Friedrich Schwarz (* June 8, 1895 in Berlin; † July 23, 1933 in Paris) was an Austrian composer and lyricist.
The son of Viennese journalist Louis Schwarz, Friedrich Schwarz was born while passing through Berlin, the city where he then enjoyed his greatest successes as a composer and lyricist in the early 1930s. He began his composing career in the early 1920s after moving from Vienna to the German capital. There he studied with Franz Schreker, earned his doctorate, and intended to devote himself primarily to classical music. From the end of the 1920s, however, he had more and more success with pop songs, to which he often wrote the lyrics himself. Very popular were, for example, "Wenn ich die blonde Inge abends nach Hause bringe", "Ich hab dich einmal geküsst", the mood song "Nach Hause gehen wir nicht" and especially the hit "Es war einmal ein Musikus", which is still one of the most played evergreens today.
In 1933, Friedrich Schwarz, who was of Jewish descent, had to flee Germany with his wife Gina Nivelli (daughter of the producer Max Nivelli). His last song composed in Germany, "Ich hab' kein Heimatland", described by himself as a "Jewish tango", could only be recorded on shellac in England by artists who had also emigrated - Marek Weber with his orchestra and John Hendrik. Schwarz fled via Prague to Paris, where he died a few weeks later in his hotel room under unexplained circumstances.
