- In full:
- Cole Albert Porter
- Died:
- October 15, 1964, Santa Monica, California (aged 73)
- Awards And Honors:
- Grammy Award (1960)
- Notable Works:
- “Anything Goes”
- “Begin the Beguine”
- “Can-Can”
- “Du Barry Was a Lady”
- “Gay Divorcée”
- “I Concentrate on You”
- “I Get a Kick Out of You”
- “It’s De Lovely”
- “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”
- “Jubilee”
- “Kiss Me, Kate”
- “Love for Sale”
- “My Heart Belongs to Daddy”
- “Night and Day”
- “Panama Hattie”
- “Red, Hot and Blue”
- “Silk Stockings”
Cole Porter
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Who was Cole Porter?
Cole Porter (1891–1964) was a prominent American composer and lyricist known for his worldly flair in American musicals, mirroring the sophistication found in his songs. His affluent background likely influenced his refined musical style. He showed early talent, composing an operetta at age 10 and having his first waltz published a year later.
During his time at Yale University, he wrote around 300 songs and contributed to college shows. Porter's Broadway debut came with the musical comedy See America First in 1916. He gained fame for hit musical comedies like Anything Goes and Kiss Me, Kate and wrote many popular songs, including "Night and Day" and "I Love Paris." A horse-riding accident in 1937 led to lasting health issues, but his work remains celebrated for its wit and sophistication.
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What kinds of music did Cole Porter compose?
Cole Porter was a prolific American composer and lyricist known for his significant contributions to American musicals. His musical education included studying the violin and piano from a young age, and he composed an operetta at just ten years old.
Throughout his career, Porter composed music and lyrics for Broadway hits such as Anything Goes, Kiss Me, Kate and Can-Can. He also wrote for motion pictures. His popular and glittering songs include "Night and Day", "I Get a Kick Out of You", and "I Love Paris". Porter's sophisticated and witty lyrics, along with his mastery of interior rhyme, have solidified his place as a prominent figure in the Great American Songbook.
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What are some famous songs written by Cole Porter?
Cole Porter (1891–1964) was a prominent American composer and lyricist known for his worldly sophistication in American musicals.
Some of Porter's famous songs include:
* "Night and Day"
* "I Get a Kick Out of You"
* "Begin the Beguine"
* "I’ve Got You Under My Skin"
* "In the Still of the Night"
* "Just One of Those Things"
* "Love for Sale"
* "My Heart Belongs to Daddy"
* "Too Darn Hot"
* "It’s Delovely"
* "I Concentrate on You"
* "Always True to You in My Fashion"
* "I Love Paris"He also excelled at catalog songs, with "Let’s Do It" and "You’re the Top" being his best-known.
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How did Cole Porter's songwriting style stand out from others in his time?
Cole Porter distinguished himself through his worldly élan and a sophisticated, urbane musical style, likely influenced by his affluent background. His lyrics were known for their wit, subtlety, and mastery of interior rhyme, setting him apart from other lyricists of his time. Porter was especially skilled at writing catalog songs, such as "Let's Do It" and "You're the Top". His work remains the epitome of sophisticated, civilized detachment in popular song.
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What musicals did Cole Porter create for Broadway?
Cole Porter was a master American composer and lyricist known for his sophistication and worldly flair in American musicals. His Broadway debut was with See America First in 1916.
Some of Porter's hit musical comedies for Broadway include:
* Fifty Million Frenchmen (1929)
* Gay Divorcée (1932)
* Anything Goes (1934)
* Red, Hot and Blue (1934)
* Jubilee (1935)
* Dubarry Was a Lady (1939)
* Panama Hattie (1940)
* Kiss Me, Kate (1948)
* Can-Can (1953)
* Silk Stockings (1955)1 Britannica SourceCreated from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles. -
How has Cole Porter's work influenced American music and theater?
Cole Porter significantly shaped American music and theater with his worldly sophistication. During the 1920s and 30s, he wrote timeless compositions for musicals like Anything Goes and Dubarry Was a Lady, contributing to musical comedy's richest period. His witty lyrics, mastery of interior rhyme, and sophisticated, civilized detachment influenced the popular song form, with hits such as "Night and Day" and "I Get a Kick Out of You" becoming standards. Porter's work is part of the Great American Songbook, along with other iconic composers and lyricists such as Irving Berlin and the Gershwins.
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Cole Porter (born June 9, 1891, Peru, Indiana, U.S.—died October 15, 1964, Santa Monica, California) was an American composer and lyricist who brought a worldly élan to the American musical and who embodied in his life the sophistication of his songs.
Porter was the grandson of a millionaire speculator, and the moderately affluent circumstances of his life probably contributed to the poise and urbanity of his musical style. He began violin study at the age of six and piano at eight; he composed an operetta in the style of Gilbert and Sullivan at 10 and saw his first composition, a waltz, published a year later. As a student at Yale University (B.A., 1913), he composed about 300 songs, including “Eli,” “Bulldog,” and “Bingo Eli Yale,” and wrote college shows; later he studied at Harvard Law School (1914) and Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences in music (1915–16). He made his Broadway debut with the musical comedy See America First (1916), which, however, closed after 15 performances.
In 1917, after the United States entered World War I, Porter went to France. (He was not, as later reported, in French military service.) He became an itinerant playboy in Europe and, though rather openly homosexual, married a wealthy older American divorcée, Linda Lee Thomas, on December 18, 1919. They spent the next two decades in lively partying and social traveling, sometimes together, sometimes apart.
In 1928 Porter composed several songs for the Broadway success Paris, and this led to a string of hit musical comedies, including Fifty Million Frenchmen (1929), Gay Divorcée (1932), Anything Goes (1934), Red, Hot and Blue (1934), Jubilee (1935), Dubarry Was a Lady (1939), Panama Hattie (1940), Kiss Me, Kate (1948, based on William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew), Can-Can (1953), and Silk Stockings (1955). He concurrently worked on a number of motion pictures.
Over the years, Porter wrote such glittering songs and lyrics as “Night and Day,” “I Get a Kick Out of You,” “Begin the Beguine,” “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” “In the Still of the Night,” “Just One of Those Things,” “Love for Sale,” “My Heart Belongs to Daddy,” “Too Darn Hot,” “It’s Delovely,” “I Concentrate on You,” “Always True to You in My Fashion,” and “I Love Paris.” He was especially adept at the catalog song, his best-known efforts being “Let’s Do It” and “You’re the Top.”
Porter was one of the wittiest of all lyricists, with a subtlety of expression and a mastery of the interior rhyme. His work continues to stand as the epitome of sophisticated, civilized detachment in the popular song form. His large output might have been even more vast had not a horse-riding accident in 1937 left him a semi-invalid, necessitating 30 operations and the eventual amputation of a leg.