January 17
The Mansion of Aching Hearts, Music by Harry von Tilzer, 1902; Lyrics by Arthur J Lamb, 1902
Harry Von Tilzer started his own music publishing business in 1902, in the part of NYC known as Tin Pan Alley (read more about Tin Pan Alley here: Wiki Page). This was one of the first songs he released on his new label, and it became immensely popular. Sometimes people would have a chance to hear songs like this one in vaudeville acts or other stage acts in bigger cities around the US. More often, they would hear it on the radio, so generally, people didn’t have the option to play a song whenever they felt like it. However, this was a time when many people owned and played music on pianos in their homes, so sheet music was incredibly important in the music industry during this time. That’s why the music publishers in places like Tin Pan Alley were so important. It’s interesting to note that these publishers were often also composers, as in von Tilzer’s case.
I know I said I had intended to make my own covers of many of these songs, but 1) I haven’t felt the best this week, so it didn’t get done, and 2) I just feel like there’s something interesting about the original sound of these songs. However, I did find a lovely 2014 cover of this song by an artist named Rivers Rubin. You can hear his version here:
https://youtu.be/iYYJPdXiIjQ
And here’s a recording as it might have sounded back in 1902:
https://youtu.be/Tln8-EKotHo
If you love the song enough to try it yourself, you can download a copy here: https://digitalcommons.conncoll.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1893&context=sheetmusic
(Research links: https://www.jewish-music.huji.ac.il/content/harry-von-tilzer)
(Top 40 of 1902 here: https://playback.fm/year/1902)
No comments:
Post a Comment