Schnitzel () is a traditional Austrian dish made with boneless meat thinned with a mallet (escalope-style preparation), coated in bread crumbs and fried. It is a popular part of Viennese and Austrian cuisine. In Austria, the dish called ''Wiener Schnitzel'' (Viennese schnitzel), is traditionally garnished with a lemon slice and either potato salad or potatoes with parsley and butter. Although the traditional Wiener schnitzel is made of veal, it is now often made of pork. When made of pork, it is often called ''Schnitzel Wiener Art'' in Germany. In Austria, by law it has to be called ''Wiener Schnitzel vom Schwein'' (vom Schwein meaning from pork or pig)to differentiate it from the original. In Austria and Germany, the term ''Wiener Schnitzel'' is protected by law, and any schnitzel called by that name has to be made from veal. There are also regional versions of schnitzel, such as Salzburger schnitzel, which is stuffed with mushrooms, bacon, onions, and other various herbs.

There is a debate as to where schnitzel originated. Some claim Milan, northern Italy, as ''cotoletta alla milanese'', though others say it appeared in Vienna during the 15th or 16th century. One hypothesis is that it could have been brought to Austria during the Battle of Vienna in 1683 by Polish and German troops. According to another hypothesis, it was introduced in 1857 by Field Marshal Radetzky, who spent much of his life in Milan. The term ''Wiener Schnitzel'' itself dates to at least 1845. Variants of this dish are common around the world.

Variants

Argentina and Uruguay

In Argentina and Uruguay, the ''milanesa'', a dish similar to the schnitzel, is a typical dish. Its name means 'of Milan'. The ''milanesa'' is made of beef or veal, dipped in egg, and then bread crumbs, and fried. A ''milanesa napolitana'' is made with ham, melted mozzarella cheese and tomatoes.

Australia

Chicken schnitzel, and chicken Parmigiana are very popular dishes in Australia, where chicken is more readily available than veal. As a home-cooked meal, schnitzel is generally accompanied by boiled, mashed or fried potatoes. Chicken Parmigiana is a large chicken schnitzel topped with Italian tomato sauce and mozzarella or Parmesan cheese. Chicken Parmigiana is often served as a pub meal, accompanied by chips or salad and sometimes bacon. It is known by a number of colloquial names such as such as "Parmi" or "Parma". The terms "Schnitty" or "Schnitter" are gaining popularity, particularly in South Australia, where the schnitzel has reached almost cult or iconic status in local pub culture and on local menus. Veal and chicken schnitzel are widely available. Beef schnitzels are also served as pub meals. Chicken schnitzels are served as fillings for sandwiches and bread rolls at sandwich bars, often with mayonnaise and lettuce. Australians from Austria and Germany preserve the tradition of the ''Wiener Schnitzel'', accompanied by boiled potatoes and sauerkraut with tomatoes and cumin.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the dish is called ''Bečka Šnicla'' or ''Bečki Odrezak'' (''Bečki'' = "Viennese" i.e. German ''Wiener''; Šnicla = transliteration of German ''Schnitzel'') and is made of veal or beef and usually served with mashed potatoes. Common garnishes include a slice of lemon or some lettuce.

Brazil

Due to the strong influence of Italian culture in Brazil, Wiener schnitzels are known as ''filé à milanesa'' (Milanese steak) or ''bife à milanesa''. It is found easily on street restaurants and often cooked at most homes. Servings often include white rice, salted brown or black beans, mashed potatoes or french fries, lettuce and tomato salad. Milanesa sandwiches are somewhat less common, and there is also the parmigiana version - filé à milanesa with tomato sauce, ham, and melted mozzarella cheese.

Bulgaria

Called шницел (''shnitsel''), it is made from ground veal formed as a thin patty, seasoned with salt and black pepper, then breaded and fried. The dish usually comes with a choice of mashed or roasted potatoes, french fries or simply a tomato salad. It is common at truck stops, and it is usually ordered ''á la carte'', coming with a lemon wedge. But one can also find it in the frozen sections in supermarkets or premade and ready to cook.

Canada

In Canada, chicken schnitzel or ''Wiener Schnitzel'' (or veal schnitzels) can be found at family-oriented German, Bavarian, or Hungarian style restaurants. Perhaps more commonly, they can also be found at more 'generic' family restaurants, pubs, or delis. Because of the wide range of immigrants to Canada from Europe and South America, the Italian and Rio Platense versions of this dish are also widely available.

Chile

The schnitzel is a very popular meal in Chile, the most common name is ''escalopa'', and it is usually made of beef, pork or chicken. This dish is also known as ''milanesas'', and it is prepared by breading and frying thin pieces of meat. ''Escalopas'' can be found from fancy to simple restaurants.

Colombia

The dish is called ''milanesa'' or ''chuleta valluna'' in Colombia. It is made with a thin cut of pork, breaded and fried.

Croatia

In Croatia, the dish is called ''Bečki odrezak'' (šnicl) (Bečki = "Viennese" i.e., German ''Wiener''; šnicl = transliteration of German ''Schnitzel'') and it is made of pork and served with French fries. Common garnishes include a slice of lemon or some lettuce. A similar dish is called ''Zagrebački odrezak'' (šnicl) (a variation on Cordon Bleu).

Cuban American cooking

The dish is served as steak ''milanesa'', made with a thin cut of sirloin, breaded and fried, with tomato sauce on top and sometimes melted cheese. It is usually served with traditional Cuban side dishes.

If not accompanied by the tomato sauce, it is merely known as ''bistec empanizado'', ''bistec empanado'' or ''empanada''. It is sometimes eaten with slices of lime or criollo lemon on the side to squirt on top.

Czech Republic

Schnitzel is also highly popular in the Czech Republic, where it is known as a ''smažený řízek'' or just ''řízek'', and is made of pork, chicken or veal. It is often served with boiled or mashed potatoes or potato salad. During the communist period, imitation schnitzels were produced by blending meat and cheese.

Denmark

In Denmark, the dish is called ''Wienerschnitzel''. It is made of veal, and is usually served with fried potatoes, gravy, green or snow peas and a "boy" (''dreng'' in Danish) consisting of a lemon slice topped with capers, horseradish and a slice of anchovy.

Finland

In Finland, the dish called ''Wieninleike'' (Viennese cutlet), is almost always made of pork that is breaded and fried like the original. It is usually served with french fries, potato mash or wedge potatoes. There is a slice of lemon, a slice of anchovy and a few of capers on top of the cutlet. Usually, the dish also includes a small amount of salad made from fresh vegetables. The dish was extremely popular between the end of the Second World War and the 1990s, when it could be found in virtually any low-end restaurant across Finland. In the past decades, its popularity has been dimmed by the rise of fast food.

Germany

A ''Schnitzel'' in German is a slice of porc or veal haunch. Only if it is made of veal and coated in bread crumbs is it called ''Wiener Schnitzel''; a pork version is called ''Schnitzel Wiener Art'' (Viennese type schnitzel). These are served with a slice of lemon and without a sauce. Both often are referred to as simply Schnitzel. Other kinds of Schnitzel may be served without the bread crumbs but with a sauce (other types).

Hungary

Due to the strong Austrian influence of the Austro-Hungarian era, Wiener schnitzel is very popular in Hungary, known as ''bécsi szelet'' (Viennese slice), ''borjú bécsi'' (Viennese veal) or ''rántott hús'' (breaded meat). It is served in the restaurants, and is a common meal in the Hungarian homes, prepared often on Sundays or for festivities. The dish is served in the restaurants with spätzle, French fries, mashed potatoes or rice. Alternatively, green peas or other vegetables can be used as side dish. Bread and salad (or pickles) often accompanies the meal. Some restaurants offer the cordon bleu variant, a slice of Wiener schnitzel rolled and filled with cheese and ham.

Iran

Chicken breast schnitzel is popular in Iran, where it is known as ''shenitsel'' (). Thought to have been introduced in Persia during the World Wars, ''shenitsel'' is usually thicker, bigger, spicier, and fried with a more crispy breading than the standard Wiener schnitzel. It is customarily served with lemon, french fries and a variety of boiled vegetables.

There is another Iranian dish called ''kotlet'' (), which should not be confused with ''shenitsel''. They are small, oval-shaped patties made by deep-frying a mix of ground meat, onion, potato and herbs.

Israel

Schnitzel (, ''shnitsel'', also , ''ktita'') is a very popular food in Israeli cuisine. The meat is typically chicken or turkey breast, in conformance with dietary kashrut laws, which do not allow pork to be used. Before frying, it is coated with a mixture of beaten eggs and bread crumbs, sometimes spiced with paprika or sesame seeds. The Israeli schnitzel is usually served with mashed potatoes, french fries, rice, or pasta, accompanied by ketchup, hummus, or vegetable salad.

The schnitzel tradition was brought to Israel by Ashkenazi Jews coming from Europe, among them some of German origin. During the early years of the State of Israel, veal was unobtainable, and chicken or turkey proved an inexpensive and tasty substitute.

Packaged schnitzels are widely available from the frozen food section in all supermarkets. Some frozen schnitzels are breaded patties made from processed chicken or turkey meat, not whole poultry breasts. The Israeli food company Tiv′ol (, Tivall in the UK) was the first to produce a vegetarian schnitzel from a soybean meat analogue. Their corn schnitzels are the most popular type of packaged schnitzel in Israel.

Italy

In Italy, ''cotoletta alla milanese'' is very similar to Wiener schnitzel. However, it is a cutlet rather than an escalope, and it is traditionally cooked with its rib. Originally from Milan, it can now be found all over the country.

Japan

In Japan, either chicken or pork is used for meat and panko breadcrumbs are used (see ''Tonkatsu''). In Hawai'i, "chicken ''katsu''" is a popular component of local cuisine.

Korea

In Korea, various types of pork cutlet is called ''donggaseu'', derived from Japanese ''tonkatsu''. Beef, chicken or fish is also used, and the name of the cutlet differs according to meat.

Macedonia

In the Republic of Macedonia, the dish is called Шницла (''shnitzla''). It is a piece of beef steak seasoned with salt and black pepper, breaded and fried. Typically, it is served with mashed or fried potatoes with green salad garnish.

Mexico

Thinly sliced beef, breaded and fried, known as ''milanesa'', is a popular ingredient in ''tortas'', the sandwiches sold in street stands and indoor restaurants in Mexico City.

Namibia

Schnitzel, both chicken and pork, is common in Namibia due to the German colonial history. A majority of the restaurants in both Walvis Bay and Swakopmund offer it on their menus, often topped with a fried egg and accompanied by potato salad.

Panama

Known as ''milanesa'', it is most commonly made of thinly sliced beef (usually sirloin steaks) but also thin chicken fillets. The meat is seasoned with salt and pepper, dipped in beaten eggs and covered with flour or bread crumbs and fried in vegetable oil. If breaded, they are normally covered with flour first before being dipped in the egg. Lime juice is then squeezed over the cutlets before serving or eating them, and they are also seasoned with hot sauce often. ''Milanesas'' are eaten with white rice and other common side dishes, such as salad, lentils or beans. The latter two are poured over the rice as they are usually served in Panama while the salad is served off to the side where there is still space left on the plate. When served as sandwiches, they are known as ''emparedado de milanesa'' or ''sandwich de milanesa'' when tomatoes, onions, lettuce, ketchup and/or American cheese (known as ''queso amarillo'' i.e. yellow cheese). Sandwich bread and ''pan flauta'' (a Panamanian type of baguette that is thicker and softer) are the types used to make these sandwiches.

Poland

Polish ''kotlet schabowy'' is similar to the traditional Austrian dish, but made of pork. It is usually served with a side of potatoes and a salad of either raw vegetables (''surówka'') or, most commonly, of pickled cabbage, the latter akin to coleslaw.

Portugal

In Portugal, a similar dish is called ''bife panado'' or just ''panado'' (which means "breaded" in Portuguese). Different varieties of ''panado'' can be made with chicken (''panado de frango''), turkey (''panado de peru''), pork (''costeleta panada'' for pork chop, ''febra panada'' for pork without bone), or veal (''escalope de vitela panado''). The meat is usually seasoned with black pepper, garlic, and lemon juice. It is commonly served with spaghetti, fried potatoes, or rice (plain or with beans). It is also popular as a sandwich, served in a bun with lettuce (''sandes de panado'').

Romania

Romanian ''şniţel'' () is very common in restaurants, fast food places, and homes across the country. Normally served simple and unadorned, the fast food version is differentiated by being served sandwich/burger style. Cordon bleu ''şniţel'' (made from pork loin stuffed with cheese and ham) is also very popular. The Romanian ''şniţel'' is made in the same manner as the Austrian one, but as a local characteristic is made of almost any type of meat (chicken, pork, veal or beef). A specialty from western Romania is the ''mosaic şniţel'' made of two thin meat layers (usually each layer of different meat) and a vegetable (usually mushroom) filling.

Russia

In Russia, the dish is called отбивная, which literally means a piece (piece of meat) which has been beaten. Russian cuisine includes as recipes of schnitzel prepared of pork as well as beef/veal or even chicken meat.

Serbia

In Serbia, the dish is called ''bečka šnicla'' (Viennese schnitzel). A local urban legend states the dish originated in Serbia and not in Italy, but no one can say why.

Slovakia

Schnitzel is also highly popular in Austrian border country Slovakia, where it is referred to as ''vyprážaný rezeň''. It is often made of pork or chicken, and is typically served with french fries, potato salad or rice.

Slovenia

Schnitzel is called ''dunajski zrezek'', meaning cutlets from the Vienna (''Dunaj'' in Slovenian). It is served with a type of coleslaw and boiled potatoes. Restaurants serving the dish can be found throughout the country; though typically it is made of pork or chicken. In Slovenia, there is a similar dish called ''ljubljanski zrezek''.

South Africa

Schnitzels are also popular in South Africa, due to the European heritage in the country. Chicken schnitzels and cordon bleu schnitzels are a common item on most restaurant menus and hospitals, and in recent years, beef and pork schnitzels have also become widely available.

Spain

A similar dish popular in Spain, normally is called ''escalope milanesa'' in restaurants when served with french fries and a slice of lemon. When eaten in a sandwich, it is simply called ''filete empanado''. It is usually made of veal or beef. Chicken is called ''pollo empanado'', and pork is not usual, except in Catalonia.

Sweden

In Sweden, the dish is called ''Schnitzel'' or ''Wienerschnitzel''. It is made of pork or veal, and is usually decorated with a caper-filled circle of either genuine anchovies or the Swedish "fake" ''ansjovis'' (made of brine-cured sprats). It is served with fried potatoes and green peas.

Switzerland

Schnitzel, Wiener schnitzel, and Rahm schnitzel are all popular dishes in Switzerland. Rahm schnitzel is a version made with either veal or pork and topped with a cream sauce, sometimes including mushrooms. The ''Cordon Bleu'' variant of schnitzel – two slices of schnitzel (or one with a pocket) filled with cheese, typically Emmentaler or Gruyere, and a slice of ham – is also popular in Switzerland.

Turkey

In Turkey the dish is spelled either ''Schnitzel'' or ''Şinitzel'', and pronounced the same as in German. It is made of chicken, and is usually served with rice, french fries or pasta. Sometimes, it may have ham and grilled cheese in it. It is often cooked at home, as it is an easy-to-do kind of food, but most restaurants have it in their menus.

United Kingdom

In the Teesside area of the United Kingdom, the Parmo is a popular take-out meal. Made from flattened, breaded pork or chicken rather than veal, it is topped with béchamel sauce, grated cheese and then grilled. It is common to find them offered with a selection of pizza-style toppings such as a "hotshot" (pepperoni, peppers and jalapeno, for example)

Schnitzel is often referred to as ''escalope'' in the UK, particularly when made with chicken.

United States

In the U.S., Wienerschnitzel is most commonly found at German-style restaurants. These restaurants usually use the term Wienerschnitzel to refer to the dish made with veal cutlet, and may also serve other "Schnitzels" made with other meats.

Chicken fried steak (also known as country fried steak) may have originated with German and Austrian immigrants to Texas in the 19th century. It is a piece of beef steak (tenderized cubed steak) coated with seasoned flour and fried. It is associated with Southern U.S. cuisine. Its name is likely related to the dish being prepared similarly to fried chicken. It is typically served with mashed potatoes with both the steak and potatoes covered with white, cracked pepper gravy. Additionally, the pork tenderloin sandwich is a deep-fried, breaded pork escalope dwarfing the hamburger bun on which it is served.

A popular food chain known as Wienerschnitzel does not have any specific relation to the food item (and does not serve them).

Venezuela

As in Argentina and Brazil, Venezuelans get the dish from Italian immigrants. ''Milanesas'' are usually accompanied with rice, beans and fried sweet plantains.

Other types or similar foods

Other variants of the schnitzel, not all necessarily made with a bread crumb crust, include:

''Cordon bleu'': "Blue ribbon" is a thinly pounded piece of meat stuffed with cheese and ham.

''Valdostana'': Very similar to the cordon bleu, but cheese and ham are not inside but on the top, this dish is from an alpine region in Italy, the Val d'Aosta.

''Milanesa Napolitana'': This Argentinian variant, also very popular in Uruguay, is made from a beef schnitzel topped with ham, marinara sauce (tomato and garlic) and local mozzarella, then grilled to melt the cheese, usually served with french fries (British - chips).

''Jägerschnitzel'': "Hunter's schnitzel", is not breaded, and is served with cream mushroom sauce. (''Jägerschnitzel'' may also refer to an eastern German variant made of Jagdwurst, which originated in the former East Germany.)

''Zigeunerschnitzel'': "Gypsy schnitzel", served with a tomato sauce containing bell pepper and onion slices, is also called ''Paprikaschnitzel'' (bell pepper schnitzel).

''Rahmschnitzel'': "Cream schnitzel", served with a sauce based on cream, often contains mushrooms.

''Hamburger Schnitzel'': "Hamburg-style schnitzel", is topped with a fried egg.

''Holsteiner Schnitzel'': "Holstein-style schnitzel", is breaded, and is topped with a fried egg, and usually anchovies and capers.

''Naturschnitzel'': "Natural (i.e. unbreaded) schnitzel" is not breaded, but sautéed, and served with a simple sauce (e.g., pan drippings, to which sour cream may be added) or none at all.

Chicken schnitzel (): Made of chicken breast fillet, it is usually a cheaper alternative to other meats. It is gaining in popularity because it is lower in fat and cholesterol. The taste of the chicken schnitzel in the natural form (i.e., unbreaded and without a sauce) is milder than that of veal and pork schnitzels. Turkey schnitzel (): Made of fillet of turkey breast, this is very popular in Israel, where it is often called the national dish.

Vegetarian schnitzel: Made of textured soy, tofu or seitan, the seasoning is both in the meat substitute and in the breading so the consistency may differ slightly.

Singapore Hainanese pork chop: Served in a gravy with tomatoes, potato wedges, onions and peas, it can be enjoyed with steamed rice and chilli sauce.

See also

Austrian cuisine

Chicken Cordon Bleu

Chicken fried steak

Chicken Kiev

Cotoletta, the Italian equivalent to schnitzel

Karađorđeva šnicla, similar to ''cordon bleu''

Milanesa, breaded meat preparation similar to schnitzel, seen in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America

Parmigiana

Parmo, a dish invented on Teesside, England

Tonkatsu, Japanese style schnitzel made from pork

Wienerschnitzel, an American fast-food hot dog chain which, despite its name, does not serve schnitzel

References

This article draws heavily on the corresponding article in the German-language Wikipedia, accessed December 2004.

External links

Cooking Wiener Schnitzel in San Francisco - Instructional Cooking Video

Category:Austrian cuisine Schnitzel Category:German loanwords Category:Meat Category:World cuisine Category:Veal dishes Category:Chicken dishes

bg:Шницел cs:Řízek de:Schnitzel fa:شنتسل he:שניצל mk:Шницла nl:Schnitzel ja:シュニッツェル ru:Шницель sl:Zrezek sv:Schnitzel uk:Шніцель

name	Tom Lehrer
background	solo_singer
birth name	Thomas Andrew Lehrer
born	April 09, 1928New York, New York
instrument	VocalsPiano
occupation	Mathematician, teacher, lyricist, pianist, composer, singer/songwriter
years active	1945–1971, 1998
label	Reprise/Warner Bros. RecordsRhino/Atlantic RecordsShout! Factory
associated acts	Joe Raposo }}

Thomas Andrew "Tom" Lehrer (born April 9, 1928) is an American singer-songwriter, satirist, pianist, mathematician and polymath. He has lectured on mathematics and musical theater. Lehrer is best known for the pithy, humorous songs that he recorded in the 1950s and 1960s.

His work often parodies popular song forms, such as in "The Elements", where he sets the names of the chemical elements to the tune of the "Major-General's Song" from Gilbert and Sullivan's ''Pirates of Penzance''. Lehrer's earlier work typically dealt with non-topical subject matter and was noted for its black humor, seen in songs such as "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park". In the 1960s, he produced a number of songs dealing with social and political issues of the day, particularly when he wrote for the U.S. version of the television show ''That Was The Week That Was''.

In the early 1970s, he retired from public performances to devote his time to teaching mathematics and music theatre at the University of California, Santa Cruz. He did two additional performances in 1998 at a London gala show celebrating the career of impresario Cameron Mackintosh.

Early life

Lehrer was born in 1928 to a Jewish family in the New York City borough of Manhattan, and began studying classical piano music at the age of seven. He was more interested in the popular music of the age, however. Eventually, his mother also sent him to a popular-music piano teacher. At this early age, he began writing his own show tunes, which eventually helped him in his future adventures as a satirical composer and writer in his years of lecturing at Harvard University, and later at other universities.

Lehrer graduated from the Loomis Chaffee School in Windsor, Connecticut. He attended Camp Androscoggin, both as a camper and a counselor. While studying mathematics as an undergraduate student at Harvard College, he began to write comic songs to entertain his friends, including "Fight Fiercely, Harvard" (1945). Those songs were later named ''The Physical Revue'', a joking reference to a leading scientific journal, ''The Physical Review''.

Mathematics career

Lehrer earned his AB in mathematics (''magna cum laude'') from Harvard University in 1947, when he was nineteen. He received his MA degree the next year and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. He taught classes at MIT, Harvard, and Wellesley.

He remained in Harvard's doctoral program for several years, taking time out for his musical career and to work as a researcher at Los Alamos, New Mexico. He served in the Army from 1955 to 1957, working at the National Security Agency. (Lehrer has stated that he invented the Jell-O Shot during this time, as a means of circumventing liquor restrictions.) All of these experiences eventually became fodder for songs, viz. "Fight Fiercely, Harvard", "The Wild West Is Where I Want To Be" and "It Makes a Fellow Proud to Be a Soldier". Despite holding a master's degree in an era when American conscripts often lacked a high school diploma, Lehrer served as an enlisted soldier, achieving the rank of Specialist Four, which he described as being a "corporal without portfolio". In 1960, Lehrer returned to full-time studies at Harvard, but he never completed his doctoral studies in mathematics.

From 1962, he taught in the political science department at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 1972, he joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Cruz, teaching an introductory course entitled "The Nature of Mathematics" to liberal arts majors—"Math for Tenors", according to Lehrer. He also taught a class in musical theater. He occasionally performed songs in his lectures, primarily those relating to the topic.

In 2001, Lehrer taught his last mathematics class (on the topic of infinity, and which was said to go on forever) and retired from academia. He has remained in the area, and still "hangs out" around the University of California, Santa Cruz.

His Erdős number is 4.

Mathematical publications

The American Mathematical Society database lists Lehrer as co-author of two papers:

RE Fagen & TA Lehrer, "Random walks with restraining barrier as applied to the biased binary counter", ''Journal of the Society for Industrial Applied Mathematics'', vol. 6, pp. 1–14 (March 1958) T Austin, R Fagen, T Lehrer, W Penney, "The distribution of the number of locally maximal elements in a random sample", ''Annals of Mathematical Statistics'' vol. 28, pp. 786–790 (1957)

Musical career

Lehrer was mainly influenced by musical theater. According to Gerald Nachtman's book Seriously Funny, the broadway musical, "Let's Face It" (lyrics by Sylvia Fine; music by Cole Porter) made an early and lasting impression. Lehrer's style consists of parodying various forms of popular song. For example, his appreciation of list songs led him to set an unordered list of the chemical elements to the tune of Gilbert and Sullivan's "Major-General's Song".

Author Isaac Asimov recounted in his second autobiographical volume ''In Joy Still Felt'' of seeing Lehrer perform in a Boston nightclub on October 9, 1954, during which Lehrer sang very cleverly about Jim getting it from Louise, and Sally from Jim, "and after a while you gathered the 'it' to be venereal disease [the song was likely "I Got It From Sally (in later versions 'Agnes')"]. Suddenly, as the combinations grew more grotesque, you realized he was satirizing every perversion known to mankind without using a single naughty phrase. It was clearly unsingable (in those days) outside a nightclub." Asimov also recalled a song that dealt with the Boston subway system, making use of the stations leading into town from Harvard, observing that the local subject-matter rendered the song useless for general distribution. Lehrer subsequently granted Asimov permission to print the lyrics to the subway song in his book. "I haven't gone to nightclubs often," said Asimov, "but of all the times I have gone, it was on this occasion that I had by far the best time."

Lehrer was inspired by the success of his performances of his own songs, so he paid for some studio time to record ''Songs by Tom Lehrer''. At the time, radio stations would not give Lehrer air time because of his controversial subjects. Instead, he sold his album on campus at Harvard for three dollars, while "supportive record merchants and dorm newsstands bought copies…and marked them up fifty cents." After one summer, he also started to receive mail orders from all parts of the country (as far away as San Francisco, after ''The Chronicle'' wrote an article on the record). Interest in his recordings was spread by word of mouth; friends and supporters brought their records home and played them for their friends, who then also wanted a copy.

The album—which included the macabre "I Hold Your Hand in Mine", the mildly risqué "Be Prepared", and "Lobachevsky" (regarding plagiarizing mathematicians) became a cult success via word of mouth, despite being self-published and without promotion. Lehrer then embarked on a series of concert tours and recorded a second album, which was released in two versions: the songs were the same, but ''More of Tom Lehrer'' was studio-recorded, while ''An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer'' was recorded live in concert.

Lehrer's major breakthrough in the United Kingdom came as a result of the citation accompanying an honorary degree given to Princess Margaret, where she cited musical tastes as "catholic, ranging from Mozart to Tom Lehrer". This prompted significant interest in his works and helped secure distributors for his material in the UK. It was there that his music achieved real popularity, as a result of the proliferation of university newspapers referring to the material, and the willingness of the BBC to play his songs on the radio (something that was a rarity in the United States).

By the early 1960s, Lehrer had retired from touring and was employed as the resident songwriter for the U.S. edition of ''That Was The Week That Was'' (TW3), a satirical television show. An increased proportion of his output became overtly political, or at least topical, on subjects such as education ("New Math"), the Second Vatican Council ("The Vatican Rag"), race relations ("National Brotherhood Week"), air and water pollution ("Pollution"), American militarism ("Send the Marines"), World War III "pre-nostalgia" ("So Long, Mom", premiered by Steve Allen), and nuclear proliferation ("Who's Next?" and "MLF Lullaby"). He also wrote a song that famously satirized the alleged amorality of rocket scientist Wernher von Braun, who had previously worked for Nazi Germany before working for the United States. ("'Once the rockets are up, who cares where they come down? That's not my department', says Wernher von Braun.") Lehrer did not appear on the television show; his songs were performed by a female vocalist and his lyrics were often altered by the network censors. Lehrer later performed the songs on the album, ''That Was The Year That Was'', so that, in his words, people could hear the songs the way they were intended to be heard.

In 1967, Lehrer was persuaded to make a short tour in Norway and Denmark, where he performed some of the songs from the television program. The performance in Oslo, Norway, on September 10 was recorded on video tape and aired locally later that autumn; this program was released on DVD some 40 years later.

Also around 1967, Lehrer composed and performed on piano original songs in a Dodge automobile "industrial" film that was distributed primarily to Dodge automobile dealers. It was also shown at promotional events organized by Dodge. Set in a fictional American wild west town, the full proper title of the film appears to be "The Dodge Rebellion Theatre presents Ballads For '67" Since the film is introducing 1967 model automobiles, it was possibly produced in late 1966.

The record deal with Reprise Records for the ''That Was The Year That Was'' album also gave Reprise distribution rights for Lehrer's earlier recordings, as Lehrer wanted to wind up his own record imprint. The Reprise issue of ''Songs by Tom Lehrer'' was a stereo re-recording. This version was not issued on CD, but the songs were issued on the live ''Tom Lehrer Revisited'' CD instead. The [live] recording also included bonus tracks "L-Y" and "Silent E", which Lehrer wrote for the PBS children's educational series ''The Electric Company''. Lehrer later commented that worldwide sales of the recordings under Reprise surpassed 1.8 million units in 1996. That same year, the album ''That Was The Year That Was'' went gold. The album liner notes (and Lehrer himself in one routine) promote Tom Lehrer's songs using reverse psychology, by deliberately quoting his negative reviews.

Departure from the music scene

There is an urban legend that Lehrer gave up political satire when the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Henry Kissinger in 1973. He did comment that awarding the prize to Kissinger made political satire obsolete, but has denied that he stopped creating satire thereafter as a form of protest, asserting that he had stopped several years prior to the award. Another mistaken belief is that he was sued for libel by the estate of Wernher Von Braun, the subject of one of his songs, and forced to relinquish all of his royalty income to Von Braun. Lehrer firmly denied this in a 2003 interview.

When asked about his reasons for abandoning his musical career, in an interview in the book accompanying his CD box set (released in 2000), he cited a simple lack of interest, a distaste for touring, and boredom with performing the same songs repeatedly. He observed that when he was moved to write and perform songs, he did, and when he was not, he did not, and that after a while he simply lost interest. Although many of Lehrer's songs satirized the Cold War political establishment of the era, he stopped writing and performing just as the 1960s counterculture movement gained momentum.

Lehrer's musical career was brief; in an interview in the late 1990s, he pointed out that he had performed a mere 109 shows and written 37 songs over 20 years. Nevertheless, he developed a significant cult following both in the United States and abroad.

In the 1970s, Lehrer concentrated on teaching mathematics and musical theater, although he also wrote ten songs for the children's television show ''The Electric Company''—Lehrer's Harvard schoolmate Joe Raposo was the show's musical director for its first three seasons.

Revivals and discographic reissues

In the early 1980s, ''Tom Foolery'', a revival of his songs on the London stage, was a hit. Although not its instigator, Lehrer eventually gave the stage production his full support and updated several of his lyrics for the production (such as "Who's Next", in which Neiman-Marcus [or in the San Francisco production, J.C. Penney], not Alabama, gets the bomb). ''Tom Foolery'' contained 27 Lehrer songs and led to more than 200 productions, including an off-Broadway production at the Village Gate, which ran for 120 performances in 1981.

In conjunction with the ''Tom Foolery'' premiere in 1980 at Criterion Theatre in London, Lehrer made a rare TV appearance on BBCs ''Parkinson'' show, where he sang "I Got It From Agnes".

On June 7 and 8, 1998, Lehrer performed in public for the first time in 25 years at the Lyceum Theatre, London as part of the gala show ''Hey, Mr. Producer!'' celebrating the career of impresario Cameron Mackintosh, who had been the producer of ''Tom Foolery''. The June 8 show was his only performance before Queen Elizabeth II. Lehrer sang "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park" and an updated version of the nuclear proliferation song "Who's Next?". The DVD of the event includes the former song.

In 2000, a boxed set of CDs, ''The Remains of Tom Lehrer'', was released by Rhino Entertainment. It included live and studio versions of his first two albums, ''That Was The Year That Was'', the songs he wrote for ''The Electric Company'', and some previously unreleased material. It was accompanied by a small hardbound book containing an introduction by Dr. Demento and lyrics to all the songs.

In 2010, Shout! Factory launched a reissue campaign, making his long out-of-press albums available digitally. They also issued a CD/DVD combo called ''The Tom Lehrer Collection'', which includes his best-loved songs, plus a DVD featuring an Oslo concert.

Musical legacy

Lehrer has commented that he doubts his songs had any real effect on those not already critical of the establishment: "I don't think this kind of thing has an impact on the unconverted, frankly. It's not even preaching to the converted; it's titillating the converted... I'm fond of quoting Peter Cook, who talked about the satirical Berlin kabaretts of the 1930s, which did so much to stop the rise of Hitler and prevent the Second World War."

In 2003 he commented that his particular brand of political satire is more difficult in the modern world: "The real issues I don't think most people touch. The Clinton jokes are all about Monica Lewinsky and all that stuff and not about the important things, like the fact that he wouldn't ban land mines... I'm not tempted to write a song about George W. Bush. I couldn't figure out what sort of song I would write. That's the problem: I don't want to satirise George Bush and his puppeteers, I want to vaporize them."

In a phone call to Gene Weingarten of the ''Washington Post'' in February 2008, Lehrer instructed Weingarten to "Just tell the people that I am voting for Obama."

A play, ''Letters from Lehrer'', written by Canadian Richard Greenblatt, was performed by him at CanStage, from January 16 to February 25, 2006. It followed Lehrer's musical career, the meaning of several songs, the politics of the time, and Greenblatt's own experiences with Lehrer's music, while playing some of Lehrer's songs. There are currently no plans for more performances, although low-quality audio recordings have begun to circulate around the internet.

Some of his songs ("I Hold Your Hand in Mine" and "Poisoning Pigeons in the Park") were reworked into German by the Austrian-Jewish singer satirist Georg Kreisler who lived in the United States from 1938 until 1955. Lehrer was praised by Dr. Demento as "the best musical satirist of the twentieth century". Other artists who cite Lehrer as an influence include "Weird Al" Yankovic, whose work generally addresses more popular and less technical or political subjects, and educator and scientist H. Paul Shuch, who tours under the stage name Dr. SETI and calls himself "a cross between Carl Sagan and Tom Lehrer: he sings like Sagan and lectures like Lehrer." More stylistically influenced performers include American political satirist Mark Russell, and the British duo Kit and The Widow. British medical satirists Amateur Transplants acknowledge the debt they owe to Tom Lehrer on the back of their first album, ''Fitness to Practice''. Their songs "The Menstrual Rag" and "The Drugs Song" are to the tunes of Lehrer's "The Vatican Rag" and "The Elements" (itself set to the tune of the "Major-General's Song" from ''The Pirates of Penzance'' by Gilbert and Sullivan), respectively. Their second album, ''Unfit to Practise'', opens with an update of Lehrer's "The Masochism Tango" and is called simply "Masochism Tango 2008". Syndicated conservative morning-radio talk show host Jim Quinn sings with piano backing in a Lehrer-like tribute in a song on how political correctness has destroyed so many Christmas traditions with the song "A Politically Correct Christmas".

Lehrer has said of his musical career, "If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while."

Music lists

Reviews selected by Lehrer for his liner notes

"Mr. Lehrer's muse is not fettered by such inhibiting factors as taste." — ''The New York Times'' (9 February 1959)

"More desperate than amusing" — ''New York Herald Tribune''

"He seldom has any point to make except obvious ones" — ''The Christian Science Monitor''

"Plays the piano acceptably" — ''The Oakland Tribune''

Solo discography

''Songs by Tom Lehrer'' (1953)

''More of Tom Lehrer'' (1959)

''An Evening Wasted with Tom Lehrer'' (1959)

''Revisited'' (1960) (1990 CD reissue includes 1971 studio recordings of ''Silent E'' and ''L-Y'')

''Tom Lehrer Discovers Australia (And Vice Versa)'' (1960; Australia-only)

''That Was the Year That Was'' (1965)

''Tom Lehrer in Concert'' (1994; UK compilation)

''Songs & More Songs by Tom Lehrer'' (1997)

''The Remains of Tom Lehrer'' (2000)

''The Tom Lehrer Collection'' (2010)

Many Lehrer songs also are performed (but not by Lehrer) in ''That Was The Week That Was'' (Radiola LP, 1981)

The sheet music to many of Lehrer's songs is published in ''The Tom Lehrer Song Book'' (Crown Publishers, Inc., 1954) Library of Congress Card Catalog Number 54-12068 and ''Too Many Songs by Tom Lehrer: with not enough drawings by Ronald Searle'' (Pantheon, 1981, ISBN 0-394-74930-8).

References

External links

That Was the Wit That Was Tom Lehrer interview in SF Weekly, published 2000-04-19, retrieved 2010-08-26

Tom Lehrer Annotated Song Lyrics, many with MIDI files, collected by Graeme Cree, retrieved 2011-04-13

59 minute long mp3 radio programme from 1983, with a telephone interview with Tom Lehrer, as well as a 10 minute follow-up 1989 From "Bob Claster's Funny Stuff" on KCRW, retrieved 2010-08-26

A Conversation with Tom Lehrer done by Paul D. Lehrman on September 7, 1997, retrieved 2010-08-26

Tom Lehrer page on The Demented Music Database - includes biography, discography, lyrics and other miscellanea, retrieved on 2011-01-23

Category:1928 births Category:Living people Category:20th-century mathematicians Category:American male singers Category:American mathematicians Category:American novelty song performers Category:American satirists Category:American singer-songwriters Category:American pianists Category:American comedy musicians Category:Harvard University alumni Category:Reprise Records artists Category:Comedy musicians Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology faculty Category:Parody musicians Category:University of California, Santa Cruz faculty Category:Horace Mann School alumni Category:United States Army soldiers Category:Jewish songwriters Category:Wellesley College faculty Category:Jewish comedians Category:American Jews Category:American Jews

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