Arthur Lange
Encyclopedia
Bandleader
A bandleader is the leader of a band of musicians. The term is most commonly, though not exclusively, used with a group that plays popular music as a small combo or a big band, such as one which plays jazz, blues, rhythm and blues or rock and roll music....
and Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley
Tin Pan Alley is the name given to the collection of New York City music publishers and songwriters who dominated the popular music of the United States in the late 19th century and early 20th century...
composer of popular music. He composed music for over 120 films, including Grand Canary
Grand Canary (film)
Grand Canary is a 1934 Fox film of A. J. Cronin's novel of the same title. The film was produced by Jesse L. Lasky and directed by Irving Cummings.-Cast:*Warner Baxter as Dr. Harvey Leith*Madge Evans as Lady Mary Fielding...
and Woman on the Run
Woman on the Run
Woman on the Run is a 1950 black-and-white film noir directed by Norman Foster.- Plot :As the film opens, a man, Frank Johnson , is walking his dog in the city at night. He witnesses a man in a car talking about a crime. The man then gets shot. But whoever shot that man then sees Frank and shoots...
. Lange shared an Oscar nomination with Hugo Friedhofer
Hugo Friedhofer
Hugo Wilhelm Friedhofer was an American film music composer born in San Francisco. His father was a cellist trained in Dresden, Germany; his mother, Eva König, was born in Germany.Friedhofer began playing cello at the age of 13...
for the film The Woman in the Window
The Woman in the Window
The Woman in the Window is a film noir directed by Fritz Lang that tells the story of psychology professor Richard Wanley who meets and becomes enamored with a young femme fatale....
. All in all he was nominated four times for Oscars but did not win any.
During the first half of the 1920s Lange recorded copiously for Cameo Records
Cameo Records
Cameo was a USA based budget record label, first flourishing in the 1920s, not connected with a later record label of the same name which was active in the 1950s and 1960s.The Cameo Record Company was based in Manhattan, New York...
. His 1923 orchestra, which also played the Cinderella Ballroom on Broadway
Broadway (New York City)
Broadway is a prominent avenue in New York City, United States, which runs through the full length of the borough of Manhattan and continues northward through the Bronx borough before terminating in Westchester County, New York. It is the oldest north–south main thoroughfare in the city, dating to...
and which included "hot" trumpeters Earl Oliver and Tommy Gott, was at the end of that year bought by young well-to-do bandleader Roger Wolfe Kahn
Roger Wolfe Kahn
Roger Wolfe Kahn was an American jazz and popular musician, composer, and bandleader ....
, and it is not known whether the recordings Lange made after this point and up to 1926 were still made by these musicians (Kahn himself didn't start recording under his own name for Victor Records until March 1925) or by another group. His 1928 recordings for Pathé Records
Pathé Records
Pathé Records was a France-based international record label and producer of phonographs, active from the 1890s through the 1930s.- Early years :...
were however almost certainly made by another unknown personnel. Though Lange himself played both piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and banjo
Banjo
In the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
he seems (with the exception of a recording by his "Lange trio" in 1922) to have only acted as conductor
Conducting
Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance by way of visible gestures. The primary duties of the conductor are to unify performers, set the tempo, execute clear preparations and beats, and to listen critically and shape the sound of the ensemble...
and arranger
Arranger
In investment banking, an arranger is a provider of funds in the syndication of a debt. They are entitled to syndicate the loan or bond issue, and may be referred to as the "lead underwriter". This is because this entity bears the risk of being able to sell the underlying securities/debt or the...
on his band recording dates.
Census records show that Lange shared a residence in the Hollywood Hills in 1930 with Ray Heindorf
Ray Heindorf
Ray Heindorf was an American songwriter, composer, conductor, and arranger.-Early life:Born in Haverstraw, New York, Heindorf worked as a pianist in a movie house in Mechanicville in his early teens. In 1928, he moved to New York City, where he worked as a musical arranger before heading to...
, who would go on to win three Academy Awards.
Lange was a prolific arranger of dance band orchestrations during the 1920s. His "stock" orchestrations were in use by many bands of the day. Lange wrote "Arranging for the Modern Dance Orchestra" which was the definitive work of its day (published Robbins Music, 1926).