Frederic Norton born George Frederic Norton on 11 October 1869 in Broughton

Broughton, Greater Manchester

Broughton is an inner city area of Salford, in Greater Manchester, England. It lies on the east bank of the River Irwell and A56 road, in the northeastern part of the City of Salford, north-northwest of Manchester city centre and south of Prestwich. Broughton consists of Broughton Park, Higher...

, Salford, England. Died on 15 December 1946 in Holford

Holford

Holford is a village and civil parish in West Somerset within the Quantock Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and about west of Bridgwater and east of Williton. The village has a population of about 200. The village is on the Quantock Greenway and Coleridge Way footpaths...

, England. British composer, most associated with the record breaking Chu Chin Chow

Chu Chin Chow

Chu Chin Chow is a musical comedy written, produced and directed by Oscar Asche, with music by Frederic Norton, based on the story of Ali Baba and the 40 Thieves...

, which opened in 1916.

A trained singer, Norton studied with Francesco Paolo Tosti

Francesco Paolo Tosti

Sir Paolo Tosti was an Italian, later British, composer and music teacher.-Life:Francesco Paolo Tosti received most of his music education in his native Ortona, Italy, as well as the conservatory in Naples. Tosti began his music education at the Royal College of San Pietro a Majella at the age of...

 and appeared on stage in variety theatre. Some of these acts included the delivery of monologues.

These monologues led Norton to compose songs, many of them humorous. Songs published included 1908's "Rosemary" with words by Graham Robertson

Graham Robertson

Graham Robertson is an American filmmaker and author. A native of Denver, Colorado, Robertson studied film at the College of Santa Fe in Santa Fe, New Mexico...

, and "Maid of the morning", "When a Pullet is Plump" and "The Elephant and the Portmanteau". In turn, these songs resulted in Norton composing music for stage shows, starting with "The Water Maidens" in 1901.

In 1911, Norton provided additional music for a production of Orpheus in the Underworld

Orpheus in the Underworld

Orphée aux enfers is an opéra bouffon , or opéra féerie in its revised version, by Jacques Offenbach. The French text was written by Ludovic Halévy and later revised by Hector-Jonathan Crémieux....

 at His Majesty's Theatre, which was based on the Offenbach

Jacques Offenbach

Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr....

opera of the same name.

Norton was never again to achieve the same degree of success that he earned with Chu Chin Chow.