Herbert, Victor (1859-1924), an American composer and conductor, is often called “the prince of operetta.” One of his most famous operettas, Babes in Toyland (1903), was based on Mother Goose and fairyland characters. “March of the Toys” and “Toyland” are well-loved numbers in this operetta. He also wrote Mlle. Modiste (1905), which includes the popular song “Kiss Me Again.” Naughty Marietta (1910), one of the most tuneful of his operettas, includes such songs as “Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life,” “I’m Falling in Love with Someone,” “Italian Street Song,” and ” ‘Neath the Southern Moon.”
Herbert was born on Feb. 1, 1859, in Dublin, Ireland. He studied the cello in Germany, and played in leading European orchestras. In 1886, he settled in New York City, where he played cello in the Metropolitan Opera Company Orchestra. In 1893, Herbert followed Patrick S. Gilmore as bandmaster of the Twenty-second Regiment Band. He wrote Prince Ananias, his first operetta to be staged, in 1894. It was not a great success, but The Wizard of the Nile, a year later, proved popular.
Herbert was appointed conductor of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra in 1898, but resigned in 1904 to devote his time to composition. He was the first American composer to write an original score for a movie. His other works include the operettas The Fortune Teller (1898), with the song “Gypsy Love Song”; The Red Mill (1906); Sweethearts (1913); Princess Pat (1915); Eileen (1917), with the song “Thine Alone”; and The Dream Girl (1924). He composed two grand operas, Natoma (1911) and Madeleine (1914). He died on May 26, 1924.
