From: Ron Gillen (gillen@nconnect.net)
Date: Sun Oct 20 2002 - 10:37:28 PDT
Norbert Schultze (Filed: 17/10/2002) Norbert Schultze, who has died in Berlin aged 91, was the composer of Lili Marleen, the German song immortalised by Marlene Dietrich, which became an anthem for troops on both sides during the Second World War. Lili Marleen was originally a poem, The Song of a Young Sentry, written by a German soldier, Hans Leip, before he was sent to the Russian front in 1915. The name Lili Marleen combined that of Leip's girlfriend, Lili (the daughter of a grocer), and a young nurse named Marleen, who had waved to Leip and then disappeared into the fog. The poem was published in 1937, and Norbert Schultze, already an established composer of German operas and film scores, set it to music in 1938. Initially, the song was not popular and Josef Goebbels urged Schultze to change it to a marching tune. Just before the outbreak of war, however, it was recorded by Lale Anderson (Eulalia Bunnenberg), although it did not take off until German Forces Radio began to broadcast it to the Afrika Korps in 1941. After Field Marshal Rommel informed the authorities at Radio Belgrade of his fondness for the song, they began to incorporate it into their broadcasts; Lili Marleen was played every evening at 9.55 pm, just before sign-off. Allied troops were equally enamoured. Initially, Parade, the Middle East Forces' magazine, begged British troops to drop the tune, which was regarded by Yugoslav partisans as a German killing song. However, when Allied soldiers continued to sing the German version, an English version was hurriedly written and recorded. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor ---------------------~--> Plan to Sell a Home? http://us.click.yahoo.com/J2SnNA/y.lEAA/jd3IAA/r1FolB/TM ---------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: timewitnesses-unsubscribe@egroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/