Lorenz Hart

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia Lorenz Milton Hart May 2 1895 November 22 1943 was the lyricist and librettist half of the Broadway songwriting team Rodgers and Hart Some of his more famous lyrics include Blue Moon Mountain Greenery The Lady Is a Tramp Manhattan Where or When Bewitched Bothered and Bewildered Falling in Love with Love Have You Met Miss Jones My Funny Valentine I Could Write a Book This Cant Be Love With a Song in My Heart It Never Entered My Mind and Isnt It Romantic Hart was born in Harlem the elder of two sons to Jewish immigrant parents Max M and Frieda Isenberg Hart of German background In 1919 a friend introduced Hart to Richard Rodgers and the two joined forces to write songs for a series of amateur and student productions Rodgers and Hart subsequently wrote the music and lyrics for 26 Broadway musicals during a morethan20year partnership that ended shortly before Harts early death Their big four were Babes in Arms The Boys From Syracuse Pal Joey and On Your Toes The Rodgers and Hart songs have been described as intimate and destined for long lives outside the theater Many of their songs are standard repertoire for singers and jazz instrumentalists Rodgers and Hart wrote music and lyrics for several films including Love Me Tonight 1932 The Phantom President 1932 Hallelujah Im a Bum 1933 and Mississippi 1935 With their successes during the Great Depression Hart was earning 60000 annually and he became a magnet for many people He gave numerous large parties Beginning in 1938 he traveled more often and suffered from his drinking Nevertheless Rodgers and Hart continued working together through mid1942 with their final new musical being 1942s By Jupiter After Harts death Rodgers continued his collaboration with Oscar Hammerstein II Theirs was a long and successful collaboration one which made them one of the most successful composing teams of the 20th century