TRACK: "Strange Music"
COMPOSER: Edvard Grieg (lyrics: Robert Wright/George Forrest)
ARRANGER: Vincent Lopez
PERFORMERS: Vincent Lopez Orchestra feat. Bruce Hayes (vocal)
LABEL: WOR Feature (Shellac 10"/1945)

"Strange music in my ears,
Only now as you spoke did it start,
Strange music of the spheres,
Could its lovely hum be coming from my heart?

You appear and I hear song sublime,
Song that I'm incapable of.
So dear, let me hold you near,
While we treasure every measure,
So that time can never change
The strange new music of love."

Vincent Lopez (1895-1975) was a massively popular Brooklyn-born Portuguese-American pianist and bandleader during the swing era. His work helped popularize radio in New Jersey and featured in the Wizard of Oz soundtrack, he even had his own popular tv show for a decade. While his lively piano performance would help inspire a young Liberace, among numerous other musicians. 

Raised by his father to become a Roman Catholic priest, Lopez left the monastery at the age of 16 to pursue music. However, it turns out he would have a lifelong obsession with metaphysics, notably numerology, astrology, and prophecy. At one point "he consulted his horoscope to assist in all personal and business decisions, attending séances frequently to assist in planning the future." He published a book on the "musical horoscope," which included a score for his own Zodiac suite. Known for his psychic abilities, he had a fortune-telling column in a San Francisco periodical and he offered fortune-telling services at his dinner concerts. While he published several books on numerology and prophecy. He was also a lifelong Freemason. In a masonic eulogy reflecting on his life, a Masonic brother remembers him favorably, while nevertheless highlighting his flaws: "self-discipline was a character trait Lopez never had enjoyed. In spite of his erratic life, he prospered." Despite his massive talent, success, and popularity, Lopez is almost entirely forgotten today.

"Strange Music" is based on Edvard Grieg's "Wedding Day at Troldhaugen"; lyrics by Robert Wright/George Forrest from their adaptation of Grieg works in the operetta "Song of Norway" (1944). The version presented here was arranged and performed by Vincent Lopez and his Orchestra in 1945.

Video by Matt Marble.

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