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Lorenz Hart

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

Lorenz Hart was an American lyricist and one half of the Broadway team Rodgers and Hart. He was born in Harlem, New York, in 1895, the elder of two sons of German-Jewish immigrants. Through his mother he was a great-nephew of the poet Heinrich Heine. His parents took him to Yiddish and German plays. He was well read from an early age, published poems in student magazines and wrote comic revues at summer camp. He studied at Columbia College and for two years attended the Columbia University School of Journalism.

Music and breakthrough

In 1918 he translated German stage songs into English for the Shubert brothers. In 1919 he met Richard Rodgers, and together they first wrote for amateur and student productions. Their song Any Old Place With You appeared in the musical A Lonely Romeo. In a little over twenty years they wrote music and lyrics for twenty-six Broadway musicals. Their four best known are Babes in Arms, The Boys from Syracuse, Pal Joey and On Your Toes. They also wrote for films, such as Love Me Tonight from 1932. Hart wrote Blue Moon, The Lady Is a Tramp, Manhattan, Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered and My Funny Valentine, among others.

Influence

His lyrics were intimate and proved suited to a long life outside the theatre. Many of them have become standards that singers and jazz musicians keep playing. When Rodgers began a new musical with Oscar Hammerstein in 1942, Hart was already almost out of the picture. He died in 1943.

Listening

Listening tip. Listen to My Funny Valentine and notice the lyrics: a love song that sounds not sweet but almost teasing. Can you hear how the words carry the melody?

Discography

Studio albums

Categories: Artists