Editing Max Steiner (section)

===Beginning music career (1907–1914)===
The music of Edmund Eysler was an early influence in the pieces of Max Steiner;<ref name="voyager" />{{rp|2}} however, one of his first introductions to operettas was by [[Franz Lehár]] who worked for a time as a military bandmaster for Steiner's father's theatre.<ref name="voyager" />{{rp|3}} Steiner paid tribute to Lehár through an operetta modeled after Lehár's ''[[The Merry Widow|Die lustige Witwe]]'' which Steiner staged in 1907 in Vienna.<ref name="voyager" />{{rp|3}} Eysler was well known for his operettas though as critiqued by [[Richard Traubner]], the [[libretto|libretti]] were poor, with a fairly simple style, the music often relying too heavily on the [[Viennese waltz]] style.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Traubner |first1=Richard |title=Operetta: A Theatrical History |date=1983 |publisher=Doubleday & Company, Inc. |location=Garden City, New York |isbn=0385132328 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/operettatheatric00trau_1/page/296 296–7] |url=https://archive.org/details/operettatheatric00trau_1/page/296 }}</ref> As a result, when Steiner started writing pieces for the theater, he was interested in writing libretto as his teacher had, but had minimal success. However, many of his future film scores such as ''[[Dark Victory]]'' (1939), ''[[In This Our Life]]'' (1941), and ''[[Now, Voyager]]'' (1942) had frequent waltz melodies as influenced by Eysler.<ref name="voyager" />{{rp|2}} According to author of ''Max Steiner's "Now, Voyager"'' Kate Daubney, Steiner may also have been influenced by Felix Weingartner who conducted the [[Vienna Opera]] from 1908 to 1911. Although he took composition classes from Weingartner, as a young boy, Steiner always wanted to be a great conductor.<ref name="voyager" />{{rp|3}}

Between 1907 and 1914, Steiner traveled between Britain and Europe to work on theatrical productions.<ref name="voyager" />{{rp|4}} Steiner first entered the world of professional music when he was fifteen. He wrote and conducted the operetta ''The Beautiful Greek Girl'', but his father refused to stage it saying it was not good enough. Steiner took the composition to competing impresario Carl Tuschl who offered to produce it. Much to Steiner's pleasure, it ran in the Orpheum Theatre for a year.<ref name="thomas" />{{rp|58}} This led to opportunities to conduct other shows in various cities around the world, including Moscow and Hamburg. Upon returning to Vienna, Steiner found his father in bankruptcy. Having difficulties finding work, he moved to London (in part to follow an English [[showgirl]] he had met in Vienna).<ref name="thomas" />{{rp|58}} In London, he was invited to conduct Lehar's ''[[The Merry Widow]]''. He stayed in London for eight years conducting musicals at Daly's Theatre, the Adelphi, the Hippodrome, the London Pavilion, and the Blackpool Winter Gardens.<ref name=Thomas/> Steiner married Beatrice Tilt on September 12, 1912. The exact date of their divorce is unknown.<ref name="archives">{{cite web |title=The Max Steiner Collection |url=https://files.lib.byu.edu/ead/XML/MSS1547.xml#idp688322728 |website=Film Music Archives |publisher=L.Tom Perry Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University |access-date=June 7, 2018 |location=MSS 1547}}</ref>

In England, Steiner wrote and conducted theater productions and symphonies. But the beginning of [[World War I]] in 1914 led him to be interned as an [[enemy alien]].<ref>Brook, Vincent. ''Driven to Darkness: Jewish Emigre Directors and the Rise of Film Noir'', Rutgers Univ. Press (2009) p. 215</ref> Fortunately, he was befriended by the [[Duke of Westminster]], who was a fan of his work, and was given exit papers to go to America, although his money was impounded. He arrived in New York City in December 1914, with only $32.<ref name=Thomas/> Unable to find work, he resorted to [[domestic worker|menial job]]s such as a copyist for Harms Music Publishing, which quickly led him to jobs orchestrating stage musicals.<ref name="thomas" />{{rp|58}}