" It Was Written In The Stars" Magnificent But Unheralded Arlen Song: Anyone who has read this blog and the 100 post blog " classicamericanpopularsong.blogspot.com "
knows how indebted and appreciative I have been and will always be to Alec Wilder for his ground breaking, comprehensive and enthusiastic tribute to classic American popular song. His influential book, American Popular Song The Great Innovators - 1900 1950 ( Oxford University Press New York 1972.) is still the most comprehensive analysis of that period that saw worldwide acceptance of American musical forms. For me personally, for more than thirty years, he has provided insight, perspective and definite opinions on over 17,000 songs deposited for copyright in that 1900-1950 time period. His unabashed love of this unique American cultural tradition shines through on every page and surely enlightens both the casual reader and the avid student of American popular song.
Wilder was a persistent and admiring advocate of Harold Arlen's unique compositional innovations expressing the heretical view that Arlen was even more a purely native product of the blues, jazz and Big Band music than George Gershwin. Gershwin was idolized by Arlen while Gershwin also flatly stated that " He ( Arlen) is the most original of us all."
However, I must take strong exception with Wilder's failure to include " It Was Written In The Stars" in the extensive and very positive analysis of Arlen's compositional output.
For the 1948 film " Casbah" starring Tony Martin, Arlen and lyricist Leo Robin wrote an evocative ballad with the self-descriptive title " It Was Written In The Stars",. It expressed a fatalistic view that whatever will be, must be. For The Harold Arlen Songbook featuring Ella Fitzgerald and arranger Billy May, Benny Green wrote liner notes that deftly pointed out the unique virtues of Arlen's songs and Ella's sensitive treatment of so many fine songs. Green stated that " Written In The Stars is one of those perfect marriages of words and music which happen far less often than people imagine." Green went on to exclaim that when Ella sings
Cloudy though the day be,
Crazy though I may be,
What the stars foretold shall be.
in her rendering of the phrase, she employs those lilting effects in her voice which imbue the whole with the qualities of a lullaby."
Since I was intrigued by Wilder's omitted commentary on this wonderful song, I went directly to the printed sheet music. In going over the piece again and again and listening repeatedly to the Fitzgerald performance, I stumbled upon one specific aspect of Arlen"s distinctive melodic approach. The song starts out with It Was written in the stars, What was written in the stars shall be. Normally, the usual pattern is to repeat the same phrase in the next section before introducing a different melodic line. Not so for Arlen. He starts out again with
It was written in the skies that the heart and not the eyes shall see. On the note for heart, Arlen raises the melody from the earlier G flat to A. That does not seem so remarkable but it strikes the ear which was anticipating a repeat of the earlier G flat.
It is just a small example of how Arlen can introduce a surprising and unexpected element in a song that sticks in the mind. Listen to the song and see if you agree that this slight introduction of an atypical avoidance of a repeated phrase does not somehow become a memorable moment. If not, listen to the rest of the song and Ella's gentle yet insistent probing of the influence of fate in human affairs concluding with " What the stars foretold shall be.-and so shall it be."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YmeUYEk9CiI
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