Laurel and Hardy and Shield

Synopsis

Today we celebrate the birthday of an American composer whose name might not ring a bell, but whose music you might instantly recognize—and with a smile.

Leroy Shield’s name rarely appeared on the credits for the classic “Our Gang” and “Laurel & Hardy” comedies from the 1930s, but his music was used in most of them.

Leroy Shield was born in Waseca, Minnesota, on today’s date in 1893. At five he was already an accomplished pianist and organist, and by 15 a professional arranger, composer, and concert pianist. After completing musical studies in Chicago, he accompanied opera singer Eva Gauthier on American concert tours and pioneered works by then-modernist composers like Ravel, Stravinsky and Schoenberg.

In 1923, he joined the staff of the Victor Talking Machine Company, supervising their East Coast recording sessions. Then in 1930, he was appointed as Victor’s "Musical Director in charge of Hollywood, California, Activities," and it was in this capacity that he wrote and oversaw the recording of music for the famous comedies produced by the Hal Roach Studios.

In 1945, he moved back to New York and became the orchestral contractor for the NBC radio network. He worked closely with conductor Arturo Toscanini, and even traveled with the famous Italian conductor when Toscanini’s NBC Symphony made its cross-country tour in 1950. Leroy Shield retired in 1955, moved to Florida, and died in Fort Lauderdale in 1962.

Music Played in Today's Program

Leroy Shield (1893 – 1962) Good Old Days and Hide and Go Seek Beau Hunks Orchestra Koch 8702

On This Day

Births

• 1893 - American composer and pianist Leroy Shield, in Waseca, Minn.; His wrote much of the uncredited film music for the Hal Roach studios in the 1930s (including many classic Laurel & Hardy and "Our Gang," comedies);

• 1929 - British composer Kenneth Leighton, in Wakefield, Yorkshire;

Deaths

• 1920 - German composer Max Bruch, age 82, in Friedenau (near Berlin);

• 1943 - Canadian-born American composer R. Nathaniel Dett, age 60, in Battle Creek, Mich.;

• 1996 - Finnish composer Joonas Kokkonen, age 74, in Jarvenpaa;

Premieres

• 1913 - Butterworth: "A Shropshire Lad," at the Leeds Festival, with Artur Nikisch conducting;

• 1960 - Shostakovich: String Quartet No. 8, in Leningrad, by the Beethoven Quartet;

• 2001 - Steven Heitzeg: "Nobel Symphony" at Gustavus Adolpus College in St. Peter, Minn., by the Gustavus Orchestra, soloists and choirs, conducted by Warren Friesen;

Others

• 1828 - Two weeks before his death, Schubert writes a letter to a music publisher offering them his latest work, the String Quintet in C (D. 956); The publisher declined the offer; The work was first performed in public in 1850, and was not published until 1853;

• 1849 - Johann Strauss, Jr., takes over his father's orchestra, one week after his father's death.