program notes by composition > M > My Fair Lady

My Fair Lady

Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe / arr. Robert Russell Bennett

My Fair Lady is a musical based on George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion , with book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. This medley was transcribed for band by Robert Russell Bennett.

The plot concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl, who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phoneticist, so that she may pass as a lady. The musical's 1956 Broadway production was a huge success and was followed by a hit London production, a popular film version, and numerous revivals.

Selections include “With a Little Bit of Luck,” “On the Street Where You Live,” “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly,” “Get Me to the Church On Time,” “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” and “I Could Have Danced All Night.”

Frederick Loewe (1901–1988) was born in Berlin to Viennese parents. In 1924 he traveled with his father, a Jewish operetta star, to New York where he found work playing piano in German clubs and in movie theaters for silent films. He was determined to write for Broadway but along the way he took other odd jobs, including cattle punching, gold mining and prize fighting, before succeeding. He collaborated with lyricist Alan Jay Lerner on a series of Broadway musicals, including Brigadoon , Paint Your Wagon , Gigi , My Fair Lady and Camelot .

Last updated on May 12, 2017 by Palatine Concert Band