Description
Author: Bill Hamilton (lyrics); George Duning (music)
Publisher: Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI)
Place of Publication: New York
Format: Vintage sheet music
Date of Publication: mid-20th century
Condition:
Good. Original mid-20th-century sheet music with age toning, edge wear, and light surface wear consistent with handling and age. Minor creasing present. Interior music pages remain intact and legible. Paper is fragile. Preserved in an archival sleeve.
Description:
Popocatepetl is a mid-20th-century popular song with lyrics by Bill Hamilton and music by George Duning. Duning was a prominent American composer and arranger whose career spanned popular song, radio, and film scoring, later becoming especially well known for his Hollywood work. Pieces such as this reflect the era’s fascination with evocative place names and atmospheric themes, pairing lyrical imagery with accessible popular music forms.
The cover features a striking stylized illustration of the Mexican volcano Popocatépetl, rendered with dramatic color and simplified forms that align with midcentury graphic design trends. The design emphasizes mood and landscape rather than literal narrative, making the piece visually distinctive among popular sheet music of the period.
The back cover contains a promotional advertisement for BMI’s Album of Radio Proven Songs, highlighting contemporaneous radio hits and offering insight into music-publishing and broadcast culture of the time. This is an original period printing, not a reproduction, and survives as a strong example of mid-20th-century popular music and graphic design.