Von Tilzeriana

Speranza

Aaron ("Harry") Gumbinsky ("Gumm") "Von Tilzer" (b. Detroit, Michigan July 8, 1872 - d. New York City, January 10, 1946) was a song-writer.

Gumbinsky ran away and joined a traveling circus at age 14, where he took his new name by adding 'Von' to his mother's maiden name 'Tilzer'.

Gumbinsky soon proved successful playing piano and calliope and writing new tunes and incidental music for the shows.

He continued doing this in Burlesque and Vaudeville shows for some years, writing many tunes which were not published or which he sold to entertainers for 1 or 2 dollars.

In 1898 he sold his song "My Old New Hampshire Home" to a publisher for $15, and watched it become a national hit, selling over 2 million copies of the sheet music.

This prompted him to become a professional songwriter.

He was made a partner of the Shapiro Bernstein Publishing Company.

His 1900 number "A Bird in a Gilded Cage" became one of the biggest hits of the age.

Von Tilzer became one of the best known Tin Pan Alley songwriters.

In 1902 Von Tilzer formed his own publishing company, where he was soon joined by his younger brother Albert Gumbinksy "Von Tilzer".


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In 1898 he sold his song "My Old New Hampshire Home" to a publisher for $15, and watched it become a national (and his first) hit, selling over 2 million copies of the sheet music.

This prompted him to become a professional songwriter.

He was made a partner of the Shapiro Bernstein Publishing Company.

His 1900 number "A Bird in a Gilded Cage" became one of the biggest hits of the age.

Von Tilzer became one of the best known Tin Pan Alley songwriters.

In 1902 Von Tilzer formed his own publishing company, where he was soon joined by his younger brother Albert Gumbinksy "Von Tilzer".

Harry Von Tilzer's other hits include:

"I'd leave ma happy home for you" (1899)
"Down where the cotton blossoms grow" (1901)
"The mansion of aching hearts" (1902)
"On a Sunday afternoon" (1902)
"Good bye Eliza Jane" (1903)
"Alexander, don't you love your baby no more?" (1904)
"What you goin' to do when the rent comes round, Rufus Rastus Johnson Brown?" (1905)
"All alone" (1911)
 "Cubanola Glide"
"Wait 'Til The Sun Shines Nellie"
"Old King Tut"
"All Alone"
"Mariutch"
"The Ragtime Goblin Man"
"I Love, I love, I love  My Wife, But Oh You Kid!" (1909)
"They Always Pick On Me"
 "I Want A Girl (Just Like The Girl That Married Dear Old Dad)" (with lyrics by William Dillon).
"And The Green Grass Grew All Around"
"On the Old Fall River Line", and many others.

His last hit was “Just around the corner” (1925).


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Harry Von Tilzer's hits include:

"A Bird in a Gilded Cage", "Cubanola Glide", "Wait 'Til The Sun Shines Nellie", "Old King Tut", "All Alone", "Mariutch", "The Ragtime Goblin Man," "I Love My Wife, But Oh You Kid!", "They Always Pick On Me", "I Want A Girl (Just Like The Girl That Married Dear Old Dad)" (with lyrics by William Dillon), "And The Green Grass Grew All Around", "On the Old Fall River Line", and many others.


Work on Broadway include:

The Fisher Maiden (1903) - opera - composer
The Man From Now (1906) - musical - featured composer
The Dairymaids (1907) - musical - featured songwriter
Ziegfeld Follies of 1910 (1910) - revue - featured composer for "I'll Get You Yet"
Doctor Jazz (1975) - musical - featured songwriter for "I Love It"
Tintypes (1980) - revue - featured songwriter

Notes:

"Harry Von Tilzer Found Dead in Room". New York Times. January 11, 1946. "Harry Von Tilzer, the American popular song writer who created such "hit" numbers of earlier music hall and vaudeville days as "Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie," and "A Bird in a Gilded Cage," ..." 

External links

Harry Von Tilzer at the Internet Broadway Database
Sheet music for his song "Under the Anheuser Bush" from the collection of the San Francisco Public Library
Harry Von Tilzer songs at Cylinder Preservation and Digitization Project - Enter Harry Von Tilzer in Keyword Search window.
Free scores by Harry Von Tilzer at the International Music Score Library Project

Persondata
NameVon Tilzer, Harry
Alternative names
Short descriptionAmerican composer
Date of birthJuly 8, 1872
Place of birthDetroit, Michigan
Date of deathJanuary 10, 1946
Place of deathNew York City

Categories:
1872 births
1946 deaths
Vaudeville performers
Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees
Ragtime composers
Songwriters from Indiana
American composers