Preview

Short Biography: Cole Porter

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1032 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Short Biography: Cole Porter
Musical theater has been filled with countless talented composers. The amount of talent in the theater world is endless, but only few composers gain iconic status. The Gershwins, Rogers & Hammerstein, and Stephen Sondheim come to mind when thinking of the pinnacle of composing. One other man who deserves his permanent place with these others would be Cole Porter. Porter’s extensive library of songs has become classics along with a series of hit musicals that are still done in high mass today. Porter had his share of incredibly tough times, and it simply only makes his rise to the top even more impressive. Cole Porter is without a doubt one of the best composers to ever write for the stage in history. Cole Porter was born in Peru, Indiana in 1891. From the beginning of his life, his Mother started training him at a very early age. He began training with various instruments and it was realized he was naturally gifted. However, Cole’s Grandfather wants him to be a lawyer, so he sent him to Worcester and then eventually Yale. Cole joined the Glee Club, keeping music in his life at all times, and even writing fight songs for the school. Porter eventually transferred yet again, this time to the prestigious school known as Harvard. It is told that one day in class, one of the deans was frustrated in Porter’s lack of performance and told him he should not waste his time on law, and instead focus on his music. Thankfully, Porter listened to this advice. Porter got off to a great start in 1915. His first song on Broadway, "Esmeralda", appeared in the revue Hands Up, and was a great success. However, this immediate success was followed by an immediate failure. Porter’s first full musical, See America First, was a huge flop, closing just after 2 weeks, followed by his next musical, Hitchy-Koo of 1919 also closed quickly, after just 56 performances. Feeling a sense of rejection, Porter banished himself to Paris and living off selling songs and his family’s money.


Cited: "Cole Porter Biography." Cole Wide Web. 4 May 2009 . "Cole Porter Biography." Mapsites. 4 May 2009 . "The Cole Porter Reference Guide." The Cole Porter Reference Guide. 2 May 2009 .
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    Comparing Thomas Cole's Life And Work
    • 69 Words
    • 1 Page

    Comparing Thomas Cole's Life And Work

    Thomas Cole, Born on February 1,1801 was a painter. He was mostly a self-taught painter. He painted many lanscapes. He painted A Distant View Of Niagra Falls on a beautiful Spring day in 1830.He was married to Maria Bartoe in 1836. They had 5 chidren together. He died February 11, 1848. He lived a short and sweet life. He is famous and was a American history/lanscape painter.…

    • 69 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Theatre 112 Quizes
    • 3023 Words
    • 12 Pages

    Theatre 112 Quizes

    7. Geore Cohan: renaissance man of theatre. Wrote “give my regards to broadway” “yankee doodle”…

    • 3023 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Why Did Andrew Carnegie Earn His Way From Rags To Riches
    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Why Did Andrew Carnegie Earn His Way From Rags To Riches

    Andrew Carnegie was born on November 25th, 1835, in Dunfermline, Scotland. He was born into an average class family of four. His father worked in the weaving industry, and was also part of a labor union called the Charist Group. His father was later fired for this, so the Carnegie family immigrated to the Allegheny City, PA in 1848. While living in the U.S., Carnegie got his first job as a bobbin boy at the age of twelve. He later got a job tending to steam train boilers, and then worked his way up from there. The train boilers company then gave him a job as a telegraph messenger boy.…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Thomas Cole: A Traveling Portrait Artist
    • 312 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Thomas Cole: A Traveling Portrait Artist

    Thomas Cole was born on February 1, 1801 at Bolton, Lancashire in Northwestern England and immigrated with his family to the United States in 1818. Throughout the early years, Cole lived in Philadelphia, Ohio, and Pittsburgh where he worked as a traveling portrait artist. Thomas Cole was primarily self-taught, however, he stilled worked with members of the Philadelphia Academy, and his canvases appeared in the Academy's exhibitions. In 1825, Cole’s exhibition of small paintings of landscapes in Catskill came to the attention of important figures on the New York City art scene. While still in his twenties, Cole was made a member of the National Academy. Looking to expand his education, Cole returned to Britain in 1829-1831 to study, attend to family business, and travel to France and Italy.…

    • 312 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Hunter Hayes Accomplishments
    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Hunter Hayes Accomplishments

    At the age of four, he joined his first band and started performing there (“Hunter Hayes Biography”). From there on out he was showed on many television shows and networks such as Maury, Rosie, and Nickelodeon (“10 Things”). Also when he was four, he made an appearance with Hank Williams Jr, in a crowd of over 200,000 people (“Hunter Hayes Biography”). By time he was six, he had sung with Johnny and June Cash and performed for the president! (“Hunter Hayes Biography”). Hunter began writing his own songs and soon after that composed his first album at age ten (“Hunter Hayes”). He did a lot of work to get where he is now. During teenage years he was quiet and did not have many friends as he was too busy with songwriting and gigs (“Hunter Hayes”). Everything he did was to further his musical ability. He says he doesn’t have any hobbies besides music (“Hunter Hayes”). Music is his life and the only friend that will never ever let him down (“Hunter Hayes Biography”). During his senior year, his parents realized that the way to get the word out there about his talent was to take him to none other but the music capital, Nashville (“Hunter Hayes”). Different song producers, managers and a record label were interested in the talents that Hunter Hayes brought forward (“Hunter Hayes”). Within the first week of moving to Nashville, he wrote a new song every day…

    • 1070 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Noble Sissle Research Paper
    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Noble Sissle Research Paper

    It is hard for me to imagine the barriers black composers and lyricist had to face in Broadway in the early 20th century, but Eubie Blake and Noble Sissle hit them head on and has earned himself a spot in Broadway’s long history. James Hubert Blake was born Baltimore in 1983 to former slaves. He grew up listening to rag time music, which would be his mark on Broadway. He started playing a pump organ at home before the age of 5, and would being playing professional by the time he was 6. During this time, he would play at brothers and saloons until he had finally secured a steady job at the Goldfield Hotel in Baltimore. In 1915, Blake and Noble Sissle began a long career of working together extensively, forming a partnership that would last for 60 years.…

    • 519 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Thomas Gallaudet Research Paper
    • 349 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Thomas Gallaudet Research Paper

    Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet was born in Philadelphia on Dec. 10, 1787. His family moved to Hartford, Connecticut. “He entered Yale College as a sophomore in 1802 when he was about 16 and graduated the youngest in his class and with highest honors. He then tried his go at law, teaching, and business.”…

    • 349 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Aaron Copland: An American Composer
    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Aaron Copland: An American Composer

    Born November 14th 1900 to Jewish immigrants from Lithuania, Copland played piano at a very young age. He took lessons in harmony and counterpoint with Goldmark, an old-fashioned teacher who was dedicated to Beethoven and Fux, and against whom Copland rebelled, becoming enamored with Scriabin, Debussy and Ives. By the age of sixteen he was studying composition and often attended musical symphonies where he was quickly drawn to the historical icons of classical music and left the United States to attend the Summer…

    • 1033 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Paul Taylor Research Paper
    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Paul Taylor Research Paper

    Paul Taylor was born July 29, 1930 in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. He lived a very lonely childhood during the depression-era in America and was often separated from his parents. After attending Syracuse University on scholarships in painting and swimming, he began to study dance. Two years later he joined the Martha Graham Dance Company, where he performed in a number of pieces, including Clytemnestra, Alcestis, and Phaedra.…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Comparison Of Duke Ellington's Life And Music
    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Comparison Of Duke Ellington's Life And Music

    It was the year of 1899 on the day April 29 when Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington was born. This talented musician was born in the city of Washington D.C. Growing up Edward had two big musical performers that had a big influence on his life, which was his mom and dad. At an early age Edward took liking to playing the piano. “Young Edward started piano lessons with a local teacher, unforgettably called Mrs. Clinkscales, at the age of about eleven.” (Bradbury, 2005). For his smooth playing of instruments and gentlemen ways Edward would soon earn the nicknamed Duke. At a very young age of fifth-teen Duke had written his very first composition known as the Soda Fountain Rage. This great composition was inspired by his first job being a soda jerk.…

    • 680 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Duke Ellington's Influence on Music
    • 1338 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Duke Ellington's Influence on Music

    Edward Kennedy Ellington, American jazz composer, orchestrator, bandleader, and pianist, is considered to be the greatest composer in the history of jazz music and one of the greatest musicians of the 20th century. He composed over 2000 works and performed numerous concerts during his musical career. A compilation of some of his most popular music is collected on a CD called, “The Popular Duke Ellington.” Duke Ellington can be considered important for numerous things. To choose a few reasons, Duke Ellington is important for his music, influence on people, and being a superfluous composer in his century and now.…

    • 1338 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Edward Kennedy Duke Ellington: Jazz Poet
    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Edward Kennedy Duke Ellington: Jazz Poet

    Conceived in Washington, D.C., Ellington was situated in New York City from the mid-1920s ahead, and picked up a national profile through his ensemble's appearances at the Cotton Club in Harlem. In the 1930s, his symphony visited in Europe. In spite of the fact that broadly considered to have been a vital figure ever, Ellington grasped the expression "past classification" as a freeing rule, and alluded to his music as a component of the more broad class of American Music, as opposed to a musical sort, for example, jazz.[2]…

    • 413 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Count Basie
    • 1245 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Count Basie

    William Basie was born in Red Bank, New Jersey, on August 21, 1904. His mother was a music teacher, and at a young age he became her pupil. But it was in Harlem, New York City, that he discovered his calling of ragtime and stride piano, principally from his sometime organ teacher, Fats Waller. Basie made his professional debut as an accompanist for vaudeville acts. In 1928, after a short stint as house organist in a silent movie theater, he joined Walter Page 's Blue Devils. When that band broke up in 1929, he was hired by Bennie Moten 's Band and played piano with them for the next five years.…

    • 1245 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Progression of the American Musical
    • 2881 Words
    • 12 Pages

    The Progression of the American Musical

    Two great writers of American musical theatre, Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, had one common idea. They wanted to present to the American public a new, revolutionary musical that would stand out among the rest. They wanted to make an impact on the societies of the era. They wanted to be creative and do something that was considered rebellious. When they finally combined their ideas together they created an American masterpiece: Oklahoma!. This was the first Rodgers and Hammerstein collaboration, starting the most successful creative partnership in the history of American musical theatre.…

    • 2881 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Introduction to Nat Turner
    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Introduction to Nat Turner

    Around 1790, there were 700,000 slaves in the United States. And by 1860, the number of slaves moved up to 4 million (lecture). The reason why the numbers had changed so drastically was because of the cotton boom. The cotton growing was concentrated on plantations rather than the small farms. Around 75% of slaves lived in groups of around 10 or more slaves, which made changes in the African American slave communities and culture (lecture). With the slave communities developing, they were very unstable. Around 1 million slaves migrated from the upper to lower south, which split the communities and families apart. Since the slave communities were growing, Southern African American communities were different from other slave groups such as Cuba where they constantly imported slaves from Africa. With being a slave, it resulted in a lot of health challenges but the planters tried to keep them healthy enough to work. The death rate for the slave children were rather high because the women worked hard and were not nourished enough. Their masters provided them with food and supplemented the food by growing and hunting (lecture). The slave children did not work the fields at the start of their lives. They were to observe how to survive as slaves. They learned what the penalties were for disobedience and observed how white men violated black women. They saw how slaves were sold away for punishment and also for profit. The older children were to take care of the younger ones and there was no schools for the slave kids. Adult slaves served as servants, artisans, skilled workers, or most were field workers. Most of the skilled workers were men rather than women. Around 75% worked in the field directly affected by the cotton plantation labor system (lecture). With the cotton, it demanded a year rounds worth of labor. The owners divided the slaves up into 20-25 slaves. At harvest they would work 18-hour days. In the evening the women would…

    • 822 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More