Music for Pianos

Irving Berlin

All good song-writers have no more than half a dozen tunes in their systems, and if they have that many, they are liberally blessed. Irving Berlin

 Irving Berlin 1888 - 1989, composed over 900 songs, including such classics as "White Christmas" and "God Bless America." He also wrote 19 musicals and 18 scores for movies that include stars such as Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Berlin started his musical career when he was a singing waiter at the age of 19. While working as a waiter in Chinatown, he gained credit for songwriting when he wrote the words to "Marie from Sunny Italy." From that point on, he not only received credit for songwriting, but he also gained recognition for writing his own tunes. Berlin never learned how to formally play the piano or read music, but that didn't stop him from becoming "one of America's most outstanding writer's."

The selections below are taken from MIDI files scanned by Terry Smythe from original Piano Rolls and published on his "Rebirth" website.  I have edited the files carefully to play at their best on my Yamaha Digital Piano.