Ben Hecht - Musical Contributions

Musical Contributions

• In 1937, lyricist Hecht collaborated with composer Louis Armstrong on "Red Cap," a song about the hard life of a railway porter. That summer, Louis Armstrong and his Orchestra recorded it for Decca Records, as did Erskine Hawkins's Orchestra for Vocalion. This may be Ben Hecht's only "popular" song, and it's a good one. (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-UNEtYqOGs)

• Uncle Sam Stands Up (1941) Hecht contributed the lyrics and poetry to this patriotic cantata for baritone solo, chorus, and orchestra by Ferde Grofe, written during the height of World War II.

• We Will Never Die (1943) a pageant he composed with Kurt Weill, with staging by Moss Hart, written partly because of Hecht's consternation with American foreign policy in Europe concerning the Holocaust and Hollywood's fear of offending European (Axis) markets.