Irving Berlin page with free midi's to download

IRVING BERLIN (ISRAEL BALINE)

11thMay 1888 --- 22ndSeptember 1989

Irving Berlin original name was ISRAEL BALINE born 1888, Mogilyov, Russia now in Belarus--died 1989, New York, N.Y, U.S
American  composer who  played a  leading  role in the evolution of  the popular song  from the early  ragtime and jazz  eras
through  the golden age of  musicals.  His easy mastery of a  wide range of  song styles,  for both stage  and motion pictures
made him perhaps the greatest and most enduring of American songwriters.

Israel  was born to the  family of a  Jewish cantor that  immigrated to New  York City in 1893. His father died when the boy
was eight years  old.  Having obtained only two years of formal education he worked as a street singer and a singing waiter
in New York's Lower East Side. He began writing song lyrics and his first published song "Marie from Sunny Italy" appeared
in  1907 a  printer's error on this  song named him Irving Berlin,  a surname that  he subsequently kept.Berlin continued his
writing and within a few years was a successful "song plugger," demonstrating new tunes.

He was unable to read or write musical  notation and learned music by ear instead.  He began writing his own music as well
as lyrics,  and in 1911 he wrote what quickly  became the hit of Tin Pan Alley's ragtime  vogue, "Alexander's Ragtime  Band.
" His  first  ballad, "When I Lost You," was written  in 1912.  Then he began contributing  to numerous  Broadway revues and
musical entertainments,  including Florenz  Ziegfeld's  Follies.  In  1919  he founded the  Irving Berlin Music  Corporation  to
publish his own music.

Through the following decades  Berlin  wrote the scores for several musicals,  one of his most popular  beingAnnie Get Your
Gun (1946; film,  1950).  He wrote more than 800  songs, many of which became classics, including "Oh, How I Hate to Get
Up in the Morning",  "A Pretty Girl Is  Like a Melody," "Always"  (written  in 1925 as  a wedding  present for his second wife)
"Remember" ,"Cheek  to Cheek," "How Deep  Is the Ocean,"  "Blue Skies," "Puttin' on  the Ritz," the patriotic standard "God
Bless  America,"  "Heat  Wave," and  "There's  No Business  Like Show Business." In the era of big  motion-picture  musicals,
Berlin was  able to transfer his stage  success to the screen,  writing the scores for many successful films, including Top Hat
(1935)  Follow the  Fleet (1936),  Easter Parade (1948), Call Me Madam  (1953), and White Christmas (1954). His  score  for
the film Holiday Inn (1942) introduced the touching ballad "White Christmas" which became one of the most popular songs
ever recorded. Altogether Berlin wrote the scores for 19 Broadway shows and 18 motion pictures.

Copyright 1994-1998 Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated on 2017
By Steven Ritchie

And now for the Music

Thanks to JP for the music below. Email (thecode@bellsouth.net)

(2305)"Smile and show your Dimple" Sequenced by JP

(956)"A selection from A White Christams". Sequenced George Pollen

(50a)"Alexanders Ragtime Band". Sequenced by Sue Keller

(609)"Puttin' on the Ritz" Sequencer unknown

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