Henriette Blanke-Belcher (February 16, 1882 – March 1958), also known as Henrietta Blanke-Belcher and later as Henriette B. Melson, was an American composer of popular music, especially waltzes and ragtime tunes.

Early life

Henriette Berger Blanke was born in

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City, Missouri, abbreviated KC or KCMO, is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri by List of cities in Missouri, population and area. The city lies within Jackson County, Missouri, Jackson, Clay County, Missouri, Clay, and Pl ...

, the eldest of four daughters of Max Blanke and Dora Berger Blanke. Her father was an immigrant from

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

; her mother was from

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Henriette was raised in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, and

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

; her father died in the latter city when she was a teenager.Edwards, Bill
"Henriette Blanke-Belcher"
RagPiano.com.

Career

Henriette Blanke worked for Whitney-Warner Publishing Company and

Jerome H. Remick Jerome Hosmer Remick (15 November 1867 – 15 July 1931) was an American music publisher, businessman and philanthropist in Detroit, Michigan. He established Remick Music Company, Shapiro-Remick & Company with Maurice Shapiro, and then Jerome H ...

, music publishing companies in Detroit. They published many of her compositions. She performed in vaudeville in 1909, and a number of recordings of her compositions were made between 1905 and 1926. "I want to become known as a waltz writer exclusively," she said in 1902, but she also wrote ballads and novelty songs. Compositions by Blanke-Belcher included "Lazarre Waltzes" (1901), "Francezka Waltzes" (1902, named for the novel by Molly Eliot Seawell), "Hearts Courageous: Waltzes" (1902), "Cubanola: A Spanish Love Serenade" (1902), "Under the Rose: Waltzes" (1903), "Peggy O'Neal Waltzes" (1903), "My Wigwam Queen" (1903, words by James O'Dea), "Colleen: An Irish Love Song" (1903, words by Eddie Dustin), "My Lady of the North Waltzes" (1904), "Hearts' Haven Waltzes" (1905), "When the Mockingbirds are Singing in the Wild Wood" (1906), "Stingy Moon" (1906, words by Will Heelan), "The Enchantress: Waltzes" (1907), "In the Good Old Irish Way" (1907, words by Will Heelan), "I Will Try" (1908, words by B. B. Ellison), "Marsovia: Waltzes" (1908), "The New Barn Dance" (1908), "Ain't You Coming Out To-night" (1909, words by

Ren Shields Ren Shields was an American folk musician born in 1868 in Chicago, Illinois. He died on 25 October 1913 in Massapequa, New York. He co-wrote the song with George "Honey Boy" Evans "In the Good Old Summer Time", (a part of which is sung by Laurel ...

), "Honeyland" (1909, words by Stanley Murphy), "Lonesome Land" (1909, words by Bartley Costello), "I'll Do Anything But" (1909, words by Alfred Bryan), "Telling Lies" (1910, words by

Irving Berlin Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Beilin; May 11, 1888 – September 22, 1989) was a Russian-born American composer and songwriter. His music forms a large part of the Great American Songbook. Berlin received numerous honors including an Acade ...

), "Love Dreams" (1910, words by F. J. Crawford), "Maxine: Valse" (1910, named for her young daughter), "Put Your Head Upon my Shoulder" (1910, words by Alfred Bryan), "Just as Long as the Swanee Flows" (1911), "My Irish Girl" (1911, words by Alfred Bryan), "My Only One" (1911, words by William Parquet), "Polaire Waltzes" (1912), and, during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, "Loyalty Waltz" (1918).

Personal life

Henriette Blanke married Frederick E. Belcher, an executive at Jerome H. Remick, in 1905, in Detroit. The couple lived in New York, and had one child, Maxine F. Belcher, born in 1906. They divorced in 1912. She married again in 1918, to a stockbroker, Ralph Melson. She died in 1958, in

Miami, Florida Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

References

External links

Henriette Blanke-Belcher
on Discogs.
Henriette Blanke-Belcher sheet music
in the Parlor Salon Sheet Music Collection, DigitalCommons@UMaine.
Henriette Blanke-Belcher
compositions at the National Jukebox,

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is a research library in Washington, D.C., serving as the library and research service for the United States Congress and the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It also administers Copyright law o ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Blanke-Belcher, Henriette 1882 births 1958 deaths Musicians from Kansas City, Missouri American composers American vaudeville performers