Product Description
Now considered a pop standard, "I Wonder Whos Kissing Her Now" debuted in the musical The Prince of Tonight in 1909 and was published the same year. The play was written by Will M. Hough and Frank R. Adams (lyrics) and Joseph E. Howard (music). But the matter of this songs creator is more complicated. Harold Orlob worked for Music Publishers Company, owned by Joe Howard. Orlob wrote the song, but since he was an employee the copyright went to MPC. The play ran fifteen weeks.
The song went on to become a hit on its own, and for years Howard claimed to have composed the melody. In 1947, a Hollywood film was released titled I Wonder Whos Kissing Her Now with this composition as its title song. Supposedly based on the life of Howard, the movie was mostly fictional but did result in the song once again becoming popular. At this point Orlob sued to be recognized as composer. The matter was finally settled out of court; Orlob would not claim royalties but he and Howard would receive credit as joint composers.
The lyrics take the form of a man lamenting the loss of a past lover; the melody, a beautifully sad tune in waltz time. This arrangement starts with the full group participating in an 8-measure introduction true to the 1909 sheet-music arrangement, then goes into the familiar chorus, then to the verse and finally back to the chorus. The key has been changed from the original G major to F so all notes of this arrangement fall within the normal playing range of the instruments. The suggested tempo is quarter note = 144. At measure 73, the key changes to G-flat and the tempo slows to about 120.
Completed in 2016, this arrangement runs about 2 minutes, 20 seconds. The arranger, Les Smith, will be happy to provide substitute parts (for example, treble clef baritone for trombone) at no charge; contact him directly at lessmith61@bellsouth.net. For more arrangements by Les (such as "By the Light of the Silvery Moon," "Come to the Fair," "Daisy Bell" ["Bicycle Built for Two"], "Put Your Arms Around Me, Honey" and "Somebody Stole My Gal") enter "Sweetwater Brass Press" (without the quotation marks) in the search box. (Also, purchase of this piece entitles you to your choice of another of his arrangements at no charge; send a copy of your purchase receipt directly to him at lessmith61@bellsouth.net.)
This product was created by a member of ArrangeMe, Hal Leonard's global self-publishing community of independent composers, arrangers, and songwriters. ArrangeMe allows for the publication of unique arrangements of both popular titles and original compositions from a wide variety of voices and backgrounds.