Ferrante & Teicher | |
|---|---|
 Ferrante & Teicher, c 1960 | |
| Background information | |
| Genres | |
| Instrument(s) | Piano |
| Years active | 1947–1989 |
| Labels | |
| Members | Arthur Ferrante Louis Teicher |
Ferrante & Teicher were a duo of American pianists known for their clever arrangements of familiar classical pieces, movie soundtracks, and show tunes, as well as their signature style of florid, intricate, and fast-paced piano playing performances.
Arthur Ferrante (September 7, 1921, New York City – September 19, 2009, Longboat Key, Florida [1] ), and Louis Teicher (August 24, 1924, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania – August 3, 2008, Highlands, North Carolina) met while studying at the Juilliard School of Music in New York in 1930. [2] [3] Musical prodigies, they began performing as a piano duo while still in school. After graduating, they joined the Juilliard faculty.
In 1947, they launched a full-time concert career, at first playing nightclubs, then quickly moving up to playing classical music with orchestral backing. Steven Tyler of Aerosmith relates the story that in the 1950s the two students practiced in the home of his grandmother Constance Neidhart Tallarico. [4] Between 1950 and 1980, they were a major American "easy listening" act and scored four big U.S. hits: "Theme from The Apartment" (Pop #10), "Theme from Exodus" (Pop #2), "Tonight" (Pop #8), and "Midnight Cowboy" (Pop #10). [5] They performed and recorded regularly with pops orchestras popular standards by George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter, Richard Rodgers, the Sherman Brothers and others. In 1973, they did the Hollywood Radio Theater theme for the Rod Serling radio drama series, The Zero Hour . [6] [7]
The duo also experimented with prepared pianos, adding paper, sticks, rubber, wood blocks, metal bars, chains, glass, mallets, and other found objects to piano string beds. In this way they were able to produce a variety of bizarre sounds that sometimes resembled percussion instruments and at other times resulted in special effects that sounded as if they were electronically synthesized. [8]
Both men were initiated as honorary members of Tau Kappa Epsilon at Central State University (now University of Central Oklahoma) while on tour.
Ferrante and Teicher ceased performing in 1989 and retired to Longboat Key and Siesta Key, respectively, close to each other on the west coast of Florida. They continued to play together occasionally at a local piano store.
CDs of their music, some of it not previously released, have continued to appear. [9]
Louis Teicher died of a heart attack in August 2008, three weeks before his 84th birthday. [10] Arthur Ferrante died of natural causes on September 19, 2009, twelve days after his 88th birthday; he had once said he wanted to live one year for each piano key. [11] Arthur was survived by his wife, Jena; his daughter, Brenda Eberhardt; and two granddaughters. [12]
| Year | Titles (A-side, B-side) Both sides from same album except where indicated | Chart positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US – AC | CB | |||
| 1951 | "Susannah's Last Stand" b/w "Caravan" | - | - | - | Hi-Fireworks |
| 1952 | "Tabu" b/w "Semper Fidelis" | - | - | - | |
| 1958 | "Che Si Dice (Keh See Deechay; That Is Said)" b/w "How High the Moon" | - | - | - | Ferrante and Teicher with Percussion |
| "Aflame" b/w "How High the Moon" | - | - | - | ||
| 1959 | "Side Saddle" b/w "Prairie Blues" | - | - | - | Non-album tracks |
| "Lovers Symphony" b/w "Dream Concerto" | - | - | - | Dream Concerto | |
| 1960 | "Theme from The Apartment" b/w "Lonely Room" | 10 | - | 9 | The World's Greatest Themes |
| "Exodus" b/w "Twilight" (from Tonight) | 2 | - | 1 | Golden Piano Hits | |
| 1961 | "Love Theme from One Eyed Jacks" / | 37 | - | 39 | Love Themes |
| "Gone with the Wind" | - | - | 110 | ||
| "Goodbye Again" b/w "Possessed" (from The Many Moods of Ferrante & Teicher) | 85 | - | 84 | Non-album track | |
| "Tonight" b/w "Dream of Love" (from The Many Moods of Ferrante & Teicher) | 8 | 2 | 6 | Music from the Motion Picture West Side Story and Other Motion Picture and Broadway Hits | |
| 1962 | "Smile" / | 94 | 18 | 93 | Tonight |
| "Street of Palms (Via Margalene)" | - | - | 133 | Non-album tracks | |
| "Lisa" / | 98 | - | 81 | ||
| "Negligee" | - | - | tag | Pianos in Paradise | |
| "Lida Rose" b/w "Take Me Along" | - | - | 144 | Themes from Broadway Shows | |
| "Theme from Taras Bulba" b/w "Theme from the Eleventh Hour" (from Concert for Lovers) | 116 | - | 107 | Non-album tracks | |
| 1963 | "Theme from Lawrence of Arabia" b/w "Paris Joy Ride" (from Holiday for Pianos) | 84 | - | 102 | |
| "Antony and Cleopatra Theme" b/w "Caesar and Cleopatra Theme" | 83 | - | 115 | Love Themes from Cleopatra | |
| "Crystal Fingers" b/w "Greensleeves" (from Concert for Lovers) | 127 | - | 132 | Non-album tracks | |
| 1964 | "It's All Right" b/w "Corn Pone" | - | - | - | |
| "The Seventh Dawn" b/w "You're Too Much" (from The Keys to Her Apartment) | 124 | - | - | ||
| 1965 | "The Greatest Story Ever Told" b/w "To Spring" (from Springtime) | 101 | - | 143 | By Popular Demand |
| "Country Boy" b/w "The Knack" (From "A Man and a Woman" and Other Motion Picture Themes) | - | - | - | Only the Best | |
| 1966 | "Khartoum" b/w "Firebird" | - | 21 | - | You Asked for It! |
| "A Man and a Woman" b/w "Dark Eyes" (from The Piano Artistry of Ferrante & Teicher) | - | 24 | - | "A Man and a Woman" and Other Motion Picture Themes | |
| 1967 | "Live for Life" b/w "Pavanne" (from In the Heat of the Night) | - | 27 | - | Live for Life |
| 1968 | "Here Is Where I Belong" b/w "Rock-a-Bye Baby" (from Midnight Cowboy) | - | - | - | Non-album tracks |
| "A Boy and a Girl" b/w "Prelude to Love" (from Love in the Generation Gap) | - | - | - | ||
| 1969 | "Andrea" b/w "Joanna" | - | - | - | Listen to the Movies with Ferrante & Teicher |
| "Midnight Cowboy" b/w "Popi" (original pressings) "Rock-a-Bye-Baby" (later pressings) | 10 | 2 | 10 | Midnight Cowboy | |
| 1970 | "Lay Lady Lay" b/w "Theme from 'Z' (To Yelasto Pedi)" | 99 | 16 | 71 | Getting Together |
| "Pieces of Dreams" b/w "Magical Connection" | - | 28 | - | Love Is a Soft Touch | |
| 1971 | "The Music Lovers" b/w "Love Is Now" | - | 39 | - | The Music Lovers |
| "Diamonds Are Forever" b/w "There's a New Day Coming" | - | - | - | Ferrante & Teicher Play the Hit Themes | |
| 1972 | "Love Theme from the Godfather" b/w "There's a New Day Coming" | - | 28 | 110 | |
| "Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex but Were Afraid to Ask" b/w "Tranquillo" | - | - | - | Hear and Now | |
| 1973 | "American Pie" b/w "Oh to Be Young Again" | - | - | - | |
| "Last Tango in Paris" b/w "Grass Roots" (from Salute Nashville) | - | - | 115 | Killing Me Softly | |
| 1976 | "Theme from Breakheart Pass" b/w "Theme from Mahogany" (from Piano Portraits) | - | - | - | Non-album track |
| "Gonna Fly Now (Theme from 'Rocky')" b/w "You Take My Heart Away" (Non-album track) | - | - | - | Rocky and Other Knockouts | |
| 1977 | "Theme from 'New York, New York'" b/w "A Bridge Too Far (Main Theme)" | - | - | - | |
| 1978 | "Theme from Star Trek" b/w "Swinging on a Star" | - | - | - | Star Wars |
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