Showing posts with label gade. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gade. Show all posts

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Jacob Gade - Tango 'Jalousie'

Jacob Gade (1879 - 1963) was a Danish violinist and composer of orchestral popular music. He's remembered for only one composition, Tango Jalousie, (or Jealousy ).  He was appointed the conductor of a large theater orchestra in 1921 that accompanied silent movies. He wrote the tango in 1925 to accompany a movie titled , "Don Q, Son Of Zorro".  It was a popular song, but it wasn't until  Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra made the first recording of it in 1935 when it became an international hit.  Gade was able to retire on the royalties and compose music as he chose, although Arthur Fieldler said that Gade showed him a symphony that he wrote and Fiedler said it was one of the worst pieces of music he ever saw.

Jalousie has been used in over 100 movies and is still a popular tango today. The piece earns a sizable amount of royalties which are used to fund the Jacob Gade prize awarded to the most promising young musician in Denmark.

Gade's Tango Jalousie: