Richard Leibert

Richard William "Dick" Leibert (April 29, 1903 – October 22, 1976) was an American musician who was the chief organist at New York City's Radio City Music Hall between 1932 and 1971.[1] He also had a radio program of organ music on the NBC Radio Network in the 1930s and 1940s, along with making phonograph recordings on the RCA Victor and Westminster Records labels.

Richard Leibert
Richard Leibert at the console of the Radio City Music Hall organ
Born(1903-04-29)April 29, 1903
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, U.S.
DiedOctober 22, 1976(1976-10-22) (aged 73)
Fort Myers, Florida, U.S.
EducationPeabody Conservatory of Music
OccupationOrganist
Years active1924–1971

Early years
Loew's Palace Theater in Washington, D.C., where Leibert was organist as a teenager

Born on April 29, 1903,[2] in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, to Mr. and Mrs. Joseph M. Leibert, young Richard Leibert displayed an early talent for music, playing songs by ear on his family's piano as a young child.[1][3] He first played the organ in public as a 7-year-old.[4] When he was fifteen, Leibert's family moved to Washington, D.C., and he began playing as a substitute theater organist at Loew's Palace Theater there.[1][4]

Leibert attended college at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and studied organ at the Peabody Conservatory of Music in Baltimore, Maryland.[1] He entertained President Calvin Coolidge, playing the piano at the White House East Room.[5] He briefly had a touring dance band, playing the piano with the ensemble himself, but soon embarked on his career as a full-time theater organist.[6]

Organist career
Radio City Music Hall. Its twin organ consoles are in alcoves on both sides of the stage

By the late 1920s, Leibert had established his reputation as a skilled theater organist, renowned for his arrangements of popular melodies, including imaginative reharmonisation and bridges, as well as syncopation and transposition.[5] In 1927, he played in the inaugural show at Loew’s Penn Theatre in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, continuing as the regular organist there until 1932.[7] In the era of talking pictures when theater organists no longer provided silent film accompaniment and sound effects, Leibert offered 15-minute "organlogues" to entertain movie audiences in between feature films and other acts. His popular organlogues might include a classical piece, such as the Poet and Peasant overture by Franz von Suppé, various popular songs, and accompanying audience sing-alongs, preceding the feature-length film.[8] The evening's playbill at the Penn Theatre on August 23, 1931, was typical: a stage show with dancers, an orchestra number, one of Leibert's organlogues, and then the feature film, Pardon Us, starring Laurel and Hardy.[9]

In 1932, Leibert was organist at New York's Brooklyn Paramount Theatre, playing its still extant Wurlitzer organ, a four manual, 26-rank instrument with 1,838 pipes.[10] A music critic for the Brooklyn Times-Union said Leibert's performances there were those of a "master of the classics [who] usually manages to weave a finer piece of music into his songfest of popular melodies".[11]

When the Radio City Music Hall opened in Manhattan on December 27, 1932, Leibert was appointed chief organist. In his new position, he played the Music Hall's "Mighty Wurlitzer" pipe organ, the biggest Wurlitzer theater organ ever built, for thirty shows each week.[12][13][14] Leibert had at his command an organ having twin 4-manual consoles so that both he and another organist could play the instrument's 58 ranks and 4,178 pipes simultaneously.[15] The New York Times described the Radio City organ as "like having an orchestra under your fingers and feet ... cymbals that crash, violins that swoon, tubas that oompah, xylophones that plunk and glockenspiels that plink".[16]

Leibert had his own radio program on the NBC Radio Network in the 1930s and 1940s, playing a smaller Wurlitzer organ in a broadcasting studio at the Music Hall for 16 programs weekly.[14] In addition to his busy schedule of Radio City Music Hall performances and broadcasts, Leibert played at Manhattan nightclubs in the 1930s following the end of Prohibition.[17] He also patented 32 "gadgets" for the pipe organ, newspapers reported in 1934.[18]

Leibert did annual concert tours, playing with such orchestra leaders of the period as Paul Whiteman, Charles Previn, Raymond Paige, and Erno Rappe.[13] His musicianship appealed to listeners who were not necessarily organ music fans. One critic enthused, "He has transformed this reviewer from one who despised the pipe organ to a Dick Leibert fan. His music isn't crashing noise — it's music, always making us want more and sending the audience away humming".[19] The year before he retired as Radio City Music Hall's chief organist, he played a special midnight concert, "Bach to Bacharach", on the Mighty Wurlitzer for the convention of the American Theatre Organ Society.[12]

Discography

In 1951, two of Leibert's phonograph records marketed by RCA Victor were Organ Encores and Christmas Carols.[20] His many recordings span the 1940s–1960s and were made on various organs, in addition to Radio City Music Hall, such as the Byrd Theatre in Richmond, Virginia, and the fondly remembered Paramount Theatre on Times Square in Manhattan.[21] Some of his later LP recordings in stereo have been re-mastered and released on compact disc. Leibert's recordings produced by RCA Victor and Westminster Records include:[22]

  • The Hymns America Loves Best
  • Christmas at Radio City Music Hall with Dick Leibert
  • Dick Leibert at the console
  • Leibert Takes A Holiday
  • Leibert Takes Richmond
  • Under the Christmas mistletoe
  • The Happy Hits of Christmas
  • Wedding Music
  • Dick Leibert – At The Radio City Music Hall Organ (plays Highlights From The Sound Of Music, Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady)
  • Merry Christmas in New York from Radio City Music Hall
  • Richard Leibert: Ferde Grofé Orchestra
  • Favorites Of The Radio City Music Hall

Personal life and death

While living in Washington, D.C., in 1926, the 23-year-old Leibert eloped with Mary McClintic, the 19-year-old daughter of U.S. Representative James V. McClintic (D-Oklahoma), marrying at Old St. Paul's Church in Baltimore.[23] The couple had previously eloped four years before, but Rep. McClintic had the marriage annulled due to Mary being underage at the time.[23] They had two children.[3]

After moving to Manhattan to be near Radio City Music Hall in the 1930s, Leibert enjoyed boating on the Hudson River, as well as playing the piano in his Fifth Avenue penthouse apartment.[14] He also enjoyed golf.[6]

Leibert later married the former Rosemarie Bruns (1927–2012), who performed as a Radio City Music Hall Rockette between 1944 and 1947, and they lived in Wilton, Connecticut.[24] They had three children. After his retirement from Radio City Music Hall in 1971, Leibert and his wife lived in Cape Coral, Florida, until his death on October 22, 1976, at age 73.[1]

References
  1. "Richard Leibert, Chief Organist At Music Hall 1932–71, Dies at 73". New York Times. October 24, 1976. p. 36. Retrieved January 21, 2021.(subscription required)
  2. McNamara, Daniel I. (1952). The ASCAP biographical dictionary of composers, authors and publishers. The Archive of Contemporary Music. Crowell. p. 299.
  3. "Miss Joan Adele Leibert Weds Daniel Davis Adams". Westport Town Crier. January 26, 1958. p. 15. Retrieved January 24, 2021.(subscription required)
  4. "Famed organist to play at WMU". Battle Creek Enquirer. November 26, 1972. p. 20.open access
  5. "Dick Leibert – the legendary organist at New York City's famed Radio City Music Hall". Sacred Classics. Atlas Communications. 2019. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  6. Thomas, Billie (August 12, 1931). "Smashes Auto, But Keeps His Neck". Pittsburgh Press. p. 17 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  7. "Top Film Premiere Planned for Tonight". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. September 6, 1957. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.open access
  8. "Organist Remains Extra Attraction at Embassy". Cumberland Evening Times. November 25, 1931. p. 6.
  9. "Laurel and Hardy at Penn in Initial Long Comedy Effort". Pittsburgh Press. August 23, 1931. p. Entertainment 3.
  10. "The Brooklyn Paramount Wurlitzer". New York Theater Organ Society. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  11. Marks, Tim (August 12, 1932). "Theatre Notes". Brooklyn Times-Union. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com open access.
  12. Hughes, Allen (July 18, 1970). "Organ Group Ends Active Gathering". New York Times. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  13. "Richard Liebert". New York Daily News. October 24, 1976.
  14. Steinhauser, S. H. (October 22, 1933). "Saturday is White Elephant". Pittsburgh Press. p. 25.
  15. "Radio City Music Hall at Rockefeller Center". American Guild of Organists. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  16. Barron, James (August 10, 2008). "Playing the Organist Rents Radio City to Play, Fulfilling Wish". The New York Times. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
  17. Steinhauser, S. H. (October 15, 1934). "Courts Call Radio Dream Singer As Expert Witness In Slayings". Pittsburgh Press. p. 16.
  18. "Equipment Follows Style in Radio City". Pittsburgh Press. October 10, 1934. p. 16.
  19. Steinhauser, S. H. (July 24, 1928). "At the Theatres Last Night". Pittsburgh Press. p. 12 – via Newspapers.com.open access
  20. "Give RCA Victor Records". St. Petersburg Times. December 17, 1951. p. 18.
  21. Paterson, Geoffrey (March–April 2008). "The Recordings of Organist Richard W. "Dick" Leibert, Part 2: The Westminster Years (1955–1960)" (PDF). Theatre Organ. American Theatre Organ Society. Retrieved January 25, 2021.
  22. "Richard Leibert". WorldCat.org. Retrieved January 21, 2021.
  23. "Washington Couple Elopes Second Time". Washington Evening Star. December 7, 1926. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.open access
  24. "Obituary: Rosemarie Martha Leibert – Radio City Music Hall Rockette". The Block Island Times. February 7, 2012. Retrieved January 24, 2021.
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