Play by Ear Association

We will demonstrate the challenges of public domain music by posting a video draft version of the song “Serenade” from The Student Prince, by Sigmund Romberg and Dorothy Donnelly. Published in 1924 it entered the US public domain some years ago. However, Sigmund Romberg died in 1951 so not until 70 years later, 2021, did the song enter public domain in Australia.
A challenge in the internet era is that versions abound on YouTube by famous performers such as Nelson Eddy and Gordon MacRae, which will appear next to our versions. Most familiar is the version by Mario Lanza. It has different copyright lyrics rewritten by Paul Francis Webster for the the 1954 MGM film version.
Rather than attempting tenor versions like these, we change genre and key. The flowery passionate legal lyrics such as “Oh, hear my longing cry! Oh, love me or I die!” suggest only one thing: Tango! So our version of “Serenade” from The Student Prince is a tango. The draft will be posted on our Playbyearassociation page and eventually, if our voice recovers, may make it to a YouTube version. Our Tango version demonstrates key aspects of our Association’s message: use of public domain tunes, re-written to match our playing and singing capabilities. The tune has been transposed to key of G so a lot of it can be played on guitar with our special one-finger chords.