Charles Paul
Charles Paul (August 23, 1902 in New York City – September 18, 1990 in Milford, Connecticut) was an American composer and organist, most known for his musical accompaniment on radio and television. Originally providing musical accompaniment to such old-time radio programs as The Adventures of Ellery Queen and Young Doctor Malone, he transitioned to television in the 1950s. His music accentuated the TV version of Martin Kane, Private Eye with an organ and horn combo. His first known soap opera was Love of Life which he began accompanying in 1953. In 1954 he added The Secret Storm and the short-lived The Road of Life to his duties. By this time Paul had perfected a style that favored the organ, but was often coupled with piano for more intense scenes. On The Secret Storm Paul began his practice of using "leitmotif" themes to underscore specific characters, such as his tune for matriarch Grace Tyrell (Marjorie Gateson) and his lament for her daughter Pauline Harris (Haila Stoddard). Paul continued this practice on Love of Life and his successive soaps. It was in 1956 that Charles Paul began a stint as the organist for television's first thirty-minute soap opera, As the World Turns. Paul created character themes for Nancy Hughes (Helen Wagner), Pa Hughes (Santos Ortega) and Lisa (Eileen Fulton). He wrote motifs for opening scene shots that identified settings, such as Memorial Hospital and the Lowell, Barnes, Lowell & Hughes law firm. Paul also wrote the first theme song for NBC's Another World which was handled by other organists. Though he was not named in the credits, Paul provided the original scores to headwriter Agnes Nixon's ABC hits One Life to Live and All My Children under the auspices of Aeolus Productions. In the summer of 1969, many behind-the-scenes shifts occurred at CBS soaps. As a result, Paul lost The Secret Storm, maintained his positions at Love of Life and As the World Turns, and assumed the keyboard duties at longtime favorite Guiding Light. By the early 1970s, however, times were changing. Paul soon lost Love of Life but transitioned both As the World Turns and Guiding Light to orchestral arrangements. He would later do likewise for NBC's relatively short-lived Somerset, ABC's successful General Hospital, and the last year of CBS's Love of Life after ten years' absence from that series. In 2009, Soapluvva established a YouTube tribute channel to both Charles Paul and Eddie Layton, who were colleagues of each other at the CBS Broadcast Center in Manhattan. |
Birth and Death Data: Born August 23, 1902, Died September 18, 1990
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1937 - 1945
Roles Represented in DAHR: electric organ, organ, piano
= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.
Recordings
Company | Matrix No. | Size | First Recording Date | Title | Primary Performer | Description | Role | Audio |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Victor | BS-010439 | 10-in. | 6/9/1937 | O! Word of God most holy | Frederick Jagel ; Charles Paul | Tenor vocal solo, with electric organ | instrumentalist, electric organ | |
Victor | BS-010440 | 10-in. | 6/9/1937 | From sense to soul | Frederick Jagel ; Charles Paul | Tenor vocal solo, with electric organ | instrumentalist, electric organ | |
Victor | BS-010441 | 10-in. | 6/9/1937 | Shepherd, show me how to go | Frederick Jagel ; Charles Paul | Tenor vocal solo, with electric organ | instrumentalist, electric organ | |
Victor | BS-010442 | 10-in. | 6/9/1937 | O gentle presence | Frederick Jagel ; Charles Paul | Tenor vocal solo, with electric organ | instrumentalist, electric organ | |
Victor | BS-010443 | 10-in. | 6/9/1937 | O gentle presence | Frederick Jagel ; Charles Paul | Tenor vocal solo, with electric organ | instrumentalist, electric organ | |
Victor | BS-071749 | 10-in. | 1/31/1942 | Agnus Dei | Emile Coté ; Frank Parker ; Victor Mixed Chorus | Male vocal solo, with mixed vocal chorus, organ, and harp | instrumentalist, organ | |
Victor | BS-071750 | 10-in. | 1/31/1942 | Ave Maria | Emile Coté ; Frank Parker ; Victor Mixed Chorus | Male vocal solo, with mixed vocal chorus, organ, and harp | instrumentalist, organ | |
Victor | BS-071751 | 10-in. | 1/31/1942 | O divine redeemer | Emile Coté ; Frank Parker ; Victor Mixed Chorus | Male vocal solo, with mixed vocal chorus, organ, and harp | instrumentalist, organ | |
Victor | BS-071752 | 10-in. | 1/31/1942 | Panis angelicus | Emile Coté ; Frank Parker ; Victor Mixed Chorus | Male vocal solo, with mixed vocal chorus and organ | instrumentalist, organ | |
Victor | BS-071753 | 10-in. | 1/31/1942 | Crucifixus | Emile Coté ; Frank Parker ; Victor Mixed Chorus | Male vocal solo, with mixed vocal chorus, and organ | instrumentalist, organ | |
Victor | BS-071754 | 10-in. | 1/31/1942 | The palms | Emile Coté ; Frank Parker ; Victor Mixed Chorus | Male vocal solo, with mixed vocal chorus and organ | instrumentalist, organ | |
Victor | BS-071755 | 10-in. | 1/31/1942 | I know that my Redeemer liveth | Emile Coté ; Frank Parker ; Victor Mixed Chorus | Male vocal solo, with mixed vocal chorus and organ | instrumentalist, organ | |
Victor | BS-071756 | 10-in. | 1/31/1942 | Where'er you walk | Emile Coté ; Frank Parker ; Victor Mixed Chorus | Male vocal solo, with mixed vocal chorus and organ (take 2); with mixed chorus and piano (take 1) | instrumentalist, organ, piano | |
Decca | 62741 | 10-in. | 11/1/1937 | Adeste fidelis | Charles Paul | instrumentalist, electric organ | ||
Decca | 62742 | 10-in. | 11/1/1937 | Silent night, Holy night | Charles Paul | instrumentalist, electric organ | ||
Decca | 62753 | 10-in. | 11/8/1937 | Hark! The herald angels sing | Charles Paul | instrumentalist, electric organ | ||
Decca | 62754 | 10-in. | 11/8/1937 | O little town of Bethlehem | Charles Paul | instrumentalist, electric organ | ||
Decca | 62755 | 10-in. | 11/8/1937 | It came upon the midnight clear | Charles Paul | instrumentalist, electric organ | ||
Decca | 62756 | 10-in. | 11/8/1937 | O holy night | Charles Paul | instrumentalist, electric organ | ||
Decca | L 3760 | 10-in. | 3/28/1945 | The littlest angel: Part 1 | Loretta Young | instrumentalist, electric organ | ||
Decca | L 3761 | 10-in. | 3/28/1945 | The littlest angel: Part 2 | Loretta Young | instrumentalist, electric organ | ||
Decca | L 3762 | 10-in. | 3/28/1945 | The littlest angel: Part 3 | Loretta Young | instrumentalist, electric organ | ||
Decca | L 3763 | 10-in. | 3/28/1945 | The littlest angel: Part 4 | Loretta Young | instrumentalist, electric organ | ||
Decca | L 3764 | 10-in. | 3/28/1945 | The littlest angel: Part 5 | Loretta Young | instrumentalist, electric organ | ||
Decca | L 3765 | 10-in. | 3/28/1945 | The littlest angel: Part 6 | Loretta Young | instrumentalist, electric organ |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Paul, Charles," accessed September 9, 2024, https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/107335.
Paul, Charles. (2024). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved September 9, 2024, from https://adpprod2.library.ucsb.edu/names/107335.
"Paul, Charles." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2024. Web. 9 September 2024.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Paul, Charles, 1902-1990 - http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n95118610
Wikidata: Charles Paul - http://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q16012492
VIAF: http://viaf.org/viaf/55869861
MusicBrainz: Charles Paul - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/991d1df8-1087-4044-9af7-3f315f050389
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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