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Softly As in a Morning Sunrise (1928)

Origin and Chart Information


More than any other leader of the big band era, clarinetist Artie Shaw was respon
sible for introducing Broadway show compositions into the jazz repertoire.
- Chris Tyle

Rank 132
Music Sigmund Romberg
Lyrics Oscar Hammerstein II
Sigmund Romberg wrote the music and Oscar Hammerstein II wrote the words for thi
s composition for the musical New Moon, which premiered in New York at the Imper
ial Theater on September 19, 1928. Actor Robert Halliday introduced the song in
the show. Another song from the musical, Lover, Come Back to Me, was recorded by a
number of artists and had three recordings in the charts for 1929. Softly... didn t
fare as well, with only this one recording:
Nat Shilkret and His Orchestra (as The Troubadors) (1929, Franklin Baur, vocal,
#5)

Chart information used by permission from


Joel Whitburn's Pop Memories 1890-1954
The presentation of Softly... in New Moon was more in the nature of an operatic pe
rformance, which seems to have hindered its adaptation by dance orchestras. Oddl
y enough, neither of the two big hits ( Softly... and Lover, Come Back... ) were in th
e original production that premiered in Cleveland. The show flopped and in the i
ntervening five months the two composers came up with what would be the two big
hits.

More on Oscar Hammerstein II at JazzBiographies.com

More on Sigmund Romberg at JazzBiographies.com


The ultimate success of New Moon led to an MGM film version in 1931 starring Gra
ce Moore and Lawrence Tibbett, although the setting was changed from late-18th c
entury New Orleans to Russia. MGM redid the film in 1940, changing the locale ba
ck to the original. The 1940 version featured the singing team of Nelson Eddy an
d Jeanette MacDonald.
New Moon was the last operetta that Sigmund Romberg composed. After the producti
ons closed, he, like many other composers, saw the handwriting on the wall that

Hollywood was the place to be. But New Moon had incredible staying power and has
successfully been revived a number of times on Broadway, the last time in 2004.

Chris Tyle - Jazz Musician and Historian

Music and Lyrics Analysis


Hammerstein s lyrics were written during a time of personal upheaval in his life.
It is not unusual that circumstances in lyricists lives are reflected in the mate
rial they are working on. Such is the case with Softly... The song likens the begi
nning of a love affair to a sunrise, but at the end of each phrase there is a li
ne that implies that the affair will someday end. The vow that will betray,
the pas
sions that kill love, and the light that gave you glory, will take it all away.
- Chris Tyle
Musical analysis of

Softly As in a Morning Sunrise

Original Key D minor, shifting to the relative major of F in the B section


Form A - A - B - A
Tonality A sections are minor; B is major
Movement Downward leaps on half notes are followed by an eighth rest and a motif
consisting of three eighths and two quarters. Scale-wise movement between secti
ons ascends into B and descends into the final A. Overall, A sections move generally d
ownward while B moves upward.
Comments
(assumed background)
The sinuous, strongly rhythmic melodic line resembles an Argentine tango. This,
in fact, was Romberg s original intention; his arrangement was marked as such and
written in 2/4. Use of repeated rhythmic motif and relative lack of rhythmic var
iety may be considered dull by the standards of modern jazz players, but this ma
de the tune quite danceable in its time. (The tango underwent a period of popula
rity in the late 20 s, and the dance which defined the Jazz Era-the Charleston-is
actually derived from the tango, played four times as fast).
Harmonically A is simply the minor variation on I -VI- ii -V7. B starts out with thi
s progression (in the relative major), but a descending bass line leads to a dec
eptive cadence as the vii7of F major becomes the ii7 of D minor.
K. J. McElrath - Musicologist for JazzStandards.com
Check out K. J. McElrath s book of Jazz Standards Guide Tone Lines at his web site
(www.bardicle.com).

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