“Stardust” (1927) by Hoagy Carmichael, Performed at Grand Hotel, Played by Daniel Rottenberg

This wonderful song is “Stardust” (1927) by the brilliant Hoagy Carmichael. He first composed the piece in 1927 at Indiana University, where he received his Bachelor of Laws. Hoagy moved to Florida to work for a law firm, but upon finding some success in composing, returned to Indiana, and, depending on which of his own accounts you feel inclined to believe, either whistle the tune one night and was struck by its uniqueness, or formulated the melody inspired by the end of his love affair with Kathryn Moore. Hoagy recorded the song as an instrumental piano solo, and it was recorded and played thoroughly by many musicians in the late 1920s.

Irving Mills, who owned the Mills Music publishing company, assigned Mitchell Parish to write lyrics for the song, and the company suggested slowing the tempo of the original instrumental to embrace more the feel of a sentimental ballad. The working title Parish used for the pop song edition of the piece was “Then I Will Be Satisfied,” but he published it with the original title, “Stardust.”

This video was recorded in the Parlor of Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island, where I perform as one of the house pianists every summer in the Parlor and in the famous Cupola Bar.