Theodore August Metz (March 14, 1848 – January 12, 1936) was a German-born American bandleader and composer, best known for writing "

There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight "A Hot Time in the Old Town", also titled as "There’ll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight", is an American popular song, copyrighted and perhaps composed in 1896 by Theodore August Metz with lyrics by Joe Hayden. Metz was the band leader of t ...

Biography

Metz was born in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, where as a child he studied violin at the city's Conservatory. After emigrating to the United States, he worked in a pharmacy in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

and then as a

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, shou ...

and swimming instructor in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

, where he took lessons in

orchestration Orchestration is the study or practice of writing music for an orchestra (or, more loosely, for any musical ensemble, such as a concert band) or of adapting music composed for another medium for an orchestra. Also called "instrumentation", orc ...

. In 1886, he settled in

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 on building projects in the daytime and as a musician at night, conducting local bands in

ragtime Ragtime, also spelled rag-time or rag time, is a musical style that flourished from the 1890s to 1910s. Its cardinal trait is its syncopated or "ragged" rhythm. Ragtime was popularized during the early 20th century by composers such as Scott ...

interpretations of familiar tunes. He became the conductor of a touring company, the McIntyre and Heath Minstrels, and copyrighted "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight" in 1897. According to Metz, he wrote the tune after seeing children starting a fire in a place called "Old Town", although it has also been suggested that he may have first heard the tune played by musicians in Babe Connor's well-known brothel in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the Greater St. Louis, ...

. John Aaron Wright, ''Discovering African American St. Louis: A Guide to Historic Sites'', Missouri History Museum, 2002, pp.11-12
/ref> It became his company's

signature tune A signature song is the one song (or, in some cases, one of a few songs) that a popular and well-established recording artist or band is most closely identified with or best known for. This is generally differentiated from a one-hit wonder in th ...

in their street parades, and words were added by one of the company's singers, Joe Hayden. The song became a popular marching tune, especially during the

Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...

of 1898, when enemy troops reputedly heard it so often that they believed it to be the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European n ...

. "Theodore Metz", ''Big Band Database''
Retrieved 12 April 2017. Metz wrote a number of other popular tunes, including "When the Roses Are in Bloom" and "Never Do Nothin' for Nobody", as well as an

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 ...

, ''Poketa'', with

libretto A libretto (Italian for "booklet") is the text used in, or intended for, an extended musical work such as an opera, operetta, masque, oratorio, cantata or Musical theatre, musical. The term ''libretto'' is also sometimes used to refer to the t ...

Monroe Rosenfeld Monroe H. "Rosey" Rosenfeld (c.1861 – December 13, 1918) was an American songwriter and journalist. Biography Rosenfeld was born in Richmond, Virginia, the son of German immigrants. By the early 1880s, he was working in New York City as a ...

. He set up a music publishing company in

Stamford, Connecticut Stamford () is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut, outside of Manhattan. It is Connecticut's second-most populous city, behind Bridgeport. With a population of 135,470, Stamford passed Hartford and New Haven in population as of the 2020 ...

, later relocating to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He retired there after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. In 1935, he received a standing ovation at

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsylva ...

when the band played "There'll Be a Hot Time in the Old Town Tonight". He died in New York in 1936, aged 87.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Metz, Theodore 1848 births 1936 deaths German emigrants to the United States Ragtime composers