Monroe Rosenfeld
Monroe H. Rosenfeld | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Born | Richmond, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | (aged 56) Manhattan, New York City, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Traditional pop, vaudeville |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, journalist, music publisher |
| Years active | c.1880–1918 |
Monroe H. "Rosey" Rosenfeld (died December 13, 1918) was an American songwriter and journalist.
In 1895, he was described by Ernest Jarrold in Munsey's Magazine as being in the "front rank" of successful popular song writers, with a reputation as a "graceful, prolific, and versatile composer".[1]
Biography
[edit]Rosenfeld was born in Richmond, Virginia, the son of German immigrants.
By the early 1880s, he was working in New York City as a songwriter, often using pseudonyms such as E. Heiser and F. Belasco. He started having success around 1884 with such songs as "Climbing Up the Golden Stairs", and "Her Golden Hair Was Hanging Down Her Back", written with Scottish-born composer Felix McGlennon and recorded by Dan Quinn.[2]
His other successes as a songwriter included "Johnny Get Your Gun" (1886, credited as F. Belasco), and his most famous work, "With All Her Faults I Love Her Still" (1888), which sold more than 100,000 copies[a] in piano sheet music.[4] The latter song was based on an earlier tune by Theodore Metz, but Rosenfeld was notorious for making use of lax copyright laws to claim publishing rights in his own name, and sometimes bragged that he stole some of his best tunes.
Rosenfeld was regarded as "a master of the tragic boy-girl tale set to music", and became a well-known local character, noted for his loves of poker, women and gambling.[5][6]
Described as "restless and volatile", Rosenfeld also worked as a press agent and journalist. In 1899, he started writing a series of articles on popular music in the New York Herald.
Reputedly, he visited the office of songwriter Harry Von Tilzer, who used a piano with muffled keys to reduce the likelihood of complaints from his neighbors, and commented that the sound reminded him of tin cans, to which von Tilzer replied, "Yes, I guess this is a tin pan alley." The phrase was contained in the title of one of Rosenfeld's articles and became widely used as a description of the area of songwriting offices on West 28th Street in Manhattan.[5][6]
In 1917, Rosenfeld became the editor of a music magazine, The Tuneful Yankee, and set up an office to manage music copyrights.
Death
[edit]He died of "acute indigestion" on December 13, 1918, aged 56, at his home in Manhattan. He left a widow and daughter. He was cremated.[5][7]
Notes
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Jarrold, Ernest (June 1895). "The Makers of Our Popular Songs". Munsey's Magazine. Vol. 13, no. 3. New York: Frank A. Munsey. pp. 289–295 – via HathiTrust.
- ^ Whitburn, Joel (1986). Pop Memories 1890–1954: The History of American Popular Music. Menomonee Falls, WI: Record Research, Inc. p. 360. ISBN 0898200830 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Favorite Songs and Their Makers". The Times. Vol. 15, no. 210. Richmond, VA. October 28, 1900. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Rehrig, William H. (1991). "Rosenfeld, Monroe H.". The Heritage Encyclopedia of Band Music: Composers and Their Music. Vol. 2. Westerville, OH: Integrity Press. p. 645. ISBN 0918048087 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ a b c Brumfield, Dale (February 25, 2014). "The Song Thief: How a Melodic Kleptomaniac from Richmond Coined the Phrase Tin Pan Alley". Style Weekly. Archived from the original on October 6, 2015. Retrieved April 12, 2017.
- ^ a b Gammond, Peter (1991). The Oxford Companion to Popular Music. Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 504. ISBN 0193113236 – via Internet Archive.
- ^ "Monroe H. Rosenfeld Dies; Was Famed as Song Writer". The Brooklyn Daily Times. December 14, 1918. p. 3. Retrieved March 5, 2025 – via Newspapers.com.
| International | |
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| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
- 1860s births
- 1918 deaths
- 19th-century American publishers (people)
- 19th-century American journalists
- 19th-century American male musicians
- 19th-century American male writers
- 19th-century American songwriters
- 19th-century people from New York (state)
- 19th-century people from Virginia
- 19th-century pseudonymous writers
- 20th-century American publishers (people)
- 20th-century American journalists
- 20th-century American male musicians
- 20th-century American male writers
- 20th-century American songwriters
- 20th-century people from New York (state)
- 20th-century people from Virginia
- 20th-century pseudonymous writers
- American magazine editors
- American music journalists
- American music publishers (people)
- American newspaper journalists
- American people of German descent
- American public relations people
- American male journalists
- American male songwriters
- Businesspeople from Manhattan
- Businesspeople from Richmond, Virginia
- Journalists from New York City
- Journalists from Virginia
- Mass media people from Manhattan
- Musicians from Richmond, Virginia
- New York Herald people
- Songwriters from New York (state)
- Songwriters from Virginia
- Writers from Richmond, Virginia