Hart Pease Danks
Encyclopedia
Hart Pease Danks was a musician who specialized in composing, singing and leading choral groups. He is best known for his 1873 composition, Silver Threads Among the Gold
.
, Connecticut
, Danks moved with his family to Saratoga Springs
, New York
when he was eight. He studied music with Dr. E. Whiting, later moving to Chicago
, where he worked as a carpenter in his father's construction business before embarking on a full time music career.Sanjek, Russell. American popular music and its business: the first four hundred years, Vol. II 1790 to 1909, p. 255-56 (1988)
In 1858, he married Hattie R. Colahan. In 1864, he moved to New York City
. In 1873, he published his best known song, "Silver Threads Among the Gold
" (words by Eben E. Rexford
), which sold over three million copies. Having sold the rights to it, though, he died penniless in a boarding house in Philadelphia, his last written words: "It’s hard to die alone".(21 November 1903). Composer Found Dead Beside His Piano, The New York Times
Hoag, Doane R. (8 July 1988). His Love Ballad Was Not For Him, Reading Eagle His widow died, alone, in 1924. Danks is buried at Kensico Cemetery
, in Valhalla, New York
.
Pease Danks was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
in 1970. He wrote over 1,000 songs.
Silver Threads Among the Gold
"Silver Threads Among the Gold", first copyrighted in 1873, was an extremely popular song in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today it is a standard of barbershop quartet singing. The lyrics are by Eben E...
.
Biography
Born in New HavenNew Haven, Connecticut
New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, Danks moved with his family to Saratoga Springs
Saratoga Springs, New York
Saratoga Springs, also known as simply Saratoga, is a city in Saratoga County, New York, United States. The population was 26,586 at the 2010 census. The name reflects the presence of mineral springs in the area. While the word "Saratoga" is known to be a corruption of a Native American name, ...
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
when he was eight. He studied music with Dr. E. Whiting, later moving to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, where he worked as a carpenter in his father's construction business before embarking on a full time music career.Sanjek, Russell. American popular music and its business: the first four hundred years, Vol. II 1790 to 1909, p. 255-56 (1988)
In 1858, he married Hattie R. Colahan. In 1864, he moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. In 1873, he published his best known song, "Silver Threads Among the Gold
Silver Threads Among the Gold
"Silver Threads Among the Gold", first copyrighted in 1873, was an extremely popular song in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Today it is a standard of barbershop quartet singing. The lyrics are by Eben E...
" (words by Eben E. Rexford
Eben E. Rexford
Eben Eugene Rexford was an American writer and poet, and author of lyrics to popular and gospel songs.Born in Johnsburg, New York, he moved with his family to Ellington, Wisconsin in 1855. His first poems were published in the New York Ledger when Rexford was 14...
), which sold over three million copies. Having sold the rights to it, though, he died penniless in a boarding house in Philadelphia, his last written words: "It’s hard to die alone".(21 November 1903). Composer Found Dead Beside His Piano, The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
Hoag, Doane R. (8 July 1988). His Love Ballad Was Not For Him, Reading Eagle His widow died, alone, in 1924. Danks is buried at Kensico Cemetery
Kensico Cemetery
Kensico Cemetery, located in Valhalla, Westchester County, New York, was founded in 1889, when many New York City cemeteries were becoming full, and rural cemeteries were being created near the railroads which served the city...
, in Valhalla, New York
Valhalla, New York
Valhalla is an unincorporated hamlet and census-designated place that is located within the town of Mount Pleasant, New York, in Westchester County. Its population was 3,162 at the 2010 U.S. Census...
.
Pease Danks was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Songwriters Hall of Fame is an arm of the National Academy of Popular Music. It was founded in 1969 by songwriter Johnny Mercer and music publishers Abe Olman and Howie Richmond. The goal is to create a museum but as of April, 2008, the means do not yet exist and so instead it is an online...
in 1970. He wrote over 1,000 songs.
Other collaborators and contributions.
- Other lyricists who Danks worked with included Samuel N. MitchellSamuel N. MitchellSamuel N. Mitchell was an American song lyricist and newspaperman who wrote lyrics for a number of popular songs in the 1870s., Skaneateles Democrat -Songwriter:Mitchell wrote lyrics...
. - In 1892, he published Superior Anthems for Church Choirs, and himself wrote numerous church hymns.