세계서 가장 유명한 노래 모음집 '그레이트 아메리칸 송북'을 아시나요?
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[arte] 론 브랜튼의 Jazz it UP현대 재즈 음악가들이 반드시 접해야 하는 음악 중 하나는 1920년대부터 1960년대까지 브로드웨이 극장, 뮤지컬 극장, 할리우드 뮤지컬 영화에 쓰인 노래 모음집입니다. 우리는 이 노래 모음집을 '그레이트 아메리칸 송북 (The Great American Songbook)' 이라고 부릅니다. [참조] 이 곡의 대부분은 틴 팬 앨리(Tin Pan Alley)라 불린 상업 음악 출판계에서 나왔습니다.
그레이트 아메리칸 송북
The American Songbook – A Cultural Journey in Sound
1920년대부터 60년대을 휩쓴
미국 대중 음악은 '틴 팬 앨리'서 나왔다
'랩소디 인 블루' 작곡한 조지 거슈윈,
'오버 더 레인보우'를 만든 해럴드 알렌과 입 하버그...
'그레이트 아메리칸 송 북'을 채운 작곡가와 작사가들
맨해튼 플라워 디스트릭트 5번가와 6번가 사이, 서(West) 28번가를 울리는 소음에서 '틴 팬 앨리'란 이름이 유래했습니다. 이 지역에서 작업하던 많은 작곡가와 '송 플러거 Song Pluggers*'가 조율이 맞지 않는 피아노를 두들기며 내는 소리를 들을 수 있었는데, 이 소리는 찰스 아이브스의 특정 작품처럼 여러 다른 멜로디가 겹치며 다양한 템포로 연주되는 것과 비슷했을 것입니다.
'틴 팬 앨리'가 만들어낸 음악출판사는 세일즈맨을 두고 있어서, 작곡가들이 신곡 발매를 위해 이곳을 찾았습니다. 무명 작곡가가 신곡을 낼 때면 파트너의 이름을 올려 더 많은 로열티를 남기거나, 저작권을 사들여 출판사 이름을 올리기도 했습니다. 이때 많은 유대인 이민자들이 뉴욕 주변에서 음악을 출판하고 작곡하는데 관여했는데요. 해럴드 알렌, 어빙 벌린, 조지 코핸, 도로시 필즈, 스콧 조플린, 패츠 월러 같은 아티스트들이 작곡 기술을 발전시켰습니다. [보기]
거슈윈은 '송 플러거'로 경력을 시작했지만, 곧 아이라 거슈윈(조지 거슈윈의 형제로 작사가다)과 버디 드실바(후에 캐피톨 레코드를 설립한다)와 함께 브로드웨이 극작품을 만들기 시작합니다. 할리우드로 옮긴 후에는 수많은 영화 음악을 작곡했습니다. '그레이트 아메리칸 송북'에 실린 거슈윈의 노래는 다음과 같습니다.◆ Bidin' My Time (1930)
◆ But Not for Me (1930)
◆ Embraceable You (1928)
◆ Fascinating Rhythm (1924)
◆ How Long Has This Been Going On? (뮤지컬 'Funny Face', 1927)
◆ I Got Rhythm (재즈 음악가들이 자주 사용하는 화음 구조)
◆ It Ain't Necessarily So (오페라 'Porgy and Bess', 1935)
◆ I've Got a Crush on You (두 개의 다른 뮤지컬에서 사용, 1930)
◆ Let's Call the Whole Thing Off (프레드 아스테어, 진저 로저스가 출연한 영화 '셀 위 댄스')
하이먼 아러크였던 그는 피아노를 배우고, 뉴욕으로 이주해 공연하며 '해럴드 알렌'으로 개명했습니다. 알렌은 1929년 첫 히트곡인 'Get Happy'를 작곡했고, 이후 몇 년 동안 브로드웨이와 영화 음악을 만들며 할렘의 코튼 클럽을 위한 쇼도 제작했습니다. 또한 알렌은 영화 '서커스장에서(1939)'에 출연한 그루초 막스를 위해 'Lydia the Tattooed Lady'를 작곡했죠. 그의 가장 잘 알려진 작품은 다음과 같습니다.◆ Sweet and Hot' (1930, Jack Yellen 작사)
◆ 'Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea' (1931, Ted Koehler 작사)
◆ 'I Got A Right To Sing the Blues' (1932, Ted Koehler 작사)
◆ 'Stormy Weather' (1933, Ted Koehler와 공동 작곡)
◆ 'Ill Wind' (1934, Ted Koehler와 공동 작곡)
◆ 'Fun to Be Fooled' (1934, Ira Gershwin 및 E.Y. Harburg와 공동 작곡)
◆ 'Last Night When We Were Young' (1935, E.Y. Harburg와 공동 작곡)
◆ 'Blues in the Night' (1941, Johnny Mercer 작사)
◆ 'That Old Black Magic' (1942, Johnny Mercer와 공동 작곡)
◆ 'Happiness is a Thing Called Joe' (1942, E.Y. Harburg와 공동 작곡)
◆ 'My Shining Hour' (1943, Johnny Mercer와 공동 작곡)
◆ 'One For My Baby' (1943, Johnny Mercer와 공동 작곡)
◆ 'Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive' (1944, Johnny Mercer와 공동 작곡)
◆ 'Out Of This World' (1945, Johnny Mercer와 공동 작곡)
◆ 'Any Place I Hang My Hat is Home' (1946, Johnny Mercer 작사)
◆ 'I Wonder What Became of Me' (1946, Johnny Mercer와 공동 작곡)
◆ 'Come Rain or Come Shine' (1946, Johnny Mercer와 공동 작곡)
◆ 'The Man That Got Away' (1954, Ira Gershwin과 공동 작곡)
하버그는 아이라 거슈윈과 같은 고등학교에 다녔고 나중에 함께 다양한 프로젝트에서 일했습니다. 동료 작곡가가 어린 시절 러시아에서 배운 자장가의 곡조에 맞추어 'Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?'(1932) 작사한 것이 초기 그의 경력입니다. 이 음악은 미국을 휩쓸며 대공황의 상징이 되었습니다.
하버그와 알렌의 아주 성공적인 협업은 수십 년에 걸쳐 간헐적으로 계속되었고 빌리 로즈와 함께 'It's Only a Paper Moon' (1933)을 만들었습니다. 또한, 성공적인 레뷔* 공연인 'Life Begins at 8:40'를 이어갔고, 오랜 친구 아이라 거슈윈과 함께 작사한 'Fun to Be Fooled', 'You're a Builder Upper', 'Let's Take a Walk Around the Block' 등의 곡을 선보였습니다.
*레뷔: 춤과 노래, 시사풍자 등을 엮어 구성한 가벼운 촌극으로, 특정 주제를 가진 버라이어티 쇼이다.
*송 플러거 Song Pluggers': 출판된 신곡을 즉석에서 직접 연주하며 홍보하는 사람들
<칼럼 원문> The American Songbook – A Cultural Journey in Sound
One body of music that invariably the contemporary jazz musician must encounter is the collection of songs written from the 1920s to the 1960s that was created for Broadway theatre, musical theatre, and Hollywood musical films. We call this collection of songs The American Songbook. (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_American_Songbook)
Much of this composition came out of the commercial music publishing industry called Tin Pan Alley.
Tin Pan Alley comes from the description of the sound one could hear, standing out in a side street around West 28th Street, between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in the Flower District of Manhattan, listening to the sound of more than a few out of tune pianos getting a beating at the hands of quite a few song writers and "song pluggers" who leased offices in that area. The sound must have been extraordinary and was likely something much like certain pieces by Charles Ives, with the overlapping of so many different melodies, in different tempos. This collection of music publishers and songwriters in New York City dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The reason why is because many homes throughout America had a piano in them, maybe in a front parlor where people would gather and share a song and socialize. This is before the advent of radio and television. Sheet music was the main means by which new music was heard thus the publishing business was big during this period of time.
The song publishers who created Tin Pan Alley often had a background as salesmen and song writers would come to them and pitch new songs to them for publication. If an unknown writer sold a song to a publisher, the publisher would often put a partner's name on the music so as to keep more of the royalties in house or they might buy up the rights to the song and put their own name on it. During this time, many Jewish immigrants were involved in both publishing and writing music around New York City. Artists who developed their skills in writing include musicians such as Harold Arlen, Irving Berlin, George M. Cohan, Dorothy Fields, Scott Joplin, and Fats Waller.
(See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tin_Pan_Alley)
As the Great American Songbook Foundation notes, "The music of the Great American Songbook offered hope of better days during the Great Depression, built morale during two world wars, helped build social bridges within our culture, and whistled beside us during unprecedented economic growth. We defended our country, raised families, and built a nation while singing these songs." The music from Broadway shows and some of the first movies reflected the hopes and aspirations of this time, especially during the Great Depression which broke out in 1927. The themes of many of these songs became closely associated with the American personae and what it truly meant to be a hard-working American who had the "moxie" to succeed in life.
Many of the composers who wrote for Broadway and Hollywood musical films had an immigrant background and quite a few were from Jewish backgrounds. Some famous examples include Jacob Gershwine whose parents immigrated from Lithuania. Jacob later adopted the name "George" and changed Gershwine to Gershwin making him George Gershwin. His brother, Ira Gershwin worked as a lyricist for many different song writers as well as his own brother. Gershwin began his career as a song plugger (a musician who promoted new songs at publishing houses by playing them) but soon started composing Broadway theater works with his brother Ira Gershwin and with Buddy DeSylva (DeSylva would later found Capitol Records). Gershwin later moved to Hollywood and composed numerous film scores. Gershwin's contribution to this song book includes Bidin' My Time (1930), But Not for Me (1930), Embraceable You (1928), Fascinating Rhythm (1924), How Long Has This Been Going On? (composed for the musical Funny Face in 1927), I Got Rhythm whose harmonic structure has been the foundation for many a Jazz musician, It Ain't Necessarily So from his opera Porgy and Bess (1935), I've Got a Crush on You which Gershwin used in two separate musical shows (1930), Let's Call the Whole Thing Off which was written for the movie Shall We Dance, featuring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers.
Another famous composer of songs during this period, and a beloved contributor to the American Songbook is Harold Arlen who is known as the composer of Over the Rainbow from the Wizard of Oz. Interesting enough, Arlen's father was a cantor in a Jewish cantor (a Jewish musician or precentor trained in the vocal arts who leads the congregation in songful prayer) as was Irving Berlin's father. Born Hyman Arluck, he learned piano and left home to perform in New York City, where he changed his name to "Harold Arlen". Arlen wrote his first hit Get Happy in 1929 and later worked for some years writing shows for the Cotton Club in Harlem as well as music for both Broadway and film. Arlen even wrote the song Lydia the Tattooed Lady, for Groucho Marx in At the Circus (1939). Arlen's best known works include “Sweet and Hot” (1930, lyric by Jack Yellen), Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (1931, lyric by Ted Koehler), I Got A Right To Sing the Blues (1932, lyric by Ted Koehler), Stormy Weather (1933, with Ted Koehler) which he and Koehler wrote one evening at a party, Ill Wind (1934, with Ted Koehler), Fun to Be Fooled (1934, with Ira Gershwin and E.Y. Harburg), Last Night When We Were Young (1935, with E.Y. Harburg), Blues in the Night (1941, lyric by Johnny Mercer), That Old Black Magic (1942, with Johnny Mercer), Happiness is a Thing Called Joe (1942, with E.Y. Harburg), My Shining Hour (1943, with Johnny Mercer), One For My Baby (1943, with. Johnny Mercer) Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive (1944, with Johnny Mercer) which he came up with while Mercer and him were out driving around, Out Of This World (1945, with Johnny Mercer), Any Place I Hang My Hat is Home (1946, lyric by Johnny Mercer), I Wonder What Became of Me (1946, with Johnny Mercer), Come Rain or Come Shine (1946, with Johnny Mercer), and The Man That Got Away (1954, with Ira Gershwin).Another part of creating the songs that form the songbook are the lyricists or the people who wrote lyrics for songs, and they were a very important part of writing popular songs. Of some of the better-known lyric writers such as Johnny Mercer or Ira Gershwin, one lyricist who worked with so many different writers was Yip Harburg. His parents were Yiddish-speaking Orthodox Jews who had emigrated from Russia and lived in New York City. Born Isidore Hochberg, he later changed his name to "Edgar Yipsel Harburg". He and Ira Gershwin attended the same high school and later worked together on different projects. Early in his career, Harburg wrote the lyrics of Brother, Can You Spare a Dime? (1932) to the tune of a lullaby one of his composer partners had learned as a child in Russia. This song swept America, becoming an anthem of the Great Depression. Harburg and his then current partner Jay Gorney, were offered a contract with Paramount Studios in Hollywood. Upon moving out west, Harburg worked with some of the greatest composers from the songbook such as Harold Arlen, Vernon Duke, Jerome Kern, Jule Styne, and Burton Lane. It was during this time that Harburg wrote the lyrics for The Wizard of Oz, one of the earliest known "racially integrated musicals," for which he won the Academy Award for Best Music, Original Song for Over the Rainbow. Harburg's very successful partnership with Arlen continued sporadically over many decades. They wrote, with Billy Rose, It's Only a Paper Moon (1933). They followed up with a successful revue, Life Begins at 8:40, which included lyric collaborations with his old friend, Ira Gershwin, including Fun to Be Fooled, You're a Builder Upper and Let's Take a Walk Around the Block.
Just from this small example of composers and lyricists, we can see a picture of a culturally interconnected world of creative people who worked tirelessly to create the songs that defined the soul of an American era in the musical arts. This was a part of the background from which jazz took root in and grew as an art form.