A comprehensive study of the first seven years of songwriting
(ending with his first Broadway musical) from one of America's most
popular songwriters. Hamm (Music in the New World, 1983, etc.)
presents Berlin as the product of the "radically multicultural
milieu" of turn-of-the-century New York City, with its range of
musical styles, which influenced Berlin's early music. Hamm thus
provides background on vaudeville, minstrel shows, ragtime, the
ballad, and, of course, Tin Pan Alley. The book is substantiated by
informed analysis of musical devices and social trends, and
reproductions of sheet music - including both decorative covers and
musical notation. Sometimes the attention to detail distracts: Hamm
properly devotes an entire chapter to Berlin's 1911 hit
"Alexander's Ragtime Band,"which Variety called "the musical
sensation of the decade." Hamm, professor emeritus of music at
Dartmouth, applies rigorous research to determine whether the
melody or words were written first, whether the instrumental or
vocal version was the first produced, who first performed the song,
etc. In the process, he takes on previous Berlin biographers in
academic fisticuffs. Hamm seems the better researcher, but perhaps
obsessively so. The book is geared to the Berlin scholar or the
armchair fan - with some knowledge of music theory - who has
already devoured a few biographies and wants to go much deeper.
Appendix 3 (compiled by Paul Charosh), for instance, catalogs the
songs of the period and notes recording companies, artists, etc.,
but nowhere lists a recording readily available to the general
public. Though Hamm's arguments are well made, his overly academic
approach stifles the very exuberance so endemic to the works of
this popular songwriter. (Kirkus Reviews)
In Irving Berlin: The Formative Years, Charles Hamm traces the early years (1907-1914) of this most famous and distinctive American songwriter - author of such classics as `Always', `Cheek to Cheek', and `White Christmas'. The book shows how Berlin progressed from the kind of ethnic and vaudeville songs that reflected his immigrant background to being a writer of Broadway musical shows. Hamm brilliantly describes how Berlin emerged from the vital and complex social and cultural scene of New York to begin his rise as America's foremost songwriter.
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