The Music of Noël Coward​

Noel Coward wrote his first full-length song, Forbidden Fruit, at the age of 15, and soon began to pursue a career as a composer and lyricist as well as an actor. His songs became known for their witty lyrics and their sweeping melodies. Notably, Coward could not read or write music, so he would play by ear and someone else would write the notes down. Early in his career, this task fell to friend and composer Elsie April, but later on his regular accompanists, such as Norman Hackforth or Peter Matz, would do the arrangements.

Throughout his life, he wrote over 400 songs and many continue to be performed today, reinvented and re-recorded for each new generation. Perhaps his most successful song is Mad About The Boy, originally written in 1931. Hear three different examples below:

Revues

Many of Coward’s most memorable songs came from revues (a form of entertainment made up of songs and sketches, popular from the 1910s through to the 1950s). Coward began his career contributing songs to revues, before co-writing them and eventually writing everything himself. His earliest hit songs, including Parisian Pierrot, Poor Little Rich Girl, and A Room With A View, came from revues.

Musicals

Coward’s first full length musical was Bitter Sweet, a somewhat old-fashioned ‘operetta’. It proved very successful and he followed it up with several other musicals. None achieved the same level of commercial success until his 1961 Broadway hit, Sail Away, starring Elaine Stritch.

Plays

Several of Coward’s plays also feature songs and music. The most famous example is Someday I’ll Find You from Private Lives, but his cycle of plays Tonight At 8.30 contains several in a variety of styles. Both these productions starred Coward with Gertrude Lawrence and gave them a chance to show off their singing voices as well as their acting performances.

Films

As well as appearing in films, Coward also wrote music for the big screen, including In Which We Serve (1942) and The Grass Is Greener (1960).

Cabaret

Many of Coward’s songs might have been forgotten had he not used his back catalogue to create his Noel Coward in Las Vegas cabaret show, which relaunched his post-war career and brought his music to a whole new audience.

Follow the link below for information on each show, including a synopsis, musical numbers, audio clips, production photos and more…

Noel Coward Recordings

The earliest recording of a Noel Coward song is The Story of Peter Pan, from 1918, which he wrote with Doris Joel and was included in a revue produced by Andre Charlot called Tails Up!. Since then there have been countless recordings of Coward’s music, either by him, the original productions or, more recently, new interpretations by the likes of Adam Lambert, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Judy Garland, Frank Sinatra and many more.

His recordings are still used in films, such as Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy, adverts, including the famous Levi Jeans campaign, and even in computer games like Bioshock and Fallout.