abend stunde49's video: DARK EYES - Columbia Salon Orchestra 1939

DARK EYES (Horlick) Columbia Salon Orchestra, Mortimer Palitz, Conductor Columbia No. 36030 (B 25194), 1939. NOTE: Please view in high-resolution. “Dark Eyes” (also known as “Black Eyes”) is a famous Russian romantic song. It is not a traditional folk song, but its origins, according to Wikipedia are unclear, possibly having been written as a cabaret song in the late 19th century. I don’t know whether this version, written by Harry Horlick in 1926, is a symphonic arrangement of the old cabaret melody or a new version altogether. I always associate “Dark Eyes” with the equally romantic “Two Guitars” as they are often presented on the same record, as they are on this 1939 Columbia. When I was four years old, the family home was being prepared for sale and my uncle brought be a box of old 78s, saying, “Here is a new box of records for you.” I was thrilled. I already had my collection of children's records that my parents had started buying for me since almost the day I was born. This box from my uncle was something new and different. “Dark Eyes” and “Two Guitars” quickly became my favorites. But unlike my unbreakable children’s records, the old 78s were fragile, and few survived my constant playing of them. Luckily, I was able to find a replacement for “Dark Eyes” much later. A few years ago I uploaded “Two Guitars” and told the story of how my mother —Bianca— heard it played by the orchestra at a cafe or restaurant that she frequented in San Francisco in the late 1930s. The piece was new to her. She liked it, and finally, and shyly, asked the orchestra leader for the title. The next time she arrived at the restaurant and walked through the door, the orchestra immediately stopped whatever they were playing and took up “Two Guitars.” On each visit thereafter, as she was escorted to her table, she walked in to the strains of “Two Guitars.” I prepared that youtube presentation as a tribute to my mother. As the two songs are forever intertwined in my mind from memories of childhood, I have again used pictures of my mother to illustrate “Dark Eyes.” After all, she did have dark eyes! Bianca was a portrait photographer when she was young. We are fortunate to have professional photographs of her taken by other photographers she knew. Some of them (and certainly the grainy pictures from 35mm film) may have been taken by her twin brother, also a photographer. The moving images are from the one and only reel of home movie film (2 minutes long; February 1942) ever shot by a family member. Bianca—in her only film appearance—shows up in just a few frames, which I could not resist including.