308:"Gus Levene once asked me, 'What do you find the most difficult thing to put on the score sheet?' Before I came up with the answer, he said, 'A well-placed rest – where nobody plays.' When you write an arrangement for Frank, he doesn't know where you're gonna put the punctuations in the music. When you do a date, sometimes the singer will say, 'Hey, that figure is in my way ... you gotta take it out, it's in my way.' But Frank would never say that. He would always use what the arranger put in there to his benefit. He'd detour: he would postpone singing in there , he would back off. He'd say, 'F— it. I won't sing there – I'll wait till the riff passes, then I'll do it.' When he sang, he reminded me of what it's like when you go out in the rain, and it's just started, and there are only a few drops and you can duck between the drops to keep dry. To me, Frank was singing between the drops".
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radio orchestra. On
September 4, 1932, his composition "Ballet Suite Exodus", which he had written at the age of 18, was performed by the
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and guitarist. In the mid-1940s, he was one of the top network radio arrangers. Levene is best remembered for his work as an arranger for
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various artists seasonal compilation album of the same name, and the recording was also used on the soundtrack of
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152:. He was interested in music from an early age, and learned to play guitar, violin and viola. He attended
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in the late 1930s. By the mid 1940s, Levene was named as one of the 20 top network radio arrangers by
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and orchestration for numerous
Hollywood film productions, including the 1956 hit film
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recalled a conversation he had with Levene about
Sinatra's approach to music:
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His first cousin, Milton
Leventhal, became a surgeon in Dallas, TX.
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Sessions with
Sinatra: Frank Sinatra and the Art of Recording
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Gershun Levene was born into a family of Jewish merchants in
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at the Palace
Theater in Dallas, and composed music for
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In 1933 he and his new wife Julia (1914–2001) moved to
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114:(July 11, 1911 – February 9, 1979), was an American
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Paul
Whiteman: Pioneer in American Music, 1930-1967
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631:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale)
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459:The Penguin Encyclopedia of Popular Music
179:in the city. He also performed with the
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271:. Levene and his orchestra also backed
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317:Levene died in 1979, and is buried at
277:Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
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167:Levene began his career as the chief
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636:20th-century American male musicians
523:Ornish, Natalie (1 September 2011).
505:Frank Sinatra: An Extraordinary Life
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261:(1975). He worked extensively with
529:. Texas A&M University Press.
156:for two years, majoring in music.
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601:20th-century American composers
544:Rayno, Don (19 December 2012).
508:. McNidder and Grace Limited.
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154:Southern Methodist University
478:Granata, Charles L. (2003).
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641:20th-century American Jews
621:Jewish American composers
319:Forest Lawn Memorial Park
185:Dallas Symphony Orchestra
616:American music arrangers
484:. Chicago Review Press.
140:Early life and education
611:American male composers
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222:The Eddie Cantor Story
626:Musicians from Dallas
526:Pioneer Jewish Texans
502:(25 September 2015).
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88:Guitar, violin, viola
606:American bandleaders
455:(28 November 1990).
323:Glendale, California
246:Marjorie Morningstar
550:. Scarecrow Press.
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275:when he recorded "
215:He later moved to
202:. He was hired by
557:978-0-8108-8322-2
536:978-1-60344-433-0
515:978-0-85716-088-1
470:978-0-14-051147-5
463:. Penguin Books.
258:At Long Last Love
196:Andre Kostelanetz
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228:The King and I
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381:. Retrieved
379:. Findagrave
377:"Gus Levene"
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255:(1962), and
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240:The Big Land
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124:orchestrator
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94:Years active
78:orchestrator
61:, California
54:(1979-02-09)
596:1979 deaths
591:1911 births
410:Clarke 1990
383:11 November
359:Ornish 2011
286:The Victors
263:Dean Martin
128:Dean Martin
80:, guitarist
59:Los Angeles
585:Categories
572:Gus Levene
491:1613742819
425:Leigh 2015
398:Rayno 2012
329:References
108:Gus Levene
27:Birth name
20:Gus Levene
300:Arranger
289:, a 1963
231:(1956),
217:Hollywood
209:Billboard
204:CBS Radio
200:Ray Bloch
98:1932–1979
291:war film
249:(1958),
243:(1957),
237:(1956),
234:Carousel
225:(1953),
171:for the
169:arranger
120:composer
116:arranger
74:composer
70:Arranger
446:Sources
281:Reprise
110:, born
44:, Texas
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163:Career
146:Dallas
42:Dallas
334:Notes
313:Death
150:Texas
576:IMDb
552:ISBN
531:ISBN
510:ISBN
486:ISBN
465:ISBN
385:2015
198:and
181:WFAA
49:Died
36:Born
574:at
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.