Listen To Your (Lorenz) Hart
From ‘The Most Beautiful Girl In The World’ to ‘Where Or When’ , we have mixed 20 ‘Jazz‘ tunes written or co-written by ‘Lorenz Hart‘. It has Miles Davis, Gerry Mulligan, Paul Desmond, Cannonbal Adderley and many more.
The Guide to Musical Theatre: Lorenz Hart (later ‘Larry’ to everyone but his mother) was born in 1895 to an affluent German immigrant family in New York. He was unusually short in stature, which haunted his whole life, but by contrast super-energetic and intellectually dynamic
The Songwriters Hall of Fame : In the late ‘teens a mutual friend introduced Hart to composer Richard Rodgers, seven years his junior and the two began their career writing the scores for amateur musicals presented as charity benefits and Columbia Varsity Shows.
PBS : A bachelor living with his widowed mother, whom he once described as a “sweet, menacing old lady,” he was a restless world traveler and, especially after his mother’s death, an alcoholic who disappeared for weeks on end to escape a life periodically unbearable.
Time : Larry claimed to be descended from the German-Jewish poet Harry Heine, the student of Hegel who converted to Protestantism and changed his name to Christian (!) Johann Heinrich Heine.
Wikipedia : Hart struggled with homosexuality in an era when such a sexual orientation was socially unacceptable, and with alcoholism, which contributed to his death. His personal problems were often the cause of friction between him and Rodgers, and in fact led to a brief breakup in 1943.
Lorenz Hart: A Poet on Broadway : He never graduated from Columbia nor did he and Rodgers meet there : Rodgers was still in high school, Hart a long way past postgraduate work.
Ehrensteinland : Lorenz Hart wrote (among many things), “My Funny Valentine” — a song made famous by Chet Baker, Matt Damon, and Nico. Bill Reed found this photo in a garage sale. I have no idea who took it. (in case you want a closer look at Larry)
Composers. and Lyricists Database : Rodgers said that Larry wore ‘elevator’ shoes and they could really hurt. Dorothy Rodgers, Richard’s wife has told of her feeling for Larry Hart. “Larry Hart was the best read person I ever met. He was brilliant and we loved him, but he was difficult.”
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