Claude Thornhill (Terre Haute, Indiana, August 10, 1908 – July 1, 1965, Cal… Read Full Bio ↴Claude Thornhill (Terre Haute, Indiana, August 10, 1908 – July 1, 1965, Caldwell, New Jersey) was an American pianist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. He composed the jazz and pop standards "Snowfall" and "I Wish I Had You", the last recorded by Billie Holliday.
As a youth, he was recognized as an extraordinary talent and formed a traveling duo with Danny Polo, a musical prodigy on the clarinet and trumpet from nearby Clinton, Indiana. As a student at Garfield High School in Terre Haute, he played with several theater bands.
Thornhill entered the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music at age 16. That same year he and clarinetist Artie Shaw started their careers at the Golden Pheasant in Cleveland, Ohio with the Austin Wiley Orchestra. Thornhill and Shaw went to New York together in 1931.
Claude went to the West Coast in the late 1930s with the Bob Hope Radio Show, and arranged for Judy Garland in Babes in Arms.
In 1935, he played on sessions for Glenn Miller's first recordings under his own name, as Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. He played on Glenn Miller's composition "Solo Hop," which was released on Columbia Records.
After playing for Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, Ray Noble, Glenn Miller, and Billie Holiday, and arranging "Loch Lomond" and "Annie Laurie" for Maxine Sullivan, in 1939 he founded his Claude Thornhill Orchestra. Danny Polo was his lead clarinet player. Although the Thornhill band was originally a sophisticated dance band, it became known for its many superior jazz musicians and for Thornhill's and Gil Evans' innovative arrangements; its "Portrait of a Guinea Farm" has become a classic jazz recording.
The band played without vibrato so that the timbres of the instruments could be better appreciated, and Thornhill encouraged the musicians to develop cool-sounding tones. The band was popular with both musicians and the public; the Miles Davis Nonet was modeled in part on Thornhill's cool sound and use of unconventional instrumentation. The band's most successful records were "Snowfall," "A Sunday Kind of Love" and "Love for Love."
His most famous recording, "Snowfall," was released in 1941 as Columbia 36268. He released the song also as a V-Disc recording, as V-Disc 271A1.
Playing at the Paramount Theater in New York for $10,000 a week in 1942, Thornhill dropped everything to enlist in the US Navy to support the war effort. As chief musician, he played shows across the Pacific Theater with Jackie Cooper as his drummer and Dennis Day as his vocalist.
In 1946, he was discharged from the Navy. Then in April, he reformed his ensemble. He kept his same stylistic lines, but added some Bop lines to it. He got his old members of Danny Polo, Gerry Mulligan, and Barry Galbraith back together, but also added new members like Red Rodney, Lee Konitz, Joe Shulman and Bill Barber. Barber was a tuba player, who was considered as a "soft brass" player rather than a bass as to not interfere with (Joe) Shulman on the bass. Their creative and immaculately clean and delicate interpretation of Evans’s arrangement of Dizzy Gillespie’s fast bop theme "Anthropology" (1947) provides a particularly noteworthy example of Thornhill’s style, which influenced Miles Davis’s recordings in 1949 for Capitol and many musicians who followed .
In the mid 1950s, Thornhill was briefly Tony Bennett's musical director.
He offered his big band library to Gerry Mulligan when Gerry formed the Concert Jazz Band, but Gerry regretfully declined the gift, since his instrumentation was different. A large portion of his extensive library of music is currently held by Drury University in Springfield, Missouri.
After his discharge from the Navy he continued to perform with his orchestra until his death of a heart attack at 1:30 a.m., July 2, 1965, at his home in Caldwell, New Jersey. Claude was booked at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at the time, the engagement was kept in his honor with his music director in his place. He was survived by his wife, actress Ruth Thornhill, and his mother, Maude Thornhill (81 at the time), of Terre Haute, Indiana, still active at the time conducting choirs.
Claude Thornhill's compositions included the standard "Snowfall", "I Wish I Had You", recorded by Billie Holiday and Fats Waller, "Let's Go", "Shore Road", "Portrait Of A Guinea Farm", "Lodge Podge", "Rustle Of Spring", "It's Time For Us To Part", "It Was A Lover And His Lass", "The Little Red Man", "Memory Of An Island", and "Where Has My Little Dog Gone?"
In 1984, Claude Thornhill was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame.
As a youth, he was recognized as an extraordinary talent and formed a traveling duo with Danny Polo, a musical prodigy on the clarinet and trumpet from nearby Clinton, Indiana. As a student at Garfield High School in Terre Haute, he played with several theater bands.
Thornhill entered the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music at age 16. That same year he and clarinetist Artie Shaw started their careers at the Golden Pheasant in Cleveland, Ohio with the Austin Wiley Orchestra. Thornhill and Shaw went to New York together in 1931.
Claude went to the West Coast in the late 1930s with the Bob Hope Radio Show, and arranged for Judy Garland in Babes in Arms.
In 1935, he played on sessions for Glenn Miller's first recordings under his own name, as Glenn Miller and His Orchestra. He played on Glenn Miller's composition "Solo Hop," which was released on Columbia Records.
After playing for Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, Ray Noble, Glenn Miller, and Billie Holiday, and arranging "Loch Lomond" and "Annie Laurie" for Maxine Sullivan, in 1939 he founded his Claude Thornhill Orchestra. Danny Polo was his lead clarinet player. Although the Thornhill band was originally a sophisticated dance band, it became known for its many superior jazz musicians and for Thornhill's and Gil Evans' innovative arrangements; its "Portrait of a Guinea Farm" has become a classic jazz recording.
The band played without vibrato so that the timbres of the instruments could be better appreciated, and Thornhill encouraged the musicians to develop cool-sounding tones. The band was popular with both musicians and the public; the Miles Davis Nonet was modeled in part on Thornhill's cool sound and use of unconventional instrumentation. The band's most successful records were "Snowfall," "A Sunday Kind of Love" and "Love for Love."
His most famous recording, "Snowfall," was released in 1941 as Columbia 36268. He released the song also as a V-Disc recording, as V-Disc 271A1.
Playing at the Paramount Theater in New York for $10,000 a week in 1942, Thornhill dropped everything to enlist in the US Navy to support the war effort. As chief musician, he played shows across the Pacific Theater with Jackie Cooper as his drummer and Dennis Day as his vocalist.
In 1946, he was discharged from the Navy. Then in April, he reformed his ensemble. He kept his same stylistic lines, but added some Bop lines to it. He got his old members of Danny Polo, Gerry Mulligan, and Barry Galbraith back together, but also added new members like Red Rodney, Lee Konitz, Joe Shulman and Bill Barber. Barber was a tuba player, who was considered as a "soft brass" player rather than a bass as to not interfere with (Joe) Shulman on the bass. Their creative and immaculately clean and delicate interpretation of Evans’s arrangement of Dizzy Gillespie’s fast bop theme "Anthropology" (1947) provides a particularly noteworthy example of Thornhill’s style, which influenced Miles Davis’s recordings in 1949 for Capitol and many musicians who followed .
In the mid 1950s, Thornhill was briefly Tony Bennett's musical director.
He offered his big band library to Gerry Mulligan when Gerry formed the Concert Jazz Band, but Gerry regretfully declined the gift, since his instrumentation was different. A large portion of his extensive library of music is currently held by Drury University in Springfield, Missouri.
After his discharge from the Navy he continued to perform with his orchestra until his death of a heart attack at 1:30 a.m., July 2, 1965, at his home in Caldwell, New Jersey. Claude was booked at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey, at the time, the engagement was kept in his honor with his music director in his place. He was survived by his wife, actress Ruth Thornhill, and his mother, Maude Thornhill (81 at the time), of Terre Haute, Indiana, still active at the time conducting choirs.
Claude Thornhill's compositions included the standard "Snowfall", "I Wish I Had You", recorded by Billie Holiday and Fats Waller, "Let's Go", "Shore Road", "Portrait Of A Guinea Farm", "Lodge Podge", "Rustle Of Spring", "It's Time For Us To Part", "It Was A Lover And His Lass", "The Little Red Man", "Memory Of An Island", and "Where Has My Little Dog Gone?"
In 1984, Claude Thornhill was inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame.
Snowfall
Claude Thornhill Lyrics
We have lyrics for 'Snowfall' by these artists:
9.4 Snowfall Softly Gently drift down Snowflakes Whisper …
Bek Allenson We’re only ever lonely when the snow falls And I don’t…
Billy Vaughn Snowfall Softly Gently drift down Snowflakes Whisper 'Neath…
D. Levski Peripheral vision I see your reflection You're all made up I…
David Sylvian & Ingrid Chavez I love it when you smile I love it... Our love was…
Dawn Of Relic "There are coarses of souls that sometimes Rupture to our si…
Doctor Octave Before I opened my eyes I knew the snow had…
Doris Day Snowfall Softly Gently drift down Snowflakes Whisper 'Neath…
Doris Day (Holiday) Snowfall Softly Gently drift down Snowflakes Whisper …
Forest Stream Come and take me away Procession waits for ceremony White he…
God 몇 시간이 지나 며칠이 지나도 이젠 무의미해 난 그대로 있어도 계절은…
Hearts Of Black Science I want to rise again I want to fight the same You…
Helen Merrill Snowfall Softly Gently drift down Snowflakes Whisper 'Neath…
HoneyWire In the cold Till my nails turn blue Too hot off a…
Ingrid Michaelson I want a snowfall kind of love The kind of love…
ISK Junior Alaprod, zanmi J'pense sûrement qu'à gagner mais j's…
Jackie Gleason Snowfall Softly Gently drift down Snowflakes Whisper 'Neath…
John Alone I gotta run babe You got me open I’m still beside myself Wai…
Jordan Sandhu Desi Crew Desi Crew ਕੈਲਗਰੀ ਵਾਲੀਏ ਕੈਲਗਰੀ ਵਾਲੀਏ ਕੈਲਗਰੀ ਵਾਲੀਏ ਤ…
Just Shad Snow is falling I can't wait to see your face At the…
KITCHEN - Tony Bennett Snowfall softly Gently drift down Snowflakes whisper 'Neath…
Manhattan Transfer Snowfall Softly Gently drift down Snowflakes Whisper …
p.@bucketkick Semis crowding 94 Speed is looking 75 Took to long to realiz…
Pots & Pans Snowfall... How can they be all, So very unidentical? S…
Reckless Kelly One hundred and ten don't mean nothin' to me I've seen…
Rue Snider Bloomberg's Manhattan It was cold that year One percent of…
S-Pion Faut des cojones et de l'audace, hami, si tu veux…
Samuel Joseph Kim We blur into one Two hearts undone We, we have…
Stéfon Charlot It was coming From the openings yeah Seeped through ya stoma…
StreamBeats Originals & Ryan King A fallen angel in the snow A berry from the mistletoe There'…
Suburban Tribe Headline news from tomorrow Fill the gaps of today The str…
The Four Freshmen Snowfall Softly Gently drift down Snowflakes Whisper 'Neath…
The Four Freshmen (Holiday) Snowfall Softly Gently drift down Snowflakes Whisper …
The Halo Benders Doug: Snowfall How can they be all So very unidentical? …
The Korea Зачем мы здесь? Задай вопрос и придумай ответ. Нас стало мен…
The Manhattan Transfer Snowfall Softly Gently drift down Snowflakes Whisper 'Neath…
Tony Bennett Snowfall softly Gently drift down Snowflakes whisper 'Neath…
Twilight Guardians Buried in this cold ice And now it's time to rise Awake…
Twin Owls And maybe when it's all said and done There's beauty in…
Us in Motion Take another chance so I can breathe again Say another word…
W.G. Snuffy Walden Too many snakes, too many niggas And some of them fake Get…
White Willow Frost in a churchyard, silent falls the snow Silent on…
Σ.G.O. Too many snakes, too many niggas And some of them fake Get…
相川七瀬 Shiroi yuki ga hakanaku matte Setsuna sa de mune wo Shiroi …
We have lyrics for these tracks by Claude Thornhill:
A Sunday Kind Of Love I want a Sunday kind of love A love to…
America I Love You Gee, but it's tough to be broke, kid. It's not a…
Be Careful It Be careful, it's my heart, It's not my watch you're holding…
Chattanooga Choo Choo Pardon me boy, is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo? Track twen…
Deep Purple Woo, Wo-o-oo-wo-wo, Wo-o-oo-wo-wo, Wo-o-oo-wo-wo When…
Early Autumn When an early autumn walks the land and chills the…
Embraceable You Embrace me, my sweet embraceable you! Embrace me, you irrepl…
I Knew You When I knew you when in the days that used to be once…
I Many Be Wrong I may be wrong but I think you're wonderful I may…
If You Were The Only Girl If you were the only girl in the world And I…
If You Were the Only Girl in the World If you were the only girl in the world And I…
Jeru Why don't you come over 'bout a quarter to nine Bring…
Love For Love Gee, but it's tough to be broke, kid. It's not a…
Mandy Is Two Mandy is two You ought to see her eyes of cornflower…
Oh You Beautiful Doll Honey dear, want you near, Just turn out the lights and…
One I Love When days are long and nights are lonely And all my…
P.S. I Love You Gee, but it's tough to be broke, kid. It's not a…
Paradise And then she holds my hand, mm And then I understand.…
Polka Dots and Moonbeams A country dance was being held in a garden I felt…
Someone To Watch Over Me There's a saying old says that love is blind Still were…
Something to Remember You By Oh, give me something to remember you by When you are…
Sometimes I'm Happy Every day seems like a year Sweetheart, when you are not…
Stars Fell On Alabama Moonlight and magnolia, starlight in your hair All the world…
Sweet and Lovely Sweet and lovely sweeter than the roses in May Sweet and…
The One I Love Gee, but it's tough to be broke, kid. It's not a…
There's A Small Hotel I'd like to get away, Junior Somewhere alone with you It cou…
Traumerei For the life of me I never thought that it could…
Under the Willow Tree You are the wind in my sail You are the spring…
We Love may fill your heart with a strange delight Love may…
Where or When It seems we stood and talked like this before We looked…
Who Love may fill your heart with a strange delight Love may…
You Go to My Head You go to my head And you linger like a haunting…
You Were Meant for Me You were meant for me, I was meant for you Nature…
The lyrics are frequently found in the comments by searching or by filtering for lyric videos
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@maryannprice3429
I was a young vocalist, my husband was hired by Claude Thornhill in 1965 as trumpet player for two weeks at the Steel Pier in Atlantic City, New Jersey, opening for Louis Armstrong, so he talked Thornhill into hiring me, too, as singer. I discussed the songs with Thornhill by telephone, but that was our only communication, because, on our car trip to the gig in Atlantic City, a radio announcer broadcast the news Claude Thornhill had died. We played the gig anyway.
@shawfifty
I bought the song Snowfall in 1948 when I was 17. It was written by Claude Thornhill and his wife Ruth in 1941. I still have the Colombia 78 that he recorded it on. It's kinda worn out. Back in those day my player used the old steel needles and you had to change them about every 10 records.
@valkasolidor6727
My friend, the late Emile Theirault (often known professionally as Emile Terry) was a trumpet player in that band, though I couldn't say during what years. Legendary big band!
@MS-rg6ku
These are my favorite kind of YouTube comments, thank you for sharing
@stevesanzari7294
Sorry to hear that ! Just listened to Your song “ What about Sugar” ! And Frankly your voice is not a 1940’s Singing style it’s more 1930’s cabaret ! I loved Helen O Connor ! Ginny Simms types ! From the Big Bands ! Sorry !
@eottoe2001
@@stevesanzari7294 she was mid-60s to the late 70s Jazz singers like Blossom Dearie on the early end or Janis Siegel on the late end.
@lupewurth3101
I have been looking for this song for almost 15 years and I finally found it! So much emotion when I found it as I had seen it on one of those cable music channels on Big Band music as a teenager. Wow! This music makes me feel as if I was born in the wrong time. Amazing music, haunting and beautiful.
@avdreader1
I feel that way too.
@stevesanzari7294
If you like this Song listen to Canadian Sunset and Moonlight in Vermont I agree The 40's were the best except for WWII ! But then Vietnam was no Picnic either !
@armandprovencal9379
Tune is readily available from many sources.