Archive for the ‘Composers’ Category

The Triple Threat of Steve Allen: Pianist, Writer and Comedian

Friday, March 6th, 2009

One of the most legendary musical satirists of the 20th century, pianist and comedian Steve Allen was born Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen on December 26, 1921 in New York City. His mother and father were Vaudeville comedians with the stage names Belle Montrose and Billy Allen. In fact, Milton Berle once stated that he considered Belle Montrose the funniest woman in Vaudeville.

Steve Allen was raised by the Irish Catholic family of his mother on the south side of Chicago. Allen attended college in Tempe, Arizona through his sophomore year, when he dropped out to enlist in the U.S. Army during World War II. He became an infantryman, but he served his time domestically in California instead of overseas. After the war, he lived for a brief time in Arizona and then moved to California.

Shortly after he moved to California, Allen began a career in radio. By 1946, he managed to talk the Mutual Broadcasting System into giving him a five night a week radio show with co-star Wendell Noble. Allen had quite a bit of local success, and he was pushed into the national limelight when a show called Talent Scouts needed a stand-in host for Arthur Godfrey. He was a huge success, and CBS picked him up to host a local show in New York City called The Tonight Show.

In fact, Johnny Carson was a guest on The Tonight Show with Steve Allen. Following his tremendous success with the NYC show, NBC offered him a prime-time Sunday night slot aimed to dethrone The Ed Sullivan Show in 1956. He had acts like Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis on his show in its early episodes, but Allen really disliked rock and roll music. He instead wanted to showcase comedy and jazz, since he was an ardent lover of the piano. He beat out Sullivan for ratings on a couple occasions, but ultimately another show called Maverick beat out them both.

Allen left Sundy night television for LA in 1959. In 1962, Allen revived his late night show and broadcasted it from Hollywood. This time around, it featured a substantially larger amount of jazz played by Allen and his musical accompaniment, the Donn Trenner Orchestra. It was influential on nearly every big and aspiring comedian of the day. Steve Martin, David Letterman and Robin Williams cite the show as a big influence on their careers.

In later decades, Allen appeared frequently on several game shows as a regular guest. He also managed to write over 10,000 songs. He was extremely prolific, having once bet another songwriter he could pen 50 songs a day for a week. He won the bet. He even won a Grammy award in 1963 for Best Jazz Composition.

On October 30, 2000, Allen was in a minor traffic accident on the way to the home of his son in Encino, California. He did not believe he was injured, but later that afternoon he did not feel well and took a nap. During his nap, he suffered a major heart attack and passed away. His autopsy results concluded that the accident caused a blood vessel in his chest to rupture.

Over the course of his long career, Allen had great success in music, radio, television and comedy. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for television and one for radio. His prolific songwriting catalog and contribution to the legacy of comedy will live on for decades to come.

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Hoagy Carmichael: Songwriter Extraordinaire

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

 

Hoagland Howard Carmichael, better known as Hoagy Carmichael, was born in Bloomington, Indiana on November 22, 1899. He was the musical genius behind two of the most recorded songs of all time, “Stardust” and “Heart and Soul.”

The musical talent of Hoagy Carmichael began in southern Indiana. His mother named him Hoagland after a circus troupe called “The Hoaglands” that stayed with Carmichael’s parents while his mother was pregnant.

Hoagy’s mother was a very talented pianist, and she played in many silent movies. She taught Carmichael how to sing and play piano. By age six Hoagy was giving recitals. He spent the vast majority of his young years through high school studying the piano.

Hoagy moved to Indianapolis when he was 18 and attempted to earn enough money working several labor jobs to send money home to help support his family. During this time, he also learned jazz improvisation.

Sadly, his little sister died at age three in 1918 because the family could not afford to get her adequate medical care. This event had a devastating effect on Hoagy, and he vowed to find success in his career to help his relatives. He completed his undergraduate and law degree at Indiana University, and he also enjoyed continued success in music.

By 1927, “Stardust” and “Washboard Blues” as performed by Paul Whiteman were becoming huge hits across the country. Because Hoagy spent most of his time at the Indiana law firm where he worked thinking about his music, he was eventually fired. He then went to Hollywood and later New York City to advance his musical career.

In the 1930s, Carmichael worked with legends like Louis Armstrong. He even wrote “Georgia on My Mind,” which would later become one of Ray Charles’ biggest hits. In 1931, Bing Crosby recorded a version of “Stardust,” further launching the fame of the song and its writer. He soon frequented the same circles as George Gershwin, Duke Ellington and Fred Astaire in New York City.

In 1935 Hoagy Carmichael married Ruth Meinardi, and they later had two sons named Hoagy Bix and Randy Bob. The family moved to California after Hoagy accepted a $1000 a week contract to work for Paramount Films. Some of his best work was composed for major films over the next two decades.

Carmichael’s film success was huge. He appeared as an actor in 14 major films, and he always played at least one of his songs in each movie. He even won an Academy Award for Best Song for “In the Cool, Cool, Cool of the Evening.” During this time, he was still writing songs for outside the movie world as well. Many of his songs were political in nature, speaking out against FDR as a staunch Republican. He also hosted three musical variety shows on the radio during this time.

Hoagy Carmichael was inducted into the Songwriters’ Hall of Fame in 1971. He died of heart failure in California in 1981, but his musical legacy lives on today. In fact, numerous modern musicians cite him as a big influence. For instance, John Lennon once said Carmichael was his favorite songwriter.

Hoagy Carmichael wrote two autobiographies, released together as one book in 1999. In 2008, a mural featuring his picture was dedicated to him in Richmond, Indiana.

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The Amazing Mr. Mozart

Monday, February 16th, 2009

 

Johann Chrysostom Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born on January 27, 1756 in Salzburg, Austria, which was then part of the Holy Roman Empire. His father and mother were Leopold and Anna Maria Pertl Mozart. He had one sister, Maria Anna Mozart, who was born in 1751.

Mozart’s father was a minor composer with an interest in music. When his older sister was seven and Wolfgang was three, their father began giving Maria Anna piano lessons as Wolfgang watched with great interest. He had a natural talent for picking out chords, and by age five Wolfgang was composing small pieces on the clavier. His father wrote the pieces down, and they eventually were popularized under names like the Andante and the Allegro in C.

As evidence of Wolfgang’s genius became apparent, his parents decided to put him on tour across Europe and showcase him as the child prodigy he was. They traveled to cities like Vienna, Munich, Prague, Paris, Mannheim, London, The Hague, Zurich and Donaueschingen. During his travels, Wolfgang met many influential musicians, including Johann Christian Bach. However, travel was difficult and the family was often wrought with illness.

In 1769 the family set out for Italy. The journey took them until 1771. When they arrived at the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, Mozart witnessed a performance of Miserere by Gregorio Allegri. He then was able to write down the entire piece from memory, much to the amazement of the music community. Transcribing the music was technically illegal according the Vatican, but the event remains legendary to this day.

In Milan in 1770, Mozart composed and successfully performed the opera Mitridate, re di Ponto, which led to two future operatic commissions for Ascanio in Alba and Lucio Silla. Mozart traveled back and forth between Salzburg and Milan to complete these pieces in the years that followed.

When he returned to Salzburg in 1773, he was appointed as royal musician to the court by the ruler of Salzburg, Prince-Archbishop Hieronymus Colleredo. His popularity increased tremendously, but so did his yearning for bigger and better successes.

After years searching for a new job in Paris and Mannheim, Mozart eventually was sent to Vienna by his employer. His salary was cut, and he attempted to resign, but the request was denied. He was eventually fired with dishonor in 1781, and he set out to make a freelance career for himself.

His career blossomed in Vienna, and in 1782 he married a woman named Constanze with whom he had six children. At this time, composer Joseph Hayden and Mozart became good friends. He finally obtained an aristocratic commission in 1787 when Emperor Joseph II appointed him as chamber composer. In the same year, Mozart’s famous opera Don Giovanni opened in Prague to much critical acclaim.

In the last few years of his life, Mozart produced many noteworthy compositions, like The Magic Flute and his famous unfinished Requiem. He fell ill in 1791 while in Prague for the premiere of his opera La clemenza di Tito in September. By November of that year, Mozart was bedridden because of his illness. He was tended to by Constanze and his family doctor until his death on December 5.

It is impossible for modern medicine to pinpoint the exact cause of his death, but the old medical practice of bloodletting is believed to be a contributing factor. He was buried in a common grave, as was the practice of the time in Vienna. While illness may have stopped the progress of his musical career, the genius of Mozart’s compositions lives on through the ages.

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Burt Bacharach: His Songs and Musicals

Thursday, February 12th, 2009

 

Ask any modern singer or songwriter for a list of their influences, and you’re more than likely to see pop mastermind Burt Bacharach at the

top of their list. Know best for his many hits that span the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s, Burt Bacharach’s songbook is one of the best known in

modern times.

Burt Bacharach was born on May 12, 1928 in Kansas City, Missouri. From an early age, he showed interest in music. He studied the subject

extensively at the Mannes School of Music, McGill University and the Music Academy of the West in Santa Barbara, California.

Bacharach’s career began to blossom in 1957 when he joined forces with lyrical mastermind Hal David. A year later, their first big hit was

recorded by Marty Robbins, entitled “The Story of My Life.” It became a number one hit on U.S. country and UK charts. The success was

followed up in early 1958 with Perry Como’s hit, “Magic Moments.” Como’s song reached number four hit on American charts and number one in

the UK.

Burt Bacharach and Hal David then found success writing songs for artists like Johnny Mathis, Dionne Warwick, The Drifters and Chuck Jackson

in the early 1960s. Their popularity as a songwriting team snowballed as they continued to compose hit songs for many of the brightest

talents of the time.

By the late 1960s and early 1970s, Burt Bacharach was writing songs for best artists around. Through the ’60s, ’70s and ’80s, he was one of

the most sought after songwriters in the world. His list of clients included The Beatles, Dusty Springfield, The Shirelles, The Carpenters,

Aretha Franklin, Tom Jones, Herb Alpert and Luther Vandross.

His success carried over into the 1990s and beyond into the new millennium. He worked with Elvis Costello on a Grammy award winning album

entitled, “Painted From Memory” in 1998. He even collaborated with hip hop mogul Dr. Dre on his recent album release entitled, “At This

Time.”

Burt Bacharach also had success on Broadway with his musicals. In 1968, “Marlene Dietrich” and “Promises, Promises” made their way to the

stage. In fact, the latter was nominated for a Tony award for best musical. More recently, a review entitled “The Look of Love” was performed

on stage in 2003. That same year saw Bacharach’s contribution to the original musical called “The Boy From Oz.” Burt Bacharach was also a

featured songwriter in Andre Deshield’s production of Haarlem Nocturne in 1984.

Bacharach has been married four times. His first wife was Paula Stewart. His second wife was actress Angie Dickinson. His third wife was

lyricist Carole Bayer Sager, and his fourth and current spouse is Jane Strauss Hanson. He had a daughter named Nikki with Dickinson who

tragically committed suicide after a long struggle with Asperger syndrome. His other children include a son and daughter with Hanson. Their

names are Oliver and Raleigh. He also has an adopted son named Cristopher.

Burt Bacharach’s distinctive style, which often uses unusual chord progressions and syncopated rhythms to create a catchy hook, made him one

of the most influential songwriters of the 20th century. From Brian Wilson to Oasis to Faith No More, many contemporary acts cite Bacharach’s

songwriting as highly influential on their careers.

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George Gershwin: His Life & Music

Monday, February 9th, 2009

 

Even though George Gershwin’s life was sadly cut short by a brain tumor when he was only 38 years old, his music still lives on in the hearts and minds of the world today. Some of his most famous works included “Rhapsody in Blue” and “They Can’t Take That Away From Me.” His storied career includes many other notable highlights and achievements over the course of his brief life.

George Gershwin was born in Brooklyn, New York to Ukrainian Jewish immigrants on September 26, 1898. He was named Jacob Gershowitz at birth. The family name was later Americanized by George to facilitate his show business career. Many of his other family members followed suit and changed their names accordingly. Gershwin had three siblings in his family.

George Gershwin revealed his talent for music at an early age. At the tender age of 10, Gershwin attended his friend Max Rosen’s violin recital. He was absolutely fascinated by the passion behind the performance. He loved the sound of the instrument and the skilled nuance with which Rosen performed.

The Gershwin parents had bought a piano for George’s older brother, Ira. George came home from the violin recital and was determined to learn to play an instrument, so he began tinkering around with Ira’s piano at home. He learned the instrument quickly, so his parents were happy to help him find a suitable professional for a piano teacher.

The search for a piano teacher for young George Gershwin took nearly two years. He finally settled on Charles Hambitzer, who influenced Gershwin’s musical life immensely. He taught Gershwin formal techniques and formal European music. Gershwin would attend classical music performances with Hambitzer, and he was often able to reproduce the melodies on the piano when he would return home. Hambitzer acted as Gershwin’s mentor until the time of his death in 1918.

At 15, Gershwin dropped out of school to become a song plugger for Jerome H. Remick and Company, a firm from New York City’s famed Tin Pan Alley. The position earned him $15 a week, but more importantly, it positioned him well in the music industry.

By 1916, Gershwin published his first song, entitled, “When You Want ‘Em, You Can’t Get ‘Em, When You’ve Got ‘Em, You Don’t Want Em.” He was 17 years old.

He followed up his release in 1916 with a 1917 release of “Rialto Ripples,” which was a commercial success. In 1918, he released “Swanee.” In 1924, Gershwin began his foray into musicals, a pursuit that would make him forever famous. He penned “Lady Be Good” and “Fascinating Rhythm” that year.

Follow-up musicals in subsequent years included “Oh Kay,” “Funny Face,” “Strike Up the Band,” “Show Girl,” “Girl Crazy,” “I Got Rhythm,” “Porgy and Bess” and “Of Thee I Sing.” The latter of the group won the esteemed Pulitzer Prize.

Gershwin’s success on Broadway eventually led to calls from Hollywood movie studios. He moved out to California to do some film work. While out in Hollywood, he began complaining of headaches in early 1937. Sadly, during his work on a film entitled “The Goldwyn Follies,” George Gershwin collapsed due to a malignant brain tumor. He later died following a surgery to remove the tumor on July 11, 1937.

Although his life was tragically cut short, George Gershwin’s legacy will always live on through his music. From timeless hits to musicals, his melodies still resonate in popular culture. His influence will be felt for decades to come.

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A Musical Family: Johann Sebastian Bach and The Bach Family

Saturday, February 7th, 2009

 

A famous German composer and organ player, Johann Sebastian Bach came from a very musical family. He was born in Eisenach on March 31, 1685. He was the youngest child of Johann Ambrosius Bach and Maria Elisabetha Lammerhirt Bach.

Johann Sebastian Bach was surrounded by music from birth. His father was an organist for St. George’s Church, and all his uncles were professional musicians. They included everything from court chamber performers to classical composers.

Bach’s father taught him how to play violin and harpsichord when he was very young. Johann Sebastian’s famous uncle Johann Christoph Bach taught him the fine art of organ playing.

Sadly, Johann Sebastian Bach was orphaned when he was just 10 years old. His mother died in 1694, and his father died only eight months later. He then moved in with his brother, who was also a famous organist named Johann Christoph Bach. He began to study music in earnest, learning to compose, perform and write music professionally under his brother’s tutelage. He also learned to play the clavichord.

At the age of 14, Johann Sebastian was awarded a choral scholarship that allowed him to study at St. Michael’s School in Luneberg. The school had a great musical reputation. It was located in Hamburg, which was then one of the largest cities of the Holy Roman Empire.

After his graduation, Bach was given the title of court musician in the chapel of Duke Johann Ernst of Weimar. His reputation as a skilled musician and composer quickly spread, and soon St. Bonafice Church in Arnstadt called on Bach because they needed an organist to play their inaugural concert for a new organ. When they heard him play, they invited him to stay on as their parish organist.

He enjoyed the job, but he took extended absences to study with famous organists and was preoccupied with his composing. In 1706, he moved on to a larger parish in Muhlhausen. Shortly thereafter, he married his second cousin, Maria Barbara Bach. Together, they had seven children, two of which became important composers.

After only a year, Bach left Muhlhausen to become the concert master and court organist at the ducal court in Weimar. This was one of the most productive eras of his life. During this time, he produced many of his famous fugues.

In 1717, he fell out of favor in the Weimar court. When he pushed to be dismissed from his position, he was put in jail for a month before being unfavorably discharged.

Bach was then hired by Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Cothen as the music director until 1723. Many of his famous secular works were composed over these years, as Leopold was a Calvinist and not a big fan of elaborate music in his worship services.

In 1720 Bach’s wife died unexpectedly. A year later, he remarried a soprano singer named Anna Magdalena Wilcke. Together, they had 13 children. Six of them survived to adulthood, and all six were talented musicians.

The family lived in Leipzig from 1723 until 1747. Bach wrote many of his most famous works, like motets and his Mass in B Minor, in Leipzig where he served as music director for several churches. In 1747, he moved to Potsdam to serve on the court of Frederick the II of Prussia.

Johann Sebastian Bach died in 1750 of undetermined causes. Some believe a quack surgeon performed an unsuccessful eye operation that caused his death, while others think he suffered a stroke brought on as a complication from pneumonia. He was 65.

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The Dynamic Talent of Rodgers and Hart

Wednesday, January 28th, 2009

The celebrated musical team of Rodgers and Hart came about when musician Richard Rodgers paired with lyricist Lorenz Hart. Rodgers, then only 17 years of age, went on to collaborate with Hart to create a musical revue, which hit theatres in 1925.  “The Garrick Gaieties” was initially scheduled for a two night run. Instead, it continued over several months and cemented one of the most successful musical partnerships of the early 20th century.
Lorenz Hart was an energetic and dynamic lyricist, whose talent was evident from an early age. During his teen years he first demonstrated his enthusiasm and talent when putting words to music at summer camps. Rodger’s musical talent emerged in much the same way, with his earliest work consisting of writing music for amateur theatre productions. By the time the pair first met, the 17 year old Rodgers had already completed study at Columbia University and expressed his strong admiration for the dynamic lyrics of Hart’s work.
Following their first meeting, Rodgers said later that the introduction provided him with “a career, a partner, and a best friend.” It was inevitable that the pair would work together, and they began to prepare from that point forward to find the break they both sought as a team. Their big break came on May 17, 1925, when the Garrick Theatre hosted the instantly successful “Garrick Gaieties.” The musical was to run briefly as a charity benefit performance. However, following the success of the main musical number “Manhattan,” the brief run extended to a massive 200 performances. The Rodgers and Hart team had arrived as a new musical force on Broadway.
The body of work produced by Rodgers and Hart was based on a naturally harmonious partnership. Hart’s ability as a lyricist was pushed along by Rodger’s musical inventiveness, while the more business-like Rodgers managed the sales side of things successfully. The team then forged opportunities to work with producers such as Lew Fields (Peggy-Ann), Ziegfield (Betsy) and CB Cochran in the UK.
The advent of the “talkies” had Hollywood calling the pair. The second musical that they produced for film secured their success in this medium, with the release of “Love me Tonight.” The songs “Lover” and “Isn’t it Romantic” gained widespread popularity.  The next musical they wrote was “I Married an Angel.” When MGM shelved the project, Rodgers and Hart rewrote it for Broadway and it had outstanding success on stage. So, MGM reconsidered the project. It was a hit, just like the play.
In the mid 1930’s, the musicals of Rodgers and Hart were rolling out at a rapid rate. “On your Toes” in 1936 was followed by “Babes in Arms” and “I’d Rather be Right” in 1937, “I Married an Angel” and “The Boys from Syracuse” in 1938, “Too Many Girls” in 1939, “Pal Joey” in 1940 and finally “By Jupiter” was released in 1942.
Sadly, personal problems for Hart and his descent into alcoholism saw the gradual breakdown of the musical partnership as their success escalated. The first of what would come to be many famous collaborative works with Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein was released early in 1943. A final attempt to pull the Rodgers and Hart partnership back together was made with the Broadway release of the reworked “A Connecticut Yankee” in 1943. Hart’s health by this time was seriously compromised, with his death coming just 5 days into the Broadway season of the last Rodgers and Hart musical.
The musical partnership of Rodgers and Hart generated some of the most innovative and successful musical comedies on Broadway and in Hollywood. With their collaboration spanning more than 20 years, the partnership of these two musical talents gave the world 28 Broadway musicals, eight Hollywood movies and some 500 plus songs. The rich musical legacy of Rodgers and Hart remains a fine reflection upon an extraordinary musical team.

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Georgia On My Mind: The Jazz Tunes of Hoagy Carmichael

Friday, January 2nd, 2009
Hoagy Carmichael

Jazz pianist Hoagy Carmichael’s story is one of a musician overcoming the odds. For Hoagy Carmichael, life started with a succession of homes across the Midwest as his father moved their family around looking for steady work, returning always to Bloomington, Indiana. While his mother would play piano for the local movie houses and at dances, Carmichael would stand beside her. He later reflected on this time, stating, “Ragtime was my lullaby.”

Lida Carmichael, Hoagy’s mother, dreamed of seeing her son become the president of a railroad. Railroad work wasn’t in the future for Carmichael. With his mother’s musical ear and a burning ambition to become a jazz musician,  Hoagy went to hear Louie Jordan playing with an early jazz ensemble in 1919. The performance convinced him to become a musician.

The final piece of his future destiny fell into place when Hoagy Carmichael played an improvised piano tune for coronet player and fellow jazz enthusiast Bix Beiderbecke. Bix asked Hoagy why he didn’t write music himself, and thereafter Hoagy decided to become a musician, songwriter and entertainer for a living.
As with many artists, the road to success and fame wasn’t always smooth. After initial success with the celebrated “Washboard Blues” and “Riverboat Shuffle,” Hoagy moved to New York City. 

Finding that his initial success faded, Hoagy eventually had to work a job selling bonds with a Wall Street broker to make ends meet. He chose to produce music he believed in rather than succumb to growing pressure to produce commercial songs.

The conviction and desire to remain true to the music he loved finally yielded results with the release of songs like “Rockin’ Chair,” “Georgia on My Mind” and “Lazy River.” Alongside artists such as Louis Armstrong and Duke Ellington, the new medium of radio quickly thrust Hoagy Carmichael, the pianist from Indiana, into the spotlight.

In 1936, Hoagy made the move to Hollywood, where many composers were experiencing unprecedented success. Over the subsequent decade, picking out a tune on a piano earned him success that his mother could never have forseen when warning him against a musical career path many years earlier. During this period, Hoagy Carmichael worked alongside lyricists such as Mitchell Parish, Frank Loesser and Johnny Mercer.

By the late 1940’s, the musician had achieved almost unparalleled success. Hoagy Carmichael was a household name with hits on the radio, record deals and appearances in movies such as “To Have and Have Not” and “The Best Year of Our Lives.” In 1946, three of four songs on the Hit Parade were written by Hoagy Carmichael. In 1951, Hoagy won an Oscar along with Johnny Mercer for ‘In the Cool, Cool, Cool of Evening.” Hoagy was even host of his own TV show, “The Saturday Night Review.”

The charm of Carmichael as an entertainer was in his ability to remain the kind of person that the public felt they could have a drink with or a share a joke over dinner. Hoagy Carmichael was an entertainer that the average person felt they could identify with easily. He was someone who shared the same hopes and dreams they did.

Beneath his easy going exterior, the musician retained an intensity of emotion which powered his music and desire to produce quality work. To see Carmichael late in his career at his piano performing songs like “Lazybones” and “Ole Buttermilk Sky” with his unique style and distinctive voice made it hard to imagine that he ever struggled to achieve success.

Carmichael’s tale of himself as a young kid going crazy for jazz music and making the piano his life’s work is the story of a triumph of the human spirit.  Hoagy Carmichael’s journey from humble musical beginnings wasn’t always smooth, but his development as a musician and entertainer gave many popular and highly regarded songs to the public during his long and successful career.

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George & Ira Gershwin: The Brothers Songwriting Team

Monday, December 29th, 2008

George Gershwin was born on the 26th of September, 1986 in Brooklyn, New York. His roots were a mix of Ukrainian and Jewish roots, from Russia. The key to his interest was a violin recital by his childhood pal Max Rozen. He liked what he had heard. His parents bought a piano for his brother and future lyricist, Ira Gershwin. He took it from there and took to it more than his brother Ira.

Gershwin came from a family that had music in their blood. In addition to his brother getting into music, his sister too, started taking it up early in life, but gave it up in favor of a family life. Gershwin was tutored by a number of tutors who didn’t make much of an impact on him and his music until he met his last piano teacher - Charles Hambitzer. Hambitzer taught him to the proper way of playing a piano.

Paving his knowledge of European music history, introduced him to the music of the past and encouraged him to attend a concert when he could. When he eventually did this, he was quick at reproducing the same music note of note after returning home after the concert. He also studied with Rubin Goldmark and Henry Cowell.

When 15, George quit school and started working at Jerome H. Remick and Company as a ‘song-plugger’ where he took a salary of $15 a week. His first commercial success was tasted with Rialto Ripples in 1917 but he really hit it big time in 1919 with his composition Swanee, which shot him to fame all over the United States.

In 1916, he worked with Aeolian Company and Standard Music Rolls doing the recording and arranging piano rolls. There is no official count of the rolls that he came up with, but it is said that he has hundreds of piano rolls to his credit. He credited his work here with number of aliases – some which were Fred Murtha and Bert Wynn. He made rolls for reproducing pianos made by Duo Art and Welte Mignon. He had a small little stint getting into vaudevilles playing pieces by Nora Bayes and Louise Dresser most often at the vaudeville shows that he performed at.

In 1924, he and brother Ira worked on their first musical together - a comedy - Lady be Good. The songs from Lady Be Good – Fascinating Rhythm and the title track Lady Be Good - were soon to be standards. Then on, a string of musical followed with most of them being very successful. Some of them are Girl Crazy, Strike Up the Band, Funny Face, Show Girl and Oh, Kay!. From among these, Girl Crazy became the first ever musical to win a Pulitzer Prize apart from spurning the hits I Got Rhythm and Of Thee I Sing.

The same year he made music for a musical, he also composed his first classical piece – Rhapsody In Blue. The piece was, orchestrated by Ferde Grofe, played by Paul Whiteman’s band. He tried a hand at learning something from greats like Nadia Boulanger and Maurice Ravel rejected the proposition to teach him saying that bring his technique mainstream would ruin his jazz specialty.

His stay there inspired the piece An American In Paris. The piece didn’t do well at the press and with critics, when he played for the first time on the 13th of April in Carnegie Hall. But it, like some of his other early hits, became many jazz band’s standard repertoire.

After getting fed up with the music scene in Paris, he decided to return home to the United States. His best was yet to come. Two years before his death in 1937, he composed his most appreciated work yet. Porgy and Bess premièred on Broadway in 1935. The music was a hit mainly because it had a little bit of all kinds of musical culture of the time – a little black music, opera induced recitative and leitmotifs – which was understandable as all the characters were black people.

In 1937, Gershwin began complaining of being able to smell burnt rubber and of headaches. He was diagnosed with a condition of a brain tumor called glioblastoma multiforme. Despite the condition, he continued to work. He played with the San Francisco Philharmonic Orchestra in the same year. This was his last performance before he collapsed and died and dies while working on the score of The Goldwyn Follies.

Two months after his death, the score of They Can’t Take That Away From Me, from the film Shall We Dance won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

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White Christmas: The Life and Music of Irving Berlin

Friday, December 12th, 2008

In 1948Irving Berlin started making music long before he learned to play an instrument. Before rising to the heights of superstardom, Irving (then Israel Beilin) was just another son of an immigrant in the United States. Through stubborn determination to express his music, Irving eventually taught himself to play the piano and became one of the most prolific composers in music history.

Irving’s parents were poor, and after his father died, he found himself eking a living as a singing waiter in New York. He was already using music as a medium of expression, but it was when he was asked to write something catchy for a local business that he found his true passion. He also found himself with a new name - a misprint read “Berlin” instead of “Beilin” on the sheet music, and so he became I. Berlin.

Coming up with the music was easy enough, but arranging it professionally was a challenge. In the early days when he worked alone, he employed outside help to arrange his musical ideas. His work as a lyricist proved successful and soon he was composing songs for modest stage productions.

It was a decent step up from warbling for cafe patrons, but his life changed in 1911 when his song “Alexander’s Rag-time Band” hit the big time. It was an ode to the explosion of jazz in the early twentieth century.

After Alexander’s Rag-time Band, Berlin was catapulted into the limelight as a songwriting star. He turned his attention to writing songs for full length musicals, and during a stint with the American army in World War One, he penned what became one of the most stirring American anthems in the country’s history. “God Bless America” is Berlin’s most popular and widely-known song, second only to the American National Anthem in popularity.

Although he wrote music for many plays, his best known composition was Annie Get Your Gun.  He also had great success in films. White Christmas was sung by Bing Crosby in a movie called Holiday Inn, and the response was tremendous. The song won Berlin an Oscar, and he was the first and only winner to ever find his own name in the envelope.

Berlin was also a keen businessman. He built his own Broadway theater called the Music Box. He also established the American Society of Composer, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) for creative minds in the industry. He also donated a great deal of his earnings to charity, most of it towards organizations assisting the army. President Eisenhower (for whom Berlin wrote the presidential candidacy song “I Like Ike”) awarded him a Congressional Medal in 1955 for God Bless America.

Although Berlin enjoyed international success for his work, his personal life was sometimes fraught with tragedy. His first wife died only five months after they were married. Expressing his grief in his own way, he wrote “When I Lost You” as a tribute to her. Later he remarried a young socialite named Ellin Mackay. Her father condemned the union and disinherited her from his mining fortune. Berlin fathered three daughters with Ellin. The youngest son died as a baby.

One of the most repeated quotes about Irving Berlin was first uttered by his composer friend Jerome Kern. He stated, “Irving Berlin has no place in American music. He is American music.” Despite having foreign roots, Berlin was fiercely patriotic. He loved America and thought of it as his own country.

Irving Berlin was 101 when he died in 1989.

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George Frideric Handel and the Story of the Hallelujah Chorus

Saturday, October 4th, 2008


George Frideric Handel was born February 23, 1685. While we all have heard the Hallelujah Chorus during Christmas season, many people don’t realize that George Frideric Handel is its world-renowned composer. And at Christmas time we all sing “Joy To The World”, another of his masterpieces.

While we all have heard the Hallelujah Chorus, many people don’t realize that George Frideric Handel is its world-renowned composer. He is also the genius behind The Choice of Hercules and Solomon.

George Frideric Handel was born February 23, 1685, in Germany, but he spent the majority of his life in England. After living in England for the majority of his life, his love of music and composition was largely influenced by composer Henry Purcell.

In his lifetime, Handel eloquently composed 42 operas; 29 oratorios; 16 organ concerti; over 120 cantatas, trios, and duets; and numerous arias, chamber music pieces, odes, and serenatas. Of his over 200 masterpieces, the most famous piece is the Messiah, which features the Hallelujah Chorus.

Besides the eloquence of his musical genius, Handel also prided himself in utilizing musical instruments that were, in his time, uncommon. The lute, trombone, harp, double bassoon, clarinets, small high comets, french horn, and bell chimes are just a few of the uncommon instruments Handel used in his numerous works.

Handel’s music has captivated audiences for years. He utilized the art of text painting, which is the skilled art of the melody and music imitating the lyrics. This can be best seen in the Messiah’s Every Valley Shall be Exalted, Part One.

The story of the Hallelujah Chorus is an interesting tale. First, the name is actually Hallelujah; however, as this portion of the highly acclaimed Messiah is typically played and heard separately, it has adopted the name of Hallelujah Chorus.

In 1741, Handel composed Messiah and what we know now as the Hallelujah Chorus. While designing and composing Messiah, Handel was in debt and deeply depressed; however, the masterpiece was completed in a mere 24 days.

Despite his mental and financial state, the Hallelujah Chorus’s birth story is a glorious one. After Handel’s assistant called for him for a few moments, the assistant went to Handel’s work area because he received no response from Handel. Upon entering the room, the assistant saw tears emerge from Handel’s eyes. When the assistant asked why Handel was crying, Handel proclaimed, “I have seen the face of God,” while lifting up the composition of the Hallelujah Chorus, which ended up being the crowing achievement of his career.

The lyrics in the Hallelujah Chorus are derived from three passages of the New Testament of the Bible, Revelation 19:6, Revelation 19:16, and Revelation 11:15. Revelation 19:6 reads, “And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omipotent reigneth.” Similarly, Revelation 11:15 states, “And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever.” Lastly, “And he hath on his vesture and on his thigh a name written, King of kings, and Lord of lords,” is from Revelation 19:16.

The Hallelujah Chorus has its own tradition that has emerged over time. A standard practice is for the audience to stand while this portion of Messiah is performed. This tradition began by the example of King George II. It was understood that whenever the King stood, everyone else was supposed to as well. For over 200 years, this tradition has remained. Few people know exactly why the King stood at this time. Speculations for this standing ovation range from King George II showing respect for the piece and its importance to the King seeking relief from his gout.

Upon his death on April 14, 1759, George Frideric Handel was largely known and recognized by many famous composers, such as Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven. His fame lives on in his masterful compositions.

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The Strauss Family: The Waltz King & Father of the Waltz

Friday, August 1st, 2008

Bev & I were in Austria recently, and had the pleasure of attending a classical concert featuring music by the Strauss family. It was delightful, and not at all stuffy, as some classical concerts can be.
Strauss -- The Waltz King

Johann Strauss was the son of a famous composer. He was born in Vienna, Austria in 1825. Johann Straus Senior was often known as the father of the waltz, and Strauss Junior was later dubbed the king of the waltz. Raised in Austria, Strauss did much of his composition in the latter half of the 19th century.

Strauss Junior was most famous for the dance and operetta music he created, and his work is generally considered to reflect the height of cultural achievement within the Hapsburg Empire.
While his father wanted the younger Strauss to go into business, his mother nurtured Johann Strauss Junior’s interest and talent. He subsequently composed his first waltz at age six. After studying music in secrecy, at the age of 19 he organized his own orchestra, a small group that performed his compositions in the restaurants of Hietzing. Following his father’s death in 1849, Strauss had established himself in his own right He then joined his small group with his father’s orchestra.
Throughout his life Strauss showed a strong affinity for the waltz. From 1863 to 1870, Strauss was appointed official conductor to the court in Vienna. His primary role was to serve as conductor for court balls. During his period with the royal court, Strauss composed some of the world’s most renowned and beloved waltzes. The waltzes composed in this time include “On the Beautiful Blue Danube,” which is considered the most famous waltz ever, as well as “Wine, Women and Song,” “Artist’s Life” and “Tales from the Vienna Woods.”

After a meeting with Jaques Offenbach, the popular composer of famous Parisian operettas, Strauss tried his hand at composing operettas. He subsequently resigned from the court. The finest of his operettas composed at this time was “Die Fledermaus,” written in 1874. To this day, the operetta is considered a masterpiece.

Other famous operettas by Strauss include “A Night in Venice” and “The Gypsy Baron,” from which the “Lagoon Waltz” and the “Treasure Waltz” were derived respectively. Continuing to compose the dance music and waltzes for which he initially gained acclaim, Strauss combined his interest in operettas and waltzes to compose the pieces “Roses from the South” and “Voices of Spring.” The latter, which is usually presented as an instrumental piece, was initially written as a vocal waltz. It was the only such piece that Johann Strauss ever composed.

Throughout his musical career, Strauss travelled and performed in Europe, England and the US, where he conducted massive concerts held in New York and Boston.

The breadth of his music was wide, with popularity gained for his waltzes noted most highly. In total, Strauss composed over 150 waltzes. Strauss also composed 100 polkas, 70 quadrilles or square dances and also French gallops, Polish folk Mazurkas and numerous marches.

Over a career that spanned many decades, this prolific composer was a master of melody and showed a commitment to composing with wonderful energy and extraordinary creativity. While we now envision the waltz as being music reflecting refinement, it was Strauss who turned a musical style that was no more than a beer hall tune into the waltz that graced the royal court and ballrooms, as well as concert halls around the world. Truly, Johann Strauss was the king of the waltz.

In addition to the Strauss family, we also heard lots of Mozart, and even went to his apartment where he lived in Vienna for a couple years. Unfortunately, he wasn’t home….

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Canon in D by Pachelbel: The Song Everybody Knows!

Sunday, July 20th, 2008

Canon in D -- Pachelbel

The Canon in D by Johann Pachelbel is a composition well known throughout the world. It’s a piece of music that is played in commercials, feature films, and shopping mall music systems. Its melody and harmony are such that, when heard, spur an “I know this song” reaction in listeners.
Pachelbel wrote this music around 1680. Its exact name is ‘Canon and Gigue in D Major for three Violins and Basso Continuo’. It’s now called, in regular parlance, the Canon in D (or D Major).

This canon was the only one that Pachelbel wrote. He wrote it as a piece of chamber music. Chamber music is a form of classical music originally intended for performance in a palace chamber. This type of music is for a small group of instrumentalists. One performer plays each separate part of the music.

Written for the bass and the violin and for small rooms, this song is not limited to that today. A wide variety of instruments in small and large musician groups perform this famous piece each year.

The term ‘canon’ in the title of the song refers to the type of music. A canon is music of staggered singing or playing. In a canon, different instruments or singers start playing music. However, they do not start at the exact same time. They enter into the song one after another. The key to the canon is that they play the exact same sequence of notes. This results in intriguing variety and song complexity.

The note sequence in Canon in D Major is what catches one’s ear. It is now a famous chord progression, which we recognize whenever and wherever we are. The song has a bass line-harmonic pattern, two bars long. This sequence repeats throughout the piece. The staggered singing or playing (the canon) plays over this repeating sequence of notes.

Johann Pachelbel was born in Nuremberg, Germany in 1653. He lived and worked during the Baroque period of classical music.

He was an organist, composer, and teacher in his life, who wrote much keyboard music for the organ. He wrote church music and secular music, holding jobs as a church organist throughout his career.

In fact, he established himself as a musician of stature in Erfurt, Germany. Here he was church organist at the Protestant Predigerkirchie (Lutheran Preacher’s Church) starting in the year 1678. Erfurt was the Bach family’s land of ancestral roots. Pachelbel actually taught Johann Christoph Bach, who was Johann Sebastian Bach’s older brother.

Pachelbel also worked as an organist in the Court at Stuggart and the Court at Gotha in Germany. In 1695, he became organist at the Church of St. Sebald in Nuremberg. He replaced his former teacher, the German organist and composer, Georg Caspar Wecker here upon the latter’s death.
Pachelbel wrote chorale variations for the keyboard. Written in his day for organ and harpsichord they receive treatment on modern pianos of today as well. In this type of music, the chorale melody is the theme, and then the performer plays variations of this theme.
Although famous for his Canon in D today, Pachelbel also wrote toccatas, fantasies, and fugues. One important and impressive work is the Hexachordum Apollinis, which is a set of six keyboard arias and their variations.

The Canon in D Major continues to inspire listeners, piano players, and musicians of all sorts today. It’s a ‘musical’ canon of great power that has endured through the centuries.

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