Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Program Notes Open Access
Department
Music
Abstract
Preparatory Choir Selections Sing a Rainbow – words and music by Arthur Hamilton Stern This selection with its music-box inspired accompaniment patterns and tuneful melody was composed around 1955 by Arthur Hamilton Stern (1926-). Although Arthur was born in Seattle, his songwriter/comedian father, Jack Stern, soon moved the family to Hollywood. It was there that Arthur first learned piano and studied music theory and counterpoint. In 1949, he composed a live television musical for KTTV in Los Angeles, California. Around the same time, Hamilton started working for a music publishing company. Then, in 1953, Jack Webb contracted him to provide musical selections for the upcoming film Pete Kelly’s Blues for which he composed Sing a Rainbow and another highly recognized hit, Cry Me a River. By 1958 he had started his own music publishing business and become a member of the board of the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers (ASCAP) Foundation. Hamilton’s compositions have been recorded by many famed artists; he was nominated for an Oscar, two Emmys and a Golden Globe for his work as an American songwriter and composer.
Recommended Citation
Greathouse, Abby, "Program Notes MUAP 622 — Conducting Recital: Choral" (2024). Conducting Student Scholarship. 141.
https://mosaic.messiah.edu/conduct_st/141
