Seymour Furth

Seymour Furth (1876–1932) was a New York-born composer, lyricist, and librettist who worked across Broadway, vaudeville, Tin Pan Alley, and minstrel shows from the late 1890s until his death. His output encompassed both music and lyrics, though he most often composed music while collaborating with a separate lyricist. He also wrote piano works in popular styles of the era, including two ragtime compositions, That Spanish Rag and Pinochle Rag, published in 1911 by Joseph Morris.

Furth grew up in New York City and attended P.S. 86 on Lexington Avenue at 96th Street, graduating in 1892. He began writing songs for vaudeville and minstrel shows in the late 1890s, frequently working in a comedic vein. His song "Nothing Like That in Our Family" (1906) was recorded by vaudeville entertainer William F. Denny for Edison Records and became one of his better-known comic numbers.

In 1907 Furth contributed music to The Follies of 1907, the inaugural edition of the Ziegfeld Follies. Among his contributions was "My Pocahontas," the production's opening number, written with lyricist Edgar Selden. The piece drew on the Indianist movement, blending American Indian musical ideas with Western classical music while recounting the story of Pocahontas and John Smith. That same year Furth contributed the song "Dixie Dan" to the Broadway production The Gay White Way, with lyrics by Will D. Cobb; the number became a hit for singer Blanche Ring. Also in 1907, Furth co-wrote "No Wedding Bells For Me" with E. P. Moran and Will A. Heelan for the United States premiere of the Edwardian musical comedy The Orchid. The song became his most widely recognized success, was used to accompany silent films, and was performed regularly in vaudeville by Trixie Friganza and recorded for Edison Records by Bob Roberts.

Furth's Broadway credits spanned more than two decades and included The Wizard of Oz (1902), The Rollicking Girl (1905), Patsy in Politics (1907), Nearly a Hero (1908), The Mimic World (1908), The Girl and the Wizard (1909), the Ziegfeld Follies of 1915, and Bringing Up Father (1925). He also composed the World War I song "When the 'Yanks' Come Marching Home," a copy of which is held in the collection of the Pritzker Military Museum and Library.

Furth died of a heart attack on May 22, 1932, at the Commonwealth Hotel in Boston, where he had been living for several years. He was 55 years old and was survived by his wife, his brother, and his mother.