

When he died in New York City at age 37, he was sick and impoverished. “I still see his music regularly performed in chorale ensembles.”įoster earned little money with his songs because copyright laws of the era provided limited protection.

JOPLIN COMPOSER PROFESSIONAL
“Foster is regarded as the first professional American songwriter,” Sampson says. The Father of American Music was born in Pennsylvania and wrote more than 200 songs, including two state songs (Kentucky’s “My Old Kentucky Home” and Florida’s “Old Folks At Home”) and popular tunes such as “Oh! Susanna,” “Beautiful Dreamer” and “Camptown Races.”
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He got lukewarm reviews but said it was the most important thing he’d ever done.” “I think he was doing it as an end-of-life statement. “Some would be surprised to know at the end of his life he wrote sacred music and tried to incorporate the worship experience with jazz,” Harrison says. He composed most of his band’s music, writing thousands of songs including “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing” and “Mood Indigo” and film scores for Anatomy of a Murder (1959) and Paris Blues (1961). When Ellington moved to Harlem in his 20s, he began attracting crowds at the Cotton Club, a celebrated jazz nightclub, and fame followed. By 18, he and his band were playing for high-society functions in and around the nation’s capital. He went on to compose 50 Broadway musicals and more than 500 songs, including “Give My Regards To Broadway,” “The Yankee Doodle Boy” and “You’re a Grand Old Flag.”Ī native of Providence, R.I., Cohan-like Berlin-connected with people while capturing the essence of American culture, says Albert Harrison, music department chairman at Taylor University in Upland, Ind.īorn in Washington, D.C., Edward “Duke” Ellington began taking piano lessons at age 7. “Puttin’ On The Ritz,” “God Bless America” and “White Christmas” are among his most popular and enduring tunes.Ĭomposer George Gershwin pronounced Berlin “the greatest songwriter that has ever lived.”Ĭreator of the World War I march “Over There,” Cohan began performing in his family’s vaudeville act as a child.
JOPLIN COMPOSER MOVIE
At 23, the self-taught composer catapulted to fame with “Alexander’s Ragtime Band.”ĭuring his nearly 60-year career, Berlin wrote about 1,500 songs, 18 movie scores and 19 Broadway shows. citizen, Berlin left home at 14 to sing in New York City’s Bowery saloons following his father’s death.

“He has this incredible knack for capturing phrases of the English language musically,” says Chris Sampson, songwriting professor and associate dean at the University of Southern California’s Thornton School of Music, which bestowed Bacharach its Legacy Award in 2006.Ī Russian-born, naturalized U.S. Born in Kansas City, Mo., Bacharach, 84, with lyricist Hal David, wrote dozens of hits for Dionne Warwick during the 1960s and ’70s, including “Walk on By,” “I Say A Little Prayer” and “I’ll Never Fall in Love Again.” Thomas (“Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head”) and The Carpenters (“Close to You”). Known for unusual chord progressions and changing meters, Bacharach compositions have been sung by The Beatles (“Baby, It’s You”), B.J. America’s musical heritage includes composers who wrote some of the nation’s most enduring songs.
