Composer of the Month 9/2014: Irving Berlin
(selected by Peter van Dessel / Belgium)
Gambia 12.10.1998
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how his "special piano" works and performs "Call Me Up Some Rainy Afternoon", one of his early compositions. |
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The American composer Irving Berlin (actually Israel Isidore Baline was on 29 April 1888
(after the Gregorian calendar on 11 May 1888) in the Russian Empire. The exact birthplace
is unknown. Due to the anti-Semitic pogroms, his parents and seven children emigrated
to the United States in 1891. At 14, Irving ripped from home, worked as a "Singing Waiter"
in a New York Café and taught himself to play the piano.
With the song "Alexander's Ragtime Band", he gained world fame although he neither could read notes nor play piano properly. He composed his melodies, others wrote the notes for him. Because he limited himself while composing almost only on the black keys on the piano, he got rebuilt his piano by that means that by turning a wheel he could transpose other keys. In 1920 he has opened his own theater and also worked for the talkies. The stamp of The Gambia shows Berlin as a singing actor in the movie "This is the Army". Two particular successes he reched with the songs "White Christmas", for which he won an Oscar in 1943, and "God Bless America", which became an unofficial anthem of the United States. However, his greatest achievement was the 1946 composed musical comedy "Annie Get Your Gun". In his "main job" as a songwriter Berlin wrote more than 1,000 songs, including numerous hits such as "There's No Business Like Show Business", "Cheek to Cheek", "Puttin 'on the Ritz", and "Blue Skies". He also is the author of many tunes that are still considered jazz standards. Irving Berlin died on 22 September 1989 at the age of 101 years to a heart attack. September 2014 marks the 25th anniversary of his death. More composer can be found in the members only section |