Irving Berlin

Hawley Ades was hired by Irving Berlin in 1932 to assist the legendary American songwriter with musical arrangements.  Hawley stayed with Berlin for five years before being hired by choir master and bandleader Fred Waring.  He joined Mr. Waring at the time the bandleader hoped to launch his own music publishing company, which became Shawnee Press.  Hawley wrote a noted method book on choral conducting and thousands of published arrangements for Shawnee.  In Fact, he worked for Shawnee Press until Mr.

Mary Ellin Barrett is the oldest of Irving Berlin’s three daughters and the author of the 1994 book, Irving Berlin: A Daughters Memoir. During her NAMM interview she and her sister Linda Emmet spoke of their father’s business side including his publishing and role as a founder of ASCAP. Mrs. Barrett also provided some interesting insight into her father’s career as one of the most beloved songwriters in American popular music history. Part of the discussion within the interview covered her father’s humor and insight in his lyrics and his strong musical ability in such classic songs as “Let’s Face The Music and Dance” as well as “God Bless America.”

Ted Chapin has many stories about the music industry, making his June 2010 interview fascinating. As president of Rodgers & Hammerstein Music since 1985 he spoke of the growth and development of Broadway publishing. As the son of a Steinway (his mother was a Steinway and her famous brothers included John, Ted and Henry Z) Ted discussed his own experience working in the Steinway factory along with his twin brother. Ted’s love of musicals also makes him a wonderful source for the history of Broadway and related music publishing. 

Linda Emmet enjoyed talking about the often over-looked business side of her father’s remarkable career in music publishing. Her father was Irving Berlin! Mrs. Emmett and her older sister, Mrs. Mary Ellin Barrett, gathered together for their NAMM Oral History program at the Irving Berlin Publishing Company on West 28th Street in New York, just a few blocks from the famed Tin Pan Alley that was the setting of their father’s early days as a songwriter. Mrs. Emmett is the co-editor of the 2001 publication The Complete Lyrics of Irving Berlin, a hefty volume that first brought together published and non-published works of American’s most successful songwriter.

Irwin Rabinowitz was personally hired by Irving Berlin to create the lead plates for the famed songwriter's sheet music. Irwin's craft was hand chiseling each note, each slur, and coda into metal plates that would then allow copies to be published. Although Mr. Rabinowitz's career would extend into the music typewriter and even the computer, he always preferred the old way of hand craftsmanship engraving.  Irwin worked for a time for the Elvis Presley Music Group and several other publishers before his retirement.  For many years he and his wife traveled to Israel to volunteer at area hospitals.  He was on such a trip when he passed away in May 2010.