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.

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.

Irving 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.

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.

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. 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….

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.