Friml, (Charles) Rudolf

Friml, [Charles] Rudolf (1879–1972), composer. Born in Bohemia into a poor but musical family, he displayed remarkable abilities so early that his neighbors took up a collection to send him to the Prague Conservatory. While there, he eventually won a scholarship and studied with Antonin Dvorák. After graduating he began to compose but, in order to support himself, accepted a position as violinist Jan Kubelik's accompanist. Friml made two trips to America with Kubelik, on the second journey electing to remain permanently. Here he continued to give concerts and write light compositions. His chance came when Victor Herbert refused to create a second score for Emma Trentini after fighting with her over Naughty Marietta. Friml's score for the Trentini vehicle, The Firefly (1912), established Friml immediately in the front rank of composers, and he followed it with High Jinks (1913) and Katinka (1915). Several subsequent operettas were less successful, so Friml tried his hand at musical comedies. Some of these enjoyed profitable runs but left behind nothing memorable. In 1924 he returned to operetta and wrote his greatest success, Rose‐Marie, the most popular operetta of the 1920s. Two operetta hits followed: The Vagabond King (1925) and The Three Musketeers (1928). Friml's principal competitor during the 1920s was Sigmund Romberg. Although Friml's music was generally perceived to have more melodic originality and fervor, it was Romberg who proved more pliable when musical tastes changed in the 1930s. Friml wrote only two short‐lived operettas at the time, Luana (1930) and Music Hath Charms (1934), then retired.