As I’ve looked into Harold Arlen’s life in preparation
for Master Chorus Eastside’s upcoming Great
American Songbook concert, I’ve been amazed at his versatility, grasp of styles,
and depth of expressiveness. He was a full-fledged Tin Pan Alley composer, with
all that entails: ballads, show business tunes, novelty numbers, film scores
later on: think of the light-hearted It’s
Only a Paper Moon, the wistful Somewhere
Over the Rainbow, the wacky Lydia the
Tattooed Lady. More than most white
composers, except maybe George Gershwin, he was conversant in jazz, blues, and
music of the dance bands: think of the sultry Stormy Weather, the jazzy That
Old Black Magic (which I examined in my last blog), and his first big hit,
the tent-meeting-revivalist-styled Get
Happy.
Pretty good for the shy son of a New York cantor!
He was born Hyman Arluck in February 1905, although like
other popular Jewish composers of the time, such as Irving Berlin and George
Gershwin, he changed his name as his career took off. At seven he joined his synagogue choir, so little he had to stand on a chair so all could see him. At nine he began piano lessons. At sixteen he dropped out of high school and
formed a small dance band, The Snappy Trio.
In his early twenties he joined a well-known eleven-man band called the
Buffalodians, and his composing career began to blossom. By the late 1920s he was attracting national
attention with a string of hits. In the
mid-1930s he moved to Hollywood and took
up film scores. There he created the music
for The Wizard of Oz, including Judy Garland’s signature hit Somewhere Over the Rainbow.
And a song for the equally unforgettable Marx brothers
comedy At the Circus, that signature Groucho
tune, Lydia the Tattooed Lady.
Arlen once said, “I could never stay with one thing very
long, in melody at least.” And his output
certainly bore that out. These two
movies were both released in the same year, 1939. And no two numbers could be more unlike!
Let’s consider Over
the Rainbow. Here is Garland in her
remarkably sweet movie rendition.
Arlen beautifully captures the arc of a rainbow in the leaps
sprinkled throughout: “somewhere,” “way up high,” “there’s a land,” skies are
blue.” It’s as if Dorothy’s longing springs
with the melody far above the drab Kansas plains and into the very heart of imagination.
Which is astonishing, because there was no text to give Arlen inspiration. The melody came to him one day as he was
driving down Sunset Boulevard. The words
were added afterwards by lyricist Yip Harburg.
And then the fluttery mid-section seems to echo the wings of the
bluebirds in the final verse, wings that promise to carry her far above the
clouds and away from her troubles.
And now compare this to Groucho and crew singing Lydia the Tattooed Lady!
Like Over the
Rainbow there’s a leap in Lydia,
on “tattooed.” Is it great
artistry? Maybe Arlen just couldn’t
contain himself over the tattoos! But
that’s just about where the similarity ends.
The genius of this novelty number comes in a simplicity which is never
simple-minded: the attractive, singable melody; a surprisingly sophisticated
ABACA form which provides interest and variety (A= “Lydia,
oh Lydia”; B= “She can give you a view”; C= “Come along and see Buffalo Bill,”each section separated by a “la la” interlude);
the goofy lyrics which are never obscured by tune and harmony; and the waltzing
rhythm, for who wouldn’t dance over a phenom like Lydia! It’s 180 degrees from Over the Rainbow, and inspired zaniness!
Arlen died at age 81, not as well known as many of his
contemporaries, maybe because he was shy to the end. But he was a marvelously versatile composer,
capable of expressing great tenderness, world-weariness, optimism, and humor in
music dressed up in jazz, blues or ballads.
He deserves to be better known. And
since MCE is presenting these two numbers as choral arrangements, plus several
other Arlen classics in The Great
American Songbook, we’re doing our best to make that happen.
Dr. Linda Gingrich
Artistic director and conductor
Master Chorus Eastside
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