6787865
|isbn = 3-280-01129-9}}
}}
External links
{{Commons category}}
- {{DNB portal|118517724|TYP=}}
- {{HDS|20554}}
- {{IMDb name|0121990|Paul Burkhard}}
- [http://www.omeinpapa.ch/ O mein Papa – Documentary film about Paul Burkhard, September 2007]
- [http://musicaltheatreguide.com/composers/burkhard/paul_burkhard.htm List of stage works]
{{Portal bar|Biography|Classical music}}
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Category:20th-century Swiss classical composers
Category:Swiss opera composers
Category:Swiss male opera composers
Category:Musicians from Zurich
Category:20th-century Swiss male musicians
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