Louis Alter was born in Haverhill, Massachusetts, on June 18, 1902,
where he received his academic education in the public schools, and his
initial instruction in music. Music study was completed with Stuart
Mason at the New England Conservatory. In 1924 Alter came to New York,
where for five years he worked as accompanist for Nora Bayes, Irene
Bordoni and other stars of the stage; he also did arrangements for a
publishing firm in Tin Pan Alley. Between 1925 and 1927 he wrote his
first popular songs and contributed a few of them to Broadway
productions. Since then he has written many song hits, as well as scores
for Broadway musicals and Hollywood films. His best known songs include
“A Melody from the Sky” and “Dolores,” both of which were nominated for
Academy Awards; also “Twilight on the Trail,” such a favorite of
President Franklin D. Roosevelt that the manuscript, together with a
recording by Bing Crosby, repose in the Roosevelt Museum in Hyde Park,
New York.
Alter has been successful in writing skilful compositions for piano and
orchestra in which the popular element is pronounced, encased within a
symphonic structure. Some of them are now staples in the symphonic-jazz
repertory. His best compositions were inspired by the sights, sounds and
moods of New York City.
_Jewels from Cartier_ (1953), as the title indicates, was inspired not
by New York but by one of the city’s most famous jewelers when Alter was
one day allowed to inspect its collection. In his suite, Alter attempts
in eight sections to translate various jewels into tones. The first
movement is “Emerald Eyes.” Since many beautiful emeralds come from
South America, this section emphasizes the rumba beat and other
Latin-American rhythms. “The Ruby and the Rose” is a romantic ballad in
which voices supplement the instruments of the orchestra. “Pearl of the
Orient” consists of an oriental dance. “Black Pearl of Tahiti” exploits
exotic Polynesian rhythms and its languorous-type melodies. “Diamond
Earrings” is a swirling waltz while “Star Sapphire” is a beguine. In
“Cat’s Eye in the Night,” the music suggests a playful kitten darting
about in a room. The finale, “Lady of Jade,” is in the style of Chinese
processional music.
_Manhattan Masquerade_ (1932) is the most dramatic of Alter’s New York
murals. It consists of a Viennese-type waltz played in fox-trot time, a
suggestion on the part of the composer that Vienna and New York are not
too far apart spiritually.
_Manhattan Moonlight_ (1932) is, on the other hand, atmospheric. It
opens with four chords in a nebulous Debussy vein. The core of the work
is an extended melody for strings against piano embellishments. A light
and frivolous mood is then invoked before the main melody returns in an
opulent scoring.
_Manhattan Serenade_ (1928) is the most famous of all Alter’s
instrumental works and the one that first made him known. He published
it first as a piano solo, but soon rewrote it for piano and orchestra.
Paul Whiteman and his orchestra made it popular in 1929 on records and
in public concerts. This work is extremely effective in laying bare the
nerves of the metropolis through syncopations, and jazz tone
colorations. Its main melody is a plangent song to which, in 1940,
Howard Johnson adapted a song lyric. _Manhattan Serenade_ is often heard
as background music on radio and television programs about New York.
_Side Street in Gotham_ (1938) attempts to portray the city from river
to river. The composition begins with a few notes suggesting “London
Bridge Is Falling Down,” which is later elaborated in a vigorous and
amusing tempo; the reason this theme is here used is because it is
referred to in the lyric of “The Sidewalks of New York.” Some of the
mystery of New York’s side streets can also be found in this music.