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Pauline Alpert

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Pauline Edeth Alpert Rooff (December 27, 1905 – April 11, 1988) was a pianist who performed, composed, recorded, and produced Duo-Art piano rolls in the United States. Known by her fans as the ‘Whirlwind Pianist’,[1] she performed in several films and made recordings with a few record labels. She did radio shows in New York City and toured.[2]

Career

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She made numerous Victor Records recordings.[3][4] She recorded the album Sparkling Piano Melodies on Sonora Records. She sometimes recorded under the pseudonym Peggy Anderson.[2] She produced more than 500 piano rolls for the Duo-Art.[5] She toured across the United States, Canada, and South America. She played in the White House three times, performing for Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.[5][6][7]

She performed during the intermission of the Broadway show Rufus LeMaire's Affairs in 1927.[8] She featured in two Vitaphone Varieties short film episodes dated March 1927. This included What Price Piano,[9] a collection of popular songs.[10][11] She later performed in 1935 in the Vitaphone Varieties short film Katz' Pajamas with Fifi D'Orsay, directed by Joseph Henabery.[2][12]

The collection Pauline Alpert's folio of modern piano songs includes her compositions:

  • Night of Romance (1927)
  • Perils of Pauline (1927)
  • Dream of a Doll (1934)
  • March of the Blues (1935)
  • Piano Poker (1935)
  • The Merry Minnow (1935)
  • Ivory Tips (1937)[13]

Her later compositions include A Million Stars Just Can't Be Wrong (1937), Mindin' the Baby (1938), A Happy New Year to Love (1938), and Tut Tut (1944).[2]

She performed for NBC and CBS, including in guest solo spots with Paul Whiteman, Rudy Vallée, and Fred Allen.[1] She had her own semi-weekly program for the WOR Radio Network in New York City.[1][5]

A recording of her playing Doll Dance is on the 1981 album Ragtime Piano Novelties of the 20's.[14]

Discography

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Pauline's known discography is listed below.[2][3][15]

Year Title Composer Matrix number
1926 Valencia[16] José Padilla Victor Trial 12-14-01
1926 When You and I Were Young, Maggie[17] George W. Johnson, James Austin Butterfield Victor Trial 12-14-02
1927 Tonight You Belong to Me[18] Lee David Victor BVE-37525
1927 The Little White House (At the End of Honeymoon Lane)[19] James F. Hanley Victor BVE-37526
1927 Night of Romance[20] Pauline Alpert Victor BVE-06-03-01
1927 Perils of Pauline[21] Pauline Alpert Victor BVE-06-03-02
1927 Hallelujah[22] Vincent Youmans Victor BVE-38858
1927 Magnolia (Mix the lot - what have you got?)[23] Ray Henderson Victor BVE-38859
1927 Dancing Tambourine[24] William Conrad Polla Victor BVE-40541
1927 Doll Dance[25] Nacio Herb Brown Victor BVE-40542
1932 Saint Louis Blues[26] W. C. Handy Victor BRC-72210
1932 Song of India[27] Rimsky-Korsakov Victor BRC-72211
1944 Where or When[28] Rodgers and Hart Sonora SR1516
1944 Dream of a Doll[28] Pauline Alpert Sonora SR1517
1944 The Parade of the Wooden Soldiers[28] Ballard MacDonald, Leon Jessel Sonora SR1518
1944 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2[28] Franz Liszt Sonora SR1519
1944 Toy Trumpet[28] Raymond Scott Sonora SR1520
1944 Chopsticks[28] Euphemia Allen Sonora SR1521
1944 Sweet Sue[28] Victor Young Sonora SR1522
1944 In a Country Garden[28] Percy Grainger Sonora SR1523
1944 The Donkey Serenade, The Very Thought of You, The Piccolino Allan Jones; Ray Noble; Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire Muzak 61-081
1946 Minuet Ignacy Jan Paderewski Pilotone 5033
1946 March Militaire Franz Schubert Pilotone 5034
1946 Humoresque Antonín Dvořák Pilotone 5035
1946 Blue Danube Waltz Johann Strauss II Pilotone 5036
1946 La Cinquantaine Jean Gabriel-Marie Pilotone 5037
1946 Song of India Rimsky-Korsakov Pilotone 5038
1946 Dancing Doll Ede Poldini Pilotone 5039
1946 The Minute Waltz Frédéric Chopin Pilotone 5040
1955 Piano Moods[29] Waldorf Music Hall MH 33-115
1955 Piano Moods[30] Sparton 33-4919

Personal Life

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Pauline was born in New York and spent her childhood in Rochester.[6] Her father was Samuel Alpert, a Russian immigrant and painter, and her mother was Anna Rosk, a native New Yorker and skilled musician.[2][6] To support her family's poor finances, as an 11 year old, she would give piano lessons for 25 cents.[6] She won a four year scholarship to the Eastman School of Music and received training as a classical pianist,[6][31] where her primary instructor was Selim Palmgren.[5]

Pauline married Dr. Sidney Rooff in 1940. They had no children.[6]

Legacy

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Pauline's work is included in the 2014 book by Peter Mintun compiling popular piano roll and novelty song artists from the 1920s and 1930s, Novelty Masterpieces of the Gershwin Era: The Music of Zez Confrey, Pauline Alpert and Rube Bloom.[32]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c "Pauline Alpert Collection – Sibley Music Library". Retrieved 2024-06-11.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Pauline Edeth Alpert Rooff". RagPiano.com.
  3. ^ a b "Alpert, Pauline - Discography of American Historical Recordings". adp.library.ucsb.edu. Archived from the original on 15 November 2021.
  4. ^ "| RSA". rsa.fau.edu.
  5. ^ a b c d Mize, J. T. H. (1951). International Who's Who in Music (5th ed.). International Biographical Centre. p. 20.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Wilkes, Galen (May 1988). "Pauline Alpert Remembered" (PDF). The AMICA News Bulletin. pp. 139–141. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 11, 2024. Retrieved June 11, 2024.
  7. ^ "Now At State". The Centralia Enterprise and Tribune. 1897-10-16. p. 10. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
  8. ^ "Pauline Alpert – Broadway Cast & Staff | IBDB". www.ibdb.com.
  9. ^ What Price Piano (1927) at the Wayback Machine (archived 2021-11-15)
  10. ^ St. Joseph News-Press. St. Joseph News-Press.
  11. ^ Reading Eagle. Reading Eagle.
  12. ^ "Pauline Alpert | Actress, Soundtrack". IMDb. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
  13. ^ Pauline Alpert's folio of modern piano songs. November 15, 2021. OCLC 39792230 – via Open WorldCat.
  14. ^ "Doll Dance | Smithsonian Folkways Recordings".
  15. ^ "Pt's Historic Recordings". NPR.org.
  16. ^ "Victor matrix [Trial 1926-12-14-01]. Valencia / Pauline Alpert - Discography of American Historical Recordings". 2021-11-15. Archived from the original on 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  17. ^ "Victor matrix [Trial 1926-12-14-02]. When you and I were young, Maggie / Pauline Alpert - Discography of American Historical Recordings". 2021-11-15. Archived from the original on 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  18. ^ "Victor matrix BVE-37525. To-night you belong to me / Pauline Alpert - Discography of American Historical Recordings". 2021-11-15. Archived from the original on 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  19. ^ "Victor matrix BVE-37526. The little white house (At the end of Honeymoon Lane) / Pauline Alpert - Discography of American Historical Recordings". 2021-11-15. Archived from the original on 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  20. ^ "Victor matrix BVE-[Unnumbered 1927-06-03-01]. Night of romance / Pauline Alpert - Discography of American Historical Recordings". 2021-11-15. Archived from the original on 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  21. ^ "Victor matrix BVE-[Unnumbered 1927-06-03-02]. Perils of Pauline / Pauline Alpert - Discography of American Historical Recordings". 2021-11-15. Archived from the original on 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  22. ^ "Victor matrix BVE-38858. Hallelujah / Pauline Alpert - Discography of American Historical Recordings". 2021-11-15. Archived from the original on 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  23. ^ "Victor matrix BVE-38859. Magnolia (Mix the lot, what have you got?) / Pauline Alpert - Discography of American Historical Recordings". 2021-11-15. Archived from the original on 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  24. ^ "Victor matrix BVE-40541. Dancing tambourine / Pauline Alpert - Discography of American Historical Recordings". 2021-11-15. Archived from the original on 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  25. ^ "Victor matrix BVE-40542. Doll dance / Pauline Alpert - Discography of American Historical Recordings". 2021-11-15. Archived from the original on 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  26. ^ "Victor matrix BRC-72210. St. Louis blues / Pauline Alpert - Discography of American Historical Recordings". 2021-11-15. Archived from the original on 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  27. ^ "Victor matrix BRC-72211. Song of India / Pauline Alpert - Discography of American Historical Recordings". 2021-11-15. Archived from the original on 2021-11-15. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  28. ^ a b c d e f g h "Sonora Records 78rpm numerical listing discography". www.78discography.com. Retrieved 2024-06-16.
  29. ^ "Pauline Alpert – Piano Moods". discogs. Archived from the original on 16 June 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  30. ^ "Pauline Alpert – Piano Moods". discogs. Archived from the original on 16 June 2024. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  31. ^ "Article clipped from Detroit Free Press". Detroit Free Press. 1927-11-27. p. 56. Retrieved 2024-06-11.
  32. ^ Mintun, Peter (2014). Novelty Masterpieces of the Gershwin Era: The Music of Zez Confrey, Pauline Alpert and Rube Bloom. Dover Publications (published November 19, 2014). ISBN 978-0486490922.
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