Silver Bells Sheet Music and Wendell Hall Promotion
Date
Credits
- Paramount Music Corporation
- Ray Evans Composer
- Jay Livingston Composer
- Sidney Lanfield Art Director
- Wendell Hall Musician
Format
- Sheet Music 19
Type of Work
- Archive 200
Media
- paper 1354
Composed by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans, Silver Bells debuted in the 1951 motion picture The Lemon Drop Kid, directed by Sidney Lanfield.
Wendell Hall was an American artist best recognized for his talent in performing a variety of string instruments, including the ukulele, throughout the 1920s. He is the male figure portrayed playing the instrument on the back cover.
The front and back covers are attached; however, there is not much correlation between the two apart from being published by music companies based on 1619 Broadway, NY, a building named the ‘Brill Building’, a hub for music publishing in the mid-20th century. It was common for different music companies to collaborate/promote different artists together, as these independent companies formed a sense of community by working toward the same purpose.
Mid-20th-century sheet music was mainly created through mechanical engraving. The process involves hand-engraving the symbols onto metal plates which are then used for printing. It's a method that requires precision, and the standards from music publishers of this period created a clear and consistent design for sheet music. Spacing was a necessity in the design, preventing overlapping symbols and notes for easy legibility. Space within the margin was also part of the clean design and provided room for notes and annotations.
The sheet music included inside may also be played on instruments like the guitar or piano, it's also possible the music can be played on the ukulele for its simplicity and popularity in playing holiday songs.
Sources:
- “Biography of Wendell Hall.” The Wendell Hall Online Museum, 2022. https://wendellhallmuseum.wixsite.com/online/biography-of-wendell-hall.
- Furia, Philip, and Michael Lasser. Essay. In Silver Bells, 233–233. Abingdon, England: LLC Routledge, 2006. https://books.google.com/books?id=ARrfAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA233#v=onepage&q&f=false.
- Garofolo, Reebee. “The Brill Building: Assembly-Line Pop.” Encyclopædia Britannica, June 12, 2023. https://www.britannica.com/topic/The-Brill-Building-Assembly-Line-Pop-1688332
