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(b Mainz, Jan 13, 1883; d Wiesbaden, Sept 15, 1978). German librettist and publisher. In 1909 he joined his father Ludwig Strecker (1853–1943) as a partner in the music publishing house of Schott in Mainz, becoming a director with his brother Willy Strecker (1884–1958) in 1920. From an early age he had shown a deep interest in literature and poetry, and during the 1930s began to develop his skills as a librettist, adopting the professional pseudonym of Ludwig Andersen. His first efforts were in oratorio, but he soon moved on to opera, adapting Franz Graf von Pocci’s tale Die Zaubergeige (1935) for Werner Egk, Karl Simrock’s version of the medieval puppet play Doktor Johannes Faust (1936) for Hermann Reutter, and Hermann Heinz Ortner’s drama Tobias Wunderlich (1937) for Joseph Haas. The first two of these works ranked among the most frequently performed contemporary operas in Nazi Germany and were largely responsible for securing Schott’s reputation as the pre-eminent German publisher of music-theatre works of the period. During World War II Andersen completed librettos for two comic operas, Wolf-Ferrari’s ...

(b Anguilla, MS, March 21, 1919; d Hazel Crest, IL, 15 June, 1995). American gospel director, singer, composer, and publisher. Anderson established a career forming and training gospel groups in Chicago. His formative years were spent as one of the original Roberta Martin Singers, one of the premiere gospel groups of the 1930s and 1940s. He left briefly, between 1939 and 1941, to form the first of his many ensembles, the Knowles and Anderson Singers with R.L. Knowles. He rejoined Martin, but ultimately resigned because of the travel demands. In 1947 he formed Robert Anderson and his Gospel Caravan, but after several members left in 1952, he formed a new set of singers that recorded and performed under the name the Robert Anderson Singers through the mid-1950s. Throughout his career, Anderson recorded on a multitude of labels including Miracle and United with Robert Anderson and the Caravans; and later with the Robert Anderson Singers, on Apollo. Anderson wrote, and often sang lead on, many of the songs his groups performed, including “Why Should I Worry” (...

(fl Castleton, Derbys., 1723–53). English psalmodist and ?composer. In 1723 he published the first edition of A Book of Psalmody in conjunction with John Barber. A second edition, by Robert Barber alone, followed in 1733, and a third, entitled David’s Harp Well Tuned, in 1753. He also published The Psalm Singer’s Choice Companion in 1727. A Book of Psalmody enjoyed a good deal of popularity in the north Midlands. It was similar to other parochial collections, and most of its contents were derivative. The second edition, however, had a remarkable feature: it included, as well as chants for the canticles, a complete musical setting of Morning Prayer, litany and ante-communion on cathedral lines, but for alto, tenor and bass only. Barber made it clear on the title-page that this was designed for ‘our Country Churches’. He thus brought to its logical conclusion the trend begun by Henry Playford, who published anthems for parish church use in ...

[Albert R. ]

(b Honolulu, HI, Oct 1, 1879; d Honolulu, HI, Jan 23, 1933). Composer, arranger, publisher, pianist, and bandleader, active in Hawaii. Cunha’s compositions early in the 20th century spearheaded the development of the hapa haole song, featuring predominantly English lyrics with some references to Hawaii and the Hawaiian language, earning him the title of “Father of Hapa Haole Songs.” His innovation is credited with making Hawaii’s music accessible to a much wider audience, which rapidly grew to global proportions over the next few decades.

Cunha left Hawaii to attend Yale University, where he excelled in sports, the Yale Glee Club, and composed Yale’s “Boola, Boola.” Rather than practice law after graduation, he toured the mainland United States performing a new kind of Hawaiian song, combining the popular ragtime rhythm of American music with Hawaiian songs. Cunha returned to Hawaii and composed his first hapa haole song, “Waikiki Mermaid,” in ...

(b Cologne, Germany, Sept 30, 1875; d New York, Jan 14, 1942). American composer, lyricist and publisher. His parents, Max and Theodora Breitenbach, were Americans. He ran away from home at the age of 13, enlisting in the German navy and in the French Foreign Legion before coming to the USA in 1900. Fisher began composing in 1904; he also wrote the words for his first big success, If the Man in the Moon were a Coon (1905). In 1907 he started his own publishing business, in which the lyricist Joseph McCarthy was briefly a partner; this was remarkably successful. Fisher composed music for silent films and in the 1920s moved to Hollywood, where he wrote songs for films such as Hollywood Revue of 1929 and Their Own Desire (1930). He returned to New York in the early 1930s.

Early in his career Fisher concentrated on ethnic songs; later he made something of a speciality out of geographical topics, as in ...

(b Fayette, MS, Sept 10, 1899; d Chicago, IL, Aug 26, 1963). American gospel pianist, composer, and publisher. He sang in local choirs before settling in Chicago in 1927. There he joined the Ebenezer Baptist Church and became co-director of its junior choir with Thomas A. Dorsey. With Dorsey he organized in 1931 the first known black gospel chorus. In 1932, with Dorsey, Sallie Martin, and Magnolia Lewis Butts, he formed the National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses, and the same year he and Roberta Martin, pianist for his junior choir, founded the Martin–Frye Quartet (renamed the Roberta Martin Singers in 1935). In the late 1940s Frye began an association with Mahalia Jackson, and it was for her that he surreptitiously secured the song “Move on up a little higher”; her recording in 1947 was a great success, selling over a million copies. Frye later published this composition as his own (he opened a publishing house in the early 1950s), without crediting its rightful composer, William Herbert Brewster. He did, however, compose several well-known gospel songs, including “I am sending my timber up to heaven” (...

[William J. ]

(b Alexandria, IN, March 28, 1936). American gospel songwriter, performer, producer, and publisher. He grew up on a small farm in Indiana and graduated from Anderson College with a major in English and a minor in music. He went on to receive a master’s degree in guidance and counseling and met his future wife and song-producing partner, Gloria Sickal, while both were teaching high school. Gaither started singing gospel music as a child and in 1956 formed the Bill Gaither Trio with his brother Danny and his sister Mary Ann. He started his own publishing company in 1959. He continued to perform and compose while a teacher at Alexandria High School and in 1961 formed the Gaither Music Company to publish his works. After their marriage in 1962, Gaither and his wife wrote their first major song, “He touched me,” which was a significant hit by 1963. He re-formed the Bill Gaither Trio with Gloria and Danny, and in ...

[Armitage, Reginald Moxon]

(b Wakefield, July 15, 1898; d London, March 4, 1954). English composer, lyricist and publisher. He became the honorary deputy organist at Wakefield Cathedral at the age of 12, then won a scholarship to the RCM at 15, studying with Sir Frederick Bridge and Sir Walter Parrott. After brief service in World War I he took a degree in music at Christ’s College, Cambridge; while there he began to compose popular songs, and subsequently Charlot commissioned him to write for his 1926 revue. Having adopted his now familiar pseudonym, Gay became a leading writer of popular songs, several of which became closely identified with leading British performers. These included I took my harp to a party (Gracie Fields), There’s something about a soldier (Cicely Courtneidge), Run, rabbit, run (Bud Flanagan) and All over the place (Tommy Trinder). Many of his songs were interpolated into films and became dance-band favourites. Alongside his collaborations with other lyricists, most notably with Frank Eyton in the 1940s, his own lyrics include ...

[Grice, George General; Qusim, Basheer]

(b Pensacola, FL, Nov 28, 1925; d Pensacola, FL, March 14, 1983). American jazz saxophonist, flutist, composer, arranger, music publisher, and teacher. Known more as a composer and arranger than as an instrumentalist, he was nonetheless an alto saxophonist out of the Charlie Parker tradition with a lyrical bent and a recognizable style and sound. He studied clarinet initially and after serving in the US Navy (1944–6) attended the Boston Conservatory (to 1952). His first exposure came through an encounter with the saxophonist Stan Getz in Boston who recorded several of Gryce’s compositions. After moving to New York in 1953, Gryce was soon a part of the city’s vibrant milieu, recording with the drummer Max Roach and the pianist Tadd Dameron. Throughout his career, Gryce collaborated with a number of noted trumpet players including Clifford Brown, Art Farmer, Donald Byrd, and Richard Williams. With Byrd, he co-led the Jazz Lab, which made a number of highly regarded recordings in ...

(b New York, July 12, 1895; d Doylestown, PA, Aug 23, 1960). American lyricist, librettist, producer and publisher. Born into a notable theatrical family, his grandfather and namesake was the flamboyant opera impresario Oscar Hammerstein (1847–1919), who created and lost a handful of opera houses and companies around the turn of the century. Oscar studied law at Columbia where he became involved in the Varsity shows and, after graduation, continued to write songs. By ...