Henryk Wars
Henry Vars (born Henryk Warszawski; December 29, 1902 – September 1, 1977) was a Polish-American composer, arranger and conductor whose compositions spanned popular, jazz and classical genres. He is regarded as the most important musical theatre, pop and film music composer of the interwar Poland. Known in Poland as Henryk Wars, he is widely considered a pioneer of Polish jazz with his first composition "New York Times" (1927) being regarded as the very first jazz song in the history of Polish music. His other jazz and pop songs from the period include "Miłość ci wszystko wybaczy" (1933), "Umówiłem się z nią na dziewiątą", "Sex appeal" (both from 1937), "Ach, jak przyjemnie" and "Już nie zapomnisz mnie" (both from 1939). In the United States, Henry Vars is best remembered for scoring westerns Seven Men From Now (1956) and Escort West (1959), with an adventure film Flipper (1963) being his most famous work. His other American works include a Margaret Whiting song "Over and Over and Over", Mel Tormé's "I Owe A Kiss To A Girl In Iowa" (both from 1950), Brenda Lee's "Speak to Me Pretty" (1961) and Doris Day's Walk With Him (1962). |
Birth and Death Data: Born Warsaw (capital and largest city of Poland), Died September 1, 1977 (Los Angeles (seat of Los Angeles County, and largest city in California, United States) )
Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1939 - 1950
Roles Represented in DAHR: songwriter, composer
= 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-031508 | 10-in. | 1/17/1939 | Jedna jedyna | Mieczyslaw Fogg | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | songwriter | |
| Victor | BS-031518 | 10-in. | 1/18/1939 | Prawdziwa milosc | Mieczyslaw Fogg | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | composer | |
| Victor | BS-031519 | 10-in. | 1/18/1939 | Zapomniana melojda | Mieczyslaw Fogg | Male vocal solo | composer | |
| Victor | BS-031520 | 10-in. | 1/18/1939 | Ach, jak przyjemnie! | Mieczyslaw Fogg | Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble | composer | |
| Victor | BS-073762 | 10-in. | 3/27/1942 | Tylko we Lwowie | Jam Kulesza ; Wesoła Piątka | Instrumental quintet, with male vocal solo | songwriter | |
| Victor | E0VB-4200 | 10-in. | 4/18/1950 | I remember | Larry Green Orchestra ; Gilbert Phelan | Male vocal solo, with vocal quartet and jazz/dance band | songwriter | |
| Victor | D8VB-3403 | 10-in. | 5/6/1948 | Sleep my child | Dennis Day | Male vocal solo, with vocal chorus | songwriter |
Citation
Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Wars, Henryk," accessed January 3, 2026, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/116841.
Wars, Henryk. (2026). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved January 3, 2026, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/116841.
"Wars, Henryk." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2026. Web. 3 January 2026.
DAHR Persistent Identifier
Linked Open Data Sources
LCNAR: Wars, Henryk, 1902-1977 - https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/nr99038046
Wikidata: Henryk Wars - https://www.wikidata.org/entity/Q323368
VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/51897387
MusicBrainz: Henryk Wars - https://musicbrainz.org/artist/6a9565bb-affe-4a2b-b0c6-6aed0f35a77e
Wikipedia content provided under the terms of the Creative Commons BY-SA license
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