Perspectives; Irving Berlin

[CelticWarlord]

Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin ; (1888 – 1989) was an American composer and lyricist, widely considered one of the greatest songwriters in American history. His music forms a great part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russia, Berlin arrived in the United States at the age of five. He published his first song, " Marie from Sunny Italy ", in 1907, receiving 33 cents for the publishing rights, and had his first major international hit, " Alexander’s Ragtime Band " in 1911. It is commonly believed that Berlin could not read sheet music**, and was such a limited piano player that he could only play in the key of F-sharp using his custom piano equipped with a transposing lever. He wrote hundreds of songs, many becoming major hits, which made him famous before he turned thirty. During his 60-year career he wrote an estimated 1,500 songs, including the scores for 20 original Broadway shows and 15 original Hollywood films.

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"Our attitudes control our lives. Attitudes are a secret power working twenty-four hours a day, for good or bad. It is of paramount importance that we know how to harness and control this great force."

"There is an element of truth in every idea that lasts long enough to be called corny."

"The toughest thing about success is that you’ve got to keep on being a success."

"Life is 10 percent what you make it, and 90 percent how you take it."

"Everybody ought to have a lower East Side in their life."

I’m dreaming of a white Christmas,
Just like the ones I used to know,
Where the tree tops glisten
And children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow."

**" *I want to say at once that I frankly believe that Irving Berlin is the greatest songwriter that has ever lived…. His songs are exquisite cameos of perfection, and each one of them is as beautiful as its neighbor. Irving Berlin remains, I think, America’s Schubert." – George Gershwin

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**So how did he write music if he couldn’t read music? Simple — he got someone else to write it down for him. Music publishers in those days had professional arrangers on staff for that purpose, since many tunesmiths were similarly self-taught. Berlin would bring in whatever he had — sometimes just a whistled melody, sometimes the piano chords to go with it — and the arranger/collaborator would help fill in any blanks, then write it all out in musical notation. “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” the song that made Berlin a star, was dictated to one Alfred Doyle, who reportedly was paid 50 cents a page.

 

[Irishmom2]

God Bless America, land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her through the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
to the oceans, white with foam,
God bless America, my home sweet home,
God bless America, my home sweet home.