Natacha My Star of Love Marion Rosette Vintage Sheet Music

Natacha My Star of Love. Lyrics and Music by Marion Rosette.
Published by Song Hit Guild, Inc., New York. 1931.

Natacha
Lyrics and Music by Marion Rosette
Song Hit Guild, Inc., New York 1931

As far as collectible sheet music goes, it seem to me that Natacha's cover is forward looking and very contemporary for the year 1931.  I find no indication that the publishing year is later than the copyright date held by the Song Hit Guild, Inc.

I have not found any documentation about the beginnings of the Song Hit Guild in New York, though not definitive,  WorldCat.org shows the first publications of sheet music during the year 1931.  All of the information I obtained for this writing was through searches by attempting possible keywords with the majority of material discovered in brief newspaper articles available free online.

It is noted by The Ottawa Citizen, November 16, 1946, that the Song Hit Guild was incorporated in California in 1938--is this the same Song Hit Guild as the one in New York?  There is firm indication that it was.  The Afro-American, December 21, 1940, states that the Song Hit Guild, headquartered at 1619 Broadway, New York City, is now conducting its fourth semi-annual songwriting project.  The article also gives the names of seven tyros who had been published through this competition.

The Song Hit Guild, incorporated in California, in 1938 began annual nation-wide searches for music written by new and amateur songwriters that had the potential of being popular on Hit Parade.  The panel of judges was impressive: Al Jolson, Ferde Grofe, Les Brown and Mannie Sacks.  Winners were guaranteed $250, and then what royalties--shared with the Song Hit Guild--might follow.  We might wonder how the competition might have been conducted had there been television as there is today, and what it might have been called: America's Got Talent perhaps?

Marion [Savage] Rosette, a classically trained pianist, is more known as a writer of songs for children than for adult popular music.  My search yielded two results that will offer enough though still scant information about this woman who authored both lyrics and music for her compositions.  LINK 1  LINK 2  She trained at the prestigious Peabody Conservatory of Music and performed as a soloist with the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra.  Her music career included teaching, performance and composition.  Natacha and another piece published the same year by the Song Guild, Fate Introduced Me to You, are the only two pieces I find noted on worldcat and the internet.  It is too bad that at this time there are no recorded examples of her work on YouTube or the internet.  The last bit of information found on the internet about Marion Rosette, though not very relevant, is that she successfully sued Rainbo Record Manufacturing Company for copyright infringement.  Marion Savage Rosette died in January, 1991, at the age of 90 years.

Back cover side of Natacha My Star of Love by Marion Rosette.

Natacha is scored on two pages for vocal and piano with ukelele charts. The lyrics contain one stanza with refrain. The back cover side advertisement gives the genre as minor waltz ballad.  I believe the minor represents the e minor key, the waltz the meter, and ballad indicates the story being told about a man who is passionately in love with Natacha. 

This article written by Mary Katherine May of QualityMusicandBooks.com. 

Acknowledgement/Credit given to Mary Katherine May when using this article is expected. Thank you very much.