The Song from Moulin Rouge
Encyclopedia
"The Song from Moulin Rouge" (also known as "Where Is Your Heart") is a popular
song
that first appeared in the 1952 film
Moulin Rouge
.
The music
was written
by Georges Auric
. The original French
lyrics
were by Jacques Larue, the English
words by William Engvick
. However, in the film the song is called "It's April Again", and there is no mention of the phrase "Where Is Your Heart". A similar instance occurred in Romeo and Juliet
, in which the love theme was entitled "What Is a Youth?" in the film, but became "A Time For Us" when recorded as a popular song.
In Moulin Rouge, the theme song was sung by Muriel Smith
, dubbing for Zsa Zsa Gabor
who lip-synched
to Smith's singing.
The most popular version
of the song was made by Percy Faith
's Orchestra, with a vocal
by Felicia Sanders
. The recording
by Faith and Sanders was made on January 22, 1953 and released by Columbia Records
as catalog number
39944. It first reached the Billboard
charts
on March 28, 1953 and lasted 24 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1.
In the United Kingdom
, the version by Mantovani
was the biggest hit
. This version also charted in the U.S.
The recording by Mantovani was released in the U.S. by London Records
as catalog number 1328. It first reached the Billboard chart on May 16, 1953 and lasted 5 weeks on the chart, peaking at #13. However, in the United Kingdom
Mantovani's version of the track reached number one in the UK Singles Chart
.
The song also reached number one on the Cash Box
chart, which combined all versions, in 1953. Both Faith's and Mantovani's versions sold over a million copies.
A recording by Henri René
and His Orchestra Saxophone solo: Alvy West was made at Manhattan Center
, New York City
, on March 20, 1953. It was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-5264 (in USA) and by EMI
on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 10483.
Victor Skaarup wrote the Danish
lyrics. The Danish title is "Sangen fra Moulin Rouge". Raquel Rastenni
with Hans Peder Åse's orchestra recorded it in Copenhagen
in 1953. The song was released on the 78 rpm record His Master's Voice X 8136.
In Australia, The Mastertouch Piano Roll Company released a player-piano roll version, number AD 4716, in 1953.
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
that first appeared in the 1952 film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Moulin Rouge
Moulin Rouge (1952 film)
Moulin Rouge is a 1952 film directed by John Huston, produced by Sir John Woolf and James Woolf of Romulus Films and released by United Artists. The film is set in Paris in the late 19th century, following artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec in the city's bohemian sub-culture in and around the...
.
The music
Music
Music is an art form whose medium is sound and silence. Its common elements are pitch , rhythm , dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture...
was written
Composer
A 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...
by Georges Auric
Georges Auric
Georges Auric was a French composer, born in Lodève, Hérault. He was a child prodigy and at age 15 he had his first compositions published. He studied at the Paris Conservatoire with Georges Caussade, and under the composer Vincent d'Indy at the Schola Cantorum...
. The original French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
lyrics
Lyrics
Lyrics are a set of words that make up a song. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist or lyrist. The meaning of lyrics can either be explicit or implicit. Some lyrics are abstract, almost unintelligible, and, in such cases, their explication emphasizes form, articulation, meter, and symmetry of...
were by Jacques Larue, the English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
words by William Engvick
William Engvick
William Engvick is an American lyricist, many of whose compositions appear in films.Engvick graduated from the University of California, Berkeley in 1937. He is best known for his collaborations with composer Alec Wilder; they produced songs for the Broadway musical Once Over Lightly , and for...
. However, in the film the song is called "It's April Again", and there is no mention of the phrase "Where Is Your Heart". A similar instance occurred in Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet (1968 film)
Romeo and Juliet is a 1968 British-Italian cinematic adaptation of the William Shakespeare play of the same name.The film was directed and co-written by Franco Zeffirelli, and stars Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey. It won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Costume Design; it was also...
, in which the love theme was entitled "What Is a Youth?" in the film, but became "A Time For Us" when recorded as a popular song.
In Moulin Rouge, the theme song was sung by Muriel Smith
Muriel Smith (singer)
Muriel Burrell Smith was an American singer. In the 1940s and 1950s, she was a star of musical theater and opera, and was also the off-film ghost singer in several hit movies...
, dubbing for Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor is a Hungarian-born American stage, film and television actress.She acted on stage in Vienna, Austria, in 1932, and was crowned Miss Hungary in 1936. She emigrated to the United States in 1941 and became a sought-after actress with "European flair and style", with a personality that...
who lip-synched
Lip sync
Lip sync, lip-sync, lip-synch is a technical term for matching lip movements with sung or spoken vocals...
to Smith's singing.
The most popular version
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
of the song was made by Percy Faith
Percy Faith
Percy Faith was a Canadian-born American bandleader, orchestrator, composer and conductor, known for his lush arrangements of pop and Christmas standards. He is often credited with creating the "easy listening" or "mood music" format which became staples of American popular music in the 1950s and...
's Orchestra, with a vocal
Human voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
by Felicia Sanders
Felicia Sanders
Felicia Sanders was a singer of traditional pop music.Born Felice Schwartz in Mount Vernon, New York. She sang in the 1940s, with big bands and on the radio, based in Los Angeles....
. The recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
by Faith and Sanders was made on January 22, 1953 and released by Columbia Records
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
as catalog number
Catalog numbering systems for single records
This article presents the numbering systems used by various record companies for single records.- Capitol :...
39944. It first reached the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
charts
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
on March 28, 1953 and lasted 24 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1.
In the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, the version by Mantovani
Mantovani
Annunzio 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 .....
was the biggest hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
. This version also charted in the U.S.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
The recording by Mantovani was released in the U.S. by London Records
London Records
London Records, referred to as London Recordings in logo, is a record label headquartered in the United Kingdom, originally marketing records in the United States, Canada and Latin America from 1947 to 1979, then becoming a semi-independent label....
as catalog number 1328. It first reached the Billboard chart on May 16, 1953 and lasted 5 weeks on the chart, peaking at #13. However, in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Mantovani's version of the track reached number one in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
.
The song also reached number one on the Cash Box
Cash Box magazine
Cashbox magazine was a weekly publication devoted to the music and coin-operated machine industries in the USA which was published from July 1942 to November 16, 1996...
chart, which combined all versions, in 1953. Both Faith's and Mantovani's versions sold over a million copies.
A recording by Henri René
Henri René
Henri René was an American-born German producer, conductor and arranger. René mother's was German and his father French; while young, his family moved to Germany, and René studied at the Royal Berlin Academy of Music. Returning to the U.S. in the mid 1920s, he began appearing with several...
and His Orchestra Saxophone solo: Alvy West was made at Manhattan Center
Manhattan Center
The Manhattan Center building, built in 1906 and located at 311 West 34th Street in Midtown Manhattan, houses Manhattan Center Studios , its Grand Ballroom, and the Hammerstein Ballroom, one of New York City's most renowned performance venues...
, New York City
New York City
New 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...
, on March 20, 1953. It was released by RCA Victor Records as catalog number 20-5264 (in USA) and by EMI
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
on the His Master's Voice label as catalog number B 10483.
Victor Skaarup wrote the Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
lyrics. The Danish title is "Sangen fra Moulin Rouge". Raquel Rastenni
Raquel Rastenni
Raquel Rastenni , born Anna Rachel Rastén, was a popular Danish singer. She was born in Copenhagen, and grew up in a little apartment in the poor central part of the city. Her Jewish parents had immigrated to Denmark from Russia at the start of the 1900s...
with Hans Peder Åse's orchestra recorded it in Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
in 1953. The song was released on the 78 rpm record His Master's Voice X 8136.
In Australia, The Mastertouch Piano Roll Company released a player-piano roll version, number AD 4716, in 1953.
See also
- List of number-one singles from the 1950s (UK)
- List of number-one singles of 1953 (U.S.)