Arthur Schwartz
Biography
Arthur Schwartz (25 November 1900, Brooklyn, N.Y. – 3 September 1984, Kintnersville, Penn.) was an American composer and film producer.
Schwartz taught himself to play the harmonica and piano as a child, and began playing for silent films at age 14. He earned a B.A. in English at New York University and an M.A. in that subject at Columbia. Forced by his father, an attorney, to study law, Schwartz graduated from NYU Law School and was admitted to the Bar in 1924.
While studying law, he supported himself by teaching English in the New York school system. He also worked on songwriting concurrently with his studies and published his first song (Baltimore, Md., You're the Only Doctor for Me, with lyrics by Eli Dawson) by 1923. Acquaintances such as Lorenz Hart and George Gershwin encouraged him to stick with composing. H
Schwartz placed his first songs in a Broadway show, The New Yorkers (March 10, 1927). His first songs together with Howard Dietz were used in the Broadway revue The Little Show (April 30, 1929) and included I Guess I'll Have to Change My Plan, which became a hit three years later when it was recorded by Rudy Vallée. Schwartz's career was launched, and in 1930 he contributed songs to six shows, three in London and three in New York, the most successful of which was Three's a Crowd (October 15, 1930). Schwartz also started contributing songs to motion pictures, beginning with I'm Afraid of You (lyrics by Ralph Rainger and Edward Eliscu) in Queen High (1930).
Schwartz also worked as a producer, for Columbia Pictures. His work includes the musical Cover Girl (1944) and the Cole Porter biographical film Night and Day (1946).
Works for Winds
- Defying Gravity (arr. Bocook) (2003/2010)
- Defying Gravity (arr. Sadler) (2003)
- For Good from "Wicked" (arr. Richard) (2004)
- Godspell Highlights (arr. Bullock)
- Highlights from "Wicked" (arr. Brown) (2004/2005)
- The Prince of Egypt (with Zimmer; arr. Bocook) (1998/1999)
- Selections from "Wicked" (arr. Bocook) (2004)
- Selections from "Wicked" (arr. Nowlin) (2004)
- When You Believe (arr. Moss)
Resources
- Arthur Schwartz, Wikipedia Accessed 30 April 2016
- Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music. "Item title." Accessed 30 April 2016.