Hart Pease Danks (6 April 1834 – 20 November 1903) was an American musician who specialized in composing, singing and leading choral groups. He is best known for his 1873 composition, ''

Silver Threads Among the Gold "Silver Threads Among the Gold", first copyrighted in 1873, was a popular song in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today it is a standard of barbershop quartet singing. The lyrics are by Eben E. Rexford, and the music ...

''.

Biography

Born in

New Haven New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

, Danks moved with his family to

Saratoga Springs Saratoga Springs is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 28,491 at the 2020 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area, which has made Saratoga a popular resort destination for over 2 ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

when he was eight. He studied music with Dr. E. Whiting, later moving to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where he worked as a carpenter in his father's construction business before embarking on a full-time music career.Sanjek, Russell
American popular music and its business: the first four hundred years, Vol. II 1790 to 1909
p. 255-56 (1988) Hart Pease Danks Gravestone

In 1858, he married Hattie R. Colahan.Bomberger, E. Douglas
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of American musicians p.79-80 (1999) In 1864, he moved to New York City. In 1873, he published his best known song, "

" (words by Eben E. Rexford), which sold over three million copies. Having sold the rights to it, though, he died penniless in a boarding house in Philadelphia, his last written words: "It’s hard to die alone".(21 November 1903)
Composer Found Dead Beside His Piano
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''Hoag, Doane R. (8 July 1988)
His Love Ballad Was Not For Him
''Reading Eagle'' His widow died, alone, in 1924.Brisbane, Arthur (30 March 1924)
Today
''Pittsburgh Press'' Danks is buried at

Kensico Cemetery Kensico Cemetery, located in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York was founded in 1889, when many New York City cemeteries were becoming full, and rural cemeteries were being created near the railroads that served the city. Initially , it was ...

, in

Valhalla, New York Valhalla is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) within the town of Mount Pleasant, in Westchester County, New York, United States, in the New York City metropolitan area. Its population was 3,162 at the 2010 U.S. Census. The name was in ...

. Pease Danks was inducted into the

Songwriters Hall of Fame The Songwriters Hall of Fame (SHOF) is an American institution founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer, music publisher/songwriter Abe Olman, and publisher/executive Howie Richmond to honor those whose work, represent, and maintain, the her ...

in 1970. He wrote over 1,000 songs.The National cyclopaedia of American biography, Vol. VIII
p. 447 (1898) His works also include several

operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs, and dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, length of the work, and at face value, subject matter. Apart from its s ...

s, including ''Zanie'' (published 1887, to a libretto by

Fanny Crosby Frances Jane van Alstyne (née Crosby; March 24, 1820 – February 12, 1915), more commonly known as Fanny J. Crosby, was an American mission worker, poet, lyricist, and composer. She was a prolific hymnist, writing more than 8,000 hymns ...

) and ''Pauline, or the Belle of Saratoga'' (ca.1874).

Other collaborators and contributions.

*Other lyricists who Danks worked with included Samuel N. Mitchell and

. *In 1892, he published ''Superior Anthems for Church Choirs'', and himself wrote numerous church hymns.Our American music, three hundred years of it
p. 609 (1954)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Danks, Hart Pease 1834 births 1903 deaths American male composers American composers Songwriters from Connecticut Musicians from New Haven, Connecticut People from Saratoga Springs, New York Burials at Kensico Cemetery Songwriters from New York (state) 19th-century American male musicians American male songwriters