The Bernard Herrmann Society

Shortly after Bernard Herrmann’s birth, his family moved to 214 East 15th Street. The house no longer exists, and the white building to the far right stands on the site. However, the brownstone buildings at the left (240-246 East 15th Street) probably resemble the demolished houses. 

This street overlooks Stuyvesant Square. Diagonally across the park was the house where Antonin Dvorak lived during his stay in New York. (The Dvorak house was demolished a few years ago to make way for an AIDS hospice.)

Abraham Herrmann called his office The Herrmann Optical Institute. He taught his wife Ida enough of the optometrist’s trade that she could open up a branch office in early 1918. The branch office, located at 322 Second Avenue, is first listed in the telephone directory of February 1918.

The letterhead of Abraham Herrmann’s stationary.

This storefront is where Abraham Herrmann had his optometrist office. Recent signs indicate a pizza store will be opening soon.

Abraham’s wife, Ida Herrmann, had an auxiliary office of the Herrmann Optical Institute at this address. It appears in the Manhattan phone directory for the first time in February 1918, and would have been very convenient for the Herrmann family, as the children’s school, P.S. 40, was around the corner.

Bernard, Louis, and Rose Herrmann attended this elementary school. (Currently the school is undergoing restoration work.) It was conveniently located around the corner from mother Ida Herrmann’s branch office of the Herrmann Optical Institute.

The New York Public Library, Epiphany branch (228 East 23th Street, near 2nd Avenue) 

Bernard Herrmann described visiting this neighborhood library where he could find musical scores and literature.

During the first two decades of the 20th century, 14th Street was considered to be the center of entertainment. Nicknamed “Tin Pan Alley,” it was the home of nearly all the major music publishers, as well as many theatres. 

Second Avenue between Houston and 14th Streets was the cultural center of the immigrant Jews. Many former Yiddish theatres still exist as performance spaces.

During the 1920s, the Herrmann family lived at 193 Second Avenue, located at 12th Street. Abraham Herrmann probably walked along the sidewalk pictured on the right of the photograph to his office at 236 East 14th Street (off Second Avenue).

In 1926, Jacob Ben-Ami erected the largest and most opulent of Yiddish theatres across the street from the Herrmann home at 193 Second Avenue. Named the Yiddish Art Theatre, it played Yiddish theatre only for six years before succumbing to the economic difficulties of the Depression. 

In an interview for Max Wilk’s book They’re Playing Our Song, Bernard Herrmann recalled growing up along Tin Pan Alley and Second Avenue, and claimed that he played violin for some Yiddish theatr productionse. While that claim may be exaggerated, he did attest to his knowledge of Yiddish Theatre when composing The King of Schnorrers. It is likely that Herrmann attended shows at neighborhood theatres, including the Yiddish Art Theatre directly across the street from his home.

It was restored in the 1980s and converted into a multiplex movie theatre. Though the vast interior was divided to accomodate multiple screening rooms, the lobby is still a magnificent sight.

By the 1920s, the Herrmann family had moved to 193 Second Avenue, at the corner of 12th Street. Strangely, the home address rarely appears in phone directories. In the directory pictured, both Abraham’s work address (236 East 14th Street) and home address are listed.

The Herrmann family moved into this house sometime in the 1920s. This is where Abraham died in 1933.