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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

URI: http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/116841

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