Speak Low
Encyclopedia
"Speak Low" is a popular
song
composed by Kurt Weill
, with lyrics by Ogden Nash
. It was introduced by Mary Martin
and Kenny Baker in the Broadway
musical
One Touch of Venus
(1943). The 1944 hit single was by Guy Lombardo
and his orchestra, with vocal by Billy Leach. Barbra Streisand
recorded a David Foster arrangement of "Speak Low" for her 1993 album, Back to Broadway
The tune is a jazz standard that has been widely recorded, both by vocal artists from Billie Holiday to Dee Dee Bridgewater, and such instrumentalists as Bill Evans, Roy Hargrove and Brian Bromberg.
The opening line is a (slight mis)quotation from William Shakespeare
's Much Ado About Nothing
(1600), where it is spoken by Don Pedro.
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
composed by Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
, with lyrics by Ogden Nash
Ogden Nash
Frederic Ogden Nash was an American poet well known for his light verse. At the time of his death in 1971, the New York Times said his "droll verse with its unconventional rhymes made him the country's best-known producer of humorous poetry".-Early life:Nash was born in Rye, New York...
. It was introduced by Mary Martin
Mary Martin
Mary Virginia Martin was an American actress and singer. She originated many roles over her career including Nellie Forbush in South Pacific and Maria in The Sound of Music. She was named a Kennedy Center Honoree in 1989...
and Kenny Baker in the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
One Touch of Venus
One Touch of Venus
One Touch of Venus is a musical with music written by Kurt Weill, lyrics by Ogden Nash, and book by S. J. Perelman and Nash, based on the novella The Tinted Venus by Thomas Anstey Guthrie, and very loosely spoofing the Pygmalion myth. The show satirizes contemporary American suburban values,...
(1943). The 1944 hit single was by Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
and his orchestra, with vocal by Billy Leach. Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
recorded a David Foster arrangement of "Speak Low" for her 1993 album, Back to Broadway
Back to Broadway
Back to Broadway is the twenty-sixth studio album by Barbra Streisand, released in 1993. The album is Streisand's second collection of songs from Broadway musicals, after 1985's The Broadway Album, and peaked at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 189,000 copies in that week, and has been...
The tune is a jazz standard that has been widely recorded, both by vocal artists from Billie Holiday to Dee Dee Bridgewater, and such instrumentalists as Bill Evans, Roy Hargrove and Brian Bromberg.
The opening line is a (slight mis)quotation from William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing
Much Ado About Nothing is a comedy written by William Shakespeare about two pairs of lovers, Benedick and Beatrice, and Claudio and Hero....
(1600), where it is spoken by Don Pedro.