Leroy Anderson was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
composerA composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
of short,
light concert piecesLight music is a generic term applied to a mainly British musical style of "light" orchestral music, which originated in the 19th century and had its heyday during the early to mid part of the 20th century, although arguably it lasts to the present day....
, many of which were introduced by the
Boston Pops OrchestraThe Boston Pops Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts, that specializes in playing light classical and popular music....
under the direction of
Arthur FiedlerArthur Fiedler was a long-time conductor of the Boston Pops Orchestra, a symphony orchestra that specializes in popular and light classical music. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one of the best-known orchestras in the country...
. John Williams described him as "one of the great American masters of light orchestral music."
Early life
Born in
Cambridge, MassachusettsCambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
to Swedish parents, Anderson was given his first piano lessons by his mother, who was a church organist. He continued studying piano at the
New England Conservatory of MusicThe New England Conservatory of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, is the oldest independent school of music in the United States.The conservatory is home each year to 750 students pursuing undergraduate and graduate studies along with 1400 more in its Preparatory School as well as the School of...
. In 1925 Anderson entered
Harvard UniversityHarvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
, where he studied theory with Walter Spalding, counterpoint with
Edward BallantineEdward Ballantine , was an American composer and professor of music.-Biography:Edward Ballantine was born in Oberlin, Ohio, on August 6, 1886, the son of William Gay Ballantine, the fourth president of Oberlin College, and Emma Frances Atwood...
, harmony with
George EnescuGeorge Enescu was a Romanian composer, violinist, pianist, conductor and teacher.-Biography:Enescu was born in the village of Liveni , Dorohoi County at the time, today Botoşani County. He showed musical talent from early in his childhood. A child prodigy, Enescu created his first musical...
, composition with
Walter PistonWalter Hamor Piston Jr., , was an American composer of classical music, music theorist and professor of music at Harvard University whose students included Leroy Anderson, Leonard Bernstein, and Elliott Carter....
and double bass with
Gaston DufresneGaston Dufresne was a contrabassist in the Boston Symphony Orchestra from 1927 to 1957 and a teacher of Solfege. Among his contrabass students are American composer Leroy Anderson and Boston Symphony principal trumpeter Roger Voisin. He also taught solfege to Voisin and to Boston Symphony hornist...
. He also studied organ with Henry Gideon. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1929 and Master of Arts in 1930.
Career
Anderson continued studying at Harvard, working towards a PhD in
GermanGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
and Scandinavian languages. (Anderson spoke English and Swedish during his youth but he eventually became fluent in Danish, Norwegian, Icelandic, German, French, Italian, and Portuguese.) During this time he was also working as organist and choir director at the East Milton Congregational Church, leading the
Harvard University BandThe Harvard University Band is the official student marching band of Harvard University. The Harvard Wind Ensemble, the Harvard Summer Pops Band, and the Harvard Jazz Bands also fall under the umbrella organization of HUB....
, and conducting and arranging for dance bands around Boston. His arranging work came to the attention of Arthur Fiedler in 1936 and Anderson was asked to show Fiedler any original compositions. Anderson's first work was
Jazz Pizzicato in 1938. Fiedler suggested that a companion piece be written and thus Anderson wrote
Jazz Legato in 1938.
In 1942 Leroy Anderson joined the U.S. Army, and was assigned to
IcelandIceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
as a translator and interpreter. Later in 1945 he was assigned to
The PentagonThe Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
as Chief of the Scandinavian Desk of Military Intelligence. But his duties did not prevent him from composing, and in 1945 he wrote "
The Syncopated Clock"The Syncopated Clock" is a piece of light music by American composer Leroy Anderson, which has become a feature of the pops orchestra repertoire.-Composition:...
" and "Promenade". Anderson was a reserve officer and was recalled to active duty for the Korean War. In 1951 Anderson wrote his first hit, "
Blue Tango"Blue Tango" is an instrumental composition by Leroy Anderson. it was later turned into a popular song with lyrics by Mitchell Parish. It was published in 1952...
", earning a Golden Disc and the No. 1 spot on the Billboard charts.
His pieces and his recordings during the fifties conducting a studio orchestra were immense commercial successes. "Blue Tango" was the first instrumental recording ever to sell one million copies. His most famous pieces are probably "
Sleigh Ride"Sleigh Ride" is a popular light orchestral piece composed by Leroy Anderson. The composer had the original idea for the piece during a heat wave in July 1946; he finished the work in February 1948. Lyrics, about a person who would like to ride in a sleigh on a winter's day with another person,...
" and "The Syncopated Clock", both of which are instantly recognizable to millions of people. In 1950,
WCBS-TVWCBS-TV, channel 2, is the flagship station of the CBS television network, located in New York City. The station's studios are located within the CBS Broadcast Center and its transmitter is atop the Empire State Building, both in Midtown Manhattan....
in
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
selected "Syncopated Clock" as the theme song for
The Late Show, the WCBS late-night movie.
Mitchell ParishMitchell Parish was an American lyricist.-Early life:Parish was born Michael Hyman Pashelinsky to a Jewish family in Lithuania. His family emigrated to the United States, arriving on February 3, 1901 on the SS Dresden when he was less than a year old...
added words to "Syncopated Clock", and later wrote lyrics for other Anderson tunes, including "Sleigh Ride", which was not written as a Christmas piece, but as a work that describes a winter event. Anderson started the work during a heat wave in August 1946. The Boston Pops' recording of it was the first pure orchestral piece to reach No. 1 on the Billboard Pop Music chart. From 1952 to 1961, Anderson's composition "Plink, Plank, Plunk!" was used as the theme for the CBS panel show
I've Got A SecretI've Got a Secret is a panel game show produced by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman for CBS television. Created by comedy writers Allan Sherman and Howard Merrill, it was a derivative of Goodson-Todman's own panel show What's My Line?...
.
Anderson's musical style employs creative instrumental effects and occasionally makes use of sound-generating items such as typewriters and sandpaper. (
Krzysztof PendereckiKrzysztof Penderecki , born November 23, 1933 in Dębica) is a Polish composer and conductor. His 1960 avant-garde Threnody to the Victims of Hiroshima for string orchestra brought him to international attention, and this success was followed by acclaim for his choral St. Luke Passion. Both these...
also uses a typewriter in his orchestral music, in "Fluorescences", but with a decidedly less humorous effect.)
Anderson wrote his Piano Concerto in C in 1953 but withdrew it, feeling that it had weak spots. In 1988 the Anderson family decided to publish the work.
Erich KunzelErich Kunzel, Jr. was an American orchestra conductor. Called the "Prince of Pops" by the Chicago Tribune, he performed with a number of leading pops and symphony orchestras, especially the Cincinnati Pops Orchestra , which he led for over 44 years.-Early life and career:Kunzel was born to...
and the
Cincinnati Pops OrchestraThe Cincinnati Pops Orchestra is a pops orchestra based in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, founded in 1977 out of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. Its members are also the members of the Cincinnati Symphony, and the Pops is managed by the same administration...
released the first recording of this work; three other recordings have since been released. It is a conservative Romantic work in
sonata formSonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
, heavily influenced by Rachmaninoff and American popular music, and somewhat resembles
CoplandAaron Copland was an American composer, composition teacher, writer, and later in his career a conductor of his own and other American music. He was instrumental in forging a distinctly American style of composition, and is often referred to as "the Dean of American Composers"...
's tonal works in style.
In 1958, Anderson composed the music for the Broadway show
Goldilocks with orchestrations by
Philip J. LangPhilip J. Lang was an American musical arranger, orchestrator and composer of band music, as well as a musical educator...
. Even though it earned two Tony awards,
Goldilocks did not achieve commercial success. Anderson never wrote another musical, preferring instead to continue writing orchestral miniatures. His pieces, including "The Typewriter", "Bugler's Holiday", and "
A Trumpeter's LullabyA Trumpeter's Lullaby is a short composition for solo trumpet and orchestra, written by American composer Leroy Anderson in 1949. The two and a half minute piece was premiered on May 9, 1950 by the Boston Pops Orchestra with Arthur Fiedler conducting and French-born American Roger Voisin as trumpet...
" are performed by orchestras and bands ranging from school groups to professional organizations.
Anderson would occasionally appear on the Boston Pops regular concerts on PBS to conduct his own music while Fiedler would sit on the sidelines. For "The Typewriter" Fiedler would don a green eyeshade, roll up his sleeves, and mime working on an old typewriter while the orchestra played.
Anderson was initiated as an honorary member of the Gamma Omicron chapter of
Phi Mu Alpha SinfoniaPhi Mu Alpha Sinfonia is an American collegiate social fraternity for men with a special interest in music...
at Indiana State University in 1969.
In 1975, Anderson died of
cancerCancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in
Woodbury, ConnecticutWoodbury is a town in Litchfield County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 9,198 at the 2000 census. The town center is also designated by the U.S. Census Bureau as a census-designated place . Woodbury was founded in 1672....
and was buried there.
For his contribution to the recording industry, Leroy Anderson has a star on the
Hollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
at 1620 Vine Street. He was posthumously inducted into the
Songwriters Hall of FameThe Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...
in 1988 and his music continues to be a staple of "pops" orchestra repertoire. In 1995 the Harvard University Band's new headquarters was named the Anderson Band Center in honor of Leroy Anderson.
In 2006, one of his piano works, "Forgotten Dreams", written in 1954, became the background for a British TV advertisement for mobile phone company '3'. Previously, Los Angeles station
KABC-TVKABC-TV, channel 7, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, licensed to Los Angeles, California. KABC-TV's studios are located in Glendale, California...
used the song as its sign-off theme at the end of broadcast days in the 1980s, and
MantovaniAnnunzio Paolo Mantovani known as Mantovani, was an Anglo-Italian conductor and light orchestra-styled entertainer with a cascading strings musical signature. The book British Hit Singles & Albums states that he was "Britain's most successful album act before The Beatles .....
's recording of the song had been the closing theme for
WABC-TVWABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the Disney-owned American Broadcasting Company located in New York City. The station's studios and offices are located on the Upper West Side section of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters, and its transmitter is atop the Empire State...
's "
Eyewitness NewsEyewitness News is a style of news broadcasting used by local television stations in different markets across the United States. It refers to a particular style of television newscast with an emphasis on visual elements and action video...
" for much of the 1970s.
The Typewriter was used as the theme song for
Esto no tiene nombre, a Puerto Rican television comedy program -loosely based on the US television series
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-InRowan & Martin's Laugh-In is an American sketch comedy television program which ran for 140 episodes from January 22, 1968, to May 14, 1973. It was hosted by comedians Dan Rowan and Dick Martin and was broadcast over NBC...
- produced by
Tommy MuñizLucas Tomás Muñiz Ramírez , better known as Tommy Muñiz, was a Puerto Rican comedy and drama actor, media producer, businessman and network owner...
between the late 1960s and late 1970s.
His first name was pronounced the classical way, with the stress on the second syllable: ləˈrɔɪ , rather than with the now-prevalent pronunciation of that name, .
Works
- Alma Mater (1954)
- Arietta (1962)
- Balladette (1962)
- Belle of the Ball (1951)
- Birthday Party (1970)
- Blue Tango
"Blue Tango" is an instrumental composition by Leroy Anderson. it was later turned into a popular song with lyrics by Mitchell Parish. It was published in 1952...
(1951)
- Bugler's Holiday (1954)
- Cambridge Centennial March of Industry (1946)
- The Captains and the Kings (1962)
- Chatterbox (1966)
- Chicken Reel (1946)
- China Doll (1951)
- A Christmas Festival (1950) (9:00)
- A Christmas Festival (1952) (5:45)
- Clarinet Candy (1962)
- Classical Jukebox (1950)
- Concerto in C Major for Piano and Orchestra (Pianokonsert i C-dur) (1953)
- The Cowboy and His Horse (1966)
- Do You Think That Love Is Here To Stay? (1935)
- Easter Song (194-)
- Fiddle-Faddle
Fiddle Faddle is a musical composition in 2/2 time composed by Leroy Anderson. It is considered to be a "light" classical music composition, sometimes referred to as "classical pops" music and was published in 1947....
(1947)
- The First Day of Spring (1954)
- Forgotten Dreams (1954)
- The Girl in Satin (1953)
- The Golden Years (1962)
Goldilocks (1958)
- Goldilocks Overture (1958)
- Come to Me (1958)
- Guess Who (1958)
- Heart of Stone (Pyramid Dance) (1958)
- He'll Never Stray (1958)
- Hello (1958)
- If I Can't Take it With Me (1958)
- I Never Know When to Say When (1958)
- Lady in Waiting (1958)
- Lazy Moon (1958)
- Little Girls (1958)
- My Last Spring (1958)
- Save a Kiss (1958)
- Shall I Take My Heart and Go? (1958)
- Tag-a-long Kid (1958)
- The Pussy Foot (1958)
- Town House Maxixe (1958)
- Who's Been Sitting in My Chair ? (1958)
- Governor Bradford March (1948)
- Harvard Fantasy (1936)
- Hens and Chickens (1966)
- Home Stretch (1962)
- Horse and Buggy (1951)
The Irish Suite (1947 & 1949)
- The Irish Washerwoman (1947)
- The Minstrel Boy (1947)
- The Rakes of Mallow
The Rakes of Mallow is a traditional Irish song and polka. The song is about the rakes from the town of Mallow, a town in County Cork. It was first written down in Scotland during the 1780s. The song is a fight song for Notre Dame Fighting Irish fans...
(1947)
- The Wearing of the Green (1949)
- The Last Rose of Summer (1947)
- The Girl I Left Behind Me (1949)
- Jazz Legato (1938)
- Jazz Pizzicato (1938)
- Love May Come and Love May Go (1935)
- Lullaby of the Drums (1970)
- March of the Two Left Feet (1970)
- Melody on Two Notes (1966)
- Mother's Whistler (1940)
- The Music in My Heart (1935)
- An Old Fashioned Song (196-)
- Old MacDonald Had a Farm (1947)
- The Penny Whistle Song (1951)
- The Phantom Regiment (1951)
- Piece for Rolf (1961)
- Plink, Plank, Plunk! (1951)
- Promenade (1945)
- Sandpaper Ballet (1954)
- Saraband (1948)
Scottish Suite (1954)
- The Bluebells of Scotland
- Turn Ye To Me
- Second Regiment Connecticut National Guard March (1973)
- Serenata (1947)
- Sleigh Ride
"Sleigh Ride" is a popular light orchestral piece composed by Leroy Anderson. The composer had the original idea for the piece during a heat wave in July 1946; he finished the work in February 1948. Lyrics, about a person who would like to ride in a sleigh on a winter's day with another person,...
(1948)
- Song of Jupiter (1951)
- Song of the Bells (1953)
- Suite of Carols for Strings (1955)
- Suite of Carols for Brass (1955)
- Suite of Carols for Woodwinds (1955)
- Summer Skies (1953)
- The Syncopated Clock
"The Syncopated Clock" is a piece of light music by American composer Leroy Anderson, which has become a feature of the pops orchestra repertoire.-Composition:...
(1945)
- Ticonderoga March (1939)
- To a Wild Rose (1970) (Edward MacDowell)
- A Trumpeter's Lullaby
A Trumpeter's Lullaby is a short composition for solo trumpet and orchestra, written by American composer Leroy Anderson in 1949. The two and a half minute piece was premiered on May 9, 1950 by the Boston Pops Orchestra with Arthur Fiedler conducting and French-born American Roger Voisin as trumpet...
(1949)
- The Typewriter (1950)
- You Can Always Tell a Harvard Man (1962)
- Waltz Around the Scale (1970)
- The Waltzing Cat (1950)
- Wedding March for Jane and Peter (1972)
- What's the Use of Love? (1935)
- The Whistling Kettle (1966)
- Woodbury Fanfare (1959)
External links