We see that javascript is disabled or not supported by your browser - javascript is needed for important actions on the site. Read more

What's New - Home - Login

Member $avings: $81,569,699.26 | Books Available: 794,805 | Members Online: 275

Swap Used Books - Buy New Books at Great Prices!

How To Swap Books Sign Up Search submenu

PBS Market (New Books)

Gift Buying Guide

Book Browser Advanced Search Books Posted Today Member Book Reviews Award Winning Books NYT Best Sellers Amazon Best Sellers Most Traveled Copies Club Wish List

Discussion Forums Book Lists

Club Lists My Book Lists My Watched Lists Create a List

Blog Donations

School Donation Program In Memory of... Military Donation Program Friends of PBS

Box-O-Books Maps The Eclectic Pen Fun Stuff

20 Questions Sudoku Bookmark Creator

Top 100

Requests Posts Swappers Referrers Reviewers

Pulse of PBS Spread The Word

Invite Friends Bookmarks Facebook Page Facebook App More Ways...

Photo Gallery Recipes Club Tag Cloud Member Testimonials

Help Center submenu

How To Swap Books Browse Help Docs Ask the Librarian PBS Member Icons Live Help

Kiosk

PBS Market (New Books) Go Shopping Buy Credits Buy PBS Money Upgrade Membership Gift Certificates Transfer Credits

Need Help?

Search - Irving Berlin: Songs from the Melting Pot : The Formative Years, 1907-1914

Irving Berlin Songs from the Melting Pot The Formative Years 19071914
Author: Charles Hamm

Irving Berlin remains a central figure in American music, a lyricist/composer whose songs are loved all over the world. His first piece, "Marie from Sunny Italy," was written in 1907, and his "Alexander's Ragtime Band" attracted more public and media attention than any other song of its decade. In later years Berlin wrote such classics as "God B... more »less America," "Blue Skies," "Always," "Cheek to Cheek," and the holiday favorites "White Christmas" and "Easter Parade." Jerome Kern, his fellow songwriter, commented that "Irving Berlin is American music." In Irving Berlin: The Formative Years, Charles Hamm traces the early years of this most famous and distinctive American songwriter. Beginning with Berlin's immigrant roots--he came to New York in 1893 from Russia--Hamm shows how the young Berlin quickly revealed the talent for music and lyrics that was to mark his entire career. Berlin first wrote for the vaudeville stage, turning out songs that drew on the various ethnic cultures of the city. These pieces, with their Jewish, Italian, German, Irish, and Black protagonists singing in appropriate dialects, reflected the urban mix of New York's melting pot. Berlin drew on various musical styles, especially ragtime, for such songs as "Alexander's Ragtime Band," and Hamm devotes an entire chapter to the song and its success. The book also details Berlin's early efforts to write for the Broadway musical stage, culminating in 1914 with his first musical comedy, Watch Your Step, featuring the popular dance team, Vernon and Irene Castle. A great hit on Broadway and in London, the show was a key piece in the Americanization of the musical comedy. Blessed with prodigious ambition and energy, Berlin wrote at least 4 or 5 new songs a week, many of which were discarded. He nevertheless published 190 songs between 1907 and 1914, an astonishing number considering that when Berlin arrived in America, he knew not a single word of English. As one writer reported, "there is scarcely a waking moment when Berlin is not engaged either in teaching his songs to a vaudeville player, or composing new ones." Early in his career, Irving Berlin brilliantly exploited the musical trends and influences of the day. Hamm shows how Berlin emerged from the vital and complex social and cultural scene of New York to begin his rise as America's foremost songwriter.

ISBN-13: 9780195071887
ISBN-10: 0195071883
Publication Date: 1/31/1997
Pages: 292
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: Oxford University Press
Book Type: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Genres:

Biographies & Memoirs >> Arts & Literature >> Composers & Musicians >> Classical >> General
Humor & Entertainment >> Music >> Theory, Composition & Performance >> Composition

Back to the Top ↑

Search - Irving Berlin: Songs from the Melting Pot : The Formative Years, 1907-1914

Loading...