Kostelanetz was known for arranging and recording light classical music pieces for mass audiences, as well as orchestral versions of songs and Broadway show tunes. He made numerous recordings over the course of his career, which had sales of over 50 million and became staples of Beautiful Music radio stations.[citation needed] For many years, Kostelanetz also conducted the New York Philharmonic in pops concerts and recordings, in which they were billed as "Andre Kostelanetz and His Orchestra".
Kostelanetz is best known to modern audiences for a series of easy listening instrumental albums on Columbia Records from the 1940s until 1980. Kostelanetz actually started making this music before there was a genre called "easy listening", and he continued until after some of his contemporaries, including Mantovani, had stopped recording.
Toward the end of his recording career, his name was more of a brand than a true representation of who actually made the music, because nearly all of his output in the 1970s was arranged by others.[citation needed] Some of the arrangers credited on 1970s Kostelanetz albums include Teo Macero, Torrie Zito, Hank Levy, Luther Henderson, Jack Cortner, Eddie Sauter, Claus Ogerman, Jack Pleis, Tommy Newsom, Harold Wheeler, Bobby Scott, Homer Dennison, James Tyler, Jr., Byron Olson, Dale Oehler, Ben Lanzarone, LaMont Johnson, Wade Marcus, Patrick Williams, Sammy Nestico, Warren Vincent, Dick Hyman, Jorge Calandrelli, James J. Wisner, Al Capps and Don Sebesky.
Kostelanetz's last concert was "A Night in Old Vienna" concert with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra in the War Memorial Opera House on December 31, 1979.
Stardust
Andre Kostelanetz Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Steals across the meadows of my heart
High up in the sky the little stars climb
Always reminding me that we're apart
You wander down the lane and far away
Leaving me a song that will not die
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The music of the years gone by.
Sometimes I wonder, how I spend
The lonely nights
Dreaming of a song
The melody
Haunts my reverie
And I am once again with you
When our love was new
And each kiss an inspiration
But that was long ago
And now my consolation is in the stardust of a song
Besides the garden wall, when stars are bright
You are in my arms
The nightingale
Tells his fairytale
Of paradise, where roses grew
Though I dream in vain
In my heart it will remain
My stardust melody
The memory of love's refrain.
The song Stardust by Andre Kostelanetz starts off by setting the scene of twilight time and how it reflects the emotions of the singer. The purple dusk of the evening time steals across the meadows of the singer's heart indicating a feeling of sadness and longing because someone is not there with them. As the stars climb up high in the sky, it reminds them that they are apart from the person they love. The singer then reflects on how the person they love has wandered away from them leaving behind a song that will not die, implying that the emotions and love that they shared will continue to live on. Love has now become the stardust of yesterday, but the music that represents the years gone by remains.
The song then shifts to the singer's thoughts as they spend their lonely nights dreaming of a song that reminds them of their love when it was new. They long to be with that person once again, but they know that it was long ago. The song becomes a source of consolation to the singer as they hold onto the memory of love's refrain. The singer then speaks of a garden wall where they had an intimate moment with their loved one, while stars shine bright, and they were in each other's arms. The nightingale sings a fairytale of paradise, where roses grew, indicating how love was vibrant and beautiful. Despite wishing for this to happen again, the singer knows it is a vain dream, but the melody of Stardust becomes a lasting memory of their love.
Line by Line Meaning
And now the purple dusk of twilight time
As the sun sets and night begins, I feel a sense of melancholy.
Steals across the meadows of my heart
This feeling affects me deeply, almost like a steal.
High up in the sky the little stars climb
Stars come out at night and they seem to climb higher and higher as night progresses.
Always reminding me that we're apart
Looking at the sky reminds me that we are far away from each other.
You wander down the lane and far away
You went away and left me behind.
Leaving me a song that will not die
You left a song behind that will continue to exist, even though you are gone.
Love is now the stardust of yesterday
The love we had is now like stardust - intangible and distant.
The music of the years gone by.
Our love, like music, is a memory of the past.
Sometimes I wonder, how I spend
At times I wonder about how I pass my time
The lonely nights
I spend my nights alone.
Dreaming of a song
I dream of the song that reminds me of you.
The melody
It's the melody of the song that stays with me.
Haunts my reverie
The song lingers in my thoughts and memories.
And I am once again with you
The song transports me back to a time when we were together.
When our love was new
It's the memory of the early days of our love.
And each kiss an inspiration
Each kiss was like an inspiration, encouraging us to fall deeper in love.
But that was long ago
However, that was all in the past.
And now my consolation is in the stardust of a song
Now, the only solace I find is in the song that reminds me of you.
Besides the garden wall, when stars are bright
I remember the times we spent together, when the stars were out.
You are in my arms
In those moments, you were in my arms.
The nightingale
I listen to the nightingale sing.
Tells his fairytale
And I get lost in the stories it tells.
Of paradise, where roses grew
It tells tales of beautiful places where roses grew.
Though I dream in vain
Even though I dream of being together again, it's a futile dream.
In my heart it will remain
However, the memories will always be etched in my heart.
My stardust melody
And this song will always be the stardust that reminds me of our love.
The memory of love's refrain.
It will always be a memory of the love that we shared.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: CHRISTOPHER GENTRY, JOHN HUTCHINSON DEAN, MATTHEW EVERITT, SIMON IAN WHITE, STUART BLACK
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Diego Vásquez
Un profundo agradecimiento Gustavo por preservar estas joyas musicales en el tiempo ahora por medio de YouTube. Es consuelo para nosotros los amantes de la buena música en estos tiempos, reitero mi profundo agradecimiento ¡Sigue así!
maddiedeakin
this is such magical music of days gone by .i played this L P before my driving lessons it calmed me ,and Ipassed.
Yaffa Yafo
I love and still have some of these old classic LP's. Then came 2010 or so, and popular music died, or perhaps it only smells bad.
T D
Such an amazing album!
Gregory_The Watchman
This sounds so much better with the pops straight from the vinyl...Love it!
T D
Wish someone would post "I'll Remember April" separately. Such a good tune.
T D
@Randall Miller right!?
Randall Miller
Listening to that track now, what a fabulous arrangement
Geoffroy Alfonso
Magnífic música of relax and peace
Renato Colecoes
Belissima orquestra em disco LP.