The Ira Awards Part 6
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009(If you missed the beginning of this series, please start with The IRA Awards Part 1)
Richard Rodgers was one of the theater’ greatest composers. Diamonds attract pearls. Rodgers attracted the best of his time. When it came to lyricists, he had the great fortune of working with two of the very best.
Larry Hart
Lorenz “Larry” Hart was his first. Some of his more famous lyrics include, “Blue Moon”, “Isn’t It Romantic?”, “The Lady Is a Tramp”, “Where or When”, “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered”, “Falling in Love with Love”, and “My Funny Valentine”.
Hart attended Columbia University, where a friend introduced him to Richard Rodgers, and the two joined forces to write songs for a series of amateur and student productions. The great success of their score for the 1925 Theatre Guild production, The Garrick Gaieties, brought them great acclaim.
They continued working together until Hart’s death in 1943, along the way producing scores for a series of hit shows and making a substantial contribution to the Great American Songbook.
As a lyricist, Hart was an advocate of internal rhyme and multisyllabic rhyming, and his lyrics have often been praised for their wit and technical sophistication.
