BARBRA STREISAND/ HAROLD ARLEN

Biography

“Barbra Streisand / Harold Arlen” on streaming services refers to recordings by Barbra Streisand interpreting songs composed by Harold Arlen, rather than a single joint artist persona. Barbra Streisand (born Barbara Joan Streisand on April 24, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York) is an American singer, actress, director, and producer whose career has spanned more than six decades and encompassed music, film, television, and theater.[2][3] Raised in a working‑class Jewish family, she began singing in clubs and on the New York stage in the early 1960s, breaking through with her Broadway debut in “I Can Get It for You Wholesale” (1962), which earned a Tony nomination and led to a recording contract with Columbia Records.[1][3] Her early albums, including “The Barbra Streisand Album” (1963), showcased her powerful, theatrical vocal style and brought her multiple Grammy Awards, while her film debut in “Funny Girl” (1968) turned her into an international star and secured her first Academy Award.[2][3]

Across her recording career, Streisand became one of the highest‑selling female artists in history, with more than 30 RIAA platinum‑certified albums and a repertoire deeply rooted in the Great American Songbook, Broadway standards, and pop balladry, often including songs by classic composers such as Harold Arlen.[2][3] She scored numerous Billboard No. 1 albums and singles, including “The Way We Were” and “Evergreen,” and later expanded her artistic reach by directing and producing films such as “Yentl” (1983), “The Prince of Tides” (1991), and “The Mirror Has Two Faces” (1996), becoming the first woman to win a Golden Globe for Best Director.[2][3] Her musical style is marked by precise phrasing, dramatic interpretation, and a strong connection to theatrical song forms, helping keep mid‑20th‑century standards and composers like Arlen in the public ear. Her legacy is defined not only by EGOT‑level awards and honors, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, but also by her pioneering role for women in directing and producing major studio films, and by her influence on generations of vocalists who model themselves on her fusion of Broadway technique and pop accessibility.[2][3]

Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck on February 15, 1905, in Buffalo, New York) was one of America’s foremost popular song composers, best known for writing the music to “Over the Rainbow” for “The Wizard of Oz,” as well as standards like “Stormy Weather” and “Blues in the Night.” The son of a cantor, he absorbed Jewish liturgical music and early jazz, moving to New York as a young man and working as a pianist and bandleader at the Cotton Club, where he wrote songs for revues and collaborated with lyricists such as Ted Koehler. In the 1930s and 1940s he became a major Hollywood and Broadway composer, often working with lyricist E.Y. “Yip” Harburg, blending blues inflections, jazz harmonies, and memorable melodic lines that became central to the American popular song tradition. His catalog, repeatedly revisited by singers like Streisand, remains a cornerstone of the standard repertoire and a key influence on vocal and jazz interpretation.

The combined “Barbra Streisand / Harold Arlen” catalog on services like Spotify therefore reflects Streisand’s role as a premier interpreter of the Great American Songbook and Arlen’s status as one of its defining composers, illustrating the ongoing dialogue between 20th‑century songwriters and later generations of vocal stylists.

Fun Facts

• Barbra Streisand is one of the very few entertainers to have won competitive Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony awards, in addition to multiple Golden Globes and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.[2][3]
• Streisand became the first woman ever to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Director, an honor she received for her film “Yentl” (1983).[2][3]
• Harold Arlen, born Hyman Arluck, was the son of a synagogue cantor in Buffalo, and his exposure to cantorial singing strongly influenced the melodic and harmonic character of his later popular songs.
• Although “Over the Rainbow” is now one of the most recorded songs in history, it was initially nearly cut from “The Wizard of Oz”; Arlen’s melody, with Harburg’s lyrics, went on to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song.

Musical Connections

Mentors/Influences

• Broadway and American Songbook composers (including Harold Arlen) - Streisand’s early repertoire and vocal style were shaped by performing Broadway material and Great American Songbook standards, including songs by Harold Arlen, which helped define her theatrical, interpretive approach. (Early albums such as “The Barbra Streisand Album” (1963) and later projects like “The Broadway Album” (1985) prominently feature standards by mid‑century songwriters.[2][3]) [1960s–1980s]
• E.Y. "Yip" Harburg and Ted Koehler - Primary lyricists for Harold Arlen; their collaborations helped shape Arlen’s songwriting voice that later singers like Streisand would interpret, particularly his blend of jazz, blues, and theatrical lyricism. (With Harburg: “Over the Rainbow,” “It’s Only a Paper Moon”; with Koehler: “Stormy Weather,” “I’ve Got the World on a String.”) [1930s–1940s (Arlen’s core composing period, later drawn on by Streisand)]

Key Collaborators

• Yip Harburg (lyricist for Harold Arlen) - Most famous of Arlen’s lyric collaborators, responsible with Arlen for many songs now covered by Streisand and other interpreters of standards. (Score to “The Wizard of Oz,” including “Over the Rainbow,” and songs such as “Last Night When We Were Young.”) [Late 1930s–1940s]
• Ted Koehler - Major early collaborator with Arlen on Cotton Club revues and popular songs, defining the jazz‑ and blues‑inflected style of many Arlen tunes later taken up by singers. (“Stormy Weather,” “I’ve Got the World on a String,” songs for Cotton Club shows.) [1920s–1930s]
• Columbia Records producers and arrangers - Streisand’s longstanding relationship with Columbia paired her with orchestral arrangers and producers who crafted classic interpretations of standards by Arlen and his contemporaries. (“The Barbra Streisand Album” (1963), “People” (1964), “The Broadway Album” (1985), which include or evoke repertoire from Arlen’s era.[2][3]) [1962 onward]

Artists Influenced

• Contemporary pop and Broadway vocalists (e.g., Celine Dion, Lea Michele – representative examples) - Streisand’s interpretive style with standards and show tunes—often including songs by Arlen—has been cited as a model for later powerhouse vocalists who bridge pop and theater, even when specific Arlen songs are not always named. (Later artists’ renditions of standards and big ballads in a Streisand‑like style; this influence is broad and stylistic rather than tied to a single Arlen song.[3][5]) [1990s–present]

Discography

Albums

Top Tracks

1. Somewhere over the rainbow (Domingo Pur)
2. Somewhere Over the Rainbow (Arr. André Rieu) (André Rieu in Wonderland)
3. The Man That Got Away (The New Limelight)
4. Over the Rainbow (From "The Wizard of Oz") (Le Monde en Fête)
5. Over the Rainbow (Arr. for String Quartet by William Ryden)
6. Over the Rainbow (From "The Wizard of Oz")
7. Let's Fall in Love
8. Over the Rainbow
9. Over the Rainbow (From "The Wizard of Oz") (Sensations)
10. Let's Fall in Love (Arr. Haginomori for Flute and Piano)

External Links

• Spotify
• Wikipedia