MUSIC

Shepherd School of Music Musicology Department invites the public to a guest lecture - "Appreciating Arlen," a presentation by Walter Frisch, Friday, January 28, at 4pm, in Room 1133 of Alice Pratt Brown Hall.

Among the great composers of American popular song in the “golden era,” from 1920 to 1960, Harold Arlen (pictured, 1905-86) is the least familiar by name, even though some of his works, like the score for The Wizard of Oz, are world-famous.

This talk will discuss the formal innovations and harmonic subtleties of Arlen’s songs, created principally with four lyricists, Ted Koehler, E.Y. Harburg, Johnny Mercer, and Ira Gershwin. Examples will also be played of Arlen’s activities as a singer and pianist—an important component of his creative personality.

Walter Frisch is the Gumm and Von Tilzer Professor of Music at Columbia University.

This event is sponsored by Da Camera of Houston.