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The Near Future
"The Near Future" is a song written by Irving Berlin and performed in the ''Ziegfeld Follies of 1919''. It is better known for the small part of its lyric that took on a life of its own: "How Dry I Am". Origins The origins of the song and its components are somewhat obscure, as are the factors that differentiate "The Near Future" from "How Dry I Am." Melody The origin of the melody predates Berlin's song. The distinctive four-note motif was used by Ludwig van Beethoven in his Sonata, Op. 10 No. 3, published in 1798. The motive is also used in ''Oh Happy Day, ''the earliest known printing of which is in ''The Wesleyan Sacred Harp'' from Boston in 1855 (although the words to ''Oh Happy Da''y can be traced even further back to 1755). This melody is in turn attributed to English composer Edward F. Rimbault. The notes' positions in the major scale are 5 < 1 < 2 < 3 as numbered diatonically and 8 < 1 < 3 < 5 as numbered chromatically (''e.g.'', G < C < D < E in C major, C < F < G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Irving Berlin
Irving Berlin (born Israel Beilin; yi, ישראל ביילין; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-American composer, songwriter and lyricist. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Born in Imperial Russia, Berlin arrived in the United States at the age of five. He published his first song, "Marie from Sunny Italy", in 1907, receiving 33 cents for the publishing rights,Starr, Larry and Waterman, Christopher, American Popular Music: From Minstrelsy to MP3, Oxford University Press, 2009, pg. 64 and had his first major international hit, "Alexander's Ragtime Band", in 1911. He also was an owner of the Music Box Theatre on Broadway. For much of his career Berlin could not read sheet music, and was such a limited piano player that he could only play in the key of F-sharp; he used his custom piano equipped with a transposing lever when he needed to play in keys other than F-sharp. "Alexander's Ragtime Band" sparked an international dance craze ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
