(CBS Primetime, 1960)
[this variety series featured the music of the Glenn Miller
Orchestra under the direction of Ray McKinley; hosts were
George De Witt and Keefe Brasselle]
[THEME of the "Glenn Miller Orchestra" from Big Band days;
Big band trivia: Before this composition had the title of
"Moonlight Serenade" it had at least three other titles and
two other sets of words;
Miller first composed the tune as part of his studies with
a well-known music theory teacher named Joseph Schillinger
who taught a mathematical "system" for composing music --
known as the "Schillinger Method" of composition;
Miller first composed this tune around 1935 while he was
studying with Schillinger; Originally the tune had no name;
it was just a student composition written to show his teacher
how he had applied what he learned;
But it was a nice ballad tune, and Miller's friend Eddie
Herman wrote a set of words to it by the morose title of
"Now I Lay Me Down To Weep";
Later another lyric was attempted by George Simon entitled
"Gone With The Dawn"; But this title and lyric didn't click
with anyone either;
Miller did arrange the tune for his band, and bandmembers
remember the chart as an instrumental with the title of just
"Miller's Tune" on their parts; It was so popular it was becoming
the band's THEME song;
So finally lyricist Mitchell Parish was asked to come up with
a set of words to fit "Miller's Tune." Along with the lyric
he wrote, was his title for it -- "Moonlight Serenade" -- and
and it has been known by that title ever since]
Composers: music by Glenn Miller (ASCAP) and
lyric by Mitchell Parish (ASCAP)
1978 Publisher: Robbins Music Corp. (ASCAP)
2001 Publisher: EMI-Robbins Catalog, Inc. (ASCAP)
c/o EMI Music Publishing, Inc.
of New York, NY
Composition Date [as "Moonlight Serenade"]: 1939
Copyright Date:
Renewal Date:
Recordings: