Actor Walter Huston introduced “September Song” in the Broadway musical, Knickerbocker Holiday, which opened October 19, 1938, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre and ran for 168 Performances.

Huston’s recording of “September Song” went onto the charts on January 28, 1938, peaking at number twelve.

All told, artists making the pop charts with “September Song” include:

• Walter Huston (1938, #12)
• Frank Sinatra (1946, #8)
• Dardanelle Trio (1946, #11)
• Stan Kenton and His Orchestra (1951, ensemble vocal, #17)
• Liberace (1952, #27)

Bing Crosby, Jimmy Durante, and Willie Nelson also recorded popular versions.

Walter Huston had accepted his part as Peter Stuyvestant in Knickerbocker Holiday on the condition that he be allowed to sing a romantic song in the musical. One evening, after listening to Huston sing, Maxwell Anderson dashed off the lyrics to “September Song” in about an hour, and Kurt Weill finished the music later that night.

A middle-aged Stuyvestant would sing “September Song” to the young Tina Tienhoven (Jeanne Madden) in an attempt to coax her into marriage. Although tailored to his limited vocal range, Huston was expected to have some difficulty delivering the song, but his raspy, half-spoken rendition was beautiful and touching. Indeed, his biggest hurdle was not the delivery but remembering the tune.

Weill’s conductor, Maurice Abravanel, excited by the prospect of doing something new, had just quit the Metropolitan Opera to work on Knickerbocker Holiday. According to Abravanel, “When Huston heard the music of ‘September Song,’ it didn’t stay in his head.” After failing to memorize the song numerous times, Anderson suggested that they drop Huston and just let the orchestra play it. But Huston was apologetic and determined, and by opening night he knew the song and it stopped the show.

There is a history to the naming of the musical for which “September Song” was written. Most people are familiar with today’s informal definition of “Knickerbocker,” which means a native or resident of New York. Not so long ago it meant a descendant of the Dutch settlers of New York. Its origin, however, dates back to 1809 with the publication of Washington Irving’s first book.

Best known for his short stories, The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow and Rip Van Winkle, Irving used the penname Dietrich Knickerbocker for A History of New-York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty. Knickerbocker’s History of New York, as it later became known, was a satire on the early years of New York under the reigns of three Dutch governors: Walter van Twiller (Walter the Doubter), William Kieft (William the Testy), and Peter Stuyvestant (Peter the Headstrong).

Playwright Maxwell Anderson’s adaptation of the book to Knickerbocker Holiday has Stuyvestant as the new governor. Tina Tienhoven is a young maiden pledged by her father to the older Stuyvestant, although, of course, she loves another, a younger man named Brom Broeck (played by Richard Kollmar).

United Artists’ 1944 film version of Knickerbocker Holiday starred Charles Coburn as Peter Stuyvestant, Constance Dowling as Tina Tienhoven, and Nelson Eddy as Brom Broeck. The biting satire of the Broadway musical was toned down so as to offend no one, and only three songs were retained from the original score. Audiences and critics alike agreed that it was a tedious disappointment.