Biography
Walter Schumann entered the world on October 8, 1913, in New York City and later enrolled in law courses at the University of Southern California. His campus dance band quickly built a loyal student audience, prompting him to abandon his studies and commit to music professionally. By the closing years of the 1930s he was collaborating with Eddie Cantor and Andre Kostelanetz. Throughout World War II he served as musical director for the Armed Forces Radio Service and led the touring orchestra backing the Irving Berlin revue This Is the Army. Once the conflict concluded he relocated to Hollywood, where he supplied conducting and arranging services to numerous motion pictures and television programs, most prominently crafting the score for the cult classic The Night of the Hunter.
Although instrumental music defined his reputation by the middle of the 1950s—most memorably the enduring Dragnet theme that earned an Emmy in 1955—Schumann maintained a parallel devotion to choral singing. That interest spurred him to establish the ensemble Voices of Walter Schumann. Following a debut album issued by Capitol, the group moved to RCA Victor and recorded the easy-listening collections Scrapbook and When We Were Young. A further RCA Victor title, Exploring the Unknown, remains especially coveted by devotees of space age pop. The ensemble’s activity ended abruptly when Schumann suffered a fatal heart attack on August 21, 1958, immediately after a concert in Minneapolis; he was 45.
Although instrumental music defined his reputation by the middle of the 1950s—most memorably the enduring Dragnet theme that earned an Emmy in 1955—Schumann maintained a parallel devotion to choral singing. That interest spurred him to establish the ensemble Voices of Walter Schumann. Following a debut album issued by Capitol, the group moved to RCA Victor and recorded the easy-listening collections Scrapbook and When We Were Young. A further RCA Victor title, Exploring the Unknown, remains especially coveted by devotees of space age pop. The ensemble’s activity ended abruptly when Schumann suffered a fatal heart attack on August 21, 1958, immediately after a concert in Minneapolis; he was 45.
Albums
