Paul Burkhard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul Burkhard (December 21, 1911(1911-12-21) in Zürich - September 6, 1977 in Zell) was Swiss composer. He wrote primarily Oratoria, Musicals and Operettas.

His probably most famous artistic creation was the song Oh mein Papa (Oh my Papa), about the death of a beloved clown-father, written for the musical "Der Schwarze Hecht" (re-issued in 1950 as "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, Annette Klooger, Billy Cotton, Billy Vaughn, Connie Francis, Diana Decker, Eddie Calvert, Eddie Fisher, The Everly Brothers, Harry James, Ken Mackintosh, Lys Assia, Malcolm Vaughan, Muriel Smith, Ray Anthony & his Orchestra, Russ Morgan & his Orchestra, The Beverley Sisters, The Brasshats, The Radio Revellers, and many others.

[edit] Works (Selection)

1935 - Hopsa
1950 - Feuerwerk (Original: Der schwarze Hecht, 1939) with the hit song O mein Papa
1951 - Die kleine Niederdorf-Oper
1960 - Frank V - Comedy with Musik; „Oper einer Privatbank“, by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
1960 - Zäller Weihnacht - Christmas play
1965 - Noah - The story of Noah and the Arc - for children
1971 - Zäller Oschtere - Easter passion play

[edit] Literature

Flury, Philipp; Kaufmann, Peter (1979). O mein Papa… Paul Burkhard: Leben und Werk (in German). Zürich: Orell Füssli/Neue Schweizer Bibliothek. ISBN 3280011299. OCLC 6787865.