An American Songline

Journeys in Vintage Music with Cecelia Otto

1930

Song of the week sung by yours truly: "Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life"

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Can you believe it’s almost April!  Time has flown this month. I’ve been working with a great coach on a demo to sell/market the singing travelogue, and I thought I’d share this track with you today!

Today’s song sung by me is: “Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life”.

This song comes from the operetta “Naughty Marietta” by Victor Herbert which first premiered in 1910.  The Utah Historical Archive told me this song appeared on a January 23,

1930 music program for the Chamber of Commerce in Salt Lake City.  Seeing the 20 year gap from the premiere to the performance in Utah, you can see the song had wonderful staying power.

For those of us who weren’t alive during at this point in history, I’ve heard various comments from people like: “it sounds like music from a Bugs Bunny cartoon” or “I’ve heard this music before, but didn’t know there were actually words to it!”  Overall, those who have heard me sing this piece really like it, and for me it definitely speaks to the sentiments of the time.

Let me know what you think!

Song of the week: “Manhattan”

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For those of you new to the Lincoln Highway’s history, the Eastern Terminus of the highway is in Times Square in New York City. Whether drivers were heading eastbound or westbound, this little part of New York made a big impact on all of their journeys.

“Garrick Gaieties” was a musical revue that gave Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart there first commercial success in 1925. This revue parodied topics of the day, and was so popular two more shows followed this revue in 1926 and 1930. This team went on to write many memorable songs together including:  “My Funny Valentine“, “The Lady is a Tramp“, “Falling in Love with Love“, and “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered“.

Today’s piece is an instrumental version of “Manhattan”, the biggest hit from the first revue and part of the “Great American Songbook” (there’s a few different links to various non-profits that are trying to preserve the songs on the Wikipedia page I linked to).

I love the pictures that accompany this version, and the orchestra does a great job. I’m so impressed by this recording, and I hope you will enjoy it too!