Percy Wenrich

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Percy Wenrich (born January 23, 1887 in Joplin , Missouri , † March 17, 1952 in New York ) was an American composer of ragtime and popular music.

Wenrich's mother played the piano herself and so he learned the piano and organ in his youth. At 21, he went to Chicago Music College . He published his first compositions while still in college and after graduating he worked as an employee of music publishers. He had his first successes with ragtime pieces such as Peaches and Cream and The Smiler . At the same time he also met the vaudeville dancer Dolly Connolly, whom he married and with whom he went on tour. He also wrote the Red Rose Rag for her .

In 1909 they went to New York , where he worked on Tin Pan Alley . In the same year he had a big hit with Put on Your Old Gray Bonnet , which sold over two million times (as sheet music) and brought him to the top of the sheet charts. Other big hits were Moonlight Bay (1912) and When You Wore a Tulip and I Wore a Big Red Rose (1914). His work with the songwriters Edward Madden and Jack Mahoney was particularly successful .

He gave up a short foray into the business as a music publisher in 1913 because it left him with too little time for composing. He then wrote for the Vaudeville Theater and wrote several Broadway musicals between 1914 and 1930 . He wrote a lot for his wife, who became a successful record artist and with whom he performed frequently.

After his wife became seriously ill, Wenrich largely withdrew from composing. One of the best-known pieces from his late work is Sail Along, Silv'ry Moon , which was a hit in 1937 for Bing Crosby (USA place 4) and twenty years later another global instrumental hit for Billy Vaughn and his orchestra (Germany place 1, USA place 5) was.

Percy Wenrich died in New York in 1952. He was inducted posthumously into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 .

Works

Known songs:

  • Peaches and Cream (Ragtime, 1905)
  • The Smiler (Ragtime, 1907)
  • Sweetmeats (Ragtime, 1907)
  • Rainbow (Text: Alfred Bryan, 1908)
  • Put On Your Old Gray Bonnet (Text: Stanley Murphy, 1909)
  • Silver Bell (Text: Edward Madden, 1910)
  • Red Rose Rag (Text: Edward Madden, 1911)
  • Moonlight Bay (Text: Edward Madden, 1912)
  • Snow Deer Rag (Text: Jack Mahoney, 1913)
  • When You Wore a Tulip (And I Wore a Big Red Rose) (Text: Jack Mahoney, 1914)
  • Sweet Cider Time (Text: Joseph McCarthy, 1916)
  • Sail Along, Silv'ry Moon (Text: Harry Tobias, 1937)

Broadway musicals (selection):

  • The Crinoline Girls (Text: Julian Eltinge, 1914)
  • The Right Girl (Text: Raymond W. Peck, 1921)
  • Castles in the Air (Text: Raymond W. Peck / R. Locke, 1926/27)

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Wenrich, Percy
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American composer
DATE OF BIRTH January 23, 1887
PLACE OF BIRTH Joplin , Missouri , USA
DATE OF DEATH March 17, 1952
Place of death New York , USA