Austrian-British composer. He demonstrated his musical talent as a child and played his first concerts at the age of 10. Later he studied music in Vienna and was able to start his professional life as a bandmaster. In the First World War he was with the Tiroler Kaiserjäger. In 1919 he went to Berlin and was there in 1923 with Paul Leni co-founder and musical director of the cabaret "Die Gondel", at which he also actively appeared as an actor. From 1925 on he wrote the scores for over a hundred films and also some of the most successful German language songs of the 30s like "Ein Lied geht um die Welt" (1933), "Es wird im Leben dir mehr genommen als gegeben" (1936) and "Heut' ist der schönste Tag in meinem Leben" (1936), gaining considerable popularity in Europe through recordings by Joseph Schmidt and Richard Tauber. He left Berlin after the Nazis came to power and worked for a short time in France and Holland before settling in England. Many of the films he worked on during this time were operettas. He reached his creative peak during the 1940's, scoring films for the Boulting Brothers and the Rank Organization, notably prestige pictures like "Madonna of the Seven Moons", "The Wicked Lady" (both 1945) and "Brighton Rock" (1948). Other credits include "Die Försterchristl" (1925), "Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney" (1927), "Der Greifer" (1930), "Mayerling" (1936), "Never Let Me Go" (1953), "Der Kaiser und das Wäschermädel" (1957) and "The Gypsy and the Gentleman" (1958). At the end of 1958, for health reasons, he went to the South of France for a cure, where he died in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 1959 at the Hotel La Réserve.
Austrian-British composer. He demonstrated his musical talent as a child and played his first concerts at the age of 10. Later he studied music in Vienna and was able to start his professional life as a bandmaster. In the First World War he was with the Tiroler Kaiserjäger. In 1919 he went to Berlin and was there in 1923 with Paul Leni co-founder and musical director of the cabaret "Die Gondel", at which he also actively appeared as an actor. From 1925 on he wrote the scores for over a hundred films and also some of the most successful German language songs of the 30s like "Ein Lied geht um die Welt" (1933), "Es wird im Leben dir mehr genommen als gegeben" (1936) and "Heut' ist der schönste Tag in meinem Leben" (1936), gaining considerable popularity in Europe through recordings by Joseph Schmidt and Richard Tauber. He left Berlin after the Nazis came to power and worked for a short time in France and Holland before settling in England. Many of the films he worked on during this time were operettas. He reached his creative peak during the 1940's, scoring films for the Boulting Brothers and the Rank Organization, notably prestige pictures like "Madonna of the Seven Moons", "The Wicked Lady" (both 1945) and "Brighton Rock" (1948). Other credits include "Die Försterchristl" (1925), "Die Liebe der Jeanne Ney" (1927), "Der Greifer" (1930), "Mayerling" (1936), "Never Let Me Go" (1953), "Der Kaiser und das Wäschermädel" (1957) and "The Gypsy and the Gentleman" (1958). At the end of 1958, for health reasons, he went to the South of France for a cure, where he died in the early morning hours of New Year's Day 1959 at the Hotel La Réserve.
Bio by: Fritz Tauber
Gravesite Details
Hans May's headstone is in a state of disrepair. It has fallen over and part of it has broken into pieces.
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