Hugo Winterhalter (August 15, 1909 – September 17, 1973) was an American

easy listening Easy listening (including mood music) is a popular music genre and radio format that was most popular during the 1950s to 1970s. It is related to middle-of-the-road (MOR) music and encompasses instrumental recordings of standards, hit songs, n ...

arranger and composer, best known for his arrangements and recordings for RCA Victor.

Biography

Hugo Ferdinand Winterhalter was born in

Wilkes-Barre Wilkes-Barre ( or ) is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Luzerne County. Located at the center of the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania, it had a population of 44,328 in the 2020 census. It is the s ...

, Pennsylvania on August 15, 1909 to Hugo Winterhalter and Mary Gallagher, both second generation German-Americans. He graduated from Mount St. Mary's in Emmitsburg, Maryland in 1931, where he played saxophone for the orchestra and sang in two of the choirs. He later studied violin and reed instruments at the New England Conservatory of Music. After graduating, he taught school for several years before turning professional during the mid-1930s, serving as a sideman and arranger for

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

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and others. Winterhalter also arranged and conducted sessions for singers including

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

and Billy Eckstine, and in 1948 he was named musical director at MGM Records. After two years with the label, he joined Columbia Records, where he scored a pair of

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

s with his recordings of "

Jealous Heart "Jealous Heart" is a classic C&W song written by American country music singer-songwriter Jenny Lou Carson. In the mid 1940s it spent nearly six months on the Country & Western charts. It was subsequently recorded by several pop singers. E ...

" and " Blue Christmas". In 1950, Winterhalter moved to RCA Victor, where he arranged sessions for most of the label's pop recording artists including Perry Como,

Harry Belafonte Harry Belafonte (born Harold George Bellanfanti Jr.; March 1, 1927) is an American singer, activist, and actor. As arguably the most successful Jamaican-American pop star, he popularized the Trinbagonian Caribbean musical style with an interna ...

, Eddie Fisher, Jaye P. Morgan and the

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; he also recorded several

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to inst ...

albums, among them 1952's ''Great Music Themes of Television'', believed to be the first collection of TV

theme song Theme music is a musical composition that is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

s ever recorded. Winterhalter also notched a series of chart hits, including "

Mr. Touchdown, U.S.A. "Mr. Touchdown, U.S.A." is a sports anthem, novelty song, and jazz march by American songwriter Ruth Roberts. First recorded by Hugo Winterhalter in 1950, it became one of the most frequently heard songs on American radio during that year's colle ...

", " A Kiss to Build a Dream On", " Blue Tango", "Vanessa", "

The Little Shoemaker The Little Shoemaker" is a popular song based on the French song, "Le petit cordonnier", by Rudi Revil. The original French lyric was written by Francis Lemarque (page in French). The English language lyrics were written by Geoffrey Claremont P ...

", and "Song of ''

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''". With pianist

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, he had a minor hit with "Land of Dreams" in 1954 and reached the number one spot on Billboard with "

Canadian Sunset "Canadian Sunset" is a popular song with music by jazz pianist Eddie Heywood and lyrics by Norman Gimbel. An instrumental version by Heywood and Hugo Winterhalter reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and No. 7 on the R&B chart in 19 ...

" in 1956. The record sold over one million copies, and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

by the RIAA. Winterhalter remained with RCA Victor until 1963, at which time he moved to Kapp; He also penned the main title theme for the film, '' Diamond Head'' (1962). Winterhalter recorded a handful of albums for Kapp including ''The Best of '64'' and its follow-up, ''The Big Hits of 1965'', before leaving the label to work on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

. He later worked in television as well, and continued recording the occasional LP for various budget labels. Winterhalter's last US chart single was "Theme From 'Popi'", released by Musicor in 1969. It reached #35 in the Billboard Easy Listening Top 40. Winterhalter died from cancer, in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast, Greenwich is home to many hedge funds and other ...

on September 17, 1973. He is interred alongside his wife at Rockland Cemetery in

Sparkill, New York Sparkill, formerly known as Tappan Sloat, is a suburban hamlet and census-designated place in the Town of Orangetown, Rockland County, New York, United States located north of Palisades; east of Tappan; south of Piermont and west of the Hudson ...

. Winterhalter had a son, Hugo Francis Winterhalter, who was killed in Vietnam on December 29, 1966. He was with the 169th Combat Engineer Battalion.

References

External links

Biography of Hugo Winterhalter on "The Interlude Era"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Winterhalter, Hugo 1909 births 1973 deaths American music arrangers Easy listening musicians RCA Victor artists People from Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Musicians from Pennsylvania 20th-century American musicians 20th-century American male musicians