Claude Thornhill

Claude Thornhill (August 10, 1908 – July 1, 1965) was an American pianist, arranger, composer, and bandleader. He composed the jazz and pop standards "Snowfall" and "I Wish I Had You".

Early years Thornhill was the son of J. Chester Thornhill and his wife, Maude. When he was 11 years old, he played piano professionally. While still a youth, he played with two local combos. As a student at Garfield High School in Terre Haute, he played with several theater bands. Thornhill studied at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and the Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia.

Career As a youth, he was recognized as an extraordinary talent and formed a traveling duo with Danny Polo, a musical prodigy on the clarinet and trumpet from nearby Clinton, Indiana.

He and clarinetist Artie Shaw started their careers at the Golden Pheasant in Cleveland, Ohio, with the Austin Wylie Orchestra. Thornhill and Shaw went to New York together in 1931. Thornhill went to the West Coast in the late 1930s with the Bob Hope Radio Show and arranged for Judy Garland in Babes in Arms. In 1935, he played on sessions with Glenn Miller, including "Solo Hop", which was released on Columbia Records. He also played with Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, Ray Noble, and Billie Holiday. He arranged "Loch Lomond" and "Annie Laurie" for Maxine Sullivan.

During the mid-1930s, Thornhill arranged and played piano for Andre Kostelanetz. The band played without vibrato, so that the timbres of the instruments could be better appreciated.

In 1957, Thornhill became Tony Bennett's musical director. In 1984, he was posthumously inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame.

Compositions Claude Thornill Orchestra with Joe Shulman, Danny Polo, Lee Konitz, Louis Mucci, Barry Galbraith, Bill Barber, and Billy Exiner, ca. 1947. Thornhill's compositions included the standard "Snowfall", "I Wish I Had You", recorded by Billie Holiday and Fats Waller, "Let's Go", "Shore Road", "Portrait of a Guinea Farm", "Lodge Podge", "Rustle of Spring", "It's Time for Us to Part", "It Was a Lover and His Lass", "The Little Red Man", "Memory of an Island", and a big band arrangement of the folk song "Where Has My Little Dog Gone?"

Cover versions of "Snowfall" Thornhill's 1941 piano composition "Snowfall", later had lyrics written by his wife, Ruth Thornhill. It has been recorded in vocal and non-vocal versions by the following artists:

Howard Alden and Bucky Pizzarelli Avalanches BBC Big Band Tony Bennett Cafe Accordion Orchestra Richie Cole with Hank Crawford Chris Connor Eddie Davis Doris Day Michael Fortunato Four Freshmen Esquivel Jackie Gleason Glen Gray and the Casa Loma Orchestra Steve Hall Ted Heath Skitch Henderson and Bucky Pizzarelli Mike Horsfall Dick Hyman Ahmad Jamal Ramsey Lewis Trio Enoch Light and the Light Brigade Henry Mancini Manhattan Transfer Helen Merrill Glenn Miller and His Orchestra The Monkees Wes Montgomery NRBQ Paul Plimley Kenny Poole and Gene Bertoncini Emily Remler Pete Rugolo George Shearing Singers Unlimited Eddie South Liz Story Billy Vaughn John Williams and the Boston Pops John Zorn