Magic Moments from "The Gay Life"
album by Nelson Riddle
Magic Moments from "The Gay Life" is the twelfth studio album by American composer and arranger Nelson Riddle, consisting of music from Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz's musical "The Gay Life".
Reception
The initial Billboard magazine review from February 17, 1962 described the album as a "tuneful mélange...the arrangements are never jarring and are sufficiently inventive and fresh sounding to add something to the original".
Track listing
All music and lyrics written by Arthur Schwartz and Howard Dietz.
Side 1
"Magic Moment" – 2:45
"Oh, Mein Liebchen" – 2:07
"Why Go Anywhere at All?" – 2:45
"Who Can?
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Magic Moments from "The Gay Life"” is album by Nelson Riddle. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Magic, Moments and Life, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “album by Nelson Riddle” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 22, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q30637846. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1962.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Magic Moments from "The Gay Life"”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Magic Moments from "The Gay Life" primary sources, Magic Moments from "The Gay Life" archive and Magic research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Magic Moments from "The Gay Life"”?
- How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Magic Moments from "The Gay Life"” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.