Victor Herbert: A Kiss in the Dark - piano transcription

This arrangement comes from a book of anonymous piano transcriptions of standards: "The Best in Broadway Standards: Piano Solos" - published by Warner Bros. in 1991, and found by me recently in a charity shop. Unlike many such books these pieces are not mere reductions of the published piano/vocal arrangements, but independent arrangements without chord symbols. To me many of the arrangements in the book (probably by more than one arranger) are interesting, but bizarre in their sometimes crude piano writing. This 1988 arrangement is of a song by the Irish/American composer Victor Herbert (1859-1924) from his 1922 operetta 'Orange Blossoms' (one of 43 operettas that he wrote!), and the arranger has achieved something of a Ravel 'La Valse' in the second part of the piece (marked 'with a grand, sweeping, flow, and full of harp imitations).
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Played by Phillip Sear
http://www.psear.co.uk

Category:

Music

Tags:

• piano
• operetta
• transcription
• US
• standard

[JesusdeBlas1]

Absolutely fantastic, great!! Could you please tell me where can I find this music sheet? I would love to try! Congratulations. It's amazing! Jesus de Blas from Spain

[PSearPianist]

@JesusdeBlas1 Thank you for that!

[ptfeathers]

Brilliant..I love it and well played,I have the standard sheet music for "A Kiss In The Dark" but your version is outstanding so hopefully I shall come across the best of broadway standards one day... PS all your videos are a pleasure to listen and thanks for posting!!!

[PSearPianist]

@ptfeathers Thanks for your very kind comment!

[PSearPianist]

@drbatt1 Thank you. I can't remember which book I used to play this video from. I will have a look and get back to you!

[drbatt1]

@PSearPianist  I love your rendition of this beautiful song. I used to have the sheet music of it.

My dear mother, who has passed, used to play it, too. Do you know where I can get a copy of

the sheet music? I would love to play it again.

[PSearPianist]

Thank you for your kind comment. I do actually play 'Alt Wien', but have never put it on YouTube, as there is at least one good recording already here. Somewhere on here there is an evocative video of a guy playing this piece at what looks like a private party - the sort of occasion for which it was no doubt written!

[forrest51]

The name of the song I mentioned in my previous comment should be Alt Wien - not "Alt Vien." sorry for the mistake.

[forrest51]

Very beautiful piano playing. I enjoyed that! It would be interesting to hear you play Alt Vien (Old Vienna). I don't know if you have heard it, but it is a sentimental nostalgic type of song (waltz) and needs to be played as such - not too fast, not too slow. Thanks for the enjoyable few minutes.

[PSearPianist]

Thank you - I'm glad it has that effect!