Theodore F. Morse (April 13, 1873 – May 25, 1924) was an American composer of popular songs.

Biography

Born in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, Morse was educated at the

Maryland Military and Naval Academy Maryland Military and Naval Academy was a military academy in Oxford, Maryland that opened in 1885 and closed in 1887. It served as a preparatory school for the United States Naval Academy, U.S. Naval Academy and the United States Military Acad ...

. He went on to study both violin and piano. He and his wife, Theodora Morse, became a successful songwriting team for

Tin Pan Alley Tin Pan Alley was a collection of History of music publishing, music publishers and songwriters in New York City that dominated the American popular music, popular music of the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Originally ...

. Listed as Terriss & Morse, they were one of the earliest Tin Pan Alley husband-wife songwriting teams. Morse died from pneumonia in

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 ...

on May 25, 1924. His song "Blue Bell, the Dawn is Waking..." became popular in Germany shortly after WW1 due to its marching rhythm. In 1920, Erich Tessmer wrote German lyrics, and the song was performed by the

Freikorps (, "Free Corps" or "Volunteer Corps") were irregular German and other European paramilitary volunteer units that existed from the 18th to the early 20th centuries. They effectively fought as mercenaries or private military companies, rega ...

. Then the German

Stormtroopers Stormtrooper or storm trooper may refer to: Military *Stormtroopers (Imperial Germany), specialist soldier of the German Army in World War I *''Sturmabteilung'' (SA) or Storm Detachment, a paramilitary organization of the German Nazi Party * 8th I ...

used it as their march with new lyrics "Kamerad, reich mir die Hände"; another version of the lyrics was used by their opponents, the

Rotfront RotFront (often prefixed with: "Emigrantski Raggamuffin Kollektiv") is a world music band from Berlin. History The group was founded in 2003 as '' Emigrantski Raggamuffin Kollektiv RotFront '' by Ukrainian Yuriy Gurzhy together with Wladim ...

("Hunger in allen Gassen"). When the Nazis came to power, they used the song as a Hitler Youth march with a newer version of lyrics "Deutschland, du Land der Treue".Heil Deutschland / Deutschland du Land der Treue / Blue Bell the dawn is waking
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Partial list of songs

*1902 "

Two Little Boys "Two Little Boys" is a sentimental song about two friends who grow up to be soldiers. Recorded as early as 1903 in the United States, it became an international hit for Australian Rolf Harris 66 years later. It was published in 1903 by American ...

", lyrics by Edward Madden *1903 "Dear Old Girl", lyrics by Richard Henry Buck *1903 "Nautical Nonsense (Hurrah for Baffin's Bay!)" from ''

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...

'', lyrics by

Vincent Bryan Vincent Patrick Bryan (June 22, 1878 – April 27, 1937) was an American composer and lyricist. In the 1903-1909 production of ''The Wizard of Oz'' he was called upon to introduce new songs in numerous revisions. *with Theodore F. Morse **Na ...

*1903 "

It Takes the Irish to Beat the Dutch "It Takes the Irish to Beat the Dutch" is a song written in 1903 by Edward Madden and Theodore Morse. The song has several verses, each of them filled with stereotypical Irish bragging about their supposed superiority to Germans ("Dutch" in old ...

", lyrics by Edward Madden *1904 " Blue Bell", lyrics by Edward Madden and Theodora Morse *1905 "Daddy's Little Girl", lyrics by Edward Madden *1907 "I Want to be a Merry, Merry Widow", lyrics by Edward Madden *1908 "Down in Jungle Town", lyrics by Edward Madden *1908 "I've Taken Quite a Fancy to You", lyrics by Edward Madden *1908 "The Old Time Rag", lyrics by Edward Madden *1908 "Stupid Mister Cupid", lyrics by Edward Madden *1909 " Blue Feather", lyrics by Jack Mahoney *1911 "Another Rag", lyrics by Theodora Morse *1911 "Auntie Skinner's Chicken Dinner" words and music by

Earl Carroll Earl Carroll (September 16, 1893 – June 17, 1948) was an American theatrical producer, director, writer, songwriter and composer. Early life Carroll was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1893. He lived as an infant in the Nunnery Hill ( Fin ...

Arthur Fields Arthur Fields (né Abraham Finkelstein; August 6, 1888—March 29, 1953) was an American baritone and songwriter. Early life Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as Abraham Finkelstein, Fields grew up mainly in Utica, New York. He became a ...

& Theodore F. Morse *1913 "Down in Monkeyville", lyrics by

Grant Clarke Grant Clarke (May 14, 1891, Akron, Ohio – May 16, 1931, California) was an American songwriter. Clarke moved to New York City early in his career, where he worked as an actor and a staff writer for comedians. He began working on Tin Pan Alley, ...

Edgar Leslie Edgar Leslie (December 31, 1885 – January 22, 1976) was an American songwriter. Biography Edgar Leslie was born in Stamford, Connecticut, in 1885. He studied at the Cooper Union in New York. He published his first song in 1909, starting a ...

*1913 "Salvation Nell", lyrics by Grant Clarke & Edgar Leslie *1915 "If They'd Only Fight the War with Wooden Soldiers", lyrics by Bert Fitzgibbon *191
" M-O-T-H-E-R"
lyrics by Howard Johnson *1915 "

Soldier Boy Soldier Boy is the name of three superhero characters in the comic book series ''Herogasm'' and '' The Boys'', created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson. The first character introduced (but the third Soldier Boy in the timeline, with his two ...

, lyrics by D.A. Esrom *1916 "Good Old U.S.A.", lyrics by Jack Drislane *1917 "Hail! Hail! The Gang's All Here" with Arthur Sullivan (lyrics by D. A. Esrom) *1917 "My Red Cross Girlie (The Wound Is Somewhere in My Heart)", lyrics by Harry Bewley *1917 "Sing Me Love's Lullaby", lyrics by Theodora Morse (as Dorothy Terriss) *1917 "Our Lanky Yankee Boys in Brown", lyrics by Edward Madden and Robt. F. Roden *1917 "Throw No Stones in the Well That Gives You Water", lyrics by

*1917 " We'll Knock the Heligo - Into Heligo Out of Heligoland!", lyrics by John O'Brien *1918 " Mother Here's Your Boy" with

Sidney D. Mitchell Sidney D. Mitchell (June 15, 1888 in Baltimore, Maryland – February 25, 1942 in Los Angeles, California) was a Hollywood film industry lyricist and composer. Mitchell is best known for his collaborations with Lew Pollack on movie scores at ...

and

Archie Gottler Archie Gottler (May 14, 1896 – June 24, 1959) was an American composer, screenwriter, actor, and film director.

*1918 " When a Blue Service Star Turns to Gold", lyrics by Casper Nathan *1918 "When I get Back to My American Blighty", lyrics by

*1923 "Cut Yourself a Piece of Cake", lyrics by Billy James *1924 "Don't Blame It All on Me", lyrics by Theodora Morse &

Leo Wood Leo Wood ''(aka'' Jack Wood; ''né'' Leopold Wood Lantheaume; 2 September 1882 – 2 August 1929) was an American songwriter and lyricist. Career Leo Wood was born in San Francisco to Louis Ferdinand Lantheaume and Hannah Marcuse Wood ''(maiden) ...

*1924 "Monkey Doodle", lyrics by Theodora Morse &

''(all music by him only unless when stated otherwise)''

References

External links

* *
Sheet Music for "M-O-T-H-E-R: A Word That Means the World to Me"
music by Theodore F. Morse; lyrics by Howard E. Johnson; Leo Feist, Inc., 1915 *Sheet music fo
"'Lizabeth Ann: A Southern Love Song"
New York: Theodore Morse Co., 1911. Fro
Wade Hall Sheet Music Collection

Theodore F. Morse recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database catalog of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The 78rpm era was the time period in which any flat disc records were being played at ...

. Songwriters from Washington, D.C. American male songwriters 1873 births 1924 deaths {{US-composer-19thC-stub

Biography

Partial list of songs

See also

References

External links