Heinz Eric Roemheld

Who was Heinz Eric Roemheld?

Heinz Roemheld was an American composer. Born Heinrich Erich Roemheld in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he was one of four children of German immigrant Heinrich Roemheld and his wife Fanny Rauterberg Roemheld. Heinrich was a pharmacist, but all the members of the family were musical. Heinz's brother Edgar became a conductor, while sister Irmgard became a well-known Milwaukee music teacher and radio broadcaster.

Roemheld was a child prodigy who began playing the piano at the age of 4. He graduated from the Milwaukee College of Music at 19, and performed in theaters to earn money to study piano in Europe. In 1920, he went to Berlin, where he studied with Hugo Kaun, Ferruccio Busoni, and Egon Petri. While he was there, he appeared in concert with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra.

When he returned to America, Roemheld became involved in recording music for silent movies, both as a pianist and as a conductor. In 1925, he was sent back to Berlin as head of Universal Pictures theaters there, but he had to leave Germany in 1929 because of the rise of Nazism.

Back in America, Roemheld became a prominent film composer. He scored some scenes in Gone with the Wind, including the burning of Atlanta, although he was not credited on-screen. In 1942 he won the Academy Award for Best Original Music Score for Yankee Doodle Dandy. Among the more than 400 other films for which he composed music were Gentleman Jim, The Lady From Shanghai, The Invisible Man, A Scandal in Paris, and Shine On, Harvest Moon.