The Vienna Rag
Paul Rubens
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Browse piano sheets by Paul Rubens on Zen Virtual Piano. Paul Rubens was the younger son of an exceedingly wealthy and social London family and had no musical training, but he began as a student by composing a score, with Nigel Playfair, for an Oxford production of Alice in Wonderland. He intended at first to practise law, but he soon gave it up to write songs for the stage. A first intention to practise law, set beside a student stage score, suggests a young man with more than one possible path. He had begun writing songs for shows as early as age 10 and continued in music and dramatic societies throughout school. He had his first major success with “The Little Chinchilla” for the hit musical The Shop Girl when he was 19 years old. Continuing in music and dramatic societies throughout school, then writing for a hit musical, links amateur stagecraft to a professional credit. He wrote the play Young Mr Yarde (1898, with Harold Ellis) and co-wrote a burlesque, Great Caesar (1899, with George Grossmith, Jr.), which was produced on the West End. In 1899 he wrote songs for L’amour mouillé and for the international hit Florodora. Rubens was a talented melodist, but as he lacked musical training others had to supply the accompaniment for his songs. Writing songs for an international hit like Florodora while others supplied the accompaniment shows how far a tune alone could carry a writer. His most enduring success was Miss Hook of Holland, in 1907. His songs were interpolated into shows in London and New York, and in 1924 his “The Gondola and the Girl” was used alongside pieces by Padilla.
Browse piano sheets by Paul Rubens on Zen Virtual Piano.
Paul Rubens was the younger son of an exceedingly wealthy and social London family and had no musical training, but he began as a student by composing a score, with Nigel Playfair, for an Oxford production of Alice in Wonderland. He intended at first to practise law, but he soon gave it up to write songs for the stage. A first intention to practise law, set beside a student stage score, suggests a young man with more than one possible path.
He had begun writing songs for shows as early as age 10 and continued in music and dramatic societies throughout school. He had his first major success with “The Little Chinchilla” for the hit musical The Shop Girl when he was 19 years old. Continuing in music and dramatic societies throughout school, then writing for a hit musical, links amateur stagecraft to a professional credit. He wrote the play Young Mr Yarde (1898, with Harold Ellis) and co-wrote a burlesque, Great Caesar (1899, with George Grossmith, Jr.), which was produced on the West End.
In 1899 he wrote songs for L’amour mouillé and for the international hit Florodora. Rubens was a talented melodist, but as he lacked musical training others had to supply the accompaniment for his songs. Writing songs for an international hit like Florodora while others supplied the accompaniment shows how far a tune alone could carry a writer. His most enduring success was Miss Hook of Holland, in 1907.
His songs were interpolated into shows in London and New York, and in 1924 his “The Gondola and the Girl” was used alongside pieces by Padilla.
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Common questions
He had no musical training but began writing songs for shows as early as age 10 and, as an Oxford student, composed a score with Nigel Playfair for a production of Alice in Wonderland.
The song “The Little Chinchilla” for the hit musical The Shop Girl, when he was 19 years old.
Miss Hook of Holland, in 1907.