JOHN WILSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA

Play Classic Arrangements of Paul Weston

"moonlight becomes you"

1 MOONLIGHT BECOMES YOU (Burke, Van Heusen)
2 YOU TURNED THE TABLES ON ME (Mitchell, Alter)
3 TIME AFTER TIME (Cahn, Styne)
4 THIS CAN’T BE LOVE (Hart, Rodgers)
5 TIME ON MY HANDS (Adamson, Gordon, Youmans)
6 KEEPIN’ OUT OF MISCHIEF NOW (Razaf, Waller)
7 THROUGH (how can you say we’re through?) (McCarthy, Monaco)
8 I’M CONFESSIN’ (Neiberg, Daugherty, Reynolds)
9 AFTER I SAY I’M SORRY (What can I Say) (Donaldson, Lyman)
10 JUDY (Carmichael, Lerner)
11 EAST OF THE SUN (Bowman)
12 BUT NOT FOR ME (G. & I. Gershwin)
13 AT SUNDOWN (Donaldson)
14 IT’S THE TALK OF THE TOWN (Symes, Neiberg, Livingston)
15 POOR BUTTERFLY (Golden, Hubbell)
16 ALL OF ME (Simons, Marks)
17 BREEZIN’ ALONG WITH THE BREEZE (Gillespie, Simons, Whiting)
18 SLEEPY TIME GAL (Alden, Egan, Lorenzo, Whiting)
19 WHEN YOUR LOVER HAS GONE (Swan)
20 IT’S A LOVELY DAY TODAY (Berlin)
21 JUST YOU, JUST ME (Klages, Greer)
22 MEMORIES OF YOU (Razaf, Blake)
23 YOU GO TO MY HEAD (Gillespie, Coots)

Vocalion CDSA 6808

This Compact Disc salutes the genius of two outstanding talents in the world of popular music. Firstly it allows us to savour the enthusiasm and sheer professionalism of one of the greatest conducting talents to have emerged in the past five years – John Wilson. Secondly, it unites this young musical prodigy with the work, around fifty years earlier, of Paul Weston, a pioneer of mood music and one of the very best American arrangers and conductors. The resulting performances by Wilson’s orchestra (which contains many of the finest young musicians in London), is a tribute that certainly equals, and sometimes even surpasses, the original recordings by the man who created these magical scores.

It all came together in EMI’s Abbey Road Studios last May, and the story of those sessions (with colour photographs) appeared in the September issue of Journal Into Melody, and can be found elsewhere on this website. What attracted conductor John Wilson to the music of Paul Weston? He first noticed his arrangements through the LPs he conducted for Doris Day, then the Ella Fitzgerald songbooks. This prompted John to investigate Weston’s instrumental albums, and he became impressed with what he describes as "…the unfussy, clean cut writing with a jazz-tinged sound". The more he listened, the more he wanted to conduct a collection of Weston’s scores as a tribute to a man who (although working in a fiercely competitive and commercial environment) managed to maintain high musical standards throughout his impressive career.

Paul Weston was one of the true ‘greats’ of the American Recording Industry of the 20^th century. He was around for a long time, so it is hardly surprising that his talent was employed in several different aspects during his highly successful career. Many top singers owe a great deal to him for the perfect backings he provided to their songs, often resulting in hit recordings. He also achieved considerable fame in his later life as ‘Jonathan Edwards’, the pianist who had difficulty keeping to the right tempo in those excruciatingly funny parodies of off-key singers so brilliantly portrayed by his wife, Jo Stafford, as ‘Darlene’.

Some orchestra leaders are figureheads, replying upon the talents of others: Paul Weston’s success was entirely of his own making. When you hear his orchestra you are hearing Paul Weston. He was responsible for the notes on the music manuscripts that his musicians performed with such magical results.

In 2002 Vocalion released a CD of original Paul Weston recordings from the 1940s, based on his collections Music for Dreaming, Music for Memories and Songs Without Words (CDUS 3023). In an accompanying article (JIM 153 – December 2002) we explained the influences in Weston’s life, which resulted in him becoming one of the pioneers of ‘mood music’. But since that particular term is viewed with some derision by people with little knowledge, but inflated egos, it is important to emphasise that Weston’s contribution to the music business was immense, and a tribute such as this new CD by an ardent admirer is long overdue.

Paul Weston was also active in assisting and promoting the work of his colleagues. His standing among his peers can be judged by the fact that he was a founder member and first president of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS), the organisation which began awarding Grammys in 1958. (Robert Farnon’s brother Dennis was another distinguished musician who was involved with NARAS from its very beginnings.)

With the benefit of hindsight it is possible to split Weston’s career into several segments. Initially he gained recognition through his arranging, and he combined this with his conducting skills to good effect on the many vocal records he made, especially with his wife Jo Stafford. She enjoyed considerable success as a ‘straight’ singer, but in her later career it was her spoof performance as a poor amateur hopeful with an equally useless accompanist (Jo with Paul on piano as Jonathan and Darlene Edwards) that amused record buyers and even won them a Grammy. Weston also distinguished himself in films, and was a regular on US radio and television. But internationally it was his ‘mood albums’ that made him famous.

Unlike some of his contemporaries, he liked to use the whole orchestra, not just a few sections. "All I did was add strings to a dance band" he once explained. "The reason it still swung was because I used good jazz musicians." These included soloists of the highest calibre, like Ziggy Elman, Eddie Miller, Paul Smith and Barney Kessel. He sometimes resisted the temptation to amplify the strings, by having the rest of the band play softly during important string passages, resulting in a chamber-music quality that went right to the heart of his kind of music. But it has to be acknowledged that Paul Weston’s scores come into their full, rich beauty, when he has the entire orchestra at his command. The opening track on this CD Moonlight Becomes You is a prime example, with lush strings vying with the brass yet blending to perfection, allowing Gordon Cambell to solo on trombone during the middle-eight.

Paul Weston regularly employed a loyal coterie of musicians who were present on many of his recordings. The trumpets would be led by Conrad Gozzo, with Zeke Zarchy, Ziggy Elman and Don Fagerquist on hand for solos. Bill Schaeffer and Joe Howard were regulars in the trombone section, and Babe Russin could always be seen on saxes, often ably supported by Ted Nash, Freddy Stulce and Lenny Hartman. Paul Smith was a fixture on piano, and Nick Fatool and Alvin Stoller handled the drums. Jack Ryan was on bass, with George Van Eps (a true genius of the seven string) on guitar. At one time each chair in the violin section was the concertmaster of a leading motion picture studio orchestra. As recognition of their admiration for Paul Weston, they would often just take turns at sitting in the first chair. Many of the names on this list will be recognised as leading instrumentalists who had met and worked with Paul during the big band era, and who subsequently ‘migrated’ to the studio session scene in Los Angeles.

In some passages the string sound coming from the John Wilson Orchestra was noticeably fuller than used to be heard on Paul Weston’s own recordings. Was he restricted by his record company bosses, or did he decide for himself that a massive string section was not required? Maybe the microphones and/or studios in the USA produced a different sound? Tim Weston discussed this with his mother upon his return home from London: Jo Stafford said that the small string section reflected the fact that Paul himself was paying for the sessions. Jo was one of the few artists who, by virtue of her big sales, could dictate that the company ‘ate’ the costs of recording.

In 1971 the Trustees of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences gave its Trustees Award to Paul Weston. The citation read in part: "To Paul Weston, whose dedication, wisdom and strength led it (the Academy) through its earliest years, and whose inspiration and dedication ever since, has contributed so greatly to the Recording Academy’s development, acceptance and respect throughout the world." Paul Weston died on 20 September 1996, at Santa Monica, California, aged 84.

David Ades

This CD is available from all good record stores. It can also be purchased by Robert Farnon Society members from the RFS Record Service for £13 [US$26] plus postage and packing.

The Music of CHARLES WILLIAMS

BBC CONCERT ORCHESTRA

conducted by BARRY WORDSWORTH

HIGH ADVENTURE
MODEL RAILWAY
YOUNG BALLERINA
BELLS OF ST. CLEMENTS
DREAM OF OLWEN
CUTTY SARK
NURSERY CLOCK
THE NIGHT HAS EYES
DEVIL’S GALOP
THE STARLINGS
VOICE OF LONDON
THE MUSIC LESSON
GIRLS IN GREY
HUMMING TOP
DESTRUCTION BY FIRE
THE OLD CLOCKMAKER
LITTLE TYROLEAN
THROUGH THE YEARS
BLUE DEVILS
JEALOUS LOVER
RHYTHM ON RAILS
SALLY TRIES THE BALLET
CROSS COUNTRY
LONDON FAIR

Sanctuary – White Line CD WHL 2151

At long last a CD of new recordings of compositions by Charles Williams has finally been released. For many years Light Music enthusiasts have been eagerly anticipating an event like this, particularly because such an issue was virtually ‘promised’ by Marco Polo around ten years ago when they launched their splendid series of British Light Music recordings.

For various reasons, that project never came to fruition, but happily this yawning gap in the repertoire of modern recordings of light music has finally been filled with this splendid new CD from the Sanctuary Group in their prestigious White Line series.

A glance at the list of titles above will confirm that many of Williams’ most famous works have been included, although inevitably some collectors will miss certain old favourites. The problem is that a prolific composer such as Williams really needs a series of several CDs to do him full justice, and many of his other works, not generally available commercially, can be obtained by Robert Farnon Society members through the RFS Record Service.

Before looking at this CD in more detail, it is appropriate to remind ourselves about this genius of Light Music. Charles Williams was born ‘Isaac Cozerbreit’ in London on 8 May 1893; he died on 7 September 1978 at his home in Findon Valley, near Worthing, Sussex. In his busy musical career he became one of Britain's most prolific composers of light music. He can also accurately be described as a pioneer in the use of music by the British film industry, having worked on the very first all-sound movie made in this country, Alfred Hitchcock's 1929 production "Blackmail".

His father, who arrived in England from Poland as a young boy, was a travelling singer whose repertoire embraced liturgical, choral and operatic music. He chose ‘Charles Williams’ as his stage name, and his son Isaac legally adopted it in 1915.

Young Charles's formal musical studies at the Royal Academy were interrupted by the first world war and in 1915 he joined the army. When hostilities were over he resumed his musical career and found himself much in demand as a violinist, leading for Sir Landon Ronald, Sir Thomas Beecham and Sir Edward Elgar. He featured on a number of their recordings, and was also a member of the J.H. Squire Octet.

Like many of his contemporaries, Charles Williams accompanied silent films, and he became conductor of the orchestra at the New Gallery Cinema in Regent Street, London. His early association with Hitchcock resulted in commissions from him for further films during the 1930's. He also worked (although not always credited) as composer or conductor (or both) on many notable British features, including the Will Hay comedies, 'Kipps', 'The Young Mr Pitt', 'The Way To The Stars' and the Robert Donat version of 'The Thirty Nine Steps'. In total he is reputed to have been involved with at least 100 films.

The famous music publishers Chappells decided to establish their own Recorded Music Library in 1942, and Teddy Holmes invited Charles Williams to conduct their Queen's Hall Light Orchestra for these 78s, specially made for use by radio, film and newsreel companies. Williams himself composed many of the early works in the library; he became a master of the art of conveying a particular mood within a few seconds of music. At this time the orchestra used to record on Saturday mornings at the EMI Studios in Abbey Road, and the Chappell Mood Music Library quickly grew to become the finest in the world.

Charles Williams made many 78rpm records for EMI's Columbia label, both with his own Concert Orchestra and also conducting the Queen's Hall Light Orchestra. Depending upon the requirements of the score, his recording orchestra would number up to fifty players - typically 8 violins, 6 second violins, 5 violas. 4 cellos, 2 basses, 4 french horns, 2 flutes, 2 clarinets, oboe, bassoon, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, harp, percussion and piano.

During the 1940's light music was very popular on the radio, so Charles Williams was called upon to record many of the catchy numbers that took the public's fancy. He was also a respected film composer, so he naturally included some of own his music for the cinema. In some cases, notably 'Dream of Olwen' this became more popular than the film itself.

Numerous Williams compositions became familiar signature tunes. To this day BBC Radio-2 uses his 'High Adventure' to introduce 'Friday Night Is Music Night'.

There is no doubt that Charles Williams was one of the giants of British light music of the 20th century. This collection of new recordings will allow new generations of music lovers to appreciate his genius. The compilers of this new CD have rewarded true CW fans with several pieces they are unlikely to possess already, since they come from non-Chappell sources. These include ‘Model Railway’ (from Boosey & Hawkes) and ‘Cutty Sark’ (Bosworth). CW’s first big success as a composer is also remembered through ‘Blue Devils’ – he wrote this around 15 years before he became such a prolific contributor to the Chappell Recorded Music Library. Keen eyes will notice some other less familiar titles, which all helps to make up an exceptional recording.

The CD cover is inspired: it shows the actors from "Dick Barton – Special Agent", the BBC Radio serial of the 1940s which used Williams’ ‘Devil’s Galop’ as its signature tune. It only remains to compliment Barry Wordsworth and the BBC Concert Orchestra for such great performances, and Tony Clayden for his informative sleeve notes.

David Ades

This CD is available from all good record stores. Members of the Robert Farnon Society can also get copies from the RFS Record Service for £10 [US $20] plus postage and packing.

New from Vocalion – two great Decca albums of Light Music are available once more

MONIA LITER and his Orchestra

CD1

"Lovers in Rome"

1 CHIANTI SONG (Winkler)
2 LOVERS IN ROME (Winkler)
3 TANGO TENERIFFA (Niessen)
4 ANDALUSIAN GIRL (Gaze)
5 ANNA MARIE (Fragna)
6 ITALIAN STREET SCENE (Wayne)
7 CANZONE D’AMORE (Kalman)
8 THE MAGIC FOUNTAINS OF ROME (Wayne)
9 SOFT LIGHTS OF ROME (Liter)
10 TANGO DE CASINO (Ingelhoff)
11 SICILIAN LULLABY (Gaze)
12 SERENATA CORTESE (Casiroli)
13 GUAGLIONE (Fanciulli, Nisa)
14 MARIE LOUISE (Berg, Neisel)
15 THE GIRL I LEFT IN ROME (De Moulin)

CD2

"Lovers in Paris"

1 LOVERS IN PARIS (Sherman)
2 THE FLIRT (Silver, Alfred)
3 VALSE ROMANTIQUE (Burns)
4 BLUE FANDANGO (Coslow)
5 SENTIMENTAL AFTERNOON (Sherman)
6 FRENCH FRIES (Hartley, Cassens)
7 BEAUTIFUL LOVE (Newman)
8 MY NEXT SONG (Goehr)
9 FLYING CARPET (Goehr)
10 PRENEZ GARDE (McDonald)
11 SHEBA (Gray)
12 TUMBLE HOME (Warner)
13 BLUE BLUES (Zacharias)

Vocalion CDLK4220 - 2 CDs for the price of 1

I can still recall a pleasant Sunday, early in 1958, when I was at the BBC’s Riverside television studios in London for one of Robert Farnon’s programmes. The guest pianist was Monia Liter, at that time highly respected as a concert pianist; he was also working at the famous music publishers Boosey & Hawkes in their Light Music department. Monia was closely involved with their Recorded Music Library, and I can remember telling him that, despite being a member of the Robert Farnon Society, it was impossible to get hold of Chappell 78s of Bob’s music. He asked me to let him know which titles I particularly wanted, and said that he would try to pull a few strings. It was only a matter of days before a parcel arrived at my home (via Boosey & Hawkes) containing several precious shellac discs featuring Farnon compositions then unrecorded commercially, which I still treasure to this day.

Such an act of kindness was typical of this charming man, so it was with a special sense of gratitude that I learned that Michael Dutton had accepted my suggestion that the two fine mono Decca LPs by Monia Liter from the 1950s should be reissued on CD. It turned out that the two albums lasted too long to fit on one CD, but rather than omit some of the tracks this new Vocalion release actually contains two CDs, but at the usual price for just one.

Monia Liter was born in Odessa on the Black Sea on 27 January 1906, where he studied piano and composition at the Imperial School of Music. He left Russia during the 1917 revolution for Harbin, in North China, where he managed to continue with his musical education. This provided him with the suitable qualifications that enabled him to join an Italian opera company in Shanghai, as assistant conductor and choirmaster, subsequently touring with them throughout China and Japan. When this engagement terminated, he formed his own dance band in Hankow.

Some while later he was in India with an American dance band, which involved touring throughout the sub-continent and Burma, eventually visiting Malaya. He decided to settle in nearby Singapore, and for seven years he was employed with his own orchestra at the famous Raffles Hotel, where he engaged the young Al Bowlly as a vocalist. While in that city he became a naturalised British subject. Monia Liter and Al Bowlly travelled to Britain in 1929, and different reports of this period of Liter’s career contain conflicting information. However it appears that Monia returned to China where he was appointed head of music at a commercial radio station in Shanghai; in 1933 he decided to make his permanent home in London.

His first appearance back in England was with his friend Al Bowlly in variety at the Holborn Empire (by now Bowlly had found fame, mainly as Ray Noble’s singer, although he had provided the vocals on 78s by numerous British dance bands), and thereafter Liter played the piano with virtually every famous dance band in Britain. He was a frequent visitor to the recording studios, firstly with Lew Stone (from 1933 to 1936), Nat Gonella (1934 - 1937), Jack Hylton (1936 and 1937), Harry Roy – where he replaced Stanley Black (1939 and 1940), then on various occasions with Victor Silvester (1940 - 1944). Sometimes these bands would be recording Monia Liter’s own arrangements for them.

In 1941 he joined the BBC as a pianist, conductor and arranger, initially with the Twentieth Century Serenaders. After 10 years at the BBC, he left them to concentrate on composing and concert work, which involved touring with famous names such as Sophie Tucker, Larry Adler and Richard Tauber. George Melachrino chose Monia Liter as the solo pianist on his HMV recording of Gershwin’s ‘Rhapsody in Blue’, and with the Mantovani Orchestra on Decca he recorded Clive Richardson’s ‘London Fantasia’ (reissued on Vocalion CDEA6019), Hubert Bath’s ‘Cornish Rhapsody’, Mischa Spoliansky’s ‘A Voice in the Night’ (Vocalion CDEA6044) and Albert Arlen’s ‘Alamein Concerto’.

He was also in demand for films, recording and television, as well as working in the Light Music department at Boosey & Hawkes, writing numerous works for their Recorded Music Library. In 1956 the BBC commissioned him to compose a serious work for their Light Music Festival, for which he wrote his ‘Scherzo Transcendant’. Other original works include ‘Andalusian Girl’, ‘Black Chiffon’, ‘The Valley of the Kings’, ‘Prelude Espagnole’, ‘Spanish Suite’, ‘Two Southern Impressions’ and ‘The Puppets’.

In his later career Monia Liter preferred to concentrate more on writing, rather than performing. He died in London on 5 October 1988 aged 82.

Although the titles of these two LPs were designed to appeal to record buyers’ nostalgia for romantic places, the truth is that they are really just collections of attractive pieces of light music, written by talented composers from several different countries over a period of many years. Through his work with music publishers, and as a result of his long broadcasting career, Monia Liter would have had personal knowledge of probably thousands of suitable numbers, so it would not have been difficult for him to make highly entertaining selections such as these.

The original album sleeve-notes provide attractive descriptions of the delights of Paris and Rome, but unfortunately they do not go into any helpful details regarding the actual melodies and their talented composers. Despite this distance in time, happily some of the names do still strike a familiar chord, but it is not always easy to avoid the traps laid through the use of pseudonyms – that bugbear of researchers.

Lovers in Rome opens with two melodies from the pen of a distinguished continental composer. Gerhard Winkler (1906-1977) is a German composer, whose name may not be familiar internationally, but his music certainly is. Perhaps his best-known piece of light music outside his homeland is his Neapolitan Serenade, although Chianti Song runs it a close second. He seems to have been inspired by Italy for many of his works, but his greatest success was Answer Me My Love which Nat ‘King’ Cole took into the US hit parade in 1954, where it remained for 40 weeks.

Monia Liter has admitted to composing Soft Lights of Rome, but his publishers also identify him as the composer of Andalusian Girl so, presumably, Sicilian Lullaby is also his creation as well, since both have the same composer credit – ‘Gaze’. Andalusian Girl may be familiar, because with an added vocal it became a pop song Pepe which enjoyed some success around 1960. Another well-known novelty is Guaglione – possibly better known as The Man Who Plays The Mandolin. The two numbers by ‘Wayne’ are most likely the work of American composer Bernie Wayne, who wrote many catchy pieces of light music in the 1950s (such as Vanessa, Port-Au-Prince and Veradero), although his biggest success was the song Blue Velvet.

The title track of Lovers in Paris offers a charming melody from the same pen as the composer of Sentimental Afternoon. Unfortunately the name ‘Sherman’ is not uncommon among composers, so without additional information it is well nigh impossible to attribute these attractive numbers. Perhaps an educated guess can be made in the case of The Flirt, since one of Monia Liter’s colleagues at Boosey & Hawkes was Bassett Silver (who was in charge of the Recorded Music Library), although the co-composer ‘Alfred’ could be a pseudonym – maybe for the maestro himself? We are on slightly safer ground with French Fries, because Fred Hartley was a highly respected broadcaster and composer, and he would have worked with Monia Liter on many occasions.

Two other numbers from this LP can be credited with certainty. Ken Warner (real name Onslow Boyden Waldo Turner – 1902-1988) composed several catchy string novelties, perhaps the best-known being Scrub Brother Scrub. Tumble Home first appeared in the Boosey & Hawkes Recorded Music Library. Warner could play violin, clarinet and saxophone, and during a long and varied career he worked with the likes of Peter Yorke, Max Jaffa, Reginald Leopold and Fred Hartley. He was a BBC employee until 1959, when he decided to retire to Cornwall and raise pigs.

Helmut Zacharias (1920-2002) the famous German violinist achieved international fame with his ‘Magic Violins’. In the 1950s AFN dubbed him ‘the best jazz violinist in the world’ and during his long career he received many awards, notably for his Tokyo Melody which the BBC chose for its coverage of the 1964 Olympic Games, helping it to achieve sales of over 13 million copies worldwide. Blue Blues finds Helmut in a sad, reflective mood.

The delicate touch of Monia Liter at the keyboard can be heard among the rich orchestral sounds on these two albums from the mid-1950s, although he never attempts to overwhelm the melodies. As a highly respected concert pianist he could have been forgiven for using these LPs as a showcase purely for his own talents, but it speaks volumes for his own good taste, and his respect for the gifted composers whose works he conducts, that he allows the music to hold centre stage. Many of the tunes will be unfamiliar on a first hearing, but one suspects that they will soon become established favourites of the music-lovers who appreciate such pleasant sounds as these.

David Ades

A new Living Era CD fills many of the gaps left by previous Peter Yorke CDs of his Columbia 78s

PETER YORKE and his Concert Orchestra

featuring STEVE CONWAY and FREDDY GARDNER, sax

"Melody of the Stars"

1 MELODY OF THE STARS (Peter Yorke) DB2569
2 TILL THE CLOUDS ROLL BY - selection DB2297
3 THESE FOOLISH THINGS DB2548
4 CARNIVAL IN COSTA RICA - selection DB2329
5 HUMPTY DUMPTY DB2569
6 BLUE SKIES - selection DB2273
7 DAWN FANTASY (Peter Yorke) DB2639
8 THE TIME THE PLACE AND THE GIRL - selection DB2306
9 HOW DEEP IS THE OCEAN DB2519
10 IT’S MAGIC - selection DB2510
11 I ONLY HAVE EYES FOR YOU DB2411
12 NIGHT AND DAY – selection DB2285
13 NO ORCHIDS FOR MY LADY DB2452
14 BAMBI - selection DB2396
15 GENTLE MAIDEN DB2458
16 LOOK FOR THE SILVER LINING - selection DB2615

Sanctuary Group Living Era CDAJA5501

 The name Peter Yorke will be familiar to most readers of Journal Into Melody. He conducted one of Britain’s most popular broadcasting orchestras from the 1940s until the 1960s. He was also a gifted composer and he created many stunning arrangements that brought out some fine performances from the top musicians he always employed.

He was born in London on 4 December 1902, the son of a printer, and he was already an accomplished organist by the age of 16. While still in his teens he was appointed choir-master and organist at a London church, and he completed his education at Trinity College, London. His early musical career found him working as a pianist in a west London orchestra, and his skill as an arranger was so apparent that, within a couple of years, he was providing scores to most of the important bands in London. During 1927-28 he appeared as pianist and arranger on British dance band 78s by Percival Mackey, thereafter with George Fisher (1928), Jay Whidden (1928), Jack Hylton (1929-33), and Henry Hall (1932-33).

With Hylton he eventually found the continuous travelling stressful, so for a while he formed his own orchestra which concentrated on providing broadcasts for European radio stations.

In 1936 he began a fruitful collaboration as chief arranger with Louis Levy, one of the pioneers of music for British films, who employed several talented writers such as Clive Richardson, Charles Williams and Jack Beaver, but seldom gave them any credit on-screen. (Typically Levy never mentions Peter’s contributions once in his 1948 book ‘Music For The Movies’). Yorke’s experience and skills were ideally suited to the big, lush sound conjured up by Louis Levy and his Gaumont-British Orchestra on their many recordings and broadcasts.

Peter Yorke joined the Royal Air Force in 1940, and within six months he was transferred to the Broadcasting Section of the three services. Demobilised in 1946, he returned to composing and arranging, and formed his own large Concert Orchestra, which built upon the symphonic sound he had developed before the war under Louis Levy.

‘Sweet Serenade’, ‘Our Kind of Music’ and ‘The Peter Yorke Melody Hour’ became popular on BBC radio, allowing listeners to enjoy sophisticated versions of popular tunes of the day, alongside some of his own pieces of light music. He was a prolific writer, with his compositions accepted by many publishers including Chappells, Francis Day & Hunter, Bosworth, Harmonic, Conroy, Paxton, Southern and Josef Weinberger. He chose his own Sapphires and Sables as his main theme, although he often also used Melody of the Stars, which opens this CD. Possibly his best-known work was Silks and Satins which, for ten years from 1957, was heard on British television several nights each week as the closing theme for the popular soap-opera ‘Emergency Ward 10’.

For his broadcasts and records, the Peter Yorke Concert Orchestra usually comprised between 30 to 40 musicians, and leading the saxes was a talented player called Freddy Gardner. He could reach notes on the saxophone which didn’t exist as far as other players were concerned, and his golden tone can be heard soaring above the strings and brass on many recordings that are highly prized by collectors. It is not fanciful to suggest that I Only Have Eyes For You is one of the top ten orchestral 78s of all time, with a superlative arrangement matched by supreme playing from the entire ensemble – with the added bonus of what can only be described as a virtuoso performance by Gardner at the peak of his charmed career. This was recorded at EMI’s Abbey Road studios on 29 April 1948, just two years before his sudden death from a brain haemorrhage on 26 July 1950 at the early age of 39. For three other examples of Freddy’s brilliance just listen to Old Man River, These Foolish Things and Time On My Hands.

Steve Conway (whose real name was Walter James Groom) was one of several fine vocalists regularly chosen by Peter Yorke for his recordings and broadcasts, and it is a tragedy that he died so young (on 19 April 1952 aged only 31) barely six years after his first broadcast on BBC Light Programme’s "Variety Bandbox". His recorded legacy is not large, and some of his best performances were with Peter Yorke, prime examples being his five songs in this collection: Another Night Like This and Mi Vida (from "Carnival in Costa Rica"); It’s Magic and It’s You Or No One (from "It’s Magic"); and No Orchids For My Lady.

All of the tracks on this CD feature Peter Yorke’s own bull-bodied arrangements, with the big concert-orchestra sound that had made him (and earlier Louis Levy) so popular. His style was well-suited to the film selections that formed a large part of his repertoire, and Hollywood provided plenty of inspiration, with the numerous musicals made during the 1940s as escapist entertainment from the grim realities of the real world during that miserable period of our history. The storylines of the likes of Till The Clouds Roll By, Carnival in Costa Rica, Blue Skies, The Time The Place and The Girl, It’s Magic, Night and Day and Look For The Silver Lining now seem incredibly dated – as does the music, but surely that is in its favour!

Walt Disney made a point of employing top songwriters for his cartoon features. Perhaps Bambi had less hits than some of the others, although you wouldn’t realise it from Peter Yorke’s tasteful score.

As well as the title track Melody Of The Stars, Peter Yorke is also represented as a composer with his Dawn Fantasy. It is largely forgotten today, but achieved considerable popularity during the era when Warsaw Concerto spawned a glut of similar works which broadcaster Steve Race astutely dubbed ‘the Denham concertos’, because it seemed that most films emanating from that once-prolific British studio had a full-blown piano pseudo-concerto on the soundtrack.

Mention should also be made of the radio series "ITMA" featuring comedian Tommy Handley, because one of the musical interludes performed by the orchestra under the baton of Charles Shadwell often featured a specially commissioned arrangement of a popular novelty. Peter Yorke was a frequent contributor, and Humpty Dumpty was just one of his inventive creations.

Happily this is not the only compact disc currently available that pays tribute to Peter Yorke’s wonderful music. Care has been taken to avoid too many duplications with other releases, but hopefully collectors will find that this particular selection is an accurate portrayal of the many facets of his genius. He died aged 63 on 2 February 1966 when his shows were still a popular part of the Light Programme schedules, and one suspects that people will still enjoy his tuneful music for decades to come.

David Ades

Other Peter Yorke CDs which deserve to be in your collection:

"GLAMOROUS NIGHTS" Vocalion CDEA6005

"FREDDY GARDNER" Naxos 8120506 [14 tracks with Peter Yorke]

"FREDDY GARDNER" Living Era CDAJA5454 [7 tracks with Peter Yorke]

A new name joins the impressive list of Light Orchestras already available on Vocalion CDs

ROGER ROGER AND HIS ORCHESTRA

"Whimsical Days"

The Original Compositions of Roger Roger

1 FANTASY WALTZ

2 BUSY STREETS

3 COUNTRY ROMANCE

4 WHIMSICAL DAYS

5 TWENTIES SUITE - CHARLESTON

6 TWENTIES SUITE - ROMANCE

7 TWENTIES SUITE - RAGTIME

8 TWENTIES SUITE - FINALE

9 THE JOLLY POSTMAN

10 CHINESE LANTERN

11 SNAPSHOTS - THE SLEIGH RIDE

12 SNAPSHOTS - THE BEAR

13 SNAPSHOTS - THE CYCLE RIDE

14 SNAPSHOTS - THE OLD JALOPY

15 WESTERN MONTAGE

16 GREENLAND SLEIGH DOGS

17 GERSHWINESQUE No. 1

18 GERSHWINESQUE No. 2

19 GERSHWINESQUE No. 3

Vocalion CDLK4229

Through his many compositions for publishers such as Chappells, and the more recent releases on Parry Music CDs, members of the Robert Farnon Society will already be familiar with the full rich sound of Roger Roger’s own orchestra – especially when it performs his own brilliant musical creations. He was a leading figure on the French music scene for many years, and his fine compositions and arrangements also won him many admirers internationally.

He was born on 5 August 1911 at Rouen, Normandy in France, and to satisfy a personal whim his father, Edmond Roger, really did give him the first name Roger. Music was in the family: his mother was an opera singer and his father was a well-known operatic conductor, who had been a classmate of Claude Debussy at the Paris Conservatoire, so it was hardly surprising that young Roger received music tuition at an early age. His main instrument was the piano (mainly self-taught), but harmony and counterpoint also played an important role in his education. His first job on leaving school was teaching light opera at the Rouen Arts Theatre

Roger Roger made his professional conducting debut at the age of eighteen in a Music Hall, but it wasn’t long before radio and films beckoned. During his long career he claimed to have been involved in more than 500 film productions.

Although his parents encouraged him in classical music, during his teenage years young Roger discovered a love for American popular songs. Later in his life, he told Dutch record producer Gert-Jan Blom that "…George Gershwin, Jerome Kern, Cole Porter and Irving Berlin really were my teachers, because I learned by analysing their compositions and arrangements."

However his classical upbringing did not desert him. The composers which influenced him most were Stravinsky, Chabrier, Wagner and Handel, with Ravel providing most of his inspiration for scoring and orchestration.

He started writing for French films towards the end of the 1930s (firstly documentaries, then feature films), and was responsible for the famous pantomime sequences in Marcel Carné’s Les Enfants du Paradis (1944). Several European radio stations employed him, especially Radio Luxembourg, Radio 37 and Europe 1; he was closely involved with the early programmes on the new French Television service.

After the Second World War Roger played piano and conducted a 35-piece orchestra for a major French weekly radio series "Paris Star Time" (Paris a l’heure des Etoiles), which was sent all over the world and even broadcast in the USA. This featured many of the big names of that period, such as Edith Piaf, Jean Sablon, Maurice Chevalier and Charles Trenet. His own instrumental cameos that were featured in the show brought him to the attention of the London publishers Chappell & Co., who were rapidly expanding their Recorded Music Library of background music at that time. Roger’s quirky compositions soon became available to radio, television and film companies around the world, with distinctive titles like Jack O’Lantern (Feux Follets), Paris Fashions (Haute Couture), The Toy Shop Window (La Vitrine aux Jouets) and The Toilers (Grands Travaux). Usually he recorded his own music in Paris, and the unique studio sound added to the special charm that these works possessed. In addition to his brighter numbers, he was also required to create pieces of a more serious nature, including some heavy, repetitive tracks that could be used as accompaniment for industrial scenes in documentaries. A composer of mood music has to be able to write for almost any kind of subject, and this presented no problems for Roger.

The Paris office of Chappells used to issue its own series of LPs of background music, and from the mid-1950s onwards Roger recorded almost 20 albums of his own compositions for them. He often worked with his childhood friend, Nino Nardini. His widow, the opera singer Eva Rehfuss, remembers that Chappells’ agent in the USA was particularly successful in getting Roger’s music used in various soap operas.

During the 1960s John Parry was in charge of Chappells’ Recorded Music Library in London, before he eventually set up his own publishing company in Canada and the USA. His friendship with Roger Roger later resulted in Parry Music taking some of the composer’s prolific output, and the music on this CD is a result of that fruitful collaboration.

Considering how busy Roger was in films and broadcasting, it is surprising that he didn’t make more commercial recordings. He never had an exclusive contract, so his occasional releases appeared on various different labels such as Vega, Polydor, Festival, US Decca, Everest and MGM. Perhaps the reason is that he despised so much of the music that the record companies wanted him to arrange. He held his own orchestra in such high esteem that he didn’t want it to be associated with what he regarded as an inferior product.

Roger’s own compositions have, at times, been compared with the American Leroy Anderson, although they never actually met. But a close collaboration, which developed into a strong friendship, grew up between Roger and Frank Chacksfield. The two worked together on BBC shows, and in a series called "Performance" for French radio. By a strange co-incidence, Frank died just three days before Roger in 1995. Roger also knew Lalo Schifrin well, but it was more of a friendship than a working relationship, because they each preferred to compose on their own.

Roger Roger died in Paris on 12 June 1995 aged 83. He managed to create his own unique sound through his brilliant compositions and orchestrations, and one suspects that future generations of music-lovers will re-discover and enjoy his melodious creations for a long time to come.

This CD presents the genius of Roger Roger in three main areas of his musical world – as a composer, arranger and conductor. The title track Whimsical Days encapsulates, in just one number, many of the sounds and styles which help to make his music recognisable to his many admirers. The brass at the opening (sounding almost discordant), supported with a firm backdrop of strings, leads into the woodwind performing a perky melody that immediately lifts the spirits in a light-hearted manner. Then comes the hint of toy soldiers, perhaps – another perky sound so typical of the composer. Various moods then vie to predominate, until the opening chords eventually reappear, with a repeat of the main melody which, by now, has become distinctly whimsical – just as the title promised that it would. No one else, but Roger Roger, could have composed this fascinating number.

It is worth drawing attention to the final suite in this collection of original works which represents Roger’s affection, respect and admiration for one of the greatest American composers, George Gershwin. For some reason he chose not to give the three movements separate descriptive titles, perhaps preferring that his music should speak for itself. However one is tempted to try and imagine what his inspiration might have been, and Roger’s publisher, John Parry is in no doubt that the music is intended to portray the vibrant atmosphere of New York and its environs. He suggests On Broadway for the first part, followed by New York Nights and finally Manhattan Rendezvous. Whether or not you agree, the entire suite is a delightful work that makes a fitting climax to a selection of music by a very talented composer who fully deserves to be remembered in the 21^st century.

David Ades

This CD is due to be released in December, and copies may be purchased by members of the Robert Farnon Society from the RFS Record Service for £10 [US $20] plus postage and packing.

Boosey & Hawkes salute one of their most famous composers with a special Production Music CD

trevor duncan

"final frontiers"

THE VISIONARIES
THE VOYAGERS
THE SEEKERS OF GLORY
THE GREAT QUEST
THE CHALLENGE OF SPACE
PANORAMIC SPLENDOUR
GRAND VISTA
BROAD REACH
PASSAGE TO WINDWARD
CITIZENS OF THE WORLD
AIM AND ENDEAVOUR
THE SPIRIT OF PROGRESS
HORIZONS UNLIMITED

Boosey Media CAVCD171

Trevor Duncan is one of the great light music composers of the 20^th century, and his music has been heard in numerous radio and television programmes, films and documentaries from the 1950s onwards.

"High Heels" started it all way back as the 1940s were drawing to a close, at a time when the composer was working as a sound engineer in BBC Radio. His publishers, Boosey & Hawkes, were happy to take just about everything that he composed, but his output was so prolific that, by the mid-1950s, with their blessing he started to place some of his creations with other London recorded music libraries. From then on it seemed that music just flowed from his fertile imagination, but apart from a few better-known works (such as the "Dr. Finlay’s Casebook" theme and "The Girl From Corsica") most of his delightful melodies have been ‘locked away’ from the general public in publishers’ libraries.

However in recent years record buyers have been able to acquire some of his works on CD, the most important release being the 1996 Marco Polo disc of new stereo performances of just some of his vast output (see details at the end of this feature). The recent Vocalion release of Boosey & Hawkes recordings by the New Concert Orchestra has provided further tantalising examples of Trevor’s work, and it is hoped that more will be forthcoming in due course.

Boosey Media have issued a CD of Trevor Duncan compositions which concentrates on his panoramic and scenic works, stretching from the oceans to the vastness of space. This is an area of his output which was not fully recognised in the Marco Polo selection. We should mention that not every movement of all the suites listed has been included, mainly because the professional users of production music often require only segments as ‘scene setters’ which are frequently incomplete in themselves, musically speaking.

Unfortunately (for the general public) this CD has been produced for use mainly by film and television companies, so it is not commercially available from record stores. Happily copies have been made available to members of the Robert Farnon Society, and they can be ordered from the RFS Record Service in the usual way. The compilation is the work of our good friend André Leon, and we are most grateful to Ann Dawson at Boosey Media for kindly allowing RFS members to obtain copies. David Ades

Some other CDs featuring music by TREVOR DUNCAN

British Light Music – TREVOR DUNCAN 20^th Century Express (original title ‘Making Tracks’); Little Suite – March, Lullaby, Jogtrot; High Heels; Children in the Park – Dancing for Joy, At the Pool, Hide and Seek; Serenade from Maestro Variations; The Girl from Corsica; Meadow Mist; Valse Mignonette; Wine Festival; Sixpenny Ride, Enchanted April (original title ‘The Olive Grove’), St. Boniface Down; La Torrida; The Visionaries Grand March; Little Debbie Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (Bratislava) conducted by Andrew Penny Marco Polo 8223517 (available from the RFS Record Service for £12.50 [US$25].

THE NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA – Boosey & Hawkes Background Music Volume 1 Trevor Duncan compositions: Citizens of the World – March; Passage to Windward; Four Old Fusspots; Icicle Ride; Broad Reach; Harvest Supper; The Scent of Sandalwood; Little Suite – Folk Tune; The Spirit of Progress – March. CD also includes works by Ernest Tomlinson, Vivian Ellis, Frederic Curzon, Cyril Watters, Dennis Farnon, Monia Liter and Sam Fonteyn –for full details see JIM 156. Vocalion CDLK4192 (available from RFS Record Service for £10 [US$20]).

Tomboy (from "Pink Champagne" – Sanctuary Group Living Era CDAJA5470 (available from RFS Record Service for £8 [US$16]).

Revelation; Testament; Mob Violence 1, 2, 3 & 4; The Unwanted – The Boy 1, 2 (from "Big Screen Little Screen" Boosey Media CAV CD 155 (2 CDs) only available from RFS Record Service £12 [US$24]).

March from ‘A Little Suite’; Making Tracks; High Heels; Title Fanfares 1 & 2; Newsreel Special 1 & 2; Panoramic Splendour; Grand Vista; Transitionals 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 (from "Archive Collection Vol. 1" Boosey Media CAV CD 32 – only available from RFS Record Service £9 [US$18]).

Peak Production; Plutonium Plant; Spirit of Industry (from "Archive Collection Vol. 2" Boosey Media CAV CD 37 – only available from RFS Record Service £9 [US$18]).

Glad I’m Home; Cartoon Capers; Zebedee; Susilu; Nokogok; Bach with a Bite; Find me There; Wheeler Dealer; Groovy Train; Mad Mendoza; You Were Right I Was …; O’Donovan Downtown (from "Fromage a la Funk" Boosey Media CAV CD 92 (2 CDs) only available from RFS Record Service £12 [US$24]).

Uncle Harry*; Eight Man Bunce; Colonel Crud* (*from "Four Old Fusspots"); Valse Parisienne (from "Archive Collection Vol. 3" Boosey Media CAV CD 125 only from RFS Record Service £9 [US$18]).

Funkrund (from "Soho Hipsters" Boosey Media CAV CD 147 only available from RFS Record Service £9 [US$18]).

March from ‘A Little Suite’; The Girl from Corsica; High Heels; Smile of a Latin (from "The Great British Experience" EMI CD GB 50 (2 CDs) available from RFS Record Service for £15 [US$30]).

March from ‘A Little Suite’ (from "Britain’s Choice" Light Music Society Orchestra conducted by Sir Vivian Dunn – Vocalion CDLK4182 available from RFS Record Service for £10 [US$20]).

The Girl from Corsica (from "Ron Goodwin – That Magnificent Man and his Music Machine" EMI 724358255027 (2 CDs) available from RFS Record Service £16 [US$32]).

Vocalion releases the first volume of a new delve into the riches of the Boosey & Hawkes Recorded Music Library

THE NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA

1 CITIZENS OF THE WORLD : MARCH (Trevor Duncan)
2 ROMANTIC JOURNEY (Ernest Tomlinson)
3 THE BINGOLA (Vivian Ellis)
4 VIN ROSE (Frederic Curzon)
5 PASSAGE TO WINDWARD (Trevor Duncan)
6 TALKING POINT (Cyril Watters)
7 GIRL BIRD (Dennis Farnon)
FOUR OLD FUSSPOTS (Trevor Duncan)
8 UNCLE HARRY
9 COLONEL CRUD (Bart.)
10 PROF. POTTS Ph. D.
11 FARMER NOAKES
12 SONG OF THE WOODLANDS (Frederic Curzon)
13 EXUBERANT YOUTH (Ernest Tomlinson)
14 CELTIC MELODY (Cyril Watters)
15 ICICLE RIDE (Trevor Duncan)
16 THE BULLFIGHTER (Monia Liter)
17 DIARY OF A DEBUTANTE (Sam Fonteyn)
18 BROAD REACH (Trevor Duncan)
19 PARIS TAXI (Vivian Ellis)
20 WATERSMEET (Cyril Watters)
21 HARVEST SUPPER (Trevor Duncan)
22 RIVERSIDE IDYLL (Frederic Curzon)
23 SPRING (Vivian Ellis)
24 THE SCENT OF SANDALWOOD (Trevor Duncan)
25 LITTLE SUITE : FOLK TUNE (Trevor Duncan)
26 THE SPIRIT OF PROGRESS : MARCH (Trevor Duncan)

Vocalion CDLK4192

This CD is a celebration of the talents of a group of gifted composers who, between them, contributed hundreds of individual pieces of light music to the recorded music library operated by the famous London publishers, Boosey & Hawkes. The recordings date from the 1960s and 1970s, and the name on the original record labels (they first appeared on 78s and LPs) is ‘The New Concert Orchestra’. In actual fact the musicians were drawn from several different broadcasting orchestras, mostly on the continent of Europe, and for contractual reasons the true identities of the conductors could not always be revealed. However one thing remained constant: Boosey & Hawkes ensured that the recordings and performances were all of the highest quality.

Recorded Music Libraries were established by many of the top London publishers, providing films, radio and television companies with a readily accessible source of affordable recorded music that could be used as signature tunes, main themes or simply as backgrounds for every kind of use.

Competition was fierce, and each publisher developed its own style, backed up by top writers, many of them happy to specialise in this particular niche of the music industry.

During the 1950s the legendary Bassett Silver took over the day-to-day running of the B&H Recorded Music Library, and he remained at the helm until his sudden death in 1974. The music in this collection is a testament to his fine leadership which resulted in numerous talented composers contributing original works which demonstrate just how much splendid light music still remains undiscovered.

Dennis Farnon (b. 1923) is the younger brother of Robert Farnon, and he began composing for the Boosey & Hawkes Recorded Music Library in the late 1960s. Prior to that he had worked for ten years in Hollywood where his screen credits included the music for12 ‘Mr. Magoo’ cartoons, and four humorous animated ‘Art’ films. For three years he was Artist and West Coast Album Director for RCA Records, and was one of the five founders in 1957 of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, who present the annual Grammy awards. His conducting and arranging assignments included albums with Harry Belafonte, Tony Martin, Gogi Grant, George Shearing and the Four Freshmen. Among his own LPs are ‘Caution Men Swinging’, ‘Enchanted Woods’ and ‘Magoo in Hi-Fi’. He came to Europe in 1962, and worked on TV series such as ‘Bat Out Of Hell’, ‘Spy Trap’ and ‘Bouquet of Barbed Wire’. Dennis now lives in The Netherlands, where he continues to compose and teach. He admits that his composition in this collection – Girl Bird – is one of his own personal favourites.

Frederic Curzon (1899-1973) devoted his early career to working in the theatre and, like so many of his contemporaries, he gradually became involved in providing music for silent films. As well as being a fine pianist and a conductor, he also played the organ, and his first big success as a composer was his ‘Robin Hood Suite’ in 1937. This encouraged him to devote more of his time to writing and broadcasting, and several of his works have become light music ‘standards’, notably The Boulevardier, Dance of an Ostracised Imp and the miniature overture Punchinello. He was eventually appointed Head of Light Music at Boosey & Hawkes, and for a while was also President of the Light Music Society. Curzon was much liked and admired by fellow musicians and his colleagues in publishing, although he remained an essentially private man. He worked hard on behalf of other composers, and wrote a large amount of ‘mood music’ himself. The three examples in this collection reveal his great ability for pure melody and delicate scoring.

Vivian Ellis (1904-1996) was only 24 when he had his first big success in London’s West End with his show ‘Mr. Cinders’, from which came one of his best-remembered hits Spread a Little Happiness. He had started in the music business as a song-plugger with the famous publishers Francis, Day & Hunter, but thereafter it was his songs that would be sung and played by millions around the world. Many more shows were to follow, leading up to ‘Bless The Bride’ in 1947 which provided his greatest theatrical achievement. But Vivian Ellis did not confine his talents to musicals; he was equally at home composing melodies that became popular light orchestral works. His most famous was Coronation Scot (the signature tune of BBC Radio’s ‘Paul Temple’), closely followed by Alpine Pastures (the theme for ‘My Word’ – on Vocalion CDEA6061). In the 1960s he began composing regularly for Boosey & Hawkes, and three of his contrasting works are included on this CD. Like his contemporary Richard Addinsell, Vivian Ellis possessed the precious skill of being able to conjure up a strong melody, although he preferred to leave it to others to orchestrate his creations. Unfortunately those responsible were seldom credited, so researchers can only assume that the final polish was applied by people such as Cyril Watters, who were employed by his publishers to perform such tasks for their fellow writers.

Monia Liter (1906-1988) was born in Odessa, and left following the 1917 Russian revolution. He worked as a pianist in a cinema orchestra in China, and then moved on to many varied jobs in the Far East, finally ending up in Singapore where he spent seven years leading a dance band at the prestigious Raffles Hotel. While in Singapore he became a naturalised British subject, and came to Britain in 1933 where he worked with many of the top bands, including the famous vocalist Al Bowlly. In 1941 he joined the BBC as a composer, conductor and arranger, initially with the Twentieth Century Serenaders. After 10 years at the BBC, he left them to concentrate on concert work and composing. He was also in demand for films, recording and television, and later worked in the Light Music department at Boosey & Hawkes, writing many works for their Recorded Music Library.

Ernest Tomlinson (b.1924) is one of Britain’s most talented composers, working mainly in light music, but also highly regarded for his choral works and brass band pieces. During a very productive career, he has contributed numerous titles to the recorded music libraries of many different publishers, often under the pseudonym ‘Alan Perry’. One of his best-known numbers is Little Serenade, which he developed from a theme he wrote as incidental music for a radio production ‘The Story of Cinderella’ in 1955. His suites of English Folk Dances have also become part of the standard light music repertoire. In recent years Ernest has worked hard to preserve thousands of music manuscripts that would otherwise have been destroyed, and he is the Chairman of the Light Music Society.

Cyril Watters (1907-1984) was a backroom-boy in the music business in every sense of the word. From 1953 to 1961 he was chief arranger with Boosey & Hawkes, and worked in similar capacities with other publishers, including Chappells. His own compositions were willingly accepted for many mood music libraries, and his greatest success was his Willow Waltz which won him an Ivor Novello Award in 1960; it came to prominence through its use as the theme for the TV serial ‘The World of Tim Frazer’. During the 1960s he worked tirelessly on behalf of his fellow musicians as Secretary of the Light Music Society, and was a true gentleman highly respected and liked by all who came into contact with him.

Trevor Duncan (b. 1924) – real name Leonard Charles Trebilco - is one of Britain’s finest composers of light music during the second half of the last century. In the 1940s he worked at the BBC as a sound engineer, but a conflict of interests arose when his compositions became very popular and BBC rules limited the amount that their own employees’ works could be broadcast. His first big success for Boosey & Hawkes was High Heels, soon followed by other delightful cameos such as Tomboy, Twentieth Century Express and The Girl From Corsica. By the end of the 1950s his output was so prolific that B&H were unable to handle everything that he was writing so, with their blessing, he placed some of his numbers with other publishers. Television used his music for programmes such as The Quatermass Experiment, Dr. Finlay’s Casebook and The Planemakers (the first track on this CD). One of his passions was sailing, and many of his works seem to pay homage to the sea in all its moods. The music for Dr. Finlay’s Casebook is the March from Trevor Duncan’s ‘Little Suite’. This, and two other movements, are already available on various recordings, but a fourth movement from the suite – Folk Tune – has been unfairly neglected. This CD now makes it available for the first time on a commercial release.

The other composer represented in this collection, Sam Fonteyn (real name Sam Soden), was an accomplished writer who may not have achieved the same recognition as the afore-mentioned, but nevertheless produced some very pleasing melodies. There are countless others like him in the world of light music, who often prefer to preserve their anonymity, happy in the knowledge that their work gives pleasure to unsuspecting millions.

David Ades (July 2003)

To co-incide with the release of a new CD, David Ades paints a profile of one of the greatest names in British Light Music

GEORGE MELACHRINO

George Melachrino conducted one of the finest British Light Orchestras in the years immediately following World War 2. Thanks to the Long Playing record, his fame spread throughout the world, especially in North America where his albums sold millions of copies.
He was born George Miltiades Melachrino in London in 1909. At the age of four he was being taught by his stepfather on a miniature violin, and was only thirteen when he made his first public appearance as a solo violinist. Three years later he enrolled at the Trinity College of Music, winning particular praise for his work with strings. He proceeded to master all the instruments of the orchestra, with the exception of the piano and harp. In addition he had a pleasant singing voice, and broadcast from the BBC Studios at Savoy Hill when only eighteen.
Like so many of his contemporaries, Melachrino discovered that his talents were well suited to the demands of the British dance bands which flourished during his youth. In numerous broadcasts and recordings he performed on clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone, violin, viola and as a most competent vocalist. While still in his teens, as early as 1926 he was recording with Geoffrey Gelder and his Kettner’s Five, and in the following years he was employed by Ambrose, Harry Hudson, Jack Jackson, Van Phillips, Rudy Starita, Jay Wilbur, Marius B. Winter and Carroll Gibbons and his Savoy Hotel Orpheans. Gibbons made him one of his ‘star’ vocalists, and his duets with Anne Lenner were especially popular. Examples of his work with this fine ensemble can be heard on Vocalion CDEA6047.
By 1938 he was getting star billing for his BBC broadcasts, and in 1939 he was leader of the dance orchestra at London’s Café de Paris.
World War 2 interrupted Melachrino’s career, although it helped to steer him in a different direction, musically speaking. Following a brief spell in the military police, a back injury resulted in him being drafted back into broadcasting, in special shows for the troops overseas. He became Musical Director of the Army Radio Unit, and toured with the ‘Stars In Battledress’. Melachrino formed a 50-piece ‘Orchestra In Khaki’, employing the finest professional musicians serving in the forces. He relished in the artistic freedom he enjoyed, which permitted him to perform a wide variety of music. In 1944 Regimental Sergeant Major George Melachrino (note that the British Army didn’t consider that their top musician should be a commissioned officer!) became conductor of the British Band of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, working alongside Major Glenn Miller and Captain Robert Farnon, who fronted the US and Canadian bands.
There is an intriguing story about how the wartime Melachrino style evolved. His senior at the War Office, Eric Maschwitz (of A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square fame), said he wanted to hear Pennsylvania Polka played by an orchestra of 80. So Melachrino’s AEF band numbered 80 musicians, making its conductor the first to introduce sweet, sentimental mood music by the use of masses of strings.
Each of the three AEF bands developed its own special style, building up a large following with the civilian population at home, as well as with the troops who were the main target audience. The British band gained a tremendous reputation, and Melachrino himself sang with all three service bands. His own composition First Rhapsody opened and closed each programme, when the British band started broadcasting to Europe. Originally a serious work for orchestra lasting seven and a half minutes, First Rhapsody was written in 1936. For the purpose of his signature tune, Melachrino adapted the principal theme, and reconstructed the work making it shorter and more popular in character. It was arranged in various forms, notably for solo piano and piano and orchestra. The British film "House of Darkness" was the story of how First Rhapsody came to be written. (Melachrino’s 12" 78 version of First Rhapsody was included in the EMI collection ‘Memories of the Light Programme’).
When the war was over, Melachrino’s AEF band formed the backbone of the magnificent orchestra that was to achieve world-wide fame for almost 20 years. The accent was now on strings, and it was in string orchestration that George excelled. Such was his popularity that he appeared in the 1948 Royal Variety performance.
The Melachrino Organisation grew into one of Britain’s most important musical empires, which included several orchestras and ensembles.
Today it is his recordings which serve to remind us of his exceptional talent. His post-war orchestra made around 100 78rpm records, and he was responsible for more than 50 LPs. For his repertoire he drew upon many of the popular standards and light classics of the day, often made instantly recognisable through his regular BBC radio broadcasts. Many of his records featured his own arrangements and compositions, and he was also in demand from the stage and the cinema, scoring over a dozen feature films. He was a gifted composer, and contributed a number of works for EMI’s short-lived Recorded Music Library, which provided themes and background music for films, radio and television world-wide.
Melachrino was married three times. His first wife and two sons aged 12 and 15 were killed by a flying bomb during the war. Afterwards he devoted much of his time to helping sick children. His second marriage was dissolved (we presume that it is this wife and daughter which appear in the Kolynos advertisement). In 1961 he had a son by his third wife, former ballet dancer Noreen Lee.
Sadly George Melachrino fell asleep in his bath and drowned at his London home in Gordon Place, Kensington on 18 June 1965, at the tragically early age of 56. On hearing the news, prophetically his publisher John Wallington said: "George’s death is a great loss to me personally, and to the world of Light Music. I am sure that his music will go on being played as long as Light Music is played." Sydney Grace, head of variety in the Grade Organisation said: "I admired him immensely, both for his talent and his bright way of life. George was a wonderful host. He was, I think, the instigator of the big orchestra with the tumbling strings, which he did during the war."
Perhaps such a sweeping statement requires some qualification. In the 1930s the likes of Louis Levy in Britain, and Andre Kostelanetz in the USA, were fronting orchestras where the strings were an important feature within the entire orchestra. But Melachrino was fortunate (during his Army years) in being able to call upon vast numbers of strings, with no worries about the cost, which became the dominant feature. Massive sales during the early years of the LP era still permitted light orchestras to use large numbers of string players (as well as Melachrino, one immediately thinks of Mantovani) but gradually modern recording techniques allowed the same effects to be achieved with fewer players.
When considering the choice of music for this CD, I was anxious to avoid too many duplications. Naturally the numbers had to be different from the existing Vocalion CD "Begin the Beguine", and all the tracks must out of copyright, which in Britain means at least 50 years old. Back in 1993 I made a similar compilation for EMI, but that CD was quickly deleted so I have felt justified in selecting works such as Winter Sunshine and Starlight Roof Waltz which ought to be available once again. To compensate, you’ll notice that there are some very rare numbers, which should appeal to ‘serious’ fans of the maestro.
Therefore this collection concentrates exclusively on George Melachrino’s recordings during the first five years of his post-war contract with HMV. It may be of interest to recall the recording techniques which were still in use at the time. In 1993 his producer, Walter J. Ridley, remembered many enjoyable hours working in EMI’s No. 1 Studio at Abbey Road. "During the first months of our association recording was still done on wax; a rather precarious business it was, too. The tiniest speck of dust on the surface of the wax (known as the biscuit) forced the recording to a halt, which all too frequently it did. The wax, over an inch thick and kept in a cabinet at a constant temperature, was placed on a turntable controlled by a pulley suspended from the ceiling, and a large weight kept it turning evenly as the weight descended." By 1950 tape recording had taken over, which permitted the luxury of editing, making the lives of both performers and technicians slightly less stressful.
The labels of the 78s used to describe George Melachrino either as "The Melachrino Orchestra conducted by George Melachrino" or "The Melachrino Strings conducted by George Melachrino". The first issued 78s were by the strings on B9515 (included on Vocalion CDEA6014), but the CD begins with the first 78 by the full orchestra - his own composition Winter Sunshine which was released in 1947. We can safely assume that Melachrino also arranged his own number, but unfortunately it is not possible to be so precise about all the music on this CD. With so many commitments, it would be unreasonable to expect that the maestro would find enough hours in the day to be able to score everything performed by his orchestra. Indeed he used other talented arrangers, notably his ‘right-hand-man’ William Hill-Bowen, who later made many fine recordings in his own name.
Arthur Wilkinson was another of Melachrino’s favoured arrangers, and in accordance with the custom at that time he and Hill-Bowen would be expected to reflect the style of the boss. Occasionally the 78 labels do mention the arranger, but for the rest we have to use our ears and trust to luck. Of course, an added complication is that most famous conductors were not averse to making slight (and sometimes big!) alterations to scores provided by others, wishing to stamp their own ‘trademarks’ on what they performed. It would be surprising if Melachrino resisted such a temptation.
The Kurt Weill classic September Song receives a tender treatment from the strings, probably by Melachrino himself. There is no doubt that Melachrino was responsible for scoring Robert Farnon’s My Song Of Spring (which also acquired unrecorded lyrics by Patricia Nash). Both conductors were enjoying star status as the 1950s dawned, and as a measure of their friendship and mutual respect, they each agreed to arrange and perform a well-known work by the other. Farnon orchestrated Winter Sunshine which he distinguished with an almost syncopated movement for its middle theme; the result was performed in several broadcasts. Melachrino did Farnon the honour of actually recording his My Song Of Spring, although this was probably a shrewd decision, because the song became popular following its introduction in the ice spectacular "London Melody" at the Empress Hall early in 1951. Later Farnon was to record it himself, in a different setting, as Sophistication Waltz (recently reissued on Vocalion CDLK4112).
There is a selection which is as surprising as it is delightful. In 1950 Walt Disney released his animated film "Cinderella", which may have lacked some of the charm of his earlier features but nonetheless contained many enjoyable moments and some good music. In fact Disney films usually had quite good songs; in their original settings they may have seemed fairly ordinary, but clever arrangers could often work minor miracles with them. Messrs Mack David, Al Hoffman and Jerry Livingston created a score with at least three big numbers, and it inspired George Melachrino (surely it must be his arrangement) to weave a ‘Fantasy’ which retells the familiar story using the songs as they appeared. (Many years before, Eric Coates had done something similar with his Cinderella Phantasy, first performed in 1929). The astonishing thing is that this Melachrino ‘Fantasy’ should ever have been recorded at all - especially on two sides of a 78! Children would hate this arrangement - it bears no resemblance to the film at all. Adults would assume (incorrectly) that the music was aimed at children, and not bother to even listen to it. Hopefully 50 years later such prejudices can be pushed aside, because Melachrino has given us almost seven minutes of pure magic. The opening songs - Cinderella and A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes - set the scene where poor downtrodden Cinderella is abused by her stepsisters, but still manages to indulge in daydreams. Then there is the pending Royal Ball, and the realisation that Cinderella won’t be going. Fortuitously the Fairy Godmother appears and sets Cinderella up in clothes (with the assistance of the mice) - The Work Song. Still there is time for hope - O Sing Sweet Nightingale - and Fairy Godmother conjures up transport (with the help of assorted creatures) - Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo - which succeeds in getting the heroine to the palace. She dances to the strains of So This Is Love, but the Fairy Godmother’s warning about watching the clock is cleverly underscored with the darting woodwind reminding us of the time-sensitive magic spell in Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo. The chimes of midnight bring the ball to an abrupt ending, but like all good fairy stories everything comes right in the end, to the strains of a reprise of A Dream Is A Wish Your Heart Makes.
Among the other rare items is a work by a gentle man who has been unfairly neglected in recent decades. Reginald King (1904-1991) was a prolific composer and broadcaster, who became part of the furniture at Swan and Edgar’s restaurant in London’s West End, where his small orchestra performed Monday to Friday from the 1920s to the 1940s. William Hill-Bowen takes the piano solo in one of King’s more serious works Theme from ‘Runnymede Rhapsody’.
Hollywood musicals went through a vogue where a ballet sequence was inserted into the plot with the star dancers (usually Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly) performing a gangster routine. This probably inspired William Hill-Bowen to compose a ballet based on The Legend Of Frankie And Johnnie. The titles of the movements give plenty of clues as to the plot: Street Scene, Bedroom Scene, The Bar-room, Nelly Bly’s Dance, Shooting Scene, Death Of Johnnie. The resultant mini-concerto is an entertaining piece which fully deserves to be resurrected.
Melachrino’s work in films often involved movies which were ... to put it politely ... not exactly big hits. "Dark Secret" remains just that for most of us today, but the Theme Waltz is a charming melody which can be enjoyed in its own right, without having to sit through the film!

George Melachrino left a fine legacy of recordings which today’s music lovers are now starting to appreciate anew. His music always bore a hallmark of quality, and he proved that it is not necessary to resort to cheap gimmicks in order to be able to sell records. It was tragic that he was taken from us while at the peak of his popularity, at a time when he must still have had much to offer. We can only be grateful that, for almost 20 years his orchestral output was prolific, and there are many examples of his work patiently waiting to be rediscovered by his appreciative admirers, old and new.

GEORGE MELACHRINO AND HIS ORCHESTRA AND STRINGS*

"Cascade of Stars"

1. WINTER SUNSHINE (George Melachrino) 2. SEPTEMBER SONG* (Kurt Weil) 3. MY SONG OF SPRING (Robert Farnon) 4. ZINGARA (Chaminade, arr. Arthur Wilkinson) 5. MIDNIGHT IN MAYFAIR* (Newell Chase) 6. CINDERELLA - FILM FANTASY (David, Hoffman, Livingston) 7. CASCADE OF STARS* (Osna Maderna) 8. AUTUMN LEAVES* (Joseph Kosma) 9. SILVER LINING FANTASY 10. IF YOU GO (Michael Emer) 11. DANSE MEXICAINE (Arthur Wilkinson)
12. THEME FROM ‘RUNNYMEDE RHAPSODY’ (Reginald King) 13. STARLIGHT ROOF WALTZ (George Melachrino)
14. ANTE EL ESCORIAL (Ernesto Lecuona) 15. VIOLINS IN THE NIGHT* (George Melachrino) 16. THE LEGEND OF FRANKIE AND JOHNNIE (William Hill-Bowen) 17. THEME WALTZ - FROM FILM ‘DARK SECRET’* (George Melachrino)
18. WORDS AND MUSIC - SELECTION (Richard Rodgers)

VOCALION CDEA 6060

The enthusiastic response to Vocalion’s first two CDs featuring vintage recordings by the Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra has prompted a third collection, recently released

QUEEN’S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA - Volume 3

1 ALL SPORTS MARCH* (Robert Farnon) C339; 2 PADDLE BOAT (Joyce Cochrane) C358; 3 MELODY OF THE STARS (Peter Yorke) C366; 4 GOING FOR A RIDE (Sidney Torch) C314; 5 STATE OCCASION* (Robert Farnon) C294;
6 SOLILOQUY* (Haydn Wood) F9295; 7 VALSE D’AMOUR*** (Tony Lowry) C273; 8 ALL THE FUN OF THE FAIR** (Percy Fletcher) C127; 9 MUSIC IN THE AIR (Byron Lloyd) DB2436; 10 SUNSET AT SEA** (Charles Williams) C132; 11 WAIATA POI (Alfred Hill) C326; 12 COMIC CUTS (Sidney Torch) C378; 13 PALE MOON (Frederick Knight Logan) DB2564;
14 CUBANA** (Charles Williams) C199; 15 ECSTASY (Felton Rapley) C384; 16 GRAND PARADE** (Clive Richardson) C276; 17 SONG OF CAPRI (Mischa Spoliansky) DB2564; 18 SPRING SONG** (Haydn Wood) C214; 19 MY WALTZ FOR YOU (Sidney Torch) C291; 20 FIESTA* (Mark Lubbock) C311; 21 THE AWAKENING (Robert Busby) C334; 22 KINGS OF SPORT* (Jack Beaver) C295; 23 FIDDLER’S FOLLY (Len Stevens) C358; 24 CASANOVA MELODY* (Michael Sarsfield) C374; 25 GRANDSTAND* (Robert Farnon) C344

BONUS TRACKS

The "Dan Dare" music from Radio Luxembourg

26 COMMANDOS** (Charles Williams) C110; 27 RADIO LOCATION** (Clive Richardson) C178; 28 SEARCHLIGHT** (Charles Williams) C234; C series 10" Chappell 78 rpm; DB series 10" Columbia (EMI) 78 rpm; F series 10" Decca 78 rpm

Compiled by David Ades

Conducted by SIDNEY TORCH except …

* ROBERT FARNON

** CHARLES WILLIAMS

*** PHILIP GREEN

Vocalion CDEA6094

Selecting another programme of first-rate music has presented no problem, because this famous orchestra was responsible for premiering so many fine works by leading composers. In addition, it also offered frequent fresh new performances of established favourites.

Full details of the first two volumes appeared in JIM 148 – September 2001 (listing on page 9). An accompanying article also covered the history of this famous orchestra, plus profiles of many of the leading composers whose works it performed.

Rather than repeat well-known information that will already be familiar to our readers, the following details highlight a few of the composers on this new CD who were not specifically mentioned in the JIM 148 article.

Joyce Cochrane wrote several attractive songs for shows and films (such as You’re Only Dreaming for the 1950 film "Dance Hall" featuring the Ted Heath and Geraldo orchestras), and her Honey Child was recorded by Gracie Fields. Paddle Boat (arranged by Sidney Torch) is another of her purely descriptive pieces, which was recorded commercially by Torch, although it is the original Chappell version which is featured on this CD.

Wearing his arranger’s hat, we hear the unmistakeable influence of a Sidney Torch score in Byron Lloyd’s Music In The Air which introduced a BBC radio programme of the same name; and also Song of Capri by Mischa Spoliansky (1898-1985) from the film "That Dangerous Age". Arrangers are rarely credited, so it is quite possible that Torch may have had a hand in Tony Lowry’s Valse D’Amour or Felton Rapley’s Ecstasy. However Chappells employed several talented musicians at that time, such as Cecil Milner and Len Stevens, who were capable of recreating the distinguished ‘house sound’ that had been formulated originally by Charles Williams, and later fostered by Sidney Torch and Robert

Derby born Percy (Eastman) Fletcher (1879-1932) is remembered today for his band pieces, but he also contributed to the light orchestral repertoire, notably Bal Masqué from his ‘Two Parisian Sketches’ (1914). All The Fun Of The Fair is one of his ‘Rustic Revels Suite’ (the others being Dancing On The Green and Quality Court).

Alfred (Francis) Hill (1870-1960) was born in Australia, but he also contributed to the musical life of New Zealand, and Waita Poi could almost be described as their unofficial national anthem. As a song it is known as Tiny Ball On End Of String. Hill’s main formal musical education was gained in Germany at the Leipzig Conservatory (from 1887) resulting in numerous concertos, string quartets chamber works and (towards the end of his life) seven symphonies.

Frederick Knight Logan (1871-1929) hails from the USA, and Pale Moon (a song composed in 1920) appears to be his only work that survives today. It was originally arranged by the famous violinist Fritz Kreisler for violin and piano, but its full glory is revealed in this tender orchestration by Cecil Milner.

Mark Lubbock (1898-1986) contributed music for many early radio programmes, and was also involved with theatrical touring companies. Fiesta is in fiery contrast to his Moon Lullaby, featured in the second volume of this series.

Robert Busby (1901-1952) worked with several British dance bands in the 1920s and 1930s, and even composed for the fledgling German film industry. After a spell in the Jack Payne Orchestra (Busby was a multi-instrumentalist who could play the trumpet, trombone, clarinet, cello, piano and organ, although Payne employed him as pianist and arranger) he joined Louis Levy’s team of composers at Gaumont British and Gainsborough films, and post-war received his own on-screen credit for "Waterloo Road" and "Holiday Camp", among others. Just prior to his early death at the age of 51, he had been the popular conductor of the BBC Revue Orchestra. His charming piece The Awakening suggests a rippling brook wending its way through a wood at dawning, in slightly more mellow mood than his earlier spritely Up With The Lark (heard on the first Vocalion Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra CD).

Jack Beaver (1900-1963) was another ‘backroom boy’ who provided many scores for the Louis Levy organisation – in total he was responsible for over 100 films and documentaries. He was also a very prolific contributor to several different production music libraries, achieving success with Cavalcade of Youth and Picture Parade. Kings of Sport is just one of many bright sports marches that were always in demand from the newsreel companies, and Jack Beaver excelled at such a challenge.

Len Stevens (d. 1989) is represented by Fiddler’s Folly, a work which became popular in the early 1950s thanks to two commercial recordings. Surprisingly (since he was employed by Chappells for arranging the works of many other composers) Fiddler’s Folly was actually scored by Sidney Torch. Len Stevens (his full name was Herbert Leonard Stevens) was a prolific composer, contributing mood music to several different libraries, with a style that his admirers quickly grew to recognise. Like so many of the talented musicians employed in the music business, he could turn his hand to any kind of music that was needed, and he was also involved in the musical theatre.

Michael Sarsfield is a pseudonym for Dr. Hubert Clifford who composed several mood pieces for Chappell’s Recorded Music Library in his own name, and also conducted a few titles. Born in Tasmania, for many years Clifford was musical director for London Films, and he has recently been remembered in more serious vein for his Symphony 1940. He provided the background music for three British Transport Films – "West Country Journey" (1953), "London’s Country" (1954) and "Round The Island" (1956). The last named made such an impression on him, that he decided to move to the area it covered – the Isle of Wight. Casanova Melody was also issued on a commercial 78 in the 1950s.

The final three ‘bonus’ tracks in this collection are intended as a humorous hark back to a publishing phenomenon of the early 1950s – the famous Hulton comic "Eagle" (the first issue appeared on 14 April 1950) and its equally famous front-page hero "Dan Dare – Pilot of the Future". Although he is now the subject of a recent animated series on television, many members of the older generation in Britain will prefer to remember his nightly exploits on Radio Luxembourg from 1951 to 1956, with Noel Johnson (fresh from the leading role in the BBC’s "Dick Barton – Special Agent") as Dan. Three pieces of music were used time and time again, but they have never previously been available on a commercial recording. But at long last Dan’s fans can hear once more the opening theme Commandos, plus Radio Location (an early name for a form of Radar) and Searchlight – used frequently as links in Dan Dare’s fights with the Mekon of Mekonta and all his other adversaries on the planet Venus and further afield in the solar system. Charles Williams (who had also written the "Dick Barton" theme Devil’s Galop) was the composer of two of the numbers, with Clive Richardson’s atmospheric Radio Location providing the ethereal balance. As mentioned above, they are included here just for fun, but Vocalion hopes that they will provide some happy memories for the generation now rather disparagingly described as ‘silver surfers’!

David Ades

EMI salutes one of its great Light Music stars

RON GOODWIN [1925-2003] ‘That Magnificent Man and his Music Machine’

RON GOODWIN conducting his Concert Orchestra

CD1 : The Early Years – popular singles

1. R3649 JET JOURNEY (Ron Goodwin); 2. R4074 BLUE STAR - theme from the television series "Medic" (Victor Young); 3. R4297 SKIFFLING STRINGS [SWINGING SWEETHEARTS] (Ron Goodwin); 4. R4349 LINGERING LOVERS (Ron Goodwin); 5. R4391 COLONEL BOGEY AND THE RIVER KWAI MARCH (Alford, Arnold); 6. R4041 SUMMERTIME IN VENICE (Icini); 7. R4272 RED CLOAK (Ron Goodwin); 8. R3736 THE MELBA WALTZ (Mischa Spoliansky); 9. R3890 THE MESSENGER BOY (Ron Goodwin); 10. R4649 THE GIRL FROM CORSICA (Trevor Duncan); 11. R4349 SWEDISH POLKA (Hugo Alfven); 12. R3999 UNDER THE LINDEN TREE (Felix); 13. R4144 CONCETTA (Harry Dexter); 14. R3923 ON THE WATERFRONT (Leonard Bernstein); 15. R4162 THE HEADLESS HORSEMEN (Ron Goodwin); 16. R3923 MIDNIGHT BLUE (Eric Spear); 17. R3855 THE SONG OF THE HIGH SEAS (Richard Rodgers); 18. R4391 THE LAUGHING SAILOR (Evans, Stock, Weldon); 19. R3775 TROPICAL MIRAGE (Ron Goodwin); 20. R4144 HANDYMAN (Russell, Chisholm);
21. R4041 THREE GALLEONS (Alguero, Jnr); 22. R3855 GUADALCANAL MARCH (Richard Rodgers); 23. R4094 THE LITTLE LAPLANDER (Delgada); 24. R4480 WAGON TRAIN (Rene, Russell); 25. R3649 WHEN I FALL IN LOVE (Victor Young); 26. R4094 BLUEBELL POLKA (Stanley); 27. R3686 SONG FROM THE MOULIN ROUGE (Engvick, Auric);
28. R4480 JOSITA (Philip Green); 29. R4272 ELIZABETHAN SERENADE (Ronald Binge);

CD2 : Ron Goodwin’s Original Compositions

from Films and LPs

1. TWO 142 633 SQUADRON – MAIN FILM THEME (from LP "Adventure); 2. 45-R5146 LOVE THEME FROM FILM "633 SQUADRON"; 3. TWO 142 THE TRAP – FILM THEME (from LP "Adventure"); 4. TWO 142 THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES – SUITE FROM THE FILM (from LP "Adventure"); 5. TWO 339 LANCELOT AND GUINEVERE (from LP "Ron Goodwin in Concert"); 6. PCS 3019 LONDON SERENADE (from LP "Serenade"); 7. PCS 3006 RETURN MY LOVE (from LP "Out Of This World"); 8. TWO 318 WHERE EAGLES DARE – FILM THEME (from LP "Excitement");
9. PCS 3006 MERCURY GETS THE MESSAGE (from LP "Out Of This World"); 10. 45-R4892 CAFÉ ROYAL WALTZ – FROM FILM "THE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE"; 11. 45-DB8472 DECLINE AND FALL – THEME FROM THE FILM;
12. TWO 1007 FRENZY – FILM THEME (from the LP "Spellbound"); 13. 45-R4760 EL MOROCCO TEA ROOMS (as featured on the Peter Sellers LP "The Best of Sellers"); 14. TWO 142 OPERATION CROSSBOW – FILM THEME (from LP "Adventure"); 15 . PCS 3006 JUMPING JUPITER (from LP "Out Of The World"); 16. TWOX1034 MONTE CARLO OR BUST – SUITE FROM THE FILM (from LP "The Big Sound of Ron Goodwin"); 17. PCS 3019 INDIA (from LP "Serenade");
18. TWO 142 MISS MARPLE’S THEME (from LP "Adventure"); 19. PCS 3006 THE MILKY WAY (from LP "Out Of This World"); 20. TWO 318 BATTLE OF BRITAIN – FILM THEME (from LP "Excitement"); 21. 45-R4994 KILL OR CURE - FILM THEME; 22. TWO 339 THE GIRL WITH THE MISTY EYES (from LP "Ron Goodwin in Concert"); 23. PCS 3006 DEPARTURE (from LP "Out Of This World); 24. TWO 1007 ACES HIGH – FROM FILM "BATTLE OF BRITAIN" (from LP "Spellbound")

EMI 582 5502

In our last issue we paid tribute to Ron Goodwin the man, who had died suddenly aged 77 at his home in Brimpton Common, Reading, on 8 January 2003. This time we concentrate on Ron Goodwin – the supreme musician, who has been honoured by EMI with a 2-CD collection of some of his finest recordings, released on 31 March.

Ron Goodwin was a brilliant composer, arranger and conductor, whose tuneful music reached the furthest corners of the world. Fortunately he was a prolific recording artist, so future generations will also be able to enjoy his music that has so enriched all our lives during the second half of the 20^th century.

The seeds of his future success were sown way back in the early 1940s, when the teenaged Ron Goodwin embarked upon a half-hearted attempt to build a career in the insurance business. In his spare time he formed a jazz band ‘Ron Goodwin and the Woodchoppers’ which convinced him that his future was with his first love, music. After ‘serving his musical apprenticeship’ with two London publishers, he eventually got work with the small independent British record company Polygon, where he accompanied their contract artists including Petula Clark and Jimmy Young (he arranged and conducted Young’s big hit Too Young). Ron also cut two orchestral 78s, which presumably brought him to the attention of George Martin at Parlophone, where his illustrious career really took off.

‘Ron Goodwin and his Concert Orchestra’ soon became a familiar name through recordings and broadcasts. As his records started selling well overseas (especially in North America), his name came to the attention of the people who mattered in the movie business. From the outset, Parlophone allowed him to record some of his own compositions, so his credentials as a composer, as well as an accomplished arranger, were soon firmly established.

Some of his most popular LPs included Film Favourites (1954), Music to Set You Dreaming (1956), Out of this World (his first stereo album in 1958), Serenade (1961), Adventure (1966), Legend of the Glass Mountain (1968) Excitement (1970), Ron Goodwin in Concert (1971), Ron Goodwin Plays Burt Bacharach (1972), and Spellbound (1972). He also worked with Peter Sellers on his best-selling comedy albums (notably Goodness Gracious Me with Sophia Loren in 1960), and soundtrack albums were released from several of his films.

The Early Years – Popular Singles

The first CD in this collection concentrates on the 78 & 45 rpm Parlophone singles that made Ron Goodwin a leading conductor, arranger and composer during the 1950s. Several of the numbers are his own compositions, while others were popular as film and television themes – or simply as catchy, bright and tuneful pieces which caught the public’s attention.

Appropriately the CD opens with Ron’s very first Parlophone 78 in his own name – Jet Journey – which he had composed himself, and it came to typify the way in which he was able to galvanise a large concert orchestra into a state of frenzied excitement. It caused quite a stir when it first reached the record shops in 1953! Other fine Goodwin ‘originals’ that generate a similar level of excitement include Red Cloak and The Headless Horsemen.

In the USA it was Ron Goodwin’s Swinging Sweethearts that first caused him to be noticed, and quickly prompted a sequel Lingering Lovers. Originally Swinging Sweethearts had been known in Britain as Skiffling Strings, but the skiffle craze of the 1950s failed to travel westwards across the Atlantic, so the title would have been meaningless to north American ears. It prompted EMI’s US subsidiary, Capitol, to release an LP of Ron’s British singles, and from then on his international fame was assured. It should not be forgotten that this happened before the name ‘Ron Goodwin’ became familiar on the credits of numerous films screened around the world.

Always willing to support his fellow composers, Ron recorded two singles that gave a big boost to Trevor Duncan (The Girl From Corsica) and Ronald Binge (Elizabethan Serenade). Each of them today has a rightful place high on the list of the top light music composers of the last century, but there can be little doubt that the best-selling singles by the lush Goodwin orchestra did their careers no harm at all.

That perky little number Swedish Polka was recorded by many orchestras around the world, but the Goodwin version predictably offered something different. It is a prime example of a clever arrangement that surprises (almost shocks) on a first hearing, then leaves the listener eagerly waiting for the unexpected to be repeated on each successive playing. What was it that caused so much excitement? The answer lies in the repeat of the chorus, when the folksy melody is suddenly grabbed by none other than a Dixieland band!

Television was starting to make a big impact during the 1950s, and popular themes included Blue Star (from "Medic"); The Song of the High Seas and Guadalcanal March (from NBC’s famous documentary series "Victory at Sea"); and Wagon Train, one of numerous cowboy series around at that time. There is also a tenuous television connection with Midnight Blue, which was composed by Eric Spear who later went on to write perhaps the most famous TV theme of all time for "Coronation Street".

Film music featured on this CD covers a wide range of moods, from Malcolm Arnold’s adaptation of Kenneth Alford’s Colonel Bogey for "The Bridge on the River Kwai"; the romantic sounds conjured up for Melba (the waltz is also called Dream Time) and Moulin Rouge (the song is known as Where Is Your Heart); Leonard Bernstein’s brooding theme for Marlon Brando’s equally brooding performance in On the Waterfront; and the passions that Philip Green portrayed for the character Josita in the film "Sea Fury".

Original Compositions for Films and LPs

Ron Goodwin became one of Britain’s major film composers, contributing memorable scores to a number of big successes at the box office. His composing skills were not confined to the big screen, and he often included some of his own works on the LPs he regularly recorded for EMI on their Parlophone and Columbia labels. The second CD moves from mono into stereo, and emphasises what a talented composer he really was, and how he managed to create such wonderful sounds from the forces of a full-sized concert orchestra.

Major films were very important in bringing Ron Goodwin’s work to the attention of a worldwide audience, and they cannot be ignored in any tribute to his memory. Although many of his admirers will already have the main theme from 633 Squadron in their collections, it is likely that the second track on this CD will be unfamiliar to many. The Love Theme from the film confirms an earlier comment that Ron never short-changed his public; some film composers are content to weave endless variations on just one theme, but the Goodwin philosophy was that different characters deserved their own individual music. Originally available as the B-side on a 45 single, a previously unreleased stereo tape has been unearthed for this beautiful theme which reveals it in its full splendour. Several other stereo versions of older mono singles are also included in this collection for the first time.

Where Eagles Dare is now very familiar through its frequent TV screenings, yet the brilliant opening music never fails to impress. Ron Goodwin described how he achieved such a dramatic effect: "It starts with a solo snare drum which is joined after eight bars by a second snare drum. Two more snare drums enter after a further eight bars, then the large bass drum (or grande casse), followed by the trombones, tuba, lower strings and lower woodwind on the first statement of the main theme. This is taken up by the full orchestra which leads into a fugal treatment of the theme, building into the orchestral repetition of the solo drum pattern. The main theme forms the dramatic basis of the whole score."

Peter Sellers made some wonderful comedy records, and perhaps the sketch which has been most often recalled is Balham – Gateway To The South (it was even made into a short film starring Robbie Coltrane). Ron provided the incidental music, and the sequence describing Balham’s exciting nightlife centred on the El Morocco Tea Rooms was accompanied by some suitably kitsch sounds. Pressure from the public prompted a rare 45 single, which keen collectors will be delighted to rediscover here.

From various theme albums we can hear again some original Goodwin compositions which deserve to be remembered: London Serenade – a bustling ‘busy’ number from the LP "Serenade"; The Girl With The Misty Eyes who obviously hails from Latin America; and India – another atmospheric work from "Serenade". Goodwin’s first stereo album "Out Of This World" provided a much happier impression of our solar system than that envisaged by Gustav Holst forty-two years earlier. Departure appropriately begins the journey with the orchestra building to a tremendous climax as the rocket is launched into space and rapidly gains velocity, before the escape from the Earth’s gravity allows the motors to cut out leaving our craft in the breathtaking immensity of the outer void. Mercury Gets The Message is scored for a small group consisting mainly of flute, vibes, piano and rhythm; a particularly interesting passage introduces four trombones playing a phrase based upon the Morse SOS signal. The composer described it as "jazz in the classical form". Jumping Jupiter is intended as an interpretation of the phrase, rather than the planet. The awe-inspiring splendour of the universe is unfolded in an overall panorama of The Milky Way, in which Ron faithfully captures the distant and nebulous nature of this enormous constellation. Finally Return My Love signals the end of the journey in a suitably romantic manner.

Ron Goodwin – to quote from the title of one of his most famous film scores – has made a magnificent contribution to the musical life of his native England and the world. His recordings, film scores and concert appearances have enabled him to become a familiar name to countless millions, and our lives are all the richer for the many beautiful sounds with which he regaled us. Thank-you Ron, from the bottom of our hearts.

David Ades

Two landmark Light Music LPs are available once more

The Light Music Society Orchestra conducted by SIR VIVIAN DUNN, K.C.V.O.

CD 1

Percy Grainger and other works TWO295

1 Country Gardens
2 Molly on the Shore
3 Londonderry Air
4 Handel in the Strand
5 Mock Morris
6 Shepherd’s Hey
7 Children’s Overture (Roger Quilter)
8 The Haunted Ballroom (Geoffrey Toye)
9 Dusk (Armstrong Gibbs, arr. Jay Wilbur)
10 Shepherd Fennel’s Dance (Henry Balfour Gardiner) 

CD 2

Britain’s Choice TWO297

1 March from the ‘Colour Suite’ (Gordon Langford)
2 A La Claire Fontaine (Robert Farnon)
Suite of English Folk Dances (Ernest Tomlinson)
3 Jenny Pluck Pears
4 Ten Pound Lass
5 Dick’s Maggot
6 Nonesuch
7 Hunt the Squirrel
8 Woodicock
9 March from ‘A Little Suite’ (Trevor Duncan)
10 The Boulevardier (Frederic Curzon)
11 The Watermill (Ronald Binge)
12 Tabarinage (Robert Docker)
The King of Kerry – Suite (Peter Hope)
13 Jaunting Car
14 Lough Leane
15 Killorglin Fair

Vocalion CDLK4182 [2 CDs for the price of 1]

The Light Music Society (LMS) was formed in the 1950s at a time when it appeared that there was a danger that Light Music would no longer be heard as often on the radio or in the concert hall. There was also concern that the growing influence of teenagers on record sales would diminish the interest of record companies in this sphere of the music scene.

Membership of the society was open to anyone interested in Light Music, and many long-standing members of the Robert Farnon also participated in the activities of the LMS back in the 1960s and 1970s. However it has to be acknowledged that the strength was provided by the involvement of the very composers and publishers whose future was being threatened by changing musical tastes.

In retrospect it can be claimed that the existence of the LMS, through its contacts at a high level in the BBC, did delay the eventual decline in Light Music, that reached a nadir in the 1980s. By then the society had ceased to function actively, but this sorry state of affairs was reversed towards the end of the last century when the highly respected composer Ernest Tomlinson announced that he had undertaken a major restoration exercise in salvaging many priceless scores, often on the point of being consigned to landfill sites.

The current situation is that the Light Music Society is flourishing once again, and it is actively encouraging performances with practical assistance through the provision of manuscripts that are simply not available anywhere else. It would be impossible to exaggerate the importance of Ernest Tomlinson’s tireless efforts: he deserves recognition at the highest level.

In 1968 the Light Music Society Orchestra gave its first public performance at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London, heralding a new era of recordings and broadcasts. Their first two LPs are featured on this CD reissue, and they provide sparkling performances of some fine compositions that have never been bettered.

All of the composers represented on the first CD in this collection were born within a span of twelve years between 1877 and 1889. They grew up subject to the same musical influences, yet the wide diversity of their composing talents serves to illustrate the broad canvas that is encompassed by the term ‘Light Music’.

Six of the numbers were written by Percy Aldridge Grainger (1882-1961), born in Melbourne, Australia. He was already an accomplished pianist by the time he arrived in London in 1909, and he soon made a name for himself as a soloist. From boyhood he had developed a passionate interest in folk music, and in England he was one of the first to take around with him a primitive phonograph which enabled him to record folk tunes on cylinders (he rediscovered Brigg Fair in Lincolnshire, and gave it to Delius).

Country Gardens and Shepherd's Hey are Morris Dance versions of the old songs The Vicar of Bray and The Keel Row, supplied to Grainger by Cecil J. Sharp. The Bray of the former is in Berkshire and the latter song has long been particularly associated with Tyneside. Molly on the Shore is a combination of two Irish reel tunes and so fond was Grainger of this that he arranged it successively for string quartet, small orchestra and large orchestra. Londonderry Air is really better named ‘Air from County Derry’. Widely regarded as one of the loveliest tunes in the whole of music, it was taken down by Miss Jane Ross of Limavady from a peasant who visited the little town on market day. It first appeared in print in 1855. The bright and brilliant Handel in the Strand and Mock Morris are not folk tune arrangements although anyone might be forgiven for thinking they were. The composer himself has told us that the former was inspired by his delight on returning to the exhilarating sea air of the Dutch coast after giving a series of concerts inland, and that the latter was influenced by a popular music hall ditty ‘Always merry and bright’.

Roger Quilter (1877-1953) was born in London and educated at Eton. Essentially a miniaturist, it is for his songs, particularly his settings of poems by Shakespeare and Herrick, that he is and always will be chiefly remembered. The delicately dancing Children's Overture dates from 1914 and was inspired by a volume of nursery rhymes called ‘Baby's Opera’ and delightfully illustrated by Walter Crane, friend of William Morris and sometime Principal of the Royal College of Art, South Kensington. The tunes are put together with supreme sensitivity and skill, and orchestrated with rare transparency.

Geoffrey Toye (1889-1942) was the younger son of John Toye, a house master at Winchester who for a long time ran a musical society for the boys. After leaving the Royal Academy of Music, Toye conducted at several theatres in London. Following his war service he undertook some more important conducting engagements and then became in turn a Governor of the Sadler's Wells Theatre and Managing Director of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden. It was while at Sadler's Wells that he wrote the book and music of his ballet The Haunted Ballroom (first produced in 1934), from which this waltz was arranged and orchestrated by Frank Tapp.

Cecil Armstrong Gibbs (1889-1960) was born in Cheltenham and educated at Cambridge and the Royal Academy of Music. Like Roger Quilter, he is chiefly remembered by his songs. In 1936 he wrote an orchestral suite to which he gave the name Fancy Dress. Some years later he fitted the third movement, the rather barcarolle-like waltz which we hear here, with words, and it is by its new name Dusk that it has become best known, whether sung or played.

Henry Balfour Gardiner (1877-1950) was born in London, educated at Charterhouse and Oxford, and spent some time as music master at Winchester before launching himself upon a career as a composer. He was highly self-critical and had the rare gift of recognising his own limitations, and so spent a great deal of his time and much of his private means helping others. It was he, for instance, who gave HoIst the opportunity of first hearing The Planets at a semi-private concert in the old Queen's Hall, London. He wrote music in various forms but little of it is heard today. Shepherd Fennel’s Dance however, has always, and rightly, been a prime favourite, particularly with 'Prom' audiences some decades ago. It dates from 1911 and was inspired by an episode in Thomas Hardy's ‘Wessex Tales’.

The numbers included in Britain’s Choice were chosen by a panel set up by the LMS in association with the Composers’ Guild of Great Britain. As the LP notes confirm, the degree of unanimity among the panel was such that the items virtually chose themselves.

The opening spirited March from Colour Suite by Gordon Langford (b. 1930) is typical of the bright, modern sounds that rejuvenated Light Music in the post-war years. Gordon is well known for his work with brass bands, and he is equally appreciated as a fine pianist. As a composer and arranger he is just as happy working in jazz or symphonic works.

Another all-round musician whose capabilities know no bounds is Robert Farnon (b. 1917), widely regarded as the greatest living composer of Light Music. He composed A La Claire Fontaine in the 1950s for his suite of "Canadian Impressions" (on Vocalion CDLK4104), revealing a sensitive side to his nature in stark contrast to the vitality of his Jumping Bean and Portrait of a Flirt.

We will let Ernest Tomlinson (b. 1924) describe how he came to compose his Suite of English Folk Dances : "In 1951 I went along to a festival given by the English Folk Dance and Song Society at the Royal Albert Hall, and was so enchanted with the lovely tunes they danced to that I came away inspired to write a suite based on some of them. The ones I finally chose were all taken from John Playford’s ‘The English Dancing Master’ published in various editions between 1650 and 1728. My aim was to preserve as far as possible the spirit of the original dances, which spirit was beautifully conveyed by the performers in the studio."

‘Trevor Duncan’ is actually Leonard Trebilco (b. 1924), born in Cornwall and educated at Trinity College of Music. He has written an amazing amount of music specifically for use in television, documentaries and films, and the choice of the March from his Little Suite as the signature tune for BBC Television’s ‘Dr. Finlay’s Casebook’ confirmed his position as one of our top composers.

Frederic Curzon (1899-1973 ) enjoyed early success as a composer in the 1930s with his Robin Hood Suite at a time when Eric Coates and Haydn Wood were still contributing many fine works to the Light Music repertoire. Curzon was also an organist, and an executive with a leading publisher, in which capacity he assisted many young composers in developing their careers. His Boulevardier became very popular when first recorded in the 1940s, and it has remained so ever since.

Ronald Binge (1910-1979) was responsible for devising the ‘cascading strings’ sound that allowed Mantovani to enjoy his worldwide fame – a fact not widely known until some years later. Happily for Ron he did achieve great success as a composer in his own right, firstly through Elizabethan Serenade, and later with Sailing By, the music that closed Radio 4 for so long.

Robert Docker (1918-1992) was a regular broadcaster, mainly as a pianist, but also through his activities ‘behind the scenes’ as a composer and arranger, working closely with people such as Sidney Torch. His Tabarinage (Buffoonery) takes a tongue-in-cheek look at the Can-Can.

Peter Hope (b. 1930) completes the selection with his Ring of Kerry Suite which won him a well-deserved Ivor Novello Award in 1969. The name describes a popular tourist road in the south-west of Ireland, and the suite paints some of the scenes along the way.

The brilliant conductor involved in all of these performances was Sir Vivian Dunn, KCVO, OBE, FRAM (1908-1995). As a Lieutenant-Colonel of the Royal Marines he was the first Military Director of Music to be knighted. He spent nearly 40 years with the Royal Marines Band Service, establishing it as one of the finest of its kind in the world. Before he was appointed Director of Music of the Portsmouth Division Band in 1931, at the age of 22, he had been a member of the first violin section of the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Adrian Boult. Although he made a career in military music, Sir Vivian did not neglect orchestral music, and during World War 2 he conducted many broadcasts to the Forces with the Orchestra of the Portsmouth Division, Royal Marines. In the cinema he scored the film "Cockleshell Heroes" and the catchy march has become a firm favourite.

His choice as the conductor of the Light Music Society Orchestra was inspired, and many of the composers of the music on these recordings were fulsome in their praise of his interpretations of their work. During the last years of his life we were honoured to have Sir Vivian as a member of the Robert Farnon Society. He attended several of our London meetings, and members who were privileged to meet him will forever remember how approachable and charming he was.

David Ades

Two HMV LPs from 1960 & 1961 have just made a welcome reappearance on Vocalion

Sinfonia of London conducted by ROBERT IRVING and DOUGLAS GAMLEY

Musical Merry-Go-Round CSD1333

1 The Carousel Waltz (Rodgers, arr. Gamley) b
2 Clowns’ Dance (Ibert) a
3 Visions d’Art (from ‘Les Forains’) (Sauguet) a
4 Circus Polka (Stravinsky) a
5 Waltz (from ‘Masquerade’) (Khachaturian) a
6 La Ronde (Oscar Straus, arr. Don Banks) b
7 Coney Island (Don Banks) b
8 Gopak (from ‘Sorchinski Fair’) (Mussorgsky, orch. Liadov) a
9 Prater Fest (Douglas Gamley) b
10 Dance of the Comedians (from ‘The Bartered Bride’) (Smetana) a

Famous Evergreens CSD1319

11 Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 (Liszt, arr. Sir Henry J. Wood) a
12 Ave Maria (Schubert, arr. Don Banks) a
13 Songs Without Words, Op. 67 No. 4 (‘Bees’ Wedding’)
(Mendelssohn, arr. Don Banks) a
14 Waltz in A Flat Major, Op. 39 No. 15 (Brahms, arr. Gamley) b
15 Santa Lucia* (Cottrau, arr. Gamley) a
16 Waltz (from ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ Ballet, Act 1) (Tchaikovsky) a
17 Jealousy (Gade, arr. Gamley) b
18 Clair de Lune (Debussy, arr. André Coplet) a
19 Moto Perpetuo (Novaček, arr. Gamley) b
20 Intermezzo (from ‘Cavalleria Rusticana’) (Mascagni) a
21 Dance of the Hours (from ‘La Gioconda’, Act 3) (Ponchielli) a

b Douglas Gamley

Vocalion CDLK4181

More than 50 years later, the Festival of Britain in 1951 has left us with a major concert hall on London’s South Bank – the Royal Festival Hall. When Musical Merry-Go-Round was released in 1961 another legacy of the Festival could still be enjoyed – the Fun Fair in Battersea Park. Stereo recordings were still something of a novelty to record buyers, and the original sleeve notes of this album went to great lengths to explain how the special effects had been achieved.

"The scheme for this record originated during a summer evening visit to London's Battersea Fun Fair. It was while watching the Merry-go-round that there came the idea of a unique stereo illusion. It was reasoned that if stereo could give precise location of Left and Right, why not also a revolving effect? - but how to achieve this? Various suggestions were made, including microphones mounted on a revolving spindle, and even placing the orchestra on a revolving platform. However, the solution came, as all scientific solutions must, by painstaking experimentation. A careful electronically synchronised manipulation of Left and Right tracks was found to provide the complete illusion of the music issuing from a Merry-go-round. The two pieces to receive this treatment suggested themselves immediately; the Carousel Waltz and La Ronde are ideally suitable, not only in their titles, but also for the nature of the melodies, and the scores were prepared in collaboration with the sound-technicians so that the shape of the music could match the period of revolution. The actual recording was made in a completely straightforward manner with the usual stereo distribution of the orchestra, e.g. trumpets on extreme right, horns on extreme left, upper strings left, lower strings right, woodwind located centrally, etc. Some of this stereo information was then reduced to provide one single revolving track. Incidentally, it will be noticed that the Merry-go-round stops occasionally to collect its passengers."

The world of the Circus and the Fairground provided the inspiration for all the music in this entertaining collection, ranging from the penetrating mind of Igor Stravinsky, to the unashamed melodic invention of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Straus.

Two new compositions were specially commissioned for this album. Coney Island is the work of Don Banks (1923-1980), which cleverly describes the brash artificial world in this famous American amusement park. Banks was an Australian composer and orchestrator, who was based in London in the 1950s and 1960s, working in many spheres including feature films, documentaries, television and the theatre (you can read more about him at the end of this feature). In complete contrast another new work Prater Fest, composed by Douglas Gamley, is far more genteel; it reflects Vienna in the days of its greatness, when the elite of Europe would wander along the long avenue of chestnut trees to the playground which has been immortalised through the big wheel sequence in the Harry Lime film "The Third Man".

Famous Evergreens provides a charming selection of classical melodies that will be instantly recognisable, even if some of the precise titles may be somewhat elusive.

Brahms is reported to have been a keen admirer of Johann Strauss, but his waltzes owed more to the influence of Schubert. Douglas Gamley interprets the normally serious composer in one of his lighter moods. His deft touch as a sensitive arranger is also evident in Santa Lucia, whose words express the beauty of the Bay of Naples, with never a hint of the constant threat imposed by Vesuvius, just waiting to erupt once again. Douglas Gamley also features on the piano in this number, which must have been dear to his heart because he loved to escape to his second home in Italy.

Further Gamley scores crop up in Gade’s Jealousy (many people are surprised to learn that Jacob Gade [1879-1963] came from Denmark), and Novaček’s Moto Perpetuo, sometimes called Perpetuum Mobile. The remaining works are all familiar ‘standards’ that music lovers have enjoyed for generations.

Robert Augustine Irving was born in Winchester on 28 August 1913, and his education took place at Winchester College, New College Oxford and the Royal College of Music in London. In 1936 he was engaged as répétiteur at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, and he was also a music master at Winchester College. He joined the Royal Air Force upon the outbreak of World War 2 in 1939, and after hostilities ceased he conducted the BBC Scottish Orchestra in Glasgow from 1945 until 1948. He was appointed musical director of the Sadlers Wells (later ‘Royal’) Ballet from 1949 to 1958. In 1958 he went to the New York City Ballet, and became recognised as one of the world’s leading ballet conductors, frequently invited as guest conductor in the USA and Europe.

John Douglas Gamley was born in Melbourne, Australia, on 23 September 1924. He came to England in the early 1950s, and his talents as a composer, arranger and pianist were soon in demand. He composed and scored the music for many films, and his credits include "Tom Thumb" (1958), "And Now The Screaming Starts!" (1973), "Madhouse" (1974), "The Beast Must Die" (1974), "The Land That Time Forgot" (1975) and "Enigma" (1982). He also worked alongside Henry Mancini for "Shot in the Dark" and "Charade". As many readers will already know, Douglas was a close musical associate of Robert Farnon, both in films and at recording sessions involving Tony Bennett, Lena Horne, George Shearing and numerous others. Douglas made many recordings with Joan Sutherland, and was active in both the classical and popular spheres – talents which made him particularly suitable for the repertoire on this compact disc. In his later life he tended to spend six months of the year in Australia, where he conducted the Australian Pops Orchestra. The rest of the time was divided between working in London, and relaxing in Italy, where the climate suited him better as an asthma sufferer. Douglas was a charming, gentle man who could always be relied upon in any musical situation. He died in London on 5 February 1998.

Don Banks (1923-1980)

One of the highlights of these releases was the involvement of Don Banks, who contributed several arrangements plus one superb original composition, Coney Island. This work described the famous American amusement park, and it opens with a kaleidoscopic impression of the brash, artificial world of the Fun Fair, as it seemed in the middle years of the last century. This leads into a gentle Carousel in 5/8 time, which asymmetrical rhythm corresponds to the movement of the carousel horses. This in turn leads to the Water-shoot – cleverly portrayed very literally – and then we are in the quiet atmosphere of the Tunnel of Love, where the languorous and seductive tones of three alto saxophones, placed in a perspective of depth, create the illusion of the long, echoing tunnel. The kaleidoscope turns again to reveal the Big Dipper careering past, and the work finishes with a return to the bustling jollity of the opening scene. The composer of this exhilarating number was Don Banks, who was born in Australia on 25 October 1923. Don Banks' studies in piano and musical theory commenced at the age of five. His father was a professional jazz musician who played trombone, alto saxophone and percussion, and who led his own band and Banks learned to play the various instruments that inevitably surrounded him in his early years. Often he would 'sit in' with his father's band, and later he earned his living as a jazz pianist and trombonist with bands such as that of Roger and Graeme Bell, where he gained valuable experience as an arranger and orchestrator. Jazz was Banks' earliest and strongest musical influence and his enthusiasm for it never waned. At various times throughout his life he gave broadcasts and lectured on jazz music, and in 1977 was co-adjudicator of the NSW State Government prize for a Jazz Composition. Between 1941 and 1946 Banks served with the Australian Army Medical Corps. He studied piano, harmony and counterpoint privately during the last two years of his service and on being discharged entered the University of Melbourne Conservatorium of Music. He majored in piano and composition, studying under Waldemar Seidel (piano), A.E.H. Nickson and Dorian Le Gallienne (composition), and was awarded a Diploma of Music with first class honours in 1949. In 1950 he left for Europe, and for the next two years studied composition privately with Matyas Seiber. Seiber placed great emphasis on intensive analysis, and this period of study was to be a decisive influence on Banks. In 1952, Banks co-founded (with Margaret Sutherland) the Australian Musical Association in London, which became a vital platform for Australian composition. Also in 1952, he attended the Seminar in American Studies Summer School in Salzburg, where he studied under Milton Babbitt, and then travelled to Florence on an Italian Government Scholarship to study composition and orchestration with Luigi Dallapiccola for a year. In 1956 Banks was selected by Youth and Music (London) to attend a Composers' Seminar in Switzerland, where he studied with Luigi Nono. Banks earned his living in London as a professional orchestrator and, from 1956, as a composer of commercial music, including music for feature films, documentaries, animated films, television, advertisements, record libraries and theatre. Notable among the film scores are those he wrote for some of the Hammer horror films, such as Hysteria, The Reptiles and Rasputin, The Mad Monk. Between 1960 and 1971 he also gave private lessons in composition, analysis and orchestration. Banks was active in many areas of music throughout his life, and in his last few years in Britain (1965-1971), held a number of positions. He guest-lectured on various subjects for educational establishments including universities, the Newport College of Art, and the Society for Musical Education of the Under Twelves, he broadcast for the BBC Third Programme, was three times an adjudicator for the Royal Amateur Orchestral Society Prize, and was an external examiner to the University of Wales. He was also chairman of the Society for the Promotion of New Music (SPNM) in 1967-68, and organised and co-directed their Composers' Seminars in 1967, 1968 and 1970. Appointed Music Director at the University of London Goldsmiths' College in 1969, Banks initiated new courses in conducting, guitar, folk music and jazz, and also developed an Electronic Music Studio. Following a brief visit in 1970, Don Banks returned to Australia in 1972 to take up a Fellowship in Creative Arts in Canberra. Throughout the year of the Fellowship he gave lectures, attended and directed seminars, adjudicated and involved himself in the activities of the International Society for Contemporary Music in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. He was also invited by the Prime Minister to chair the Music Board of the Australian Council for the Arts. In 1973 Banks, still in Australia, directed the Fourth National Young Composer's Seminar at the University of Western Australia's Department of Music and provided introductory sessions in Electronic Music for young composers at the Canberra School of Music's Electronic Music Studio. Having decided to settle permanently in Australia, Banks returned briefly to the UK to finalise his affairs before taking up the position of Head of Composition and Electronic Music Studies at the Canberra School of Music in October 1973. Apart from the administrative and lecturing duties of this position, Banks was also responsible for the development of the Canberra School of Music's Electronic Music Centre, which under his guidance became the most advanced studio complex in the southern hemisphere. He was also an 'ex-officio' consultant for the development of electronic music studios in high schools and tertiary institutions, and in May 1977 chaired the Electronic Music section of the ASME National Conference. In October 1977 Banks took up an appointment as Guest Composer at the NSW State Conservatorium of Music, and in 1978 became Head of the School of Composition Studies there. In 1980 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia for services to music and received an honorary doctorate from the University of Melbourne. Don Banks died of cancer on 5 September, 1980. His musical estate, consisting of papers, correspondence, manuscripts of almost all his works, scores, tapes, discs and books, is preserved in the National Library of Australia in Canberra. The instruments that constitute the electronic studio of Don Banks are preserved by the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney.

David Ades

BILL McGUFFIE and his Piano and Strings "Strange Enchantment"

1 YOU MAKE ME FEEL SO YOUNG
2 THREE COINS IN THE FOUNTAIN
3 EMMANUELLE
4 I’VE GOT YOU UNDER MY SKIN
5 YOU MY LOVE
6 I’LL GET BY
7 COME FLY WITH ME
8 THE GREAT PRETENDER
9 THIS I FIND IS BEAUTIFUL
10 ACCOUNT FOR BASIE
11 ANOTHER SUITCASE IN ANOTHER HALL
12 MY WAY
13 YOU ARE MY DEAREST LOVE
14 WHAT’S NEW PUSSYCAT?
15 I LOOKED AROUND
16 SO DEEP IS THE NIGHT
17 INNAMORATI A VENEZIA
18 BOY ON A DOLPHIN
19 STRANGE ENCHANTMENT
20 EVERY WHICH WAY BUT LOOSE
21 BLESS YOU FOR BEING AN ANGEL
22 I STILL SEE YOU (THE GO-BETWEEN)
23 I’LL TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOU
24 ALMA LLANERA

Vocalion CDLK4172

In the summer of 2000, Vocalion released "The Piano Artistry of Bill McGuffie with his Big Band" (CDLK4103) which was warmly received by Bill’s many friends and admirers (for full details see Journal Into Melody 144 – September 2000 – page 22). Very soon it became clear that a second collection of his music should be made available, and this time it was decided that the choice should centre upon Bill’s work with strings – although it was fully realised that whatever Bill performed he couldn’t completely escape from his first love of jazz.

Once again, Bill’s widow Rosemary gave her wholehearted support and encouragement, and the result is this mixture of the old and the new – popular favourites with some lesser-known, but equally enjoyable numbers – all given the polished treatment that was Bill McGuffie’s trademark.

Bill is still regarded with affection as one of Britain's finest pianists of the 20th century. Whether performing as a solo pianist, fronting a big band, or simply participating as a session musician in a large orchestra, he always displayed a supreme air of professionalism which endeared him to everyone who was privileged to know and work with him.

William McGuffie (his parents called him Billy, and he was also known to his friends as Wee Willie McGuffie) was born on 11 December 1927 at Carmyle, near Glasgow, Scotland. The third finger of his right hand was amputated in childhood following an accident, but he never allowed this to handicap his playing. At the age of 11 the Victoria College in Glasgow awarded him its Medal in recognition of his proficiency; a year later he made his first radio broadcast on Children's Hour.

Until he was 14 he was content to enjoy classical music. Then he heard some jazz, and asked his father to buy him some jazz records. McGuffie senior purchased six Charlie Kunz 78s. "His intentions were good!" recalled Bill some years later. While still aged 14 he began playing regularly with the BBC Scottish Variety Orchestra, and was proud to have accompanied two great Scottish artists of the Music Hall, Harry lauder and Will Fyffe.

Bill was also fascinated by the piano he heard in the Victor Silvester Orchestra on records and in radio broadcasts. "If only I could play all those notes" he thought. It was some while before he learned that Silvester actually employed two pianists at that time; with perseverance Bill managed to sound like them both.

Although music was his first love, initially he didn't consider it as a long-term career. He was a teenager during the Second World War, and began studying to become a naval architect. However he moved to Ayr to work with the Miff Hobson Orchestra, then in 1944 took the big step to try his luck in London, where his first engagement was with Teddy Foster at the Lyceum ballroom. Four years with Joe Loss followed, before joining the bands of Ambrose, Sidney Lipton and Maurice Winnick at the famous Ciro's club. Together with Carroll Gibbons, Bill played for staff parties at Buckingham Palace and Windsor Castle.

This grounding in the bread-and-butter side of the music business was to stand Bill in good stead at the Mayfair Club, where he led his own ensemble. But his major breakthrough came in the early 1950s when he spent three years with Cyril Stapleton's BBC Show Band - the first broadcast was heard on Saturday 3 October 1952. This superb ensemble included some of Britain's finest musicians, and the talents of top arrangers were employed to establish this band as one of the finest of its kind in the world. It should have gone on much longer, but inevitably became a victim of the financial constraints which have ever since plagued radio, thanks to the insatiable demands of television.

Bill left the Show Band after three years to go to California, where he worked at MGM Studios with Andre Previn and Johnny Green on several films, including The Tender Trap and Kismet .

Back in Britain, happily Bill's talents remained in strong demand. In England he toured with Stoll Theatre and Moss Empires, topping the bill in Variety. He was a valued member of Kenny Baker's Dozen, and under the influence of Robert Farnon and Philip Green he developed his skills as an arranger and composer, especially for films. His cinema credits are numerous, including themes and sometimes full scores for Too Hot to Handle (1960), It Takes a Thief (1960), The Long Shadow (1961 ), The Boys (1961 ), The Leather Boys (1963), Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. (1966), The Asphyx (1972) and The Small Miracle (1973). Back in 1955 he had worked with Robert Farnon on the film Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, starring Jane Russell, and can be seen on-screen in one sequence. In fact Bill made a brief appearance (a la Hitchcock) in virtually every film he worked on, sometimes as a cocktail pianist if the script called for it.

Another Farnon assignment was the last 'Road' movie, the British-made Road to Hong Kong (1962). Old-timers Bob Hope, Bing Crosby and Dorothy Lamour were joined by Joan Collins, who actually sang one number. Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin made guest appearances, and the eagle-eyed can also spot Bill briefly in one sequence.

Bill McGuffie could be heard regularly, as soloist or with his own Group, on radio in programmes such as Kings of the Keyboard, Piano Playtime, Night Ride, Music Through Midnight, Roundabout, Band Parade and Week Ending. He played in the orchestra for Breakfast (and Bedtime) With Braden and Round the Horne. He arranged and conducted for television programmes starring Hermione Gingold, Jimmy Edwards and Ronnie Barker.

Apart from his regular session work, Bill was also in demand from record companies to appear on disc in his own name, both as solo pianist and also fronting small groups and big bands.

In the early 1970s he played with Benny Goodman's Band and American Sextet on their European tours, but a stroke in 1974 laid him low for a while. At the time he was working for BBC Radio on Week Ending and also recording fourteen numbers per session every two weeks for Night Ride. Five weeks later, he was back at work in the studio.

This collection showcases the McGuffie talent at its peak, near the end of his distinguished career. In earlier years he had tended to concentrate more on small group recordings, occasionally featuring his own numbers. Perhaps Bill's most famous original composition is Sweet September, for which he won an Ivor Novello Award in 1963. International recognition came through a recording by Bill Evans, in a Klaus Ogerman arrangement, and Pete Jolly and The Shadows made cover versions. It was also published in Spain, under the title Tu Recuerdo.

He wrote under two other names: Guido Miguel for Spanish compositions, and Raphael Maertek. This came about after a Scottish friend had said that Bill had 'maer' (more) technique than some!

In 1980 the British Academy of Composers Songwriters and Authors awarded Bill its coveted Gold Badge of Merit. In his more serious moments Bill appreciated the music of Ravel and Debussy. In the jazz world he was a great admirer of the Count Basie Band. It may surprise some of his admirers to learn that Bill never considered himself to be a jazz pianist. Respected broadcaster Steve Race once singled Bill out as "a pianist who generates his own beat".

Bill McGuffie died at Chertsey, Surrey, on 22 March 1987 aged 59. Fortunately for us, he has left a legacy of fine recordings which will continue to provide endless musical pleasure for generations to come.

David Ades

Two Pye LPs from 1960 have been granted a new lease of life by Vocalion

Pro Arte Orchestra conducted by STANFORD ROBINSON   Tribute to Eric Coates

1 LONDON BRIDGE
2 THE ENCHANTED GARDEN
3 BY THE SLEEPY LAGOON
4 CINDERELLA
5 SECOND SYMPHONIC RHAPSODY

Bird Songs at Eventide; I Heard You Singing

6 FOOTLIGHTS

Edwardian Favourites arranged by Stanford Robinson

7 PAUL RUBENS MELODIES
8 JOSEF STRAUSS POT-POURRI
9 LIONEL MONCKTON MELODIES
10 EDWARD GERMAN MELODIES

Vocalion CDLK4183

The death of Eric Coates prompted Stanford Robinson to record this tribute with the Pro Arte Orchestra, a highly regarded ensemble drawn from many of London’s top orchestras for broadcasting, concerts and recordings. To provide the accompanying sleeve notes for the LP, the record company could have chosen none better than the composer’s only son, Austin Coates (1922-1997), from whose notes the following extracts are taken.

When Eric Coates died, on December 21st 1957, it was rightly said that perhaps no composer had ever provided music to suit the public taste so unerringly for such a long time. Just under fifty years lie between his first song success, in Edwardian times, and his last orchestral works, including the memorable March for the film The Dam Busters; and for a great part of this time Eric Coates was recognised as a unique figure - 'the uncrowned king of light music'.

Greatly influenced in his early years by Edward German, after 1920 Eric Coates developed his own distinctive style, the most significant feature of which was his understanding and use of the newly-introduced American syncopated idiom. He was the first European composer to treat modern syncopation as a serious contribution to orchestral music, and to introduce into symphonic writing the dance-band practice of treating each instrument of the brass section as a soloist. Much of the brilliance and vivacity of his orchestration is attributable to this.

For many years an orchestral musician himself (he was principal viola in Sir Henry J. Wood's Queen's Hall Orchestra from 1912 to 1919), Eric Coates, in the later days of his success as a composer-conductor, never forgot his old friends in the many orchestras he conducted, and had an understanding of orchestral musicians which enabled him to secure from them superb performances of his music in a way which, to many people, seemed effortless.

Happy throughout his life - in his youth, in his marriage, in his success as a writer -Iike many happy people, Eric Coates tended to live in (to use his own title) an enchanted garden of his own imagination. In the concert hall, to see his immaculate appearance, polished conducting, and unfailing modesty with audience and orchestra alike, it was difficult to realise what an unworldly person he was. His world was that of the invariable happy ending. When he wrote a fantasy he called it a phantasy; and a waltz was always a valse. Somehow in that way it belonged more to his world. An unusual quality about his music is that, despite this unworldliness, he expressed moods of the twentieth century as few others have succeeded in doing, with his curiously metallic brilliance of orchestration, his hectic zest and uncomplicated romanticism. Like Gershwin, he expresses something of this century that will evoke our time to future generations,

The ten years from 1929 to 1939 were the most prolific in Eric Coates' career, and marked his rise to international fame. On this record is a representative selection of his music written during this period, the gayest and most colourful English music produced in the past forty years.

The Enchanted Garden was originally written as a ballet, scored for twelve solo instruments, on the theme of Snowdrop and the Seven Dwarfs, first performed at the opening of the Cambridge Theatre, London, in 1928. It is particularly appropriate that this, the first recording of the work, should be conducted by Stanford Robinson, because it was he who first realised the possibilities of Snowdrop as a symphonic score, and consistently urged the composer to rewrite it for full orchestra. This Eric Coates finally did in 1938, renaming it The Enchanted Garden. In the same year he conducted first performances of it in the Scandinavian capitals and at Hilversum.

The theme is the conflict between good and evil influences in the garden. The Princess has been left alone while her Prince is away, and he has given an injunction (the commanding opening bars) to all the good spirits and friendly animals of the garden to look after her. At first all is gentleness and love, but after a time the restless, malevolent elements in the garden come sneering in. They cannot at once get the better of the Princess' protectors, but finally (in a vigorous tarantella and fugue) they are on the point of mastering the garden, when the Prince returns holding a flaming sword, and order is restored.

Unlike The Three Bears and Cinderella, in which a knowledge of the story is essential to the enjoyment of the music, The Enchanted Garden music speaks for itself, and needs no programme explanation. After the opening injunction there follow three themes, the second in slow syncopation, the third in quick tempo, which are developed in various ways throughout the ballet. The syncopated idiom, distinctive of Eric Coates' style, is here handled with the utmost delicacy. The climax of the work comes at the end of the tarantella, with the repetition fortissimo of the injunction, after which the main themes resolve themselves in a tranquil and simple statement of great beauty in the closing bars.

Cinderella, successor to The Selfish Giant and The Three Bears, is the third and last of the composer's "phantasies". It is based entirely on the word Cinderella, announced softly in the opening bars, where Cinderella sits alone by the fire, after her sisters have gone to the ball. Soon comes the gentle call of the Fairy Godmother, followed by the sudden and miraculous appearance of carriage and horses, beautiful clothes and the celebrated glass slippers. With the warning to be home by midnight, Cinderella drives off, the horses trotting gaily through the town. She enters the Prince's palace as a waltz is in full swing. After a moment the Prince sees her, inquires who she is, and invites her to dance. There follows the famous slow waltz, which gradually increases in speed and vigour, as more and more dancers join, culminating in the striking of midnight, and the instant evaporation of all Cinderella's happiness. Once more she is in rags by the fire, wondering now whether it was all a dream, yet hardly believing it could be, since she so clearly remembers the waltz music. Meanwhile, in the distance, trumpets are sounding; for the Prince has discovered the glass slipper Cinderella left behind, and troops are to be sent throughout the town to find the girl whose foot the slipper fits. The troops set forth (not a particularly fine body of men, one gathers) and draw near Cinderella's house, where after a moment of suspense it is found that Cinderella is the girl they are looking for, and she is driven off to the palace, where of course she marries and lives happily ever after. Cinderella was first performed at the Eastbourne Festival, 1929, and has since become one of Eric Coates' most widely played works.

No Eric Coates programme would be complete without one of his inimitable marches, and one of the quick waltzes of which he may be called the originator. For this record Stanford Robinson has selected London Bridge (1934) and Footlights (1939), both of which he did much to popularize in the days when he was conductor of the BBC Theatre Orchestra. By the Sleepy Lagoon (1930) needs no intro- duction, neither do the songs I Heard You Singing and Bird Songs at Eventide, though they may be less familiar in this orchestral version, which comes from Two Symphonic Rhapsodies, written in 1933.

Stanford Robinson was responsible for arranging the four selections which made up the second album to be featured on this CD, Edwardian Favourites. He was born in Leeds on 5 July 1904. During his early musical career he played the piano in hotel orchestras, until attending the Royal College of Music in London, where he studied conducting under Sir Adrian Boult. From 1924 to 1966 he was on the staff of the BBC, originally as organiser of the BBC’s London Wireless Chorus in 1924. He conducted the BBC Theatre Orchestra from 1932 to 1946, and was also director of music productions (including opera and operetta) from 1936 to 1946.

From 1946 to 1949 he was opera director and associate conductor of the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and he served as conductor of the BBC Opera Orchestra as an opera organiser from 1949 until 1952. Thereafter he served in various capacities (including numerous broadcasts) until his official retirement in 1966, when he went to the southern hemisphere and conducted various orchestras in Australia and New Zealand during the remainder of 1966 and 1967. In 1968 he was appointed chief conductor of the Queensland Symphony Orchestra.

Stanford Robinson’s brother Eric achieved even greater public recognition, through his work conducting his orchestra in many early BBC Television programmes, such as Music For You.

David Ades

Fifty years ago Light Music was a regular feature on the new release lists from record companies. Many treasured 78s are now falling out of copyright, so we can all enjoy them again on CDs, sounding better than ever before.

"Pink Champagne"

A Collection of Superb Vintage Light Music

1 CURTAIN TIME (Bob Haymes)
ACQUAVIVA AND HIS ORCHESTRA

2 LOVELY DAY (Tom Wyler)
FRANK CHACKSFIELD AND HIS SINGING STRINGS

3 MUSIC FOR "RIVERS OF THE NORTH OF ENGLAND" (Lambert Williamson)
a] SERENE
b] FLOWING

4 CHIMING STRINGS (Clive Richardson)
L’ORCHESTRE DEVEREAUX Conducted by GEORGES DEVEREAUX

5 VANESSA (Bernie Wayne)
MELACHRINO STRINGS Conducted by GEORGE MELACHRINO

6 THE FILM OPENS [ELEVENTH HOUR MELODY] (King Palmer)
LONDON PROMENADE ORCHESTRA Conducted by WALTER COLLINS

7 MELODY IN MOCCASINS (Wilfred Burns)
PHILIP GREEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA

8 SEVENTH HEAVEN (Robert Farnon)
DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON

9 GIN-FIZZ (Bolesworth)
FRANK CHACKSFIELD AND HIS SINGING STRINGS

10 VENDETTA (Jones, Armstrong)
RAY MARTIN AND HIS ORCHESTRA

11 CROSS ROADS (Richard Telford)
REGENT CLASSIC ORCHESTRA

12 LAUGHING MARIONETTE (Walter Collins)
JACK HYLTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA

13 PULLING STRINGS (McCann, Bolesworth)
FRANK CHACKSFIELD AND HIS SINGING STRINGS

14 TINKERBELL (King Palmer)
LONDON PROMENADE ORCHESTRA Conducted by WALTER COLLINS

15 TOMBOY (Trevor Duncan)
NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by CEDRIC DUMONT

16 PLAYTIME (Robert Farnon)
DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON

17 THE FALCONS (Charles Williams)
CHARLES WILLIAMS AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA

18 SPEAKEASY (Lewis Gensler)
SIDNEY TORCH AND HIS ORCHESTRA

19 DANCE OF THE HAILSTONES (Kenneth Essex)
LOUIS VOSS AND HIS ORCHESTRA

20 BUBBLE, BUBBLE, BUBBLE [PINK CHAMPAGNE] (Wright, Forrest)
HENRI RENÉ AND HIS ORCHESTRA

21 MURIELLA (Ray Martin)
RAY MARTIN AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA

22 HAPPY TIME (Tom Wyler)
FRANK CHACKSFIELD AND HIS SINGING STRINGS

23 WALTZ IN SWINGTIME (Jerome Kern)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA

24 VERADERO (Bernie Wayne)
MUSIC BY CAMARATA

25 WINDY CORNER (Bruce Campbell)
DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON

26 BAA BAA BLACK SHEEP (Trad. arr. Peter Yorke)
BBC VARIETY ORCHESTRA Conducted by CHARLES SHADWELL

27 DANCING TAMBOURINE (Polla, arr. Morton Gould)
ROBIN HOOD DELL ORCHESTRA Conducted by MORTON GOULD

Living Era CD AJA 5470

Light Music is currently enjoying a welcome, and long-overdue revival. Once again collectors are being given the opportunity to acquire CDs of the kind of music which used to be so familiar around fifty years ago. Generations of radio listeners grew up knowing the names of the famous orchestra leaders that regularly filled their homes with pleasant sounds. Today radio ignores them, but thankfully record companies do not. Following the warm reaction to "Twilight Memories" (CD AJA 5419) in 2002, Living Era is releasing another collection of old favourites, plus hopefully a few pleasant surprises.

Readers of this magazine will recognise many familiar orchestras on the above list, and hopefully they will be glad to be able to acquire pristine new recordings of several old favourites. But there are also some tracks which will not already be in private collections, making this a valuable addition to the catalogue of readily available Light Music.

The American conductor Nicholas Acquaviva did not make a lot of records, but he became known in the USA through his involvement with the Symphony of the Air orchestra, and as organiser and conductor of the New York ‘Pops’ Symphony Orchestra. Bob Haymes (who had a famous brother, the singer Dick Haymes) was also an American actor who appeared in around 20 films in the 1930s and 40s. He dabbled in songwriting (That’s All was his biggest success), but his exciting Curtain Time in this superb version by Acquaviva has become a minor light music classic.

The name ‘Tom Wyler’ hides the true identity of Toni Leutwiler, a Swiss violinist and conductor who was at the forefront of the light music scene in Switzerland during the 1950s. A prolific composer, two of his best-known works, Lovely Day and Happy Time, are heard on this CD; he described them as "joyful and technically demanding compositions which every violinist could not fail to appreciate had been written by a fellow violinist." Here they are performed by Frank Chacksfield and his Singing Strings, in recordings made just a year before he moved to Decca and gained international success with Limelight and Ebb Tide.

In 1950 BBC radio produced a programme called "Rivers of the North of England". Lambert Williamson was commissioned to write some incidental music, and the result was so outstanding that it became familiar for decades afterwards as the theme for a long-running monthly series "The Countryside In …". Despite its enduring popularity with light music lovers, it has never previously been available on a commercial recording. For years collectors have searched in vain for this music, and it has occasionally been featured at London meetings of the Robert Farnon Society. At last an important piece of Light Music is now readily available for enjoying at home.

Clive Richardson was the composer responsible for such gems as Melody on the Move, Holiday Spirit, Shadow Waltz and London Fantasia. He contributed regularly to London publishers’ mood music libraries, and Chiming Strings was heard often in the background of newsreels of the 1950s. Clive was a talented pianist, and was one half of the ‘Four Hands in Harmony’ act with Tony Lowry. Towards the end of his long life he became a member of the Robert Farnon Society, and he made welcome appearances at our London meetings.

When American songwriter Bernie Wayne died in April 1993, it made national news in the USA, because he composed the pop standard Blue Velvet and music for the ‘Miss America’ pageant. But he also wrote a string of catchy instrumentals that were recorded by many light orchestras in the 1950s. Two of his best are featured on this CD: Vanessa by the George Melachrino Strings (with William Hill-Bowen on Harpsichord), and Veradero with the American Salvatore (‘Tutti’) Camarata conducting a fine orchestra of British musicians, probably in London’s Kingsway Hall.

Cedric King Palmer excelled at producing numerous pieces of mood music for various publishers, but he was also highly regarded as an author of musical textbooks. The Film Opens was probably one of his most successful works, due to it being chosen as the theme for "The Eleventh Hour", a popular television series in the USA. Tinkerbell reveals the lighter side of his nature, and both works come from the Paxton library.

Wilfred Burns was also a prolific composer, and he was in demand to score many British films in the 1950s and 60s. Although it originated in the Harmonic Music Library, we have chosen the commercial recording of Melody in Moccasins by Philip Green and his Orchestra for this collection, simply because it is such a sparkling performance.

Robert Farnon hardly needs any introduction to light music admirers (and especially readers of this magazine!). He is widely regarded as one of the finest composers of the last century, and has been responsible for numerous LPs which are now finding appreciative new audiences through their reissue on CD. His famous light music compositions include Jumping Bean, Portrait of a Flirt, Journey Into Melody, Westminster Waltz and The Colditz March. This new CD features two of his works which, although lesser known, possess all the charm of his very best. Seventh Heaven conjures up images of glamorous Hollywood premieres, while Playtime was composed at the piano with his young son Paul on his knees.

It is not uncommon for composers to adopt pseudonyms, and names against tune titles on record labels often only mention surnames. From time to time researchers draw a blank when trying to identify the writers responsible for some attractive pieces, and inevitably there are some in this collection. The two remaining Frank Chacksfield numbers – Gin-Fizz and Pulling Strings – are by Bolesworth (the latter also co-composed by McCann). Chacksfield himself used many different names for his own compositions, but to assume they are his would be pure speculation. One thing is certain: they were both composed by a talented writer. Maybe a reader can tell us more about the mysterious ‘Bolesworth’? If so, we’ll share the information in a future issue.

Ray Martin was one of the leading lights behind EMI’s Columbia label successes in the mid-1950s, and he also had a distinguished career as a composer / arranger / conductor in his own right. His big hit was Marching Strings, but there were many others as well. Before he was signed by EMI, he made a few sides for Decca and Polygon, and two tracks have been selected for this CD. Vendetta is an exciting number from his own pen (he used the pseudonym ‘Chris Armstrong’), but he freely admitted to having been responsible for the tender Muriella. He seems to have only recorded one 78 for Decca, and shortly after Vendetta was issued he moved to EMI’s Columbia label with spectacular results – as can be heard on the two Vocalion collections of his singles (In the Ray Martin Manner CDLK4105 & CDLK4119).

Cross Roads is a bright and breezy number, typical of the kind of mood music that was demanded by films and television in the 1950s. It comes from the London publishers Bosworth, but little seems known about the composer Richard Telford; is this another pseudonym? (If you know the answer, please get in touch!).

It is not always appreciated today that dance bands were responsible for introducing occasional pieces of light music to their audiences. Jack Hylton played the works of Eric Coates and Edward German, but he is in lighter mood with Laughing Marionette, a novelty by Walter Collins, conductor of the London Promenade Orchestra on two tracks on this CD. In 1928 the Jack Hylton Orchestra was undertaking a successful tour of Germany, at the same time that Walter Collins was similarly engaged with his own orchestra. Legend has it that they met in Berlin in November, when this number was recorded. David Ades included this number in one of the "Legends of Light Music" programmes on BBC Radio-2, and the favourable reaction encouraged him to feature it on this new CD. The sound quality for a 1928 78 is quite amazing.

Leonard Trebilco adopted the pseudonym ‘Trevor Duncan’, to avoid a conflict of interest while he was working at the BBC. His first big success had been High Heels, but this was soon followed by a string of other catchy instrumentals, Tomboy being one of the best. This recording was made in Switzerland, under the baton of Cedric Dumont, for many years the leading light music conductor in that country. Leonard Trebilco later achieved public recognition through melodies such as The Girl From Corsica and the theme music for BBC Television’s Dr. Finlay’s Casebook. He is a very prolific composer, and there are many fine examples of his talent waiting to be rediscovered.

Charles Williams has secured his place of honour among British light music composers. His list of superb works include Devil’s Galop (the ‘Dick Barton’ theme), Girls in Grey, The Dream of Olwen, Rhythm on Rails, and literally hundreds of other pieces. He scored many British films – especially during the 1940s – and was responsible for conducting almost the entire Chappell Recorded Music Library during its formative years. Only occasionally did he submit work to other publishers, but one example is his exciting piece The Falcons, which he recorded with his own orchestra for Columbia.

Although composers of light music tended to specialise in the genre, there are many instances where songwriters have also contributed the occasional piece of orchestral music that has caught the public’s attention. The American Lewis E. Gensler was responsible for several popular songs in the 1930s, perhaps the best-known being Love Is Just Around The Corner. Prohibition must have provided some useful inspiration (maybe first-hand knowledge?) because his pulsating Speakeasy seemed a natural for the Sidney Torch treatment.

Rufus Isaacs was a busy composer for various mood music publishers, using a variety of different pseudonyms. He usually chose ‘Kenneth Essex’ when writing bright, cheerful pieces, of which Dance Of The Hailstones is a prime example. Louis Voss made this fine recording for the Bosworth library, not previously available commercially.

We’re back with the songwriters – in this case Robert Wright and George Forrest, probably best-known for their adaptation of Borodin for "Kismet". Bubble, Bubble, Bubble was very popular 50 years ago; it also went under the title Pink Champagne and had a catchy vocal version. But it works extremely well as a purely instrumental number, played here by Henri René and his Orchestra (despite his French sounding name, he hails from New York).

Percy Faith was one of the leading popular orchestral conductors in the USA, although he actually hailed from Canada where a young Robert Farnon played trumpet in his CBC Orchestra. Numerous Faith LPs have been reissued on CD in recent years, but his recording output was so prolific that it is inevitable that some gems remain undiscovered. One such number is Waltz in Swingtime which Jerome Kern composed for the Astaire-Rogers 1937 film musical "Swing Time". It is best-known as a purely instrumental number, and this arrangement by Percy Faith is sparkling – to say the least. It has never before been issued in Britain, and has not made it on to CD anywhere in the world – until now. Alan Bunting assures us that it will be welcomed by keen Faith collectors.

Bruce Campbell is one of several composers who benefited from encouragement, and indeed positive help, from Robert Farnon in their early composing careers for the London publishers Chappells. Windy Corner was one of Bruce’s first pieces, and the Farnon touches are there for all to hear. The two Canadians had worked together since the mid-1940s, with Campbell assisting Robert Farnon on many broadcasts and recording projects. Bruce Campbell went on to compose a vast quantity of mood music, which was much in demand from various publishers.

Few arrangers have managed to resist the temptation to work on traditional melodies, and the 1940s British radio show "I.T.M.A." used to make a weekly feature of such numbers. Peter Yorke was just one of many leading musicians who contributed witty scores, which were played in the programme by the BBC Variety Orchestra conducted by Charles Shadwell. They made few commercial records, so we are lucky that Baa Baa Black Sheep was preserved on shellac for posterity. In the 1930s Peter Yorke had been closely associated with the full, rich orchestral sound of the Louis Levy Orchestra, and he developed this successfully with his own Concert Orchestra for numerous recordings and radio broadcasts in the post-war years. (Some of Peter Yorke’s work for Louis Levy can be heard on the Living Era CD "Music from the Movies – the 1930s" – CD AJA 5445).

This exercise in mining the rich musical seam known as ‘Light Music’ reaches a worthy conclusion with a much sought-after number by a giant of American music – Morton Gould. He arranged a 1927 novelty number called Dancing Tambourine by W.C. Polla for the symphony size Robin Hood Dell Orchestra, thereby transforming a relatively minor work into an enduring light orchestral favourite. Gould was an extremely versatile musician, who had made his name with the public through American radio in the 1930s. He seemed equally at home with classical and popular music, and was particularly supportive of American composers.

Whether you call it Light Music, Concert Music, Easy Listening or Mood Music, the kind of music featured on this CD is gaining in popularity all the time. It provides a refreshing change from the usual output of radio stations, and offers a haven of peace and tranquillity far removed from the outside world. The good news is that there is so much of it waiting to be rediscovered for the 21^st Century.

David Ades

This CD has been compiled by David Ades, with audio restoration and remastering by Alan Bunting. It is available from record stores in many countries, and can also be purchased from the RFS Record Service for £8 [US $16].

His Symphony No. 5½ has been popular for years, but he also wrote a lot more hugely enjoyable works. Music lovers are in for some very pleasant surprises ….

DON GILLIS

NEW SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA OF LONDON

Conducted by DON GILLIS

SYMPHONY NO. 5½ [A Symphony For Fun]

a] Perpetual Emotion
b] Spiritual?
c] Scherzofrenia
d] Conclusion!

THE ALAMO

SAGA OF A PRAIRIE SCHOOL (Symphony No. 7)

a] The Vision
b] The People
c] The Dedication
d] The Fulfilment

PORTRAIT OF A FRONTIER TOWN

a] Chamber of Commerce
b] Where the West Begins
c] Ranch House Party
d] Prairie Sunset
e] Main Street - Saturday Night

CD2

THE MAN WHO INVENTED MUSIC Narrator: Jack Kilty

Vocalion CDLK4163

Anyone who can compose a piece of music called "Symphony No. 5½" is almost demanding not to be taken too seriously, yet for half a century the privileged music lovers who discovered this vibrant work in the early days of the long-playing record have wondered what other treasures remain undiscovered.

Don Gillis himself conducted this work in 1950 for Decca at London’s Kingsway Hall, thereby bringing him to the attention of British admirers of bright, modern orchestral sounds. In his native USA, Gillis was already known through his work on radio, notably with Arturo Toscanini and the NBC Symphony. The fact that his talents were subsequently largely ignored by the record industry is more an indictment of blinkered attitudes towards new works, with their uncertain sales potential, rather than an objective criticism of his composing abilities.

Don E. Gillis was born in Cameron, Missouri on 16 June 1912. As a boy he studied both trumpet and trombone, and his enthusiasm and expertise gained him acceptance into his local Rotary Club band and, naturally, his school orchestra. While still at school he formed a jazz band, playing his own arrangements as well as original works he composed himself.

When Don was 17 his basic schooling was complete, and the Gillis family moved to Forth Worth, Texas. In 1931 he enrolled in Texas Christian University as a scholarship trombone player, and studied composition with Keith Mixson. He appears to have made an immediate impact, becoming student director of the University’s popular Horned Frog Band during his junior year. Four years later he graduated with both Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees, before going on to advanced studies in composition and orchestration with Roy T. Wills and Wilfred Bain at North Texas State University in Denton.

For two years he worked as staff arranger and producer for a local Fort Worth radio station WBAP, then moved on to Chicago to become a member of the production team for NBC’s affiliate. Presumably his radio work allowed him some spare time, because he continued his association with Texas Christian University where he taught trombone and became the University’s band director, a post he held from 1935 until 1942. The academic life must have attracted him: in 1944 he graduated from North Texas State University with another Master’s degree, and he also studied at Louisiana State and Columbia Universities. In 1948 the degree of Doctor of Music was conferred upon him by Texas Christian University.

Don Gillis had also been bitten by the composing bug, and around 1937 the first of his numerous works (over 200 in total) began to appear and, more importantly, get published and performed. One of the first, The Crucifixion – a cantata for narrator, soloists, chorus and orchestra reflected the Christian influence of his years at university. But soon he became noticed for the wit and American humour in many of his works, early examples being The Woolyworm (for narrator and orchestra), and Thoughts Provoked on Becoming a Prospective Papa. Clearly catchy titles also appealed to him, such as his January February March – a delightful concert piece, vibrant with energy, with the theme passing several times between the brass and the woodwinds; it appears briefly in The Man Who Invented Music.

Asked about his early influences, he recalled that in his youth "the band, the square dance, the hymn tune and early jazz were very much part of my environment … I am fundamentally a melodist … I have not embraced any particular school of writing but have been influenced orchestrally by R. Strauss, Sibelius, and Debussy … My greatest enjoyment in composition is writing for the stage."

His work at NBC in Chicago had been noticed, and in 1944 they brought him to New York to serve as chief producer and writer for the prestigious NBC Symphony Orchestra concerts. He was also required to play trombone, compose, arrange and provide scripts for music and drama programmes originating from New York City. This involved working with the legendary Arturo Toscanini, with whom he developed a close personal friendship. Gillis remained in this capacity until NBC disbanded the orchestra in 1954.

But the musicians were unhappy with NBC’s actions. They wanted to keep the orchestra alive, and Don Gillis headed a musicians’ committee which re-organised the orchestra which eventually reappeared as the Symphony of the Air. Unable to attract a permanent musical director, the orchestra finally disappeared from the musical scene in 1962.

Possibly due to his academic background, during his later years Don Gillis became involved in various administrative positions in the music world, thus allowing him to pursue his strong interest in music education in mixed media. From 1958 to 1961 he served as vice-president of the Interlochen Music Camp in Michigan, which at that time was still being managed by its founder Joseph Maddy. He became chairman of the music department at Southern Methodist University in 1967/68, then he accepted a similar post heading the fine arts department at Dallas Baptist College from 1968 to 1972.

In 1973 he was appointed Director of the Center for Media Arts Studies and composer-in-residence at the University of South Carolina in Columbia, remaining in this post until his sudden death from a heart attack on 10 January 1978, at the age of 65.

Don Gillis once wrote: "I think it is unimportant for a composer to wonder about what posterity thinks of him. It is more important that he be faithful to his own beliefs in music. He must be the final critic, and he must write what is his own, regardless of current trends or popularity. If his music reflects folk quality, it must be because it is a natural thing, not a contrived use of folk material merely to be ‘American’. Honesty, above all things, is the important ingredient a composer needs."

Undoubtedly the music of Don Gillis exhibits the vitality so often associated with the growth of the great nation into which he was born. Stuart Triff described him accurately as a person who "wrote ‘feel good’ music to make people happy. For this uniquely American composer, every night was a Saturday night hoedown!"

Following his death, Don Gillis’s widow Barbara made a major donation of his archives and memorabilia to the North Texas Music Library. Researchers can now study his manuscripts and copies of his works, an unpublished autobiography, pictures and scrapbooks. The archive also includes a complete set of tapes from the radio series Toscanini: The Man Behind the Legend, a sincere tribute to the ‘Maestro’ which Gillis compiled in 1967.

Apart from the works included on this CD, the compositions of Don Gillis represent a major contribution to the musical culture of his country. It is to be hoped that, one day, some more of his symphonies (he wrote twelve, although two were unnumbered) will attract new performers, who may also be drawn to other orchestral works such as The Panhandle Suite (1937), Intermission – 10 minutes (1940), Prairie Poem (1943), Short Overture to an Unwritten Opera (1944), To an Unknown Soldier (1945), Rhapsody for Harp and Orchestra (1946), Tulsa – a Symphonic Portrait in Oil (1950), Dude Ranch (1967) and maybe his two piano concertos. There are also several operas, pieces for bands, chamber music and a vast body of choral works.

Symphony No. 5½ [A Symphony For Fun]

When asked why this work had such an unusual title, Gillis simply replied that he wrote it between his Symphony No. 5 and Symphony No. 6! This folksy humour is certainly borne out in this entertaining work, which must have surprised many listeners on first hearing, who normally associate the word ’symphony’ with something much more serious, and usually far less accessible. You only need to hear the first movement Perpetual Emotion once, to be convinced that music can, indeed, be fun! Gillis composed this, his best-known work in 1946, and it received its premiere performance by Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops the following May. It reached a much wider audience through its first radio broadcast on 21 September 1947 by the NBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by Arturo Toscanini. It is reported that the great conductor could be heard chuckling or saying "Bravo" during the performance, and even the audience could not resist from tiny bursts of applause between the movements. That performance was recorded on a V-Disc for the Armed Forces Radio Service, but never released commercially. Three years later the composer himself was brought to London to conduct this work (and others on this CD) at the acoustically excellent Kingsway Hall, with the New Symphony Orchestra of London, an ensemble used regularly by Decca at that time, comprising many of the top players drawn from the capital’s leading symphony orchestras. When asked to describe this work, the composer explained that it was "… based on idiomatic devices found in jazz and other folk sources indigenous to the American musical scene." The result is music in rare good humour which, through its brilliant orchestration and subtle rhythms, has danced its way into amazing popularity.

The Alamo

This evocative tone poem was composed in 1947, and is part of a trilogy on symbols of American freedom. The serene opening soon suggests the dramatic events that were to follow at this fort in Texas, with the melodious pastoral sounds lapsing into darker passages hinting that all is not well. The tension gradually builds, eventually erupting into the full scale conflict between the whites and the Native Americans that has become a part of American history. The composer has cleverly interwoven ‘traditional cowboy music’ with tender passages sometimes reflecting the European composers he admits have influenced him. But such images are quickly dispelled by folksy themes among the turmoil of the battle, with impressive writing for both strings and brass. The tragic aftermath of the battle is finally tempered by a brief return to a ‘western’ theme from the opening, suggesting that good will eventually triumph over evil, but in this instance at a terrible price. Apparently Gillis himself did not intend this to be a descriptive work in the sense of gunfire and battlefield. He said: "It is rather an attempt to portray musically the deep feelings of emotion that arise in the contemplation of the heroism and courage expressed by the defenders of the Alamo as they gave their lives in the defence of freedom." It received its first performance in Texas by the San Antonio Symphony Orchestra conducted by Dr. Max Reiter.

Saga of a Prairie School (Symphony No. 7)

This work was first performed in May 1948 with the composer conducting the Symphony Orchestra of the School of Fine Arts, Texas Christian University. It had been written to celebrate the University’s diamond jubilee anniversary, and is dedicated to the spirit that originally created it. The four movements are played without pause, and follow a spiritual rather than historical approach. The music of The Vision opens with a pastoral theme, reflecting the land … the prayerful willingness of the founding fathers to devote their lives to a cause … their determination and zeal is evidenced in the militant spirit in which they work and play. From the spiritual theme, the entire symphony is built. In the second movement, The People, the music portrays the open heartedness and friendly hospitality of southwestern folk. The Dedication offers a prayer for guidance and strength … of the reason for being … and of the steadfastness of the ideals of the men who make the school. Finally The Fulfilment provides a prayerful tribute to the present glory and future power of the university, incorporating its Alma Mater Hymn. It is not uncommon for parents or friends of pupils to compose special works in recognition of academic institutions. Sometimes the results can be self-indulgent, downright boring or simply painful to endure. But it would be hard to imagine that the Texas Christian University could have been other than delighted with this truly magnificent paean of praise in its honour.

Portrait of a Frontier Town

The ‘town’ in this musical portrait is Fort Worth, Texas. The first movement, Chamber of Commerce, offers a tour of the town (known by its affectionate nickname ‘Cowtown’). But by the mid-20^th Century cattle no longer provide the town’s main wealth, with modern industries, skyscrapers, colleges and universities alongside the stockyards and sites of its military history. It is also the home of WBAP, the radio station known throughout the southwest through its familiar cowbell. The people have also changed, with the latest fashions rubbing shoulders with oilmen and ranchers. The second movement is called Where the West begins – the slogan of the city indicating the point where the Eastern USA leaves off and the West commences. Gillis portrays the feel of the wide open spaces, and the prairie lands peacefully existing in a mood of nostalgic contentment. Ranch House Partyreveals the locals in party mood, enjoying traditional square dancing. Don Gillis occasionally interrupts the fiddles with snatches of what he regarded as ‘rhythms of today’, but don’t forget that he composed this work before the nation’s youth adopted rock’n’roll! The fourth movement Prairie Sunset captures that magical time of day when the sky assumes rapidly changing colours of pink, gold and purple, before darkness finally descends. Gillis completes his musical portrait of Fort Worth with Main Street – Saturday Night, but the revels in Cowtown are really no different from any other place on earth where locals like to let their hair down at the end of a long working week.

The Man Who Invented Music

This work for narrator and orchestra was scripted by Claris Ross and Don Gillis, especially for the U.S. Steel NBC Summer Symphony series on radio, and it received its first performance on 22 August 1949 conducted by Antal Dorati. It is based on an original idea by the composer, in which a Grandfather tells a very ‘tall story’ about how he invented music, in order to persuade his young grandchild Wendy to go to sleep. On this recording the narrator is Jack Kilty who, at the time, was a young American musical comedy star who was making a name for himself in the USA in Broadway shows such as "Oklahoma" and "Make Mine Manhattan".

It is perhaps surprising that it was a British record company, Decca (known as London in North America), that offered the American composer Don Gillis the opportunity to conduct definitive recordings of some of his major works. He came to London in mid-career, when his considerable talents had already been recognised, although we now know that he still had a lot of wonderful music to offer the world. These rare recordings are of great historical interest, but more importantly they also provide the listener with some hugely enjoyable music.

Readers who would like to explore more of the music of Don Gillis, are advised of the following CD released in the USA:

DON GILLIS – Music inspired by the American Southwest: Symphony X [The Big D]; Shindig; Encore Concerto; Symphony No. 5½. – Albany Symphony Orchestra conducted by David Alan Miller. Albany TROY391.

David Ades

Around fifty years ago collectors eagerly awaited the latest Melachrino HMV 78 of show tunes. That great songwriting era is recaptured again on a new Living Era CD

THE MELACHRINO ORCHESTRA

Conducted by George Melachrino

GREAT FILM AND SHOW TUNES

The Classic HMV Selections

1 "CALL ME MADAM" (Irving Berlin)
Washington Square Dance; You’re Just In Love; Marrying For Love; The Best Thing For You; They Like Ike; Once Upon A Time Today; It’s A Lovely Day Today; The Ocarina; You’re Just In Love.

2 "KISS ME KATE" (Cole Porter)
Another Op’nin’ Another Show; So In Love; Too Darn Hot; Why Can’t You Behave?; Wunderbar; Bianca; Were Thine That Special Face; Always True To You In My Fashion; So In Love.

3 "SHOW BOAT" (Jerome Kern)
Cotton Blossom; Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man; Why Do I Love You; Make Believe; Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man; Bill; You Are Love; Make Believe; Ol’ Man River.

4 "CAROUSEL" (Richard Rodgers)
Carousel Waltz; If I Loved You; What’s The Use Of Wond’rin’; A Real Nice Clambake; Mister Snow; You’ll Never Walk Alone; June Is Bustin’ Out All Over.

5 "THE DANCING YEARS" (Ivor Novello)
Uniform; I Can Give You The Starlight; Wings Of Sleep; My Life Belongs To You; Waltz Of My Heart; Leap Year Waltz.

6 "THREE LITTLE WORDS" (Kalmar, Ruby)
I Love You So Much; Nevertheless; Who’s Sorry Now (Kalmar, Ruby, Snyder); Come On Papa; Thinking Of You; So Long! Oo Long; My Sunny Tennessee; All Alone Monday; Three Little Words.

7 "YOU’RE MY EVERYTHING"
Varsity Drag (De Sylva, Brown, Henderson); I May Be Wrong (Ruskin, Sullivan); On The Good Ship Lollipop (Clare, Whiting); Ain’t She Sweet Yellen, Ager); You’re My Everything (Dixon, Young, Warren); The Charleston (Mack, Johnson); Would You Like To Take A Walk (Dixon, Rose, Warren); California Here I Come (Jolson, De Sylva, Meyer).

8 COLE PORTER FANTASY (Cole Porter)
Just One Of Those Things; What Is This Thing Called Love; You Do Something To Me; Easy To Love; Night And Day; Anything Goes.

9 GERSHWIN FANTASY (George Gershwin)
The Man I Love; Fascinating Rhythm; Embraceable You; Lisa; Summertime; Let’s Call The Whole Thing Off; Love Walked In; Rhapsody In Blue; I Got Rhythm. (Chappell, NCB, BIEM)

Living Era CD AJA 5469

In the years immediately following the end of the Second World War, and before long-playing records eventually found their way into most music lovers’ homes, 78 rpm discs were still being purchased in large quantities by keen record collectors. They offered a wide range of music but, because they were relatively expensive (and highly taxed as luxuries), they were bought mainly by people now regarded as ‘the older generation’. Teenagers had yet to bring their overwhelming influence to bear on the singles market, so the majority of the popular records that were issued featured what might be termed ‘straight’ singers and light orchestras and dance bands.

Music from the latest films and shows always attracted attention, and record companies were quick to bring out their own versions of the biggest hits. The Melachrino Orchestra produced a steady stream of 78s featuring tunes from the major shows, tastefully arranged and usually lasting over eight minutes – the playing time then available using both sides of a 12" disc. This collection features some of the best from that period, which produced melodies of such charm and quality that many of them are still remembered today, over half a century later. In the case of American musicals, there was often an embargo on their music being played in Britain until the show eventually opened in London’s West End, which explains why some of George Melachrino’s selections were recorded a year or two after the shows first appeared on Broadway.

"Call Me Madam" was just one of many successes by the prolific Irving Berlin. The show first opened at Broadway’s Imperial Theatre in New York on 12 October 1950, where it ran for 644 performances. In London it opened at the Coliseum in March 1952 and lasted for 14 months. It told the story of Sally Adams, ‘the hostess with the mostest’, who became the US Ambassador to the tiny Grand Duchy of Lichtenburg, captivating the handsome Prime Minister, and encouraging the romance of her aide with an enchanting young Princess. Tunes such as It’s a Lovely Day Today and You’re Just in Love soon became very popular. The war hero General Eisenhower, who eventually became President of the USA, is remembered in the number They Like Ike.

"Kiss Me Kate" boasted words and music by Cole Porter, and it contains some of his most memorable melodies. The story revolves around the performance in Baltimore of a musical version of Shakespeare’s "Taming of the Shrew", with some of the characters in the play closely mirrored by the players. It was first seen at the New Century Theatre on Broadway on 30 December 1948 (1077 performances) but didn’t reach London’s Coliseum Theatre until 8 March 1951, where it notched up 501 performances; it has since enjoyed several successful revivals. The show’s big show-stopper is Brush Up Your Shakespeare which, for some reason, Melachrino omitted from his selection. But all the other hits are here, notably Wunderbar (a sarcastic ‘dig’ at middle-European operetta) and that great opening number Another Op’nin’, Another Show. When filmed by MGM in 1953 it was produced in 3-D, although the majority of audiences will have only seen the flat version. When 3-D television eventually arrives (surely it should have been invented by now?) the special effects will finally be appreciated by the millions for whom they were intended.

"Show Boat" was Jerome Kern’s masterpiece, with the story centred on one of the many American riverboats in the 1880s that featured travelling shows. It was packed with hits including Can’t Help Lovin’ Dat Man, Why Do I Love You and Ol’ Man River. The original novel by Edna Ferber was ahead of its time, dealing with racial prejudice in the southern states of the USA. The show opened at Broadway’s Ziegfeld Theatre on 27 December 1927, and ran for 575 performances. It soon reached London’s Drury Lane Theatre, lasting 350 performances after its opening on 3 May 1928. George Melachrino’s recording was made in response to the 1951 MGM Technicolor film starring Kathryn Grayson, Howard Keel and Ava Gardner.

"Carousel" provided the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II with one of their biggest successes, although it took a while to gain its big reputation internationally, thanks to the 1956 film version by 20^th Century-Fox starring Gordon MacRae and Shirley Jones. World War 2 was still in its dying throes when the show opened at New York’s Majestic Theatre on 19 April 1945, enjoying 890 performances. It did not reach London until June 1950, but had a good run of 566 shows.

"The Dancing Years" is the one British musical in this collection, written and composed by Ivor Novello, who (together with Noel Coward and Vivian Ellis) ensured that the pre-war theatre scene in Britain was not dominated by overseas productions. Unfortunately World War 2 was approaching when the show opened at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, on 23 March 1939, resulting in its early closure after 187 performances. It was set in Vienna at the start of the century, and its frothy storyline was, perhaps, out of keeping with the times. But the music was captivating, and it gained a new lease of life when the show was filmed in 1949.

When the supply of Broadway shows occasionally dried up, Hollywood was quick to fill their shooting schedules with their own ‘biopics’ featuring popular composers. The storylines did not worry too much about factual accuracy, but the concocted plots usually allowed for the subject’s ‘biggest hits’ to be performed by the studio’s current stars (if they couldn’t sing, they were dubbed). "Three Little Words" featured Fred Astaire and Red Skelton in MGM’s 1950 story of the songwriting partnership of Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby. "Bert… and Harry who …?" asked cinemagoers; they didn’t know the names, but certainly recognised the tunes. BBC Television used Melachrino’s version of the title song as the signature tune for its quiz show "Down You Go". Apparently this 78 is now quite rare, so its inclusion on this CD should please keen Melachrino collectors.

"You’re My Everything" was filmed by 20^th Century-Fox in 1949. Recalling those days, its star Dan Dailey said: "Musicals were probably one of the biggest grossing things they had at Fox, but they always did the Gay Nineties musicals and they always wanted you to do the same dance in every picture. You could change the wardrobe and the music, but that’s about all you could change." Dailey’s co-star in this film was Anne Baxter, and the music was selected from many different writers, all representative of the period covered by the unlikely tale of a Boston socialite who marries a dancer and becomes a movie star.

To complete this reminder of Melachrino’s great selections, we dip again into the works of the great Cole Porter, and then remember perhaps the most gifted songwriter of them all, George Gershwin. Cole Porter Fantasy emphasises the quality of Porter’s writing, when you note that all of the six main tunes featured have become standards. But there is far more in this selection than that; the arranger (it was probably William Hill-Bowen) has included snatches of many other Porter classics, some lasting only a second or two. The opening and closing moments are Begin the Beguine; linking Just One Of Those Things and What Is This Thing Called Love you’ll spot It’s D’Lovely; and just before You Do Something To Me there are snatches of Let’s Do It and Rosalie … and so on. Such gems can be spotted by alert listeners throughout this CD – perhaps a parlour game for music lovers?

Gershwin Fantasy only scratches the surface of the great body of work left behind by this musical genius, who died on 11 July 1937 aged

38. George Gershwin had been at the forefront of American shows and films for less than two decades, but his influence lasted long after he left us, in movies such as "An American In Paris" (1951). One wonders what he would have achieved, had he been allowed a normal life span.

The man behind all these vibrant selections was George Melachrino. Born in London in 1909, he became a professional musician, competent on clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone, violin and viola, and he worked with many British dance bands in the 1930s. He was also in demand as a singer, and can be heard on recordings with Carroll Gibbons and others. During World War 2 he became Musical Director of the Army Radio Unit, and his 50-piece ‘Orchestra in Khaki’ toured with the ‘Stars in Battledress’. When the Allied Expeditionary Forces Programme of the BBC began broadcasting to Allied troops on 7 June 1944 (one day after D-Day), George Melachrino was featured conducting the British Band of the AEF; his colleagues were Glenn Miller and Robert Farnon, fronting the American and Canadian Bands.

After the war Melachrino built on his service band to form the magnificent orchestra that went on to achieve worldwide fame, mainly through its superb long-playing record albums which sold in millions. His busy schedule of composing and film work meant that he needed the assistance of a fine team of arrangers, and most of the selections on this CD were probably created by his right-hand man William Hill-Bowen; Arthur Wilkinson is another likely candidate. There are also touches of the maestro himself, and Hill-Bowen (who later went on to international fame with his own orchestra) is the featured pianist on many numbers.

George Melachrino died in his bath on 18 June 1965 at the early age of 56. He has left behind a superb legacy of recorded music, which is gradually being rediscovered in this new century.

David Ades

A more complete biography of George Melachrino appears in JIM 148 (September 2001). This new CD has been compiled by David Ades from his own collection, and the excellent digital audio restoration and remastering has been in the capable hands of Alan Bunting. The CD can be obtained from all good record shops, and you can also purchase copies from the RFS Record Service for £8 [US $16].

Two magnificent Decca LPs are finally restored to the catalogue, through this generous new 2-CD set from Vocalion

FRANK CHACKSFIELD AND HIS ORCHESTRA

"Mediterranean Moonlight" CD 1

1 EL RELICARIO (Padilla); 2 APRIL IN PORTUGAL (Ferrao); 3 FAREWELL TO NAPOLI Cottrau, arr. Leon Young); 4 LADY OF SPAIN (Evans, Reaves, Damerell); 5 MAKE IT SOON (Salvador, Pon); 6 TINA (Grosz, Kennedy); 7 VALENCIA (Padilla); 8 BLUE VENETIAN WATERS (Kaper, Surmann, Kahn); 9 ISLE OF CAPRI (Kennedy, Grosz); 10 THE STORY OF TINA (Katrivanou, Hassall); 11 ARRIVEDERCI DARLING (Rascel); 12 TESORO MIO (Becucci, arr. Leon Young); 13 MAJORCA (Gaste, Bonnett); 14 CARNIVAL OF VENICE (Frosini)

"Lovely Lady" CD 2

The Music of Jimmy McHugh

1 I’M IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE (McHugh, Fields); 2 LOVELY LADY (McHugh, Koehler); 3 ON THE SUNNY SIDE OF THE STREET (McHugh, Fields); 4 DON’T BLAME ME (McHugh, Fields); 5 I CAN’T GIVE YOU ANYTHING BUT LOVE; (McHugh, Fields); 6 BLUE AGAIN (McHugh, Fields); 7 I’M SHOOTING HIGH (McHugh, Koehler); 8 A LOVELY WAY TO SPEND AN EVENING (McHugh, Adamson); 9 CUBAN LOVE SONG (McHugh, Fields, Stothart); 10 EXACTLY LIKE YOU (McHugh, Fields); 11 I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT YOU’RE IN LOVE WITH ME (McHugh , Gaskill); 12 GOOD-BYE BLUES (McHugh, Fields, Johnson); 13 I COULDN’T SLEEP A WINK LAST NIGHT (McHugh, Adamson); 14 DINNER AT EIGHT (McHugh, Fields)

Vocalion CDLK4162 [2 CDs for the price of 1]

When these Long-Playing records were first released by Decca early in 1957, Frank Chacksfield had already achieved considerable success and recognition internationally. The idea of a ‘concept album’ had, by now, been generally accepted by record companies, allowing conductors such as Chacksfield the freedom to choose certain areas and styles of music which they considered would appeal to their fans across the world. This was a notable improvement on the sometimes haphazard collection of singles which had been a feature of many LPs in the early days of this new phenomenon of the music business. As the 1950s dawned post-war austerity was still an unhappy fact of life, but fortunately things gradually improved as the decade progressed. Chacksfield’s choice of music associated with the Mediterranean struck a familiar chord with the pioneers of the package holiday boom that was just around the corner.

Mediterranean Moonlight is a tribute to that beautiful inland sea that borders so many countries associated with what has become known as the cradle of civilisation. It is practically tideless (contrary to the erroneous lyrics of Isle of Capri) and struggles to keep a balance between the conflicting demands of tourism, and the necessity for the locals living on its shores to be able to sustain a living from fishing and generally going about their business in deep waters.

Composers have long found it to be an inspiration, but few conductors have assembled such a wonderful collection of arrangements in honour of this beautiful part of the world.

Lovely Lady is a tribute to a talented songwriter who never quite achieved the fame of his contemporaries such as Berlin, Gershwin and Porter, but nevertheless entertained millions with his charming and catchy melodies. Jimmy McHugh was born on 10 July 1894, and after a short spell as an office boy at Boston’s Opera House he moved on to the local offices of Irving Berlin’s publishing company. In those early days of the 20^th century music publishers employed numerous song-pluggers, who would take the latest sheet music to cinemas, theatres and music stores, and perform songs to encourage people to buy the scores. A really popular song could sell hundreds of thousands of copies, but with radio and talking pictures some years ahead in the future, the potential customers needed to hear what they would be buying.

Young Jimmy soon decided that he wanted to write songs, and in 1921 Emaline was the first one that was accepted by a publisher. This encouraged him to move to New York, where he concentrated on writing scores for the Cotton Club revues in Harlem. He was partly responsible for bringing an unknown pianist named Duke Ellington before a wider public.

Like most composers, McHugh preferred to let others put words to his melodies, and many of his biggest successes resulted from his collaboration with Dorothy Fields, a New York schoolteacher (and the daughter of a comedian) he met in 1927. Other lyric writers included Clarence Gaskill and Harold Adamson.

Jimmy McHugh died in Beverly Hills, California, on 23 May 1969 aged 74. In his later life he enjoyed the French paintings and antique silver that his massive earnings had allowed him to accumulate. "How do I write a song?" he once said. "Well, I get titles and write them down on a piece of paper. Sooner or later I may write them up – when I feel that fresh feeling coming on. Maybe one day you’re walking along the street and you start humming". Many of his melodies were composed on the upright piano which George Gershwin once owned.

Frank Chacksfield was born Francis Charles Chacksfield in Battle, Sussex, on 9 May 1914; he died on 9 June 1995 aged 81 in Kent, having suffered for several years from Parkinson’s Disease. During his long recording career with Decca alone, it is estimated that his albums sold more than 20 million copies. In total he made more than 150 long-playing albums which were released in many countries, especially in Europe, Japan and Australia as well as Britain and America.

After serving an ‘apprenticeship’ accompanying singers, the first Frank Chacksfield singles in his own right were released in 1951 with several sides for Polygon, Columbia, Parlophone and Oriole. Although they were enjoyable, these early recordings were not big sellers, and Chacksfield had to negotiate a new record contract. Decca already had star names such as Mantovani, Robert Farnon and Stanley Black making successful albums, and this probably encouraged them to seek another light orchestra to add to the list. Frank Chacksfield was duly signed up, and in 1953 he formed a 40-piece orchestra with a large string section.

His very first 78 recorded for Decca in April - Charlie Chaplin’s themes for his film "Limelight" - won him a Gold Disc through its big success in the USA. In Britain it earned him the New Musical Express ‘Record of the Year’ award. His second 78 "Ebb Tide" became the first-ever British non-vocal disc to reach No. 1 in the American charts, providing a second Gold Disc. American juke-box operators, in a nation-wide poll, voted Chacksfield the most promising new orchestra of the year. Rarely can a record company have experienced such great success with the first two releases by a new signing. [These numbers, and many of his other early Decca 78s, can be found on the Vocalion CD "Dinner at Eight-Thirty" – CDLK4109].

Following his great success with his Decca recordings, in August 1954 the BBC invited Frank Chacksfield to present his orchestra on television, and these shows continued, on and off, until 1964 when he conducted several half-hour programmes in the "Best of Both Worlds" series on the newly-launched BBC-2 channel, which were sold to some other countries. He also became an almost permanent fixture on BBC Radio in "Limelight", "Melody Hour" etc. As a child he had suffered from a slight stutter, but the friendly manner in which he conquered this affliction somehow added to his charm when he introduced his own programmes.

But it was his steady flow of long-playing records which ensured Chacksfield’s continuing popularity and high public profile. Some of his best remembered include: "Evening in Paris", "Music of Noel Coward", "Evening in Rome", "Broadway Melody", "South Sea Island Magic", "In the Mystic East", "Film Festival", collections of Academy Award-winning songs, and the two fine albums included on this 2-CD collection. "Mediterranean Moonlight", in particular, is enhanced by some exceptional lush scores from the pen of Frank Chacksfield’s long-time associate, the talented arranger Leon Young.

David Ades November 2002

After years of neglect, many of Cyril Stapleton’s finest singles from the 1950s are available once more on a new Vocalion CD

CYRIL STAPLETON AND HIS ORCHESTRA The Decca Singles Collection

1 HIGHWAY PATROL (Llewellyn) F10793 1956; 2 ELEPHANTS' TANGO (Bernard Landes) F10488 1955; 3 THE MAIDS OF MADRID (Hamilton) F10793 1956; 4 GABRIELLE (Hayward Morris) F10488 1955; 5 THE ITALIAN THEME (Giacomazzi) F10703 1956; 6 DOLL DANCE (Brown) F11257# 1960; 7 TEENAGE LULLABY (Stevens, Hamilton) F11013 1958; 8 THE RED BALLOON (Earley, Hamilton) F10850 1957; 9 STRINGS ON PARADE (Ray Martin) F10322* 1954; 10 FOR ALWAYS (Valente, Tagliaferri, Parsons) F10322* 1954; 11 CARNAVALITO (Linda, Zaldiver) F10208* 1953; 12 COME NEXT SPRING (Steiner, Adelson) F10703 1956; 13 THE MAN WHO PLAYS THE MANDOLINO (GUAGLIONE); (Fanciulla, Bergman, Keith) F10850 1957; 14 AVA (Salvador) F10359* 1954; 15 ELEANORA (Arendo) F10359* 1954; 16 'THE MAN BETWEEN' –THEME (John Addison) F10208* 1953; 17 MEET MR. CALLAGHAN (Eric Spear) F9974* 1952; 18 FIDDLE-DELPHIA (Hamilton) F11013 1958; 19 HAVANA MERRY-GO-ROUND (Lenard) ; F11257# 1960; 20 BLUE STAR (THE 'MEDIC' THEME) (Heyman, Young) F10559 1955; 21 MEXICAN MADNESS (Hamilton, Earley) F10456 1955; 22 FANFARE BOOGIE (Fahey, Kaye) F10470 1955; 23 FORGOTTEN DREAMS (Leroy Anderson) F10912 1957; 24 WHICH END BITES F11049 1958; 25 'NORTH WEST FRONTIER' F11180 1959; 26 VOLARE (Domenico Modugno) F11049 1958; 27 TANGO MAMBO F10456 1955; 28 THE HAPPY WHISTLER F10735 1956; 29 MAGIC FINGERS F10686 1956; 30 GUADALCANAL MARCH (Richard Rodgers) F10308* 1954; Decca singles * F series 78 rpm 10 inch discs only; # F issued as 45-F on 45 rpm 7 inch discs only; all other tracks issued as both F & 45-F series , 78 & 45 rpm discs

Vocalion CDLK4154

During the 1950s and 1960s, Cyril Stapleton was a well-known orchestra leader in Britain and overseas, thanks to his regular BBC broadcasts and his many recordings. Like his fellow bandleaders, he regularly made ‘singles’ to appeal to the record buying public who wanted to take home the latest catchy melody. As the 1950s progressed, the familiar 10" 78 rpm record gradually gave way to the smaller 7" 45 rpm record, and "45s" were to remain highly collectable until well into the 1980s, when the compact disc took over.

Looking back today, it may be surprising to discover some of the tunes which were issued by record companies around 50 years ago. Things are so different in the 21^st century, with ‘single’ CDs concentrating on repertoire that caters almost exclusively for young people with tastes in music that reflect their individual lifestyles. Once upon a time gramophone records could be enjoyed by all the family; today we all have our own preferences, but thankfully the invention of the compact disc has resulted in more music than ever before becoming available.

Which is a roundabout way of saying that, if you don’t enjoy today’s latest sounds, there are many CDs on the market to remind you of how things used to be.

Television was making great strides in the 1950s, and several tracks played by the Cyril Stapleton Orchestra attracted attention through their use as regular signature tunes. "Highway Patrol" (1955-59) was an early American police series, with a great theme credited to ‘Ray Llewellyn’, although this is widely believed to be a pseudonym for David Rose (of Holiday for Strings and The Stripper fame).

But perhaps the most famous piece of television music on this CD is the number which closes this collection – Richard Rodgers’ Guadalcanal March from that landmark NBC television series "Victory At Sea" (1952-53).

Light music is renowned for the many composers who use pseudonyms. Several catchy numbers on this CD include the name ‘Hamilton’; this surname has been chosen by some important people such as the Dorsey Brothers in the USA, and pianist Monia Liter in England. But ‘Clyde Hamilton’ is definitely Cyril Stapleton, so it can be safely assumed that titles such as The Maids of Madrid, Teenage Lullaby, The Red Balloon and Mexican Madness are being conducted in a manner that the composer would entirely approve. The co-composer of some of these works is ‘Robert Earley’, who is better known as the conductor Bob Sharples; but ‘Bob Sharples’ is also a pseudonym used by Robert Frederick Standish.

The remaining numbers in this collection provide an entertaining snapshot of the light and popular music scene in the 1950s, before rock’n’roll changed everything, although its effects can be heard in Nacio Herb Brown’s 1920s fox trot Doll Dance, given a 1960 spruce-up. Many novelties will probably sound familiar, even if their names have long been forgotten. Cyril Stapleton wasn’t recognised for a particular style (in the same way as Mantovani with his cascading strings), but he always provided something that had a special touch, thereby distinguishing it from his peers. So when you hear his versions of popular numbers such as Elephant Tango or Carnavalito you know that you will not be hearing carbon copies of other records. And there can be few other conductors who offered their fans such varied sounds and styles, as this fascinating collection undoubtedly confirms.

Cyril Stapleton was born on 31 December 1914 at Mapperley, Nottingham, in the east midlands of England. He enlisted in the Royal Air Force during World War II where he served for five years, initially as an air gunner.

During his last year in the RAF he was stationed in Uxbridge where he became a member of the RAF Symphony Orchestra. This rekindled an earlier interest in symphonic music, and back in civilian life he decided to concentrate on this area of music. At one particular time he was a member of three orchestras: the London Symphony, the National Symphony and the Philharmonia Orchestra.

But having to keep playing the same old classical repertoire started to pall, and in 1947 he was back in London’s West End with his own band. With added strings in 1948, the Stapleton band attracted a wider audience, helped by appearances on radio shows such as "Hit Parade" and "Golden Slipper".

His fame was assured in 1952, when the BBC Dance Orchestra was changed to the BBC Show Band, and Cyril Stapleton was appointed as its conductor. This was the BBC’s prestige outfit for the playing of popular music, employing the finest musicians and arrangers, and the first programme went out on the Light Programme on 2 October 1952. Not only did the band attract the top British singers, but American entertainers such as Frank Sinatra and Nat ‘King’ Cole were also happy to appear as guests.

The Show Band was broadcasting three times a week (in various forms) but all this came to an end on 28 June 1957, to the dismay of its many fans. Despite much criticism, the BBC refused to reverse its decision to ‘kill’ the band. Cyril kept busy touring with his own orchestra, making records and broadcasting, and appearing around the country in theatres and dance halls. This continued until the mid-1960s, when he was appointed an Artists and Repertoire Manager at Pye Records.

Sadly he died aged only 59 on 25 February 1974, but he has left us with a fine collection of recordings, and his singles rediscovered for this CD prove what a thoroughly competent and versatile musician he was.

For a more complete biography of Cyril Stapleton, please see ‘Journal Into Melody’ issue 149 [December 2001].

David Ades November 2002

Here is a brand new Mantovani CD, compiled by two of his ardent admirers, that is guaranteed to fill gaps in many collections. This is the first time since Mantovani's last LP in 1976, that any 'new' material has appeared.

The Collector's Mantovani - Volume 1

1. Toyshop Ballet; 2. When The Lilac Blooms Again; 3. Swedish Rhapsody; 4. American Gypsy; 5. The Heart of Budapest; 6. The Theme From Moulin Rouge; 7. Vola Colomba; 8. Jamaican Rumba; 9. Valse Campestre; 10. Call Of The West; 11. Dream Dust; 12. I May Never Pass This Way Again (linked with Swinging Shepherd Blues by Ted Heath and His Orchestra and Who's Sorry Now by Edmundo Ros and his Orchestra); 13. Love Song From Houseboat (Almost In Your Arms) 14. Temple Of Dreams; 15. Around The World; 16. The Road To Ballingarry; 17. Mandolin Serenade; 18. Souvenir d'Italie; 19. Theme From The Sundowners; 20. To My Love; 21. A Certain Smile; 22. The Valiant Years; 23. The Canary; 24. Evening In Capri; 25. The Spring Song; 26. Flamenco Love; 27. Theme From The Last Rhapsody. Vocalion CDLK4152.

Annnunzio Paolo Mantovani (1905-80) was such a prolific album artist in the 1950s and 1960s that you might be forgiven for assuming that all of his recordings had been given album exposure at one time or another. Not so. A first search of the Decca vaults has revealed a variety of pieces which have been overlooked and neglected and may be unfamiliar to those of us interested in Mantovani's music.
The majority of these recordings are presented here for the first time in many years; indeed, some of them have never even been heard outside the Decca studios. Furthermore, several of the tunes were released only on obscure 45 rpm singles or extended play discs; in one case a song even appeared in a unique format on a charity record. The common thread in this Vocalion issue is, however, that none of the tunes has surfaced on a Mantovani compact disc until now. Indeed, just four of them were issued on long playing albums.
Vocalion's presentation encompasses what Mantovani was all about in his best selling years: lush waltzes, film themes, sumptuous Italian melodies, the occasional novelty item, his own captivating compositions and downright good tunes. You'll still come across the occasional carping critic complaining about an overload of cascading strings, but such nonsense ignores the rich musical tapestry Mantovani created, his inherent feeling for a good melody, the care he took over his recordings and the variety of choice he offered.
Mantovani's own compositions were invariably melodious, one of the more successful ones being "Toyshop Ballet" which provides for a lively opening.
Mantovani's "The Road To Ballingarry" with its lilting Irish theme is a showcase for that wonderful Welsh flautist Lionel Solomon who worked with Mantovani for nearly thirty years.
The small screen is not entirely ignored in this compilation for the stirring signature of the BBC TV series "The Valiant Years" from 1961 makes a rare appearance. Based on the memoirs of Winston Churchill, it highlighted Richard Burton as the voice of Churchill.
Mantovani's ear for a good tune is demonstrated by his 1956 version of the Continental favourite "When The Lilac Blooms Again" which he had recorded on an earlier occasion in a much slower tempo. The finale is a splendid mini-concerto from 1953, the "Theme From The Last Rhapsody", with Stanley Black on piano.

This new CD has been sponsored by two RFS members, Nicholas Briggs and Scott Raeburn. Mantovani collectors owe them a great debt of gratitude, for making so many rare items available on CD for the first time.

November 2002

ASV Living Era presents the big Orchestral Sounds of the 1930s once again

LOUIS LEVY and his GAUMONT BRITISH SYMPHONY "Music From The Movies"

1 MUSIC FROM THE MOVIES – MARCH; 2 MUSIC FROM THE MOVIES 1936 - Medley; 3 "GOLDWYN FOLLIES" FILM SELECTION; 4 JINGLE OF THE JUNGLE; 5 "HOLLYWOOD HOTEL" SELECTION; 6 "THE WIZARD OF OZ" SELECTION; 7 THE EYES OF THE WORLD ARE ON YOU; 8 "THE GREAT ZIEGFELD" FILM SELECTION; 9 EMPIRE BUILDERS – MARCH; 10 "GOLD DIGGERS OF 1937" SELECTION; 11 I HAVEN’T TIME TO BE A MILLIONAIRE; 12 "ON THE AVENUE" SELECTION; 13 EVERYBODY DANCE; 14 "BABES IN ARMS" FILM SELECTION; 15 THERE’S THAT LOOK IN YOUR EYES AGAIN; 16 MUSIC FROM THE MOVIES 1938 – SELECTION

ASV CDAJA5445

In the middle years of the 20^th century the name ‘Louis Levy’ would have been familiar to millions of cinemagoers around the world. He was listed as Musical Director on countless British films, and he led a team of fine composers and arrangers that helped to establish film scoring as an important craft in its own right. As head of a music department servicing both Gaumont British and Gainsborough films, Levy was one of the most influential figures in British film music in the 1930s and 1940s. He was more prolific than his contemporary Muir Mathieson, although it has to be said that the latter enjoyed greater critical acclaim. Levy’s success in films resulted in major record contracts for HMV and Columbia, and he became a regular broadcaster.

Louis Levy (1893-18 August 1957) began his famous long-running BBC radio series "Music From The Movies" on 6^th January 1936. His aim was to allow listeners at home to enjoy the same lush orchestral sounds they were now accustomed to hearing in the cinema. He further extended this ideal to his commercial recordings, and the excellent results he achieved can be heard in this collection. The rich sounds emanating from his large orchestra are all the more impressive when one realises that electrical sound recording was barely ten years old when some of these 78s were made.

Through the sheer necessity of having to produce so much music, Levy wisely employed several talented arrangers who helped to establish his style, among them Peter Yorke (who adapted the powerful Levy sound for his own successful post-war concert orchestra), and Bretton Byrd (who was Levy’s chief music editor at Gaumont British).

His roster of vocalists included several who were much in demand during the 1930s. The many British dance bands of the period rarely treated their singers with much respect (the possible main exception being Al Bowlly), and on their commercial 78s they often hired whoever happened to be available on the day. Sam Browne appeared on even more sides than the seemingly ubiquitous Bowlly, perhaps surprising when one learns that Browne apparently couldn’t read music, but could pick up a new tune after only one play through. Others familiar on Levy’s 78s included: Edward Molloy, who became a big hit in post-war seaside concert parties, and eventually found his deserved fame in London’s West End; Robert Ashley, a tenor who was killed in World War II; Janet Lind, from Melbourne, Australia, who died there in 1986, aged 81; Gerry Fitzgerald who arrived in Britain from Toronto in 1934, and returned to Canada after war service in the RAF, but died young; and Eve Becke, originally a pianist who sang with many of the top British bands.

Although it is generally accepted that Louis Levy was a figure-head, rather than an active participant in the creation of the music he conducted, there is no denying that he composed one of the most famous marches from the early British film industry – Music From The Movies. He used it as his signature tune on the radio, and snatches of it opened and closed several of his 78s. The regular Gaumont British cinema newsreel (with the town crier waving a bell) was distinguished by its use as the opening fanfare.

Louis Levy has left us with a fine legacy of film music which portrays so vividly the time when it was created. Some of the vocals may now sound dated, but that is not to deny their period charm. Many recording artists today would envy the large budgets which Levy was allowed by HMV and Columbia. For some reason they sometimes dropped the ‘Gaumont British Symphony’ title from his orchestra, but on most of his recordings it really was a symphony orchestra, often comprising some 65 players. The primitive microphones of the 1930s struggled to capture the performances in the studio on wax, but today’s sound restoration techniques have extracted more of the music from those coarse grooves that would have seemed impossible just a few years ago. RFS member Alan Bunting has done a superb job with his magical CEDAR equipment!

David Ades

Another superb Vintage Light Music CD from Vocalion

SIDNEY TORCH conducting
THE NEW CENTURY ORCHESTRA

1 LONDON PLAYHOUSE (Sidney Torch) FDH008
2 THE GALLOPING MAJOR (George Bastow, arr. Gordon Jacob)FDH012
3 MANNEQUIN (Jack Beaver) FDH005
4 PASTORALE (Ronald Hanmer) FDH023
5 METROPOLIS (Jack Brown) FDH037
6 THE PC 49 THEME from 'Changing Moods No. 2' (R. Hanmer)FDH026
7 MARDI GRAS (Ferde Grofe) FDH001
8 BARNACLE BILL (Ashworth Hope) FDH007
9 SPORTS ARENA (Len Stevens) FDH043
10 COLORADO SUNSET (Jack Brown) FDH050
11 GOLDEN ARROW (Jack Beaver) FDH045
12 FLYING SQUAD (Ronald Hanmer) FDH018
13 JOY RIDE (Jack Coles) FDH059
14 LOVE'S AWAKENING (Leslie Bridgewater) FDH013
15 BEATEN BY A HEAD (Bill Williamson) FDH011
16 CARIBBEAN CAPRICE (Len Stevens) FDH052
17 CHINCHILLA (Eric Winstone) FDH015
18 LOCOMOTION 'Running Off The Rails' (Clive Richardson) FDH028
19 RADIO THEATRE (Jack Beaver) FDH040
20 BREAKFAST BUSTLE (Len Stevens) FDH012
21 WORLD OF TOMORROW (Jack Beaver) FDH002
22 AUTUMN SCENE (Jack Brown) FDH046
23 GARDEN FACTORY (Len Stevens) FDH045
24 SONGE D'AUTOMNE (Archibald Joyce) FDH004
25 SILVER SPURS (Philip Green) FDH058
26 FASHION PARADE (Ronald Hanmer) FDH005
27 WATERSMEET (Conrad Leonard) FDH017
28 DANCE OF THE GHOSTS (Montague Ewing) FDH014
29 PRODUCTION DRIVE (Frank Cordell) FDH054
30 LONDON TOWN MARCH (Len Stevens) FDH029

FDH series Francis, Day & Hunter 10" 78s

Vocalion CDEA6080

Many readers of this magazine will already own some of the KPM Music CDs which feature vintage recordings by the New Century Orchestra conducted by Sidney Torch. Some of you may also be fortunate in having the original Francis, Day & Hunter 78s lurking on your shelves. The KPM CDs are specifically for use by professionals in the entertainment industry, and they are not available to the general public. Therefore this new Vocalion CD will offer many music lovers around the world their first opportunity to purchase a unique collection of top quality mood music from the late 1940s. Even RFS members who already have some of these tracks in their private collections should find something of interest on this new CD. For a start, some 78s have not previously been available on KPM CDs (Mardi Gras, London Town) and others were previously in shortened versions (The Galloping Major, Sports Arena).
Sidney Torch, MBE, distinguished himself in two musical spheres. In his early years he gained a reputation as a brilliant cinema organist, but in the second half of his career he switched to writing and conducting Light Music, with even greater success. As well as his conventional work for radio and commercial records, he became a master of composing, arranging and conducting Mood Music (now better known as Production Music). Some of his many recordings for the London publishers Francis, Day and Hunter are now made available again in this collection; most of these rare tracks are appearing for the first time on a commercially available CD.
He was born Sidney Torchinsky of Russian parents, at 27 Tottenham Court Road, London, on 5 June 1908. His father, an orchestral trombonist, decided to anglicise the family name, and it was he who introduced his son to the rudiments of music. Young Sidney studied piano at the Blackheath Conservatoire, where he soon displayed evidence of an unusually retentive memory. As he entered an examination room he discovered, to his horror, that he had left behind at his home in Maida Vale all the compulsory music. He had no alternative but to play from memory, and passed the exam with distinction. He shared the same professor for piano tuition as Gerald Bright, later to achieve fame in Britain as the band-leader Geraldo.
Clearly Torch must have been a talented pianist, because his first professional engagement was as accompanist to the celebrated violinist Albert Sandler. He then moved into several cinema orchestras playing for silent films, starting at Stratford Broadway in East London, but the arrival of the talkies forced him to consider a musical change of direction. Full orchestras were no longer needed in cinemas, and even prestigious ensembles such as Emanuel Starkey's orchestra at the Regal, Marble Arch, (in which Torch also played piano) had to go. But every picture palace of note decided to install an organ and the Regal was no exception; a Christie was built in 1928 by the famous London firm of Hill, Norman and Beard. At the time it was the largest theatre organ outside the United States.
Torch became assistant organist to Quentin Maclean at the Regal, Marble Arch, taking over this famous Christie Organ (following a short residency by Reginald Foort) full time from 1932 to 1934. Despite the popularity of his jazzy arrangements with cinema-goers and buyers of his 78s, the BBC did not invite Torch to broadcast regularly until 1934. Microphones of the period had great difficulty coping with the wide dynamics and timbral range of modern organs. His signature tune became, appropriately, the popular song "I've Got To Sing A Torch Song" (from the Hollywood film "Gold Diggers of 1933") to which he added his own special lyrics. From Marble Arch Torch moved on to the Regal, Edmonton, leaving in 1936 to join Union Cinemas, opening many new organs and recording at their flagship theatre, the Regal Kingston. In 1937 he opened the magnificent Wurlitzer Organ at the Gaumont State, Kilburn, which was then the largest cinema organ in England.
Torch was a real 'star' of the cinema organ in those pre-World War 2 days. Through his many personal appearances, broadcasts and commercial recordings he had reached the very top of his profession. In 1940 he was called into the Royal Air Force, and initially was stationed near Blackpool, where he continued to record at the Opera House. He first trained as an air gunner in the RAF, but was subsequently commissioned and attained the rank of Squadron Leader. He became conductor of the RAF Concert Orchestra, which gave him the opportunity to study more closely the intricacies of orchestral scoring. This experience was to stand him in good stead when he returned to civilian life after the war. Astutely Torch realised that the days of the cinema organ as he knew it were numbered, so he turned to light orchestral composing, arranging and conducting, where he quickly established himself through his radio broadcasts and commercial recordings (in a period of less than ten years he conducted over 60 78s for EMI's Columbia and Parlophone labels). He wrote the catchy signature-tune for the famous BBC Radio series "Much Binding In The Marsh", and also discovered that his composing talents were ideally suited to the requirements of the production music (mood music) publishers, that were rapidly establishing libraries in London. Chappells had already started recording light music for the use of radio, film, newsreel and eventually television companies as far back as 1942, drawing mainly upon the talents of Charles Williams, who conducted the Queen's Hall Light Orchestra on those early 78s. From 1946 onwards Sidney Torch contributed many different works to the Chappell catalogue, both under his own name and also as Denis Rycoth (an anagram). He also conducted the Queen's Hall Light Orchestra on these special recordings, working alongside Williams, Robert Farnon, Peter Yorke, Wally Stott, Clive Richardson and many other luminaries of light music in the post-war years. Francis, Day & Hunter employed Torch to conduct their New Century Orchestra when their library was founded in 1947, and he remained with them for two years until a Musicians' Union ban halted all such work in Britain.
Although the BBC originated most of the material it broadcast on the radio in those days, London musicians were also employed by transcription services (Lang-Worth, Muzak etc.) and overseas broadcasting organisations such as Radio Luxembourg and IBC. Torch was closely associated with the Harry Alan Towers radio production company which supplied programmes to Radio Luxembourg and, occasionally, even to the BBC.
In 1953 the BBC decided that it needed a new programme whose brief was: "to help people relax after the week's hard work and put them in the right mood for a happy weekend". With Sidney Torch's full participation, the formula for "Friday Night Is Music Night" was devised - with such foresight that the programme survives to this very day. The BBC Concert Orchestra had been formed the previous year, and Torch conducted them for almost twenty years in this series, until his retirement in 1972.
During this period Torch became one of the most popular and respected conductors in Britain. His countless broadcasts included many celebrity concerts, often at London's Royal Festival Hall as part of the BBC's regular Light Music Festivals. He had a reputation as something of a martinet, according to the musicians and singers who performed under his baton. One described the crackle that emanated from his starched shirt-cuffs on some of his rapier-like downbeats. Singers dreaded 'the glare of the Torch' if they failed to please the maestro. But he was also remembered for various acts of kindness, seldom made public, but nevertheless appreciated by some of his musicians who needed temporary financial assistance. He demanded smartness in dress from his musicians, and always had in reserve an extra pair of gloves or black socks in case of need.
Following his retirement Sidney Torch seemed to lose interest in his previous musical activities. He rarely wanted to talk about his pre-war stardom as a cinema organist, and similarly dismissed most attempts to get him to recall his great moments in light music. In a rare radio interview in 1983 he admitted that he had been cruel to most of his producers, although he felt that most of them probably benefited from the experience. He was appointed MBE in 1985. He died from an overdose at his Eastbourne, Sussex home on 16th July 1990 at the age of 82, having been pre-deceased by his wife Elizabeth Tyson (a former BBC producer) the previous March. Sidney Torch's music is still remembered by the many admirers of the cinema organ and light music. "Friday Night Is Music Night" is regarded by many as 'his' programme, and his own compositions and arrangements are still regularly performed by 'his' BBC Concert Orchestra. Few musicians could have a better memorial to their talents.
This new CD presents a special selection of unique archive production music recordings made in London during the second half of the 1940s. When World War 2 was over, the famous music publishers Francis, Day & Hunter (FDH) decided to establish their own Recorded Music Library, and the first sessions took place at EMI's Abbey Road Studios during the early summer of 1946.
FDH made a wise choice in engaging Sidney Torch to conduct their recordings. He was highly regarded as a composer, arranger, conductor and performer, and he possessed a wide knowledge of this kind of music. The musicians in The New Century Orchestra were hand-picked (many from London's leading symphony orchestras), and they were familiar with the kind of repertoire they were required to perform. The combination of a demanding and knowledgeable conductor, plus an orchestra of accomplished players adept at sight-reading, ensured the quality of these recordings.
Although in mono (stereo was a decade away, and electrical recording itself was barely 20 years old), the sound achieved in the studios was outstanding. Very few microphones would have been used, making it all the more important that the conductor should be fully aware of the techniques involved. The sound engineers were familiar with recording light orchestras, and those glowing valves in the audio equipment also added to the period charm. In recent years modern composers have tried to recreate the sounds of this era, often with very creditable results. But it has to be acknowledged that the original studio ambience - plus the distinctive style of writing by the foremost composers in their field - is very hard to replicate with today's equipment.
When these recordings were made, synchronised sound films were rare, apart from feature films made for the commercial cinema. Sound effects were helpful, but music tended to be the preferred choice of directors needing something to enhance their visuals. Newsreels in particular demanded a large quantity of different moods to fulfil their insatiable requirements, and documentaries and 'B' movies also needed an affordable source of music. Radio and the fledgling television services around the world also wanted catchy themes and copious amounts of background music. Tape recording was not yet in general use. Editing was not possible: if a musician made a bad mistake, they simply had to start again with a fresh wax. Therefore the original 78s (from which all these transfers have been made) represent the genuine performances, the only concession to modern tastes being a minimal amount of filtering to remove any unwanted excess surface noise, and a judicious application of state-of-the-art sound restoration technology to achieve uniform sound quality.
Francis, Day & Hunter employed many fine writers who knew exactly what was required of them. The work of three composers stands out: Jack Beaver, Ronald Hanmer and Len Stevens. None of them ever sought the limelight, yet each was brilliant at being able to capture a specific mood within seconds. They were masters of their craft, but never guilty of giving short change.
Jack Beaver was born in Clapham, London in 1900, and died on 10 September 1963, aged 63. In the 1930s and 1940s he was part of Louis Levy's 'team' of composers, providing scores for countless feature films and documentaries. He was also much in demand for scoring theatrical productions, and undertook a punishing workload which eventually contributed towards his early death. His ability to create music to cover almost any mood was second to none, and his most famous composition was 'Picture Parade', which used to introduce the BBC Television series of the same name. (You can read more about Jack Beaver in articles published in JIMs 133 & 134).
In some respects the career of Len Stevens was similar to Jack Beaver. In every sense a 'backroom boy' of the music business, he learned his craft in the dance bands of pre-war years. Many London publishers were keen to employ him, both for his own original works, and also to orchestrate new pieces by other writers, who were too busy (or not sufficiently capable!) of doing a good job themselves. Only rarely did he make commercial recordings, but his music was heard by millions around the world. He died on 13 May 1989.
Ronald Hanmer was born in Reigate, Surrey on 2 February 1917, and it was his proud boast that he had worked in the music business since the day he left school. Like Torch, he served his 'apprenticeship' as a cinema organist, and soon developed his talent for composing and arranging. Many of his comic creations enlivened wartime ITMA broadcasts, and eventually over 700 of his compositions were published in various background music libraries. He was also in demand as an orchestrator of well-known works for Amateur Societies, and the brass band world was very familiar with his scores. In 1975 he emigrated to Australia, where he was delighted to discover that his melody Pastorale was famous throughout the land as the theme for the long-running radio serial 'Blue Hills'. He died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Brisbane, Australia, on 23 May 1994, aged 77. (See also articles about Ronald Hanmer in JIMs 109, 115 & 117). All of the other composers represented on this CD equally deserve to be remembered for their valuable contributions to Light Music.
Jack Brown became better known as the organist 'Jackie Brown', whose life ended tragically following an accident. Ferde Grofe was the American who orchestrated Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue for its first performance by Paul Whiteman; later he achieved fame though his Grand Canyon and other suites (Mardi Gras comes from his 'Mississippi Suite', and became a popular song Daybreak).
Ashworth Hope's Barnacle Bill is instantly recognisable as the original BBC TV 'Blue Peter' theme.
Jack Coles composed regularly, but later became better known in Britain as one of the conductors of the BBC Midland Light Orchestra.
Eric Winstone was a popular bandleader and broadcaster, and Archibald Joyce enjoyed respect as a composer of the 'traditional' school of light music.
Clive Richardson was definitely in the 'first division' of light music composers, and his tribute to our capital city in wartime - London Fantasia - is still well remembered today. One of his popular works was called 'Running Off The Rails', but it was originally known as Locomotion when he composed it for the FDH background music library.
Philip Green was credited as having composed more music than any of his contemporaries, although in later years he concentrated on religious themes.
Montague Ewing was also a busy writer, under his own name and also using a dozen pseudonyms, notably Sherman Myers. Frank Cordell had a glittering career as an arranger and composer, eventually achieving international recognition for his work in films.
Keen collectors of light music will already be familiar with some of the works in this collection, and many are likely to rekindle half-forgotten memories from long ago. As an example, World of Tomorrow will be familiar to American ears through its association with early 'Superman' episodes on black and white television.
In Britain, record collectors around 50 years ago looked in vain for a copy of the theme music for the popular radio series 'The Adventures of P.C. 49'. And if you happened to be serving in the British Forces in Germany during the 1950s you may have heard Fashion Parade introducing the British Forces Network equivalent of 'Housewives Choice'.
Such is the power of music to burrow into your subconscious, only to burst to the surface decades later when you least expect it. As you listen to this CD, be prepared for some pleasant surprises!

David Ades

September 2002

Frank Chacksfield's Rediffusion recordings are rediscovered by Vocalion

Frank Chacksfield
conducting The Windsor Strings

1 BEGINNER'S LUCK; 2 WOULDN'T IT BE LOVERLY; 3 SINGING IN THE RAIN; 4 BILL; 5 CUBAN BOY; 6 THE VICTORS; 7 I COULD HAVE DANCED ALL NIGHT; 8 COME BACK TO SORRENTO; 9 MARCH OF THE SIAMESE CHILDREN; 10 PORTOFINO; 11 STARS OVER CRETE; 12 ANEMA E CORE; 13 ISLE OF CAPRI; 14 TILL THERE WAS YOU; 15 BOOM; 16 SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME; 17 SHALL WE DANCE; 18 I'LL FOLLOW MY SECRET HEART; 19 TONIGHT; 20 STRANGER IN PARADISE; 21 SANTA LUCIA; 22 EROS; 23 I'LL ALWAYS BE IN LOVE WITH YOU; 24 CATARI; 25 I WHISTLE A HAPPY TUNE; 26 PAGAN LOVE SONG; 27 AUTUMN LEAVES; 28 PARLEZ MOI D'AMOUR; 29 ROOM WITH A VIEW

Vocalion CDLK4144

Frank Chacksfield is still remembered by many music lovers and record collectors for his numerous albums and appearances on radio and television during the era following the second world war. It was a time when the public liked its musical entertainment to feature melody, rather than mediocrity, and experience and talent were still the essential ingredients for success.
From the 1950s onwards, Chacksfield was one of Britain's most famous orchestra leaders, and his fame spread far beyond the shores of our green and pleasant land. Early in his career he was fortunate to have several big sellers in the USA, which firmly established his reputation world-wide.
He was born Francis Charles Chacksfield in Battle, Sussex, on 9 May 1914; he died on 9 June 1995 aged 81 in Kent, having suffered for several years from Parkinson's Disease. During his long recording career with Decca alone, it is estimated that his albums sold more than 20 million copies. In total he made more than 150 long-playing albums which were released in many countries, especially in Europe, Japan and Australia as well as Britain and America.
As a boy, he started piano lessons at the age of seven, and also learned the organ, passing the Trinity College examinations. He took a particular interest in the theory of music, appearing at Hastings Music Festivals by the time he was 14. A year later he became deputy church organist at Salehurst Parish Church near Robertsbridge, Sussex, and formed his first dance band. His parents were against a musical career, so Frank went to work in a solicitor's office. Finding the law boring, he decided that his future would have to be in music, and he formed a band in 1936 which held a resident engagement at Hilden Manor Road House at Tonbridge, Kent for three years. In 1939 a summer season at Jersey was terminated upon the outbreak of World War 2, and Frank volunteered for the Army.
He was about to be sent overseas with the Royal Signals when he was taken ill. While convalescing, he made his first broadcast from the BBC's Glasgow Studios, singing 'original songs at the piano'.
He was posted to the Royal Army Service Corp's Southern Command Entertainment's Section at Salisbury, Wiltshire, and later became staff arranger for "Stars In Battledress" at the War Office in London under George Black, with the rank of corporal. He shared an office with Sergeant Charlie Chester, who had already established a pre-war career as a comedian. They were both demobbed on the same day, leading to a job with the stage version of Chester's popular radio show "Stand Easy" at Blackpool, with Frank conducting the orchestra.
They became close friends, and Chester was best man at Chacksfield's marriage to Jeanne Lehmann in 1946. They collaborated on the song "Down Sweetheart Lane", with Chacksfield supplying the melody to Chester's lyrics. He soon became involved with various BBC Radio shows as arranger, composer and conductor, including Jon Pertwee's "Puffney's Post Office", the "Frankie Howerd Show" and "Up The Pole" staring Jimmy Jewel and Ben Warris. From 1948 onwards his name started appearing on 78s backing various singers (the first was Frederick Ferrari from Chester's radio show), and for a while he also worked as musical director of the Henry Hall and Geraldo orchestras. The first Frank Chacksfield singles in his own right were released in 1951 with several sides for Polygon, Columbia, Parlophone and Oriole. Some were labelled 'Singing Strings', with others called 'Frank Chacksfield's Tunesmiths'. Although they were enjoyable, these early recordings were not big sellers, and Chacksfield had to negotiate a new record contract. Decca already had big names such as Mantovani, Robert Farnon and Stanley Black making successful albums, and this probably encouraged them to seek another light orchestra to add to the list. Frank Chacksfield was duly signed up, and in 1953 he formed a 40-piece orchestra with a large string section.
His very first 78 recorded for Decca in April - Charlie Chaplin's themes for his film "Limelight" - won him a Gold Disc through its big success in the USA. In Britain it earned him the New Musical Express Record of the Year award. His second 78 "Ebb Tide" became the first-ever British non-vocal disc to reach No. 1 in the American charts, providing a second Gold Disc. American juke-box operators, in a nation-wide poll, voted Chacksfield the most promising new orchestra of the year. Rarely can a record company have experienced such great success with the first two releases by a new signing. [These numbers, and many of his other early Decca 78s, can be found on the Vocalion CD "Dinner at Eight-Thirty" - CDLK4109].
Following his great success with his Decca recordings, in August 1954 the BBC invited Frank Chacksfield to present his orchestra on television, and these shows continued, on and off, until 1964 when he conducted several half-hour programmes in the "Best of Both Worlds" series on the newly-launched BBC-2 channel, which were sold to some other countries. He also became an almost permanent fixture on BBC Radio in "Limelight", "Melody Hour" etc. As a child he had suffered from a slight stutter, but the friendly manner in which he conquered this affliction somehow added to his charm when he introduced his own programmes.
Chacksfield was also a very good composer with a large number of titles to his credit, sometimes using pseudonyms such as Martino Paticano and Roger Senicourt. Among his better-known pieces are: "Firecracker", "Cuban Boy", "Candid Snap", "Summer Serenade", "Innishannon Serenade", "Bossa For Bess", "Autumn Island", "Rosella", "Medway Magic" (commissioned by the BBC), "Hop Scotch Hop", "Blue Train" and many more.
Radio and television commitments frequently found him in Eire during the 1960s and 1970s. In 1965/66 he co-hosted a series with French conductor Roger Roger, each playing their own (and other artists') discs. During 1972 Frank took a 40-piece orchestra to Japan, performing no less than 15 shows in 12 cities in 16 days - in addition to a television recording and two radio shows.
Over the years he was a popular guest on radio and television in the USA, and demands for personal appearances came in from all corners of the globe. Hundreds of concerts were played to enthusiastic and receptive audiences, which kept him in the front rank of the 'easy listening' conductors.
But it was his steady flow of long-playing records which ensured Chacksfield's continuing popularity and high public profile. Some of his best remembered include: "Evening in Paris", "Music of Noel Coward", "Evening in Rome", "Broadway Melody", "Mediterranean Moonlight", "Lovely Lady", "South Sea Island Magic", "In the Mystic East", "Film Festival" and collections of Academy Award-winning songs.
In his later years he became an astute businessman, with various interests in publishing and companies supplying 'canned' music. In response to current prevailing economic conditions, and changes in public tastes, he gradually moved on to smaller ensembles often playing music more rhythmic in nature, but always displaying the good taste that had become his trademark.
This new Vocalion CD finds Frank Chacksfield conducting an orchestra he called 'The Windsor Strings' in a series of recordings made for Rediffusion, primarily to be heard in locations wherever 'background music' was required. From the 1950s onwards there was an increasing demand for this kind of music, and many well-known musicians were involved in this capacity. Rediffusion always employed first-rate musicians, thus ensuring that these special recordings deserved a much better fate than simply being relegated to hotel lounges and similar locations. The Americans have coined the term 'Elevator Music', but its somewhat derogatory overtones certainly do not apply to the Rediffusion tapes. The company also ran an enterprising record label, and issued numerous commercial LPs. The fact that the same music often appeared on their LPs and their 'background music tapes' (for want of a better phrase), meant that standards were high, and the quality of music that Rediffusion supplied for background music purposes was noticeably superior to its competitors. Only a few years ago there was a danger that this considerable archive of recordings could have been lost forever, but thanks to the enterprise of Michael Dutton the best is now being made available again on compact discs. (Vocalion have already reissued Rediffusion recordings by Robert Farnon, Bill McGuffie, Ronald Binge, Sid Phillips and Tony Osborne - and there are more to follow).
It all adds up to a varied and interesting collection that confirms, yet again, why Frank Chacksfield was one of the most popular light music conductors of his generation. CDs such as this, will ensure that he continues to entertain us all for many years to come.

David Ades September 2002

ROBERT FARNON AND HIS ORCHESTRA

"Melody Fair": Melody Fair, Jumping Bean, Joanne, A Star Is Born, Journey Into Melody, How Beautiful Is Night, Peanut Polka, Malaga, Portrait Of A Flirt, In A Calm, Poodle Parade, Manhattan Playboy.
"Canadian Impressions": Gateway To The West, Main Street, A La Claire Fontaine, Pow Wow, Prairie Sunset, Alcan Highway, Ottawa Heights, Lake Of The Woods, Mountain Grandeur, Canadian Caravan.
All composed and arranged by Robert Farnon.
VOCALION CDLK 4104

RAY MARTIN AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA
Marching Strings, Carousel Waltz, Blue Tango, Swedish Rhapsody, Blue Violins, Veradero, Hi-Lili Hi-Lo, Meet Mister Callaghan, Whistling Sergeant Major, Waltz of Paree, Unforgettable, Ecstasy, Off Shore, The Bavarian Wedding March, Henpecking, Pettocoats of Portugal, Begorrah, Tickled Pink, Port au Prince, Waltzing Bugle Boy, My Friend Elizabeth, Assembly Line, Strings on Parade, Blue Mirage, Hora Staccato, Carnavalito, Whistling Gipsy, Waltzing Cat, Yield To The Night - Film Theme. VOCALION CDLK 4105

STANLEY BLACK conducting THE KINGSWAY PROMENADE ORCHESTRA
"Symphonic Suite of the Music of Jerome Kern" (arranged by Wally Stott): Don't Ever Leave Me, They Didn't Believe Me, Who, I've Told Ev'ry Little Star, The Night Was Made For Love, The Touch Of Your Hand, High Wide and Handsome, Kalua, In Egern on the Tegern See, Way You Look Tonight, The Song Is You, Smoke Gets In Your Eyes, I Won't Dance, Look For The Silver Lining.
"Music of Irving Berlin": Say It With Music, A Couple of Swells, Cheek To Cheek, They Say It's Wonderful, No Strings, *Say It Isn't So, The Piccolino, Marie, Heat Wave, *How Deep Is The Ocean, Play a Simple Melody, The Song Is Ended, A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody, There's No Business Like Show Business. (*Robert Farnon arrangements)
VOCALION CDLK 4107

VOCALION CDLK 4100

ROBERT FARNON AND HIS ORCHESTRA

"From The Highlands" & "From The Emerald Isle"
Two Decca LPs from the 1950s now available once again, featuring Farnon's brilliant arrangements of traditional airs and popular melodies.
VOCALION CDLK 4100

VOCALION CDLK 4102

ROBERT FARNON AND HIS ORCHESTRA

"Out Of My Dreams"
A collection of stereo recordings from the 1970s, originally released in Britain on the small Rediffusion label.
Out of my Dreams, Send in the Clowns, Dream a Little Dream of Me, Michelle, Theme from 'Godfather 2', Latin Dreamer, Romantic Hour, Street of Dreams, The Way we Were, In a Dream World, You Stepped out of a Dream, The Sweetheart of Sigma Chi, Liebestraum, Dream, All Alone, I Dream of Jeannie with the Light Brown Hair, Dream Memory, Emmaline, I Had the Craziest Dream, Jo-Anne, My Little Friend, When I Grow too old to Dream, Daybreak, Alice Blue Gown.
VOCALION CDLK 4102

VOCALION CDEA 6021

THE QUEEN'S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA conducted by CHARLES WILLIAMS, ROBERT FARNON and SIDNEY TORCH
A collection featuring the works of some of the finest British Light Music composers, including Robert Farnon, Charles Williams, Sidney Torch, Frederic Curzon, Clive Richardson, Arthur Benjamin, Clifton Parker, Len Stevens, Peter Yorke, Haydn Wood and Robert Busby. The Voice of London, Jumping Bean, Boulevardier, Shooting Star, Holiday Spirit, Dusk, Portrait of a Flirt, Devil's Galop, On a Spring Note, Jamaican Rumba, Pictures in the Fire, Rhythm on Rails, Eighth Army March, The Glass Slipper - Overture, High Street, Cinema Foyer, Up with the Lark, Taj Mahal, Melody on the Move, Dance of the Blue Marionettes, Wagon Lit, Hey Diddle Diddle, Willie the Whistler, Sapphires and Sables, Trolley Bus, Prelude from 'Moods' Suite, Barbecue, Hurly-Burly, Radio Romantic.
VOCALION CDEA 6021

ROBERT FARNON AND HIS ORCHESTRA
"Something to Remember You By": Louisiana Hay Ride, Something To Remember You By, Alone Together, Maria, If There Is Someone Lovelier Than You, Got a Bran' New Suit, I Huess I'll Have To Change My Plan, Then I'll Be Tired Of You, Dancing In The Dark, I See Your Face Before Me, You And The Night And The Music, A Shine On Your Shoes. "Together": Sunny Side Up, Just a Memory, The Best Things In Life Are Free, Button Up Your Overcoat, I'm A Dreamer, The Black Bottom, Birth Of The Blues, Just Imagine, You're The Cream In My Coffee, Together, If I Had a Talking Picture Of You, The Varsity Drag.
VOCALION CDLK 4108

THE JOHN WILSON ORCHESTRA featuring RICHARD RODNEY BENNETT
"Orchestral Jazz": Watch What Happens, I'm In The Mood For Love, My Melancholy Baby, All Alone, I Should Care, But Not For Me, Whistling In The Dark, Lush Life, Go Fly a Kite, Then I'll Be Tired Of You, Miss Otis Regrets, Love, You Made me Love You, You Must Believe In Spring, On The Sunny Side Of The Street.
VOCALION CDSA 6800

ANDRE KOSTELANETZ AND HIS ORCHESTRA
"Music of Fritz Kreisler": Tambourin Chinois, Caprice Viennois, Stars In My Eyes, The Old Refrain, Liebesleid, Liebesfreud. "Music of Richard Rodgers": My Heart Stood Still, The Most Beautiful Girl In The World, It Might As Well Be Spring, Blue Moon, Johnny One Note, If I Loved You, The Girl Friend, There's a Small Hotel, Where Or When, Lover, Slaughter On Tenth Avenue. "Jerome Kern": Mark Twain - Portrait for Orchestra.
VOCALION CDUS

Trevor Duncan:

20^th Century Express; Little Suite: March, Lullaby, Jogtrot; High Heels; Children In The Park: Dancing For Joy, At The Pool, Hide And Seek; Maestro Variations; The Girl From Corsica; Meadow Mist; Valse Mignonette; Wine Festival; Sixpenny Ride; Enchanted April; St. Boniface Down; La Torrida; The Visionaries Grand March; Little Debbie.

Robert Farnon:

Portrait Of A Flirt; How Beautiful Is Night; Melody Fair; A la Claire Fontaine; The Peanut Polka; In A Calm (No. 2 of Three impressions for Orchestra); Gateway To The West; Jumping Bean; Pictures In The Fire; Little Miss Molly; Colditz March; A Star Is Born; The Westminster Waltz; Manhattan Playboy (No. 3 of Three impressions for Orchestra); Lake Of The Woods; Derby Day; State Occasion.

Ernest Tomlinson:

Little Serenade; An English Overture; Fairy Coach; Cinderella Waltz; Kielder Water; Silverthorn Suite: Alla Marcia, Canzonet, Concert Jig; 2^nd Suite of English Folk-Dances: Kettledrum, Chipping Lane, Newcastle, Up Goes Ely, Love-in-a-mist, Catch Me If You Can; Nocturne; Hornpipe; Gaelic Lullaby; Nautical Interlude; Sweet and Dainty.

Frederic Curzon:

The Boulevardier: Characteristic Intermezzo; Punchinello: Miniature Overture; Spanish Suite: In Malaga: No. 1 Spanish Ladies, No. 2 Serenade To Eulalie, No. 3 Cachucha; Dance Of An Ostracised Imp; Saltarello for piano and orchestra; Capricante: Spanish Caprice; Galavant; Pasquinade; Simonetta: Serenade; Cascade: Waltz; La Peineta; Robin Hood Suite: No. 1 In Sherwood, No. 2 Maid Marian, No. 3 March Of The Bowmen; Bravada: Paso Doble.

Sidney Torch:

London Transport Suite; All Strings And Fancy Free; Barbecue; Trapeze Waltz; Concerto Incognito; On A Spring Note; Bicycle Belles; Comic Cuts; Mexican Fiesta; Petite Valse; Samba Sud; Shortcake Walk; Slavonic Rhapsody; Cresta Run; Shooting Star; Going For A Ride; Duel for Drummers.