All,
Who are your favorite alltime composers and lyricists?
Mine include Irving Berlin, Cole Porter, George and Ira Gershwin, Arthur Schwartz/Howard Dietz, the Hammersteins, Alan Jay Lerner, and of course Tom Jobim.
On the classical side I like Tchaikovsky, especially "The Nutcracker", Beethoven (especially Fur Elise), and Ravel's Bolero.
Pam
Pam,
All those you have named are favorites of mine. But my personal favorite is Jerome Kern. His "The Way You Look Tonight" and "Smoke Gets In My Eyes" are my favorites of the many songs he wrote.
Rodgers/Hart is another favorite. Especially their "Where or when" renditions by Ella Fitzgerald, Dick Haymes, and The Dinning Sisters.
On the classical side, Beethoven and Johann Strauss Jr. are definite favorites because of childhood memories. Ravel's "Bolero" was the very first classical piece I ever heard on radio. I was twelve or thirteen years old then. This classical music program always followed recordings of the early 1900's. I can still hear in my mind the tinny recordings with all the hisses and pops of those Days Gone By records.
Willard
Willard, How did I ever leave out Jerome Kern? [:)] My very favorite Kern song is "All the Things You Are". That song makes my heart soar. And I also like the two you mentioned. My father also likes Jerome Kern very much.
"Rodgers/Hart is another favorite. Especially their "Where or when" renditions by Ella Fitzgerald, Dick Haymes, and The Dinning Sisters"
Ella had a wonderful voice, didn't she, and I like several of Dick Haymes' songs, some from his big band years and some from fairly recent years. The newer ones come to mind more easily such as "Samantha", "Too Wonderful for Words", "I Could Write a Book", etc. I haven't heard of the Dinning Sisters. Which songs did they record?
"On the classical side, Beethoven and Johann Strauss Jr. are definite favorites because of childhood memories. Ravel's "Bolero" was the very first classical piece I ever heard on radio. I was twelve or thirteen years old then. This classical music program always followed recordings of the early 1900's. I can still hear in my mind the tinny recordings with all the hisses and pops of those Days Gone By records."
Yes, Strauss is my father's favorite classical composer.
What recordings of the early 1900s do you remember hearing (in addition to Victor Herbert/Sigmund Romberg)? Did you by chance ever hear Madame Schumann-Height?
Do you have any 78s? My father is/was also fond of Enrico Caruso. He also likes Bjorling and several others whose names I can't quite recall.
How about Robert White? I like his "My Little Gray Home in the West"?
Are you familiar with Fritz Kreisler's "The Old Refrain".
Pam
I first heard Jussi Bjoerling on Firestone's Opera series many moons ago. It is his duet with Robert Merrill, "Au Fond du Temple Saint" from Bizet's "The Pearl Fishers" (RCA Recoring) that is my favorite.
The Dinning Sisters harmonious singing made them popular, I think, during the late Forties to early Fifties. They appeared regularly on NBC's "National Barn Dance." They recorded for Capitol Records. Amongst their recorded songs were; "The Way You Look Tonight," "Aunt Hagar's Blues," "Sentimental Gentleman From Georgia."
I alway found Gershwin and Porter hard to beat.