Hit lyricist behind Les Misérables
Herbert Kretzmer Songwriter and former Daily Express theatre critic BORN OCTOBER 5, 1925 - DIED OCTOBER 14, 2020, AGED 95
HERBIE Kretzmer used his lyrical genius to create Les Misérables, the longest- running musical in the West End even though it was initially panned by critics. Kretzmer, Daily Express theatre critic for 17 years, sprinkled stardust on a French musical based on Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel, to create a winner that has entertained for more than 30 years.
Working from a translation of Alain Boublil and Claude- Michel Schonberg’s original work, he spent six months in his London flat creating songs such as I Dreamed A Dream, later performed by Susan Boyle on Britain’s Got Talent.
Explaining his technique, he said: “You cannot translate a song. You can translate a textbook and even a novel, but a song is no more than a compendium of nuances and references and illusions with a resonance within a particular culture.”
Theatre impresario Cameron Mackintosh picked him for the job in 1984 when they met to discuss reviving Kretzmer’s musical play Our Man Crichton.
Just as Mackintosh was leaving,
Kretzmer told him he’d written songs for Charles Aznavour – She and Yesterday When I Was Young – which happened to be among the theatre producer’s favourite songs.
Six months later he got him working on Les Misérables. When it opened at The Barbican in London in 1985, reviews were savage but ticket sales soared and it transferred to the West End.
More than 70 million people in 42 countries have now seen the production, regarded as the world’s most popular musical.
Kretzmer was born in South Africa and went to Rhodes University where he wrote scripts for newsreels.
He sold his piano accordion to pay for a voyage to Europe. While in Paris trying to become a novelist
he made friends with Aznavour and met Jean- Paul Sartre.
In 1954 he moved to London and began contributing feature articles to national newspapers. Executives at the Daily Express spotted his writing talent and made him the paper’s chief drama critic, succeeding Bernard Levin.
He continued his songwriting,
penning the Matt Monro hit Can This Be Love? with George Martin.
His lyrics for Les Misérables won him Tony and Grammy awards. In 1988 he was appointed a Chevalier de L’Ordre des Art et des Lettres and in 2011 he was made an OBE.
He had two children with first wife Elizabeth Wilson. He later married Sybil Sever.