Theodore Moses Tobani (3 May 1855 − 12 December 1934) was a composer of popular music. He was born in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

, Germany, and began studying violin when he was five years old. The family moved to the United States, where he attended the Rivington School in New York, but they returned to Europe when it became evident that Theodore was a musical prodigy. He was a concert violinist by the time he was 10. The family returned to the U.S. in 1870, and Theodore took positions as a violinist in several groups including Simpson's Theatre in

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

, Wallack's Theatre, and several others. His best known composition was "

Hearts and Flowers "Hearts and Flowers" (subtitle: "A New Flower Song") is a song composed by Theodore Moses-Tobani (with words by Mary D. Brine) and published in 1893 by Carl Fischer Music. The famous melody is taken from the introductory 2/4 section of ''"Win ...

", which he composed in half an hour in 1893, and which continued to sell more than 100,000 copies annually until the end of his life. He was so prolific that his publisher, Carl Fischer, insisted that he use multiple pseudonyms; Fischer was concerned that nobody would believe how much Tobani was composing. Another popular work was "Our Little Nestling", written in 1883 for Mrs. Lester Wallack, for which he was paid $35. He also composed "Around the Christmas Tree", subtitled "A Yule-Tide Potpourri", which was later arranged for band by

Louis-Philippe Laurendeau Louis-Philippe Laurendeau (1861 in St-Hyacinthe, Canada East – 13 February 1916 in Montreal) was a Canadian composer and bandmaster. He also held an editorial position with Carl Fischer, the New York music publishers. Most of Laurendeau's comp ...

.ed. Carl Fischer, N.Y. - 15064-33 1/2 Tobani was also a real estate dealer and owned property in Queens. He died on 12 December 1933; seven children survived him, but his wife, Helen, had died some time earlier.

External links

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Theodore Moses Tobani 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 ...

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tobani, Theodore Moses 1855 births 1933 deaths American male composers American composers German classical violinists American male violinists American classical violinists Male classical violinists Child classical musicians Composers from Hamburg Emigrants from the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg Immigrants to the United States