Archive for Composers

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George Frederic Handel

Posted in Westminster Abbey with tags , on February 26, 2024 by Cade

handel1February 23, 1684  – April 14, 1759

Before Beethoven, before Mozart, before Tchaikovsky…there was Handel. One of the big three composers of the pre-Classical Baroque era (along with Bach and Vivaldi) Georg Friederich Händel quickly became known in his Brandendburg-Prussian hometown (modern-day Germany). Before the age of 10, he was discovered playing a church organ and his formal music education commenced. Marked by distinctively harmonic – if LONG – cantatas and church compositions, Handel’s early career led him to Hamburg and then to Italy, where he composed sacred church music when classic Italian opera was not allowed by the Pope.

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Georges Bizet

Posted in Père Lachaise Cemetery with tags , on November 13, 2023 by Cade

October 25, 1838 – June 03, 1875

Georges Bizet had all the hallmarks of the stereotypical Romantic composer in 19th Century Europe: He showed genius from an early age. He struggled financially. He shunned religious themes in his work. He didn’t make it to the age of 40…

Bizet’s career, though brief, was full of promise. While he really only has one enduring masterwork (1875’s opéra comique, Carmen) he left behind a number of other memorable scores and compositions like L’Arlésienne and Symphony in C Major. Carmen wasn’t his only opera, of course – he wrote more than a dozen – but it was his final triumph.
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Frédéric Chopin

Posted in Père Lachaise Cemetery with tags , on September 18, 2023 by Cade

March 01, 1810 – October 17, 1849

Polish composer and general virtuoso, Frédéric Chopin, is one of the most well-regarded 19th Century Romantic composers. Predominantly written and performed on piano, Chopin’s catalogue of waltzes, études, preludes and mazurkas (folk songs popular in his native Poland) remain amongst the most popular of their kind to this day.

Chopin began taking piano lessons at a very young age and it was immediately clear that the boy possessed genius-level talent. It didn’t take long for him to become fairly well-known and regarded throughout Europe and he soon became of the earliest living music celebrities.
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Harold Arlen

Posted in Ferncliff Cemetery with tags , , on January 24, 2022 by Cade

February 15, 1905 – April 23, 1986

“He wasn’t as well known as some of us, but he was a better songwriter than most of us and he will be missed by all of us.”  – Irving Berlin

Harold Arlen was a composer and widely regarded as one of the most successful pop-song writers of all time. He worked with all the great lyricists including Johnny Mercer, Ted Koehler, Ira Gershwin and Yip Harburg. He is one of the most prominent contributors to the Great American Songbook. Continue reading →

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Dudley Moore

Posted in Hillside Cemetery (Scotch Plains) with tags , , , on October 26, 2020 by Cade

moored1April 19, 1935 – March 27, 2002

What Dudley Moore lacked in stature, he more than made up for in talent. The diminutive English actor/comedian was also a brilliant musician who learned to play organ and piano at a young age. His musical ability led to scholarships and eventually to Oxford, where he fell in love with jazz…and comedy.

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Harry Warren

Posted in Westwood Memorial Park with tags , on December 21, 2018 by Cade

December 24, 1893 – September 22, 1981

Academy Award winning composer, Harry Warren, was one of the first songwriters to focus mainly on the newfangled medium called “movies.” He wrote more than 500 songs over the course of his career. He gave us massive hits like “I Only Have Eyes for You,” “Lullaby of Broadway,” “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “Jeepers Creepers” and many, many more. Along with lyricist Al Dubin, Warren scored the first hit film musical, 42nd Street. He worked for all the major film studios – oftentimes alongside legendary director/choreographer, Busby Berkeley – and partnered with many of the most famous lyricists of the day, including, but not limited to, Johnny Mercer, Mack Gordon and Ira Gershwin. Continue reading →

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Leonard Bernstein

Posted in Green-Wood Cemetery with tags , on December 5, 2016 by Cade

bernstein1August 25, 1918 – October 14, 1990

“The other night I bippy nigh, blabba habba dooby die, mowt say hiddy lie, LEO-NARD BERN-STEIN!” – It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine) – R.E.M. (paraphrased)

Louis “Leonard” Bernstein was and is an American musical treasure. Reaching international acclaim, Bernstein is most widely known as the long-time musical director of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and for his many stage and screen compositions. Bernstein grew up in Massachusetts, graduated from Harvard and, by way of grad school in Philadelphia, made his way to New York. It was in New York where he joined The Revuers and began his composing and conducting career. In 1943, he filled in as the main conductor for the NYPO and became an instant success. Continue reading →

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Fred Ebb

Posted in Green-Wood Cemetery with tags , , on November 28, 2016 by Cade

ebb1April 8, 1928 – September 11, 2004

Lyricist Fred Ebb worked with a number of composers throughout his career, but it was his partnership with John Kander that garnered him his biggest successes. Kander and Ebb wrote some of Broadway’s biggest all-time hits: Cabaret, Chicago, Kiss of the Spider Woman, among others. In addition to the stage, they wrote for films as well. Most notably contributing the theme song to Martin Scorsese’s 1971 film New York, New York which was launched into the stratosphere by Frank Sinatra. Continue reading →

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George and Ira Gershwin

Posted in Westchester Hills Cemetery with tags , on October 13, 2015 by Cade

gershwin2September 26, 1898 – July 11, 1937
December 6, 1896 – August 17, 1983

The mere utterance of few names in American music make as immediate and complete of an impact as the name “Gershwin”.

The composer/lyricist brothers (George/Ira, respectively) had a profound influence on music in the early 1900’s. George’s body of work covers everything from Classical to Popular, with stops on Broadway and in opera along the way. The younger Gershwin landed his first music job shilling songs in New York’s fabled Tin Pan Alley at the age of 15. Ira waited a little longer, but by the time the brothers teamed up for the first time with 1924’s Lady Be Good, their golden touch was evident. Continue reading →

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Sergei Rachmaninoff

Posted in Kensico Cemetery with tags , on March 18, 2014 by Cade

rachmaninoff1April 1, 1873 – March 28, 1943

The last of the great Romantic Russian composers, Sergei Rachmaninoff was born into a prominent, if broke, old-aristocratic family. He overcame a torrid childhood filled with dying siblings, a deadbeat father and multiple homes. Through it all, his love for the piano endured. Despite being a below-average student, Rachmaninoff went on to study at the Moscow Conservatory where he excelled. A gifted musician and composer who was influenced by predecessors like Tchaikovsky, he wrote the majority of his catalog before the age of 35. Continue reading →

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