Love, Your Spell Is Everywhere
Serenade To Love
Henri Rene and His Orchestra
RCA Victor LPM 3049 (10 inch 33 1/3)
1952
From the back cover: The life of Henri Rene, who conducts the music on this record, is a contradiction of most of the established cliches for building a successful career in music. For example: there are many excellent musicians in this country who were raised and who received their musical education abroad and who then came to this country to work as musicians. On the other hand, there are many native-born American musicians who got their preliminary musical education here, went abroad for the finishing touches, and immediately returned home.
Rene's course was unique. Born in New York City of a father of German, and a mother of French, descent, he was taken to Berlin while still a boy and enrolled in a conservatory, where, over a seven year period, he had a typically thorough German classical education in music. He then immediately returned to this country and stared playing popular music, first as a member of a two-piano teams, later as a member of different dance orchestras. At this point, he was not yet out of his teens; and he was just twenty when he went back to Europe and toured with his own orchestra. Eventually he settled in Berlin as chief arranger for the Eletrola Company, then RCA Victor's German affiliate. A few years later, he became Musical Director for Electrola as well as for UFA (a big German motion picture company) and another picture studio.
In 1936, aged thirty, he once more came home, this time for good; but he spent a year, chiefly in Hollywood, searching for a job. Potential employers were nonplussed, and no wonder. Rene fitted into none of the established grooves. He was an American, thoroughly American, with an American's taste for popular music and jazz – yet he'd grown up in Europe, received a thorough European classical music education, and had spent most of his adult years there. What was he best fitted for?
The right, the perfect solution came along. RCA Victor grabbed him for the post of Musical Director for their international Division, a post which gave ample scope both to Rene's European education and experience and his American tastes.
He held the post (with time out for war service) until a few years ago, when he was appointed Director of Artists and Repertoire for RCA Victor's West Coast Division.
A Kiss In The Dark
Serenade
L'amour, Toujours, L'amour
It Had To Be You
I Kiss Your Hand Madame
Love In Bloom
I Love You Truly
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