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JUMPING BEAN
Dateline December 2009
Our last issue was just closing for press when we learned
that our good friend Malcolm Laycock had decided to quit his
Sunday evening show on BBC Radio-2. The news was mentioned
briefly in our Stop Press feature, And Finally
(JIM181, page 97). Little did we imagine at the time that
Malcolms departure would cause such a furore. The BBC
attempted to pretend that his decision was a big shock and
they had tried to persuade him to stay. But journalists on
several national papers ensured that the real reasons would
be disclosed, and the resultant publicity certainly made many
people wonder exactly what goes on at the BBC. Some other
music magazines have been quite vitriolic in their condemnation
of the Corporation, reinforcing the widely held belief among
many of the older generation that the BBC is no longer interested
in providing them with the kind of entertainment they would
really like to enjoy on radio. Sooner or later this
anti-BBC feeling will have to result in changes being made
to their music policy, otherwise a groundswell of public opinion
could well result in far more serious consequences. How many
more times do we have to remind the BBC that we all pay a
licence fee in the expectation that they will provide a service
for all the population, not just under 40s and vociferous
minorities? They are removed from the pressures of advertisers
wanting large audiences, and can concentrate on quality, rather
than dumbing-down to try to compete with the competition.
But to return to Malcolm Laycock: it is now clear to many
of us that the BBC had been making life intolerable for him,
in many subtle and underhand ways, because they no longer
wanted his show on Radio-2. It didnt fit in with the
soft-rock image fostered in recent years, even though similar
fare is already available from countless other radio stations.
David Jacobs, Desmond Carrington and Russell Davies should
be very worried. As technology progresses there will be an
increasing number of ways in which to listen to ones
favourite music if you need further proof read Brian
Stringers feature on page 46 of this issue. If the BBC
doesnt do the decent thing, and bring Malcolm back without
any strings as to what music he can play, surely another enterprising
broadcaster will be glad of the services of a friendly and
experienced broadcaster with a large, loyal following. Sadly
this report had already been printed, and the December 2009
issue of Journal Into Melody was being distributed,
when the news of Malcolm Laycocks sudden death on Sunday
8 November shocked all his many friends and admirers.
However it is only fair that praise should be given when
it is due, and the BBC deserves a massive pat on the back
for the John Wilson MGM Prom. We wont repeat what is
in our report on page 50, but if you missed it please keep
a watch on radio and TV listings during the coming weeks because
we understand that it is likely to be repeated over the festive
season.
It is always a particular pleasure to pass on news of RFS
members music making, and we are glad to learn that
Greg Francis (Musical Director of the National Concert Orchestra
of Great Britain) continues to wave the baton for light music.
In a recent letter he reports: "I thought I might send
an update on a couple of Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra
popular music concerts Ive conducted recently. Last
year, we managed to get a commission from the Liverpool Culture
Company to find as many good local singers as possible, the
idea being that they perform live on stage with the RLPO.
The concert went ahead last November (2008); it played to
a full house and the local press reported that the bar had
taken more money than ever before in the history of the Philharmonic
Hall. This was interesting to learn, because it perhaps indicates
that there is a wide market out there of people who will attend
an orchestral concert of light and popular music, but who
might never perhaps consider going to sit through a classical
performance. So successful was the venture, that Liverpool
Council asked us to present the same concert again, which
features 18 singers (of the widest styles imaginable) plus
the superb Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra and a small group
of my own players to add a popular feel. And so, the latest
concert was duly performed on July 31st in a spectacular marquee
along the new pier head at Liverpool dock. The concert was
attended by about 8,000 people, which speaks volumes for the
popularity of both the orchestra and the musical content!
Fortunately, having written the 36 new scores for the concerts,
I was also invited to conduct the orchestra on both occasions,
and I have to say that the RLPO orchestra musicians are an
outstanding example of the versatility and professionalism
of British musicians. It is now being discussed that we might
perhaps take the orchestra, the singers and the concert to
New York next year as a cultural exchange project. There are
of course strong links between Liverpool and New York. So,
all in all, we seem to have proven that there is a very wide
market for light and popular music played by a professional
orchestra of the high calibre of the RLPO. Wouldnt it
be nice if other regional orchestras would consider widening
their repertoire a little? I really believe it is essential
that we keep the barriers down between classical and light
popular music. Other good news is, that the Bat
the Symphony tours I conducted this year, with the National
Concert Orchestra of Great Britain, were a resounding success.
The Orchestra has been re-booked for a 20 date tour of the
UK again next year, plus a 12 date tour of Scandinavia. Although
this definitely doesnt fall into the popular light
music category, the orchestra was the main attraction
for a lot of people. Not only did it elicit many requests
for recordings by the orchestra, but it gave me the opportunity
to debut live some of the music written by my 26 year old
son (Paul E. Francis) for Sky TV movies, and also those he
wrote last year which were recorded by the City of Prague
Orchestra. Anyone who wished to hear some of his music, can
visit his website at www.PauleFrancis.com"
Like many RFS members, Kevin Stapylton from Lithgow, NSW,
Australia, is involved with community radio and he tells us
that during the week of Robert Farnons birthday, 24
July, he presented a daily feature where in each case the
orchestra backing each vocalist was under Bob's direction.
He had no listener response but as he says: "at
least I had the personal satisfaction of paying tribute to
a great friend and one of the world's finest composers of
all time."
One of our Australian members, Graham Miles, has sent the
following information which will be of interest to brass band
fans. Those of you who appreciate brass band music may like
to know there is a website radio station streaming non-stop
brass music. To be found at www.allbrassradio.com , it is
the brainchild of Dr. Jim Fox who set it up several years
ago. He says content of nearly 400 CDs, with more being added
all the time, play randomly 24 hours a day. Although based
in the USA, All Brass Radio plays many British recordings
including those by The Corey Band, Foden's, Black Dyke and
many others. Worth a listen if this genre appeals. Dr. Fox
also welcomes comments and suggestions by email to allbrass@gmail.com."
It has been almost eighteen months since the Edinburgh Light
Orchestra performed a programme of Light Music in Scotland's
beautiful capital city. The reason for the absence has been
the illness of its conductor James Beyer, for many years a
member of the RFS. The good news is that James is now recovering
well, and he was back on the podium at the Queen's Hall, Edinburgh,
on Saturday 7 November. As well as the usual varied selection
of top composers (Robert Farnon, Richard Rodgers, John Williams,
Eric Coates, Haydn Wood and Ivor Novello - to name just a
few) there was a special Tribute to Angela Morley, who died
last January. The news of the concert came too late for inclusion
in our September magazine, but we hope that many members will
have discovered the details well in advance in the Latest
News section of our website.
"Nostalgic Journey" (for small orchestra), the
piece written by David Barton for the 50th anniversary of
the Robert Farnon Society is now in print and
available to order from the publishers website at http://stores.imaginemusicpublishing.com/
and costs $40.00 (approximately £24.00) for the score and
set of parts. It was recently included in a preview of new
works at the Texas Orchestra Directors Association (TODA)
Convention in San Antonio.
Paul Clatworthy mentioned the Robert Farnon Society in a
letter published in the October issue of Jazz Journal. He
explained that he reviews jazz CDs for JIM, and went on to
praise the Metropole Orchestra. It is always helpful when
our society gets a mention anywhere, because it tells those
interested that we are still alive and kicking!
ROBERT FARNONS SECOND SYMPHONY
Judging by the messages received by the Secretary, many RFS
members spotted in Radio Times that BBC Radio 3 included Bobs
Symphony No. 2 in their Afternoon on 3 programme
on Friday 25 September. A few days before the broadcast producer
Neil Varley invited David Ades to say a few words about the
symphony, and a telephone interview took place on the Thursday.
This was edited to a little over two minutes and was placed
immediately before the music was heard. The recording was
taken from the Dutton Epoch CD (CDLX 7173) with John Wilson
conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra. Happily there was time
at the end of the programme for a short encore, so listeners
were also treated to Seventh Heaven from the same album.
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JUMPING BEAN
Dateline September 2009
In 1967-1968 more than 300 of Britains biggest names
in the entertainment world were interviewed by Bernard Braden
for a proposed television series that never came to fruition.
At the time Braden (one of our Societys original Vice-Presidents)
was a leading popular television presenter, and we have not
(yet) been able to discover why the project was dropped. The
good news is that the British Film Institute has been able
to acquire this valuable resource, which is being made available
for educational use subject to the necessary rights
clearances being obtained. Robert Farnon was one of the people
interviewed, and thanks to David Farnon we now have a copy
(unedited, and in pristine colour) in the RFS Archives.
On 11 May BBC-2 screened a concert from the Royal Albert
Hall featuring the comedian Bill Bailey with the BBC Concert
Orchestra conducted by Anne Dudley "Bill Baileys
Remarkable Guide To The Orchestra". The event actually
took place last October, and somewhat surprisingly it has
been announced that a DVD will be released on 23 November
later this year. This will feature the entire concert, not
just the excerpts screened by the BBC, although TV viewers
did see (and hear) the BBC Concert Orchestra playing David
Roses Holiday For Strings and John Malcolms
Non Stop. Unfortunately the music was punctuated by
Baileys witticisms, but some people may
have been sufficiently attracted to want to explore further.
Thanks to Roger Mellor for this report.
Thanks to the enthusiasm of his daughter Michele, there are
many releases on CD and DVD featuring Matt Monro, and a recent
package from Odeon Entertainment called "The Ultimate
Performer" includes an extract from Tony Bennetts
Thames TV show on 18 October 1972 from Londons Talk
Of The Town featuring Robert Farnon and his Orchestra. This
was a series featuring many top singers with Tony Bennett
(all featuring the Robert Farnon Orchestra) and as far as
we know this is the first time that anything from this source
has appeared on DVD (if you know differently, please tell
us!)
Spotted for sale on the Amazon website in July - copies of
the following deleted Robert Farnon CDs: Living Era "Portrait
of Farnon" on offer at over £110; Vocalion "Two
Cigarettes In The Dark" £100; "Out Of My Dreams"
£145.73; "Hoagy Carmichael/Victor Schertzinger Suites"
a staggering £214.50!
On 24 June the London Daily Telegraph featured an interview
with RFS member John Wilson. In the newspaper it was headed:
"Conductor who saw the light". On the Telegraphs
website the same article appeared as: "John Wilsons
plight for light music". The sub-heading
was more explicit: "John Wilson is on a crusade to bring
light music and classic film scores back to our concert halls".
It seems that the interviewer Ivan Hewett was slightly confused
in suggesting that "Workers Playtime" was
once a home of light music on the radio (no doubt he meant
"Music While You Work") but at least the article
will have alerted some readers to the fact that light music
is still alive and kicking, and all the indications are that
it is gradually making a comeback. In a resumé of Johns
impressive career to date, Hewett reported: At 16 he founded
the Newcastle Symphony Orchestra; at 18 he went to the Royal
College, where, as he puts it, "I could form a different
orchestra every week." By the age of 22 he was out in
the world arranging music for Radio 2s Friday
Night Is Music Night, and scouring libraries and archives
for music for his newly formed John Wilson Orchestra. "I
was determined to get that wonderful Fifties sound you hear
on those great MGM musicals, so I booked the best players.
Its the same now. You wouldnt believe how many
section principals and orchestral leaders Ive got in
the string section!" he says proudly. "And we did
top-quality repertoire Gershwin, Cole Porter, all in
fabulous arrangements." By 2002, the orchestra had its
first Queen Elizabeth Hall concert, and in 2004 Wilson conducted
his first MGM Live concert. Talking about this brings a crusading
gleam to his eye. "I realised that an awful lot of this
music had disappeared. It turned out that MGM threw out all
the scores for their great musicals like Singin
in the Rain and Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.
They were used as landfill for a car park. So I had to track
down the short scores and parts. Its been a 10-year
project." Getting the style right involved studying a
man who, for Wilson, is a neglected master of 20th-century
music. "Conrad Salinger was a house orchestrator for
MGM, and he was really in the Ravel class. André Previn
reckons hes the greatest who ever lived. Ive learned
lots of tricks from him." Would he describe himself as
a perfectionist? "Oh, its got to be right. I once
spent a whole Sunday morning on just four bars from The
Wizard of Oz." Weve been talking about American
film composers, but its only when I ask Wilson about
future plans that the truth finally comes out. "People
think Im a film music nerd, but my real passion is English
music. What Id really like to do is conduct all the
Vaughan Williams symphonies." What makes English music
special for him? "Oh, I cant explain it. Its
that wistfulness and longing and melancholy. Elgars
symphonies I think are in the Beethoven class. I have fights
with people in the pub about that." The idea of Wilson
getting in a fight is wonderfully improbable; but then so
is his charmed life-story, which is the stuff of a good musical
itself.
The Summer edition of The Light Music Society Newsletter
includes Ernest Tomlinsons last Chairmans Letter
at the helm. He explains that health considerations have forced
him to come to terms with the fact that the time is right
to hand over to a younger person. This year the LMS Annual
Concert and AGM has moved from Ernests home at Lancaster
Farm, and is taking place in Cheltenham with Gavin Sutherland
waving the baton. The date is Sunday 30th August,
and a new Chairman will be elected. As we go to press nominations
are being received, and we will announce the name of the new
chairman in our December issue. Ernest has been a splendid
ambassador for light music. His involvement with the Light
Music Society goes back to the mid-1950s when it was supported
by the BBC; Ernest became Chairman in 1966. Soon afterwards
the BBCs interest in light music faded, and for many
years the LMS became a dormant non-membership organisation.
The Library of Light Orchestral Music was established in the
1980s when Ernest became aware of the large amounts of manuscripts
that were being destroyed. The LMS was re-launched, and it
became fully operational once again in 1996 when the Newsletters
were reintroduced. Ernests successor will have a hard
act to follow, but ET promises to remain active in the background
to give advice when needed!
Several members have written to tell us that it is now possible
to view a rare film containing music by Robert Farnon on the
internet. The title is "This Is London" and it was
made to encourage foreign visitors to London during the 1950s.
Rex Harrison narrated, and Robert Farnon contributed the score.
It is all new music not a rehash of existing compositions.
Courtesy of Alan Willmott we have screen this film at our
London meetings many years ago, but if you have internet access
we strongly recommend that you spend an enjoyable 20 minutes
or so viewing it. You need to input: www.britishpathe.com/record.php?id=78588
While on the site take time to look at some other shorts from
the same period youll recognise a lot of the
music!
On Sunday 8 November Debbie Wiseman will be conducting the
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Londons Cadogan Hall
in a Concert of music, poetry and song in aid of the Breast
Cancer Campaign. The programme includes Debbies own
scores for My Uncle Silas, Wilde and Tom & Viv,
plus works by Bach, Borodin, Britten, Tchaikovsky and Holst.
Telephone bookings: 020 7730 4500. Online bookings: www.cadoganhall.com
2009 is the centenary of the birth of Mansel Thomas (1909-1986),
one of the foremost Welsh composers of the last century. He
was a well-known conductor, and became Head of Music at the
BBC in Wales. His vocal and instrumental music is performed
worldwide by choirs and artists, including Bryn Terfel and
the BBC National Chorus and Orchestra of Wales, and is featured
regularly on radio and television. Awarded the OBE, he composed
Rhapsody For A Prince for the Investiture of The Prince
of Wales in 1969, and this is one of his many works currently
available in print. For more information please contact the
Mansel Thomas Trust at: Ty Cerbyd, Station Road, Ponthir,
Newport, Wales, NP18 1GQ website: www.manselthomas.org.uk
Another notable centenary this year is De Wolfe Music, which
was founded in 1909 by Meyer De Wolfe at premises in 20 Noel
Street, Great Marlborough Street, London, W1. In a special
centenary publication called "Nitrate/Bit-Rate"
the company makes the proud boast that it has the longest
running, and most important film and television music library
resource in the world. Originally the music was provided in
the form of sheet music, but as each new advance in sound
recording has come along it has been fully embraced. Some
readers of this magazine will have De Wolfe 78s, LPs and CDs;
but even these are now being consigned to history, with computer
technology now the norm. Happily the business is still controlled
by the family: James de Wolfe is Chairman, and his son Warren
de Wolfe is Managing Director. The Robert Farnon Society has
enjoyed a very friendly relationship with De Wolfe for over
fifty years, and we are delighted to send our very best wishes
to them in celebrating this milestone. For a fuller report
on this enterprising music publisher (which also owns the
famous Angel Recording Studios) please refer to the article
in Journal Into Melody issue 140, September 1999.
Malcolm Powell is well-known to RFS members through our London
meetings and his splendid photos which have regularly appeared
in our magazines for more years than we care to admit! But
he is also a familiar voice to listeners of Meridian FM where
he presents a regular programme "Looking For Yesterday".
Why not join him by visiting www.meridianfm.com
A Canadian note from Pip Wedge
BOSS BRASS BOWS OUT
Seven months after Rob McConnells famed Boss Brass
had made a welcome return to the Toronto music scene with
three sold-out concerts at Torontos Old Mill in December
2008, Rob and the group made what was announced as positively
the bands final appearance on Canada Day, July 1st,
with a lunchtime performance at the Toronto Jazz Festivals
Mainstage in Torontos Nathan Phillips Square.
Apart from Rob himself, the only Boss Brass veterans who
appeared on the final gig were Don Thompson (vibes, piano),
Steve Wallace (bass) and Bob McDougall (trombone). Yet so
strong is the pool of musicians available to draw on in Toronto,
that Robs distinctive award winning charts sounded
every bit as crisp and exciting as when we first heard them,
from the Strike Up the Band opener to the All The Things You
Are closer, with Robs unique version of Oh Canada appropriately
bringing the set to a close - and ensuring a standing ovation!
Bob made some comments about having a bonfire of all his
charts, but no-one took him seriously. There are many universities
around the city and the country that would be
delighted to house them.
In JIM 169 in September 2006, reporting on Robs appearance
with his Tentet at this same Toronto festival, I noted that
Rob had been having health problems, and expressed the hope
that his choice for their final number, For All We Know (We
May Never Meet Again) was in no way prophetic. What a difference
three years have made, thank goodness!
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JUMPING BEAN
Dateline June 2009
Our very special member Rosemary Squires, MBE, received another
unexpected honour recently. The packed audience at the at
the prestigious Concorde Club Eastleigh on Wednesday 4 March
was delighted when the proprietor, Cole Matheson, jumped on
stage during the second half of her gala celebration of Sixty
Years of Song to award an equally surprised Rosemary
Squires with The Freedom of the Concorde! Congratulating
Rosemary on her "diamond jubilee of making music"
Cole thanked her for "her singing, her smile, and for
her royal presence so often lighting up the stage
which has given so much pleasure worldwide over so many years".
Cole explained that in addition to having her photograph displayed
in a place of honour in the Club, the award entitled Rosemary
to drive her sheep through the Moldy Fig bar, to sleep overnight
in the car park, to paddle in the brook and to have her first
drink on the house whenever she calls!" For once lost
for words, Rosemary said "This is an emotional moment
- I suppose Ive got to go out and buy a flock a sheep
now!" For this gala evening Rosemary called on world
famous musicians from her past, Brian Dee piano, Colin Green
guitar, Bobby Worth drums, Jim Richardson bass, Alan Barnes
saxes/clarinet, and Ronnie Hughes trumpet; the concert closed
appropriately with a lively Ive got Rhythm,
which they certainly had! The perfect ending to what was acclaimed
by members of the audience as "a memorable occasion".
Joan Osborne-Walker recently sent us a cutting from the Daily
Telegraph headed "Why joyful music is good for the heart".
It seems that scientists have discovered that stressful or
disturbing music has the effect of narrowing the arteries,
and may be harmful to the heart. On the other hand a cheerful
favourite tune has a beneficial effect on blood vessels, widening
them and protecting against heart disease. After listening
to joyful music, volunteers arteries opened 26 per cent
wider on average than they did when no music was played. So
if you want to keep fit, healthy and happy put on your
favourite CD
of light music, of course!
Rod Rizzo also sent us a cutting this time from the
New York Daily News. It mentions that 29 years after the death
of Andre Kostelanetz his personal chronicle of his long and
distinguished career has been donated to the Library of Congress.
It comprises 73 cartons of personal papers, recordings, photographs,
transcriptions and correspondence. It had all been stored
in a warehouse because his brother, Boris, felt emotionally
unable to deal with it after his death. When Boris died, their
nephew Bob Frank arranged for the donation. Included are transcriptions
of the live radio programmes Kostelanetz hosted on CBS radio
from 1932 to 1946. They are widely considered to have played
a major role in making classical music accessible to pop music
fans.
Gene Lees recently completed his new biography on the career
of Artie Shaw. We will let you know as soon as we are advised
of its publication.
The Australian composer Grant Foster has been very busy just
recently. In a special message to Journal Into Melody
he told us that he had been in Dubai on 13 March for discussions
regarding the performance of "The Pearl of Dubai". He
then left for Nice, France where his Piano Sonata was
premiered on 21 March by Mira Yevtich along with his Ballad
for Two Pianos also performed by Mira and a very fine
Russian pianist. Grant is currently working on an Opera which
he describes as an exciting work, one that he feels could
be well received.
"Youre-Never-Too-Old-To-Learn" department:
Dave Bernard in Cambridge (USA) recently told us that the
Alec Wilder composition In The Blue Of The Evening is
predominantly known as Footnote To A Summer Love and
it was thus titled when Wilder himself recorded it with his
Octet on Vox in 1947. It appears on the Robert Farnon Decca
LP "Presenting Robert Farnon", and there is another
Wilder piece on the other side of the album which also has
two titles: on the UK release (LK 4067) it is "Dawn
to Dusk" but on the same LP issued in the USA (London LL 812)
it is called "Rhapsody for Piano and Orchestra". Alec Wilder
seems to have been greatly admired by musicians. Even Frank
Sinatra is reported to have used his own money to conduct
and record some of his music back in his Tommy Dorsey days.
Paul Clatworthy has drawn our attention to a recent CD issued
by El Records featuring the LP "Sounds In The Night"
by Russ Garcia (ACMEM 160 CD). To fill the rest of the CD
they have included the "Mother Magoo Suite" by Dennis
Farnon (featuring Marni Nixon on some tracks) which was on
one side of an RCA LP in the 1950s. The booklet notes for
the new CD by Christopher Evans are particularly interesting.
He tells us that Dennis Farnon "made a good living through
composing and arranging for the movies (including Captain
Hornblower RN and Spring In Park Lane) and as a jazz bandleader,
Farnon also aspired to be a classical composer and even had
the first of his two symphonies composed before the war premiered
by the great conductor Eugene Ormandy etc
" Does
anyone know who Christopher Evans is? He needs to be told
a thing or two about Dennis and Robert!
David S. Brookes is running an Eric Coates Come and
Play Day at Polesworth Abbey on Saturday 3 October 2009
and he and his team are looking for instrumentalists who would
be interested in taking part. For more information contact
David S Brookes 54 Kiln Way, Polesworth, Tamworth B78 1JE.
Tel. 01827 704410; Email: music-line@ntlworld.com
BBC-2 screened a 90-minute documentary devoted to Tony Bennett
on a Saturday evening last February. It was produced and compered
by Clint Eastwood, and showed that Tony can still hold an
audience in the palm of his hand. The one wrong note
was the omission of any reference to his work with Robert
Farnon. We know that such shows suffer at the hands of editors
when they are being put together after filming, but considering
that Bob and Tony were responsible for some landmark LPs
as well as memorable concerts at Carnegie Hall, The Royal
Albert Hall and the Royal Festival Hall, as well as a Thames
TV series how could all that be ignored? Show business
documentaries like this can be entertaining, but
it seems they should never be relied upon as an accurate representation
of the subjects real achievements.
Ann Adams and The Ladies Palm Court Orchestra will
be playing again in a London Park this summer, but the venue
has changed to St Jamess Park from 2:00 to 4:15pm on
Sunday 26 July. Her regular fans are bound to turn out in
force
just pray for a warm, sunny day!
Richard Cochrane is a jazz player, based in The Netherlands,
but his reason for contacting us recently is that he is the
nephew of the composer Joyce Cochrane. Richard had noted that
several of her pieces have been reissued on Guild CDs, and
David Ades explained to him that it is very difficult to discover
much about her career. He has promised to pass on what he
knows, although he admits that he regrets not having asked
her more about her work during a period towards the end of
her life when she was living with him. However Richard believes
that a mistake has been made in crediting "Call Of The
Casbah" (on "Going Places" Guild GLCD 5151)
to Joyce Cochrane. The label of the original disc (HMV 45-POP
404) states simply Cochrane, but this work is
not listed on any of the papers in Richards possession.
He wonders if it may be written by Peggy Cochrane, since he
has found a reference to her working on the TV series "Destination
Downing Street" (where the music was used) although Peggy
is not listed specifically as the composer. It seems highly
likely that Richard is right; this is another example of the
annoying habit of record companies often only crediting composers
by their surnames (there are even examples where no composers
are mentioned at all). It also illustrates that even the best
educated guesses are not always correct!
On Easter Monday Colin Berry introduced a 2 hour programme
of Light Music "A Little Light Music" - on
BBC Three Counties Radio. We included details in the Latest
News section of our website, so we hope that many RFS
members around the world will have heard Colin via the BBC
Website. Colin presented a similar programme last Christmas,
and the success of the Easter show prompted a further two
hours of Light Music on the May Day Bank Holiday. Lets
hope that this becomes a regular feature for Colin.
Leslie Julian Jones is known to light music enthusiasts as
the composer of Postmans Knock, but he created
a body of music which has been unfairly neglected. Former
BBC Producer Anthony Wills is working hard to make his music
better known, and he recently provided us with an update on
the restoration of Jones lost musical "Queen
For Sunday". Anthony reports: After many setbacks and
delays we are finally ready to go into the studio and record
a demo of Leslie Julian Jones Lost Musical for circulation
to music publishers, musical theatre academies and operatic
societies. The vocal score (running to 220 pages!) is finished
and has been checked and re-checked. We are particularly thrilled
to have secured the services of Richard Suart to play the
role of Hi-Tee. Richard has just finished touring with Opera
North in their productions of George Gershwins "Of
Thee I Sing" and "Let Em Eat Cake". He
has a wealth of experience in Gilbert & Sullivan and other
character roles. His latest CD, which he has recorded with
soprano Catherine Bott and the New London Orchestra &
Chorus under Ronald Corp, features the songs of neglected
British composer Lionel Monckton (of "The Arcadians"
fame) and is available on Hyperion Records. The 16-piece chorus
is being drawn from the ranks of Capital Voices Annie
Skates first-class vocal ensemble, whose skills have
been featured in such diverse settings as the Royal Variety
Performance, The X Factor and Britains Got Talent on
TV, Radio 2 concerts with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Jerry Herman,
recordings with Michael Ball and Elaine Paige, and Christmas
concerts for Raymond Gubbay in the Royal Albert Hall. Other
roles are being taken by Matt and Annie Lower and members
of the English Concert Singers, who have just celebrated their
20th anniversary with a gala concert of works by Brahms and
Vaughan Williams in the newly restored Birmingham Town Hall.
The pianist is Alexander Wells who is the official accompanist
to the London Chorus and the Highgate Choral Society. The
Musical Director is the former Principal Conductor of the
BBC Radio Orchestra and City of Glasgow Philharmonic lain
Sutherland, who has conducted West End shows as well as a
series of classic Broadway shows recorded for BBC Radio 2.
Recording will take place in Resident Studios London NW2 later
this month (April 2009). The engineer is Mark Tucker who has
worked in studios such as Lansdowne and CTS and is now freelance.
Marks experience encompasses film soundtracks, jazz,
West End cast and pop recordings. Even though the recording
is with piano accompaniment rather than orchestra the costs
are working out at approximately £32,000 so we have had to
seek donations from sponsors.
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JUMPING BEAN
Dateline January 2009
Last October BBC Four
screened a series of programmes with a railway theme, and
from subsequent feedback we know that many RFS members in
Britain found them most enjoyable. Prompted by the 40th
anniversary of the fateful Beeching Report which
forced the closure of around one-third on the railway network,
the programmes were rich in nostalgia especially to
steam enthusiasts. British Transport Films were featured on
23 October (with later repeats) and members who regularly
attend our London meetings will have spotted Alan Willmott
towards the end of the programme. Alan was with BTF for over
30 years, and he has presented selections of their vast film
library (over 700 titles) at RFS meetings. Much of their appeal
to us lies in the orchestral scores that were commissioned
from leading composers. Sadly the programme did not mention
this important aspect, but maybe this was due to only 40 minutes
being allocated to what is a vast subject. Alan tells us that
his part of the programme was filmed at the National Railway
Museum last July, and it would be nice to think that
one day another producer will give us a more satisfying
study (perhaps lasting around two hours) of the work of the
BTF. But as a taster Alans programme was most welcome
and enjoyable, and several BTF films were screened in their
original form while the railway season was running.
As we mentioned briefly
in our last issue, Brian Reynolds has been providing a lot
of interesting information about broadcasting orchestras for
the Whirligig internet site www.whirligig-tv.co.uk..
This started as long ago as 1999 by Terry Guntripp, who tells
us that he had virtually stopped adding new information to
his site because the supply of fresh material had virtually
dried up until Brian Reynolds took an interest! Details
of vintage themes available on Guild Golden Age of Light
Music CDs have also been featured on a new page in the
radio section click on Radio Days in the
left hand column, and then Audio Sources in the
strip at the top of the new page. Because he has so much new
material to add about broadcasting orchestras, Brian Reynolds
has now been given his own website Masters of Melody:
www.mastersofmelody.co.uk.
The following report
dated 13 October 2008 comes from The Canadian Press, Toronto:
Tony Bennett says it was the genius of the late Toronto-born
composer Robert Farnon that led to his long break from producing
Christmas albums. Bennett's new record "A Swingin' Christmas",
being released this week, is just his second holiday album.
The first was 1968's "Snowfall: The Tony Bennett Christmas
Album", and the iconic crooner says the 40-year gap is
a result of Farnon's superb orchestrations on that disc. 'When
I did ("Snowfall") it was such a work of art, as
far as I was concerned, that when Columbia/Sony ... would
say to me every year, 'You've got to do a Christmas album
because that's our season to really sell an album,' I said,
'No, no ... that's the album,' you know, it was very complete,'
Bennett, 82, said in a recent interview. He explained that
Farnon was widely revered in music circles and nicknamed 'The
Governor' by Frank Sinatra. Bennett changed his mind about
doing a second festive album earlier this year after his son/manager,
Danny, proposed doing one that 'isn't as serious or religious
as the first "Snowfall" album.' 'He said, 'Just
a swingin' album, let's do one for parties ... it's such a
festive time of the year. Just do an album that just has a
good beat to it,'' Bennett said in his raspy New York accent,
dressed to the nines in a slick, navy-blue pinstripe suit.
"A Swingin' Christmas", recorded onstage at the
Bergen Performing Arts Center in New Jersey, comprises old
favourites including Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,
I'll Be Home for Christmas and Winter Wonderland.
The album reunites Bennett with the Count Basie Orchestra,
with whom he performed in the 1950s. Some of the orchestra
members are the same ones Bennett recorded with back in the
day, he said. 'I was the first white singer that ever sang
(with them), when it was shocking to have a white artist with
a black band,' said the balladeer, who has won 15 Grammy Awards.
'It was great, it worked right away, there wasn't any problem
at all but the corporations always questioned it because the
black music never really sold down south in bigoted areas
of the States and they would discourage it. They wouldn't
promote it because of sales.'
On 29 October 2008 BBC
Radio-3s "Performance on 3" featured a concert
of light music from the Colosseum in Watford. The BBC Concert
Orchestra was conducted by Gavin Sutherland and they were
certainly on top form. The varied programme included both
modern and classic pieces of light music, confirming
that todays composers are still attracted to the genre.
Highlight for many people will have been the inclusion of
Haydn Woods Violin Concerto brilliantly performed by
Tasmin Little. The concert featured the following works: Joie
de Vivre (David Lyon), Lakeside Idyll (Ernest Tomlinson),
Violin Concerto (Haydn Wood), London Salute (Philip
Lane), Kaleidoscope (Peter Hope), Summer Afternoon
(Eric Coates), In The Moonlight (Albert Ketèlbey),
The Night Has Eyes (Charles Williams), Jubilee Dances
(Paul Patterson) plus an encore Knightsbridge
(Eric Coates). It was good to hear Gavin Sutherland interviewed
during the concert and, although this was a radio concert,
you were able to view it afterwards, on the BBC iPlayer for
seven days via your computer
lets hope the idea
catches on! Unfortunately we were not advised of the concert
until after our September magazine had gone to press, but
we did include details in the Latest News section of our website,
so we hope that some RFS members will have been alerted.
Filmharmonic 2009 takes
place at Londons Royal Albert Hall on Friday 8 May commencing
at 7:30pm. The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra will be conducted
by Paul Bateman, and the concert includes music from Pirates
of the Caribbean, Lord of the Rings, Gladiator, Star Wars,
Harry Potter, Superman and Jurassic Park. There
will also be a special tribute to great TV Themes Dallas,
Dynasty, Cagney and Lacey and L.A. Law. Tickets
£50 - £10. Telephone bookings on 020 7589 8212; online bookings:
www.royalalberthall.com.
ROBERT FARNON BASSOON
CONCERTO
World premiere Sept. 13, 2009
Legendary arranger/composer Robert
Farnon dedicated his final composition of a jazz-oriented
bassoon concerto to Daniel Smith.
Titled Romancing the Phoenix,
this ground-breaking concerto, with improvisation included
throughout the three movements, calls for enlarged wind sections
as well as a jazz rhythm section on stage alongside the orchestra.
The World premiere will take place Sept.
13, 2009 at the Forum Theatre in Malvern, England, with the
Chandos Symphony Orchestra, Michael Lloyd conducing. Warner
Chappell has published the score and parts with Robert Farnons
dedication to Daniel Smith on the title page.
The note in our last issue
(page 74) about the last time Tony Bennett and Robert Farnon
were together in the recording studios prompted calls from
Fred Wadsworth and Mark Fox. Christmas in Herald Square
was included as a final hidden track on the Bennett
CD "The Playground" US Columbia CK69380.
Sixteen tracks (mainly to appeal to children) were listed
on the album, but when you continued playing the CD at the
end a seventeenth track appeared. This was a gimmick used
on a number of CDs released around this time the late
1990s. Maybe readers are aware of other examples?
There are now many internet
sites which could be of interest to readers, and one recently
brought to our attention is that operated by the British music
magazine Gramophone. It now contains a massive amount of information,
including reviews going back decades, and those of you with
access to the internet should take a look at: www.gramophone.net
One word of warning: once you start surfing this site you
wont want to stop!
The Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra have taken over the management of the BBC Big Band.
The connection here is that the RPO's MD, Ian Maclay, was
formerly General Manager of the BBC Concert Orchestra and
the Big Band. Hopefully this will do nothing but good in ensuring
the survival of the Big Band, which currently only gets 25
minutes a week on Radio 2 plus the odd Radio 3 broadcast.
It should get more outside concerts for a start.
Anne Sheltons niece,
Kelly Richards, is promoting a special concert on the 15th
year (to the day) of her death on Friday 31 July. It is in
aid of Annes favourite charity, the Not Forgotten Association,
and will take place at The Winter Garden Theatre, Eastbourne,
commencing at 7:30pm. Tickets cost £15 - £17; box office telephone
01323 412000. The New Squadronaires will be performing many
wartime favourites, and they will be accompanying many singers
who are adding their support.
The newly-formed Eric
Coates Society (appropriately launched in the composers
birthplace) is now up and running, and we wish it every success.
Many people regard Coates as the finest English composer of
Light Music during the first half of the last century, and
this tribute to his memory is long overdue. In the Robert
Farnon Society we will continue to keep our members aware
of his great achievements, and all new recordings of his music
will be publicised. Many of our loyal members also belong
to other music societies, and we are sure that some of you
will also want to be associated with the efforts being made
to keep the music of Eric Coates alive in the 21st
century. The person to contact is the Secretary, Peter Butler,
47 Farleys Lane, Hucknall, Nottingham, NG15 6DT, England.
The subscription is £10 and cheques should be payable to The
Eric Coates Society.
RETROSPECTIVE RISES
FROM THE ASHES OF LIVING ERA
When Sanctuary Group was taken
over by Universal in 2007 the Living Era label was a casualty.
Under Ray Cricks guidance it had become one of the UKs
leading nostalgia catalogues, and by carefully choosing the
repertoire it had also achieved success in the USA. Some of
the artists were little known in Europe, but their popularity
in the USA ensured healthy sales. Ray also commissioned several
collections of light music, including Robert Farnon, David
Rose, Sidney Torch, George Melachrino, Peter Yorke, Percy
Faith and Louis Levy.
After various new projects
failed to materialise, Ray Crick launched the Retrospective
label last October. Some of the best Living Era collections
have been reprogrammed and subjected to fresh digital restoration
by Alan Bunting, and the result is an exciting series that
is quickly gaining a reputation for quality. Peter Dempsey
(who compiled many collections and wrote numerous sleeve notes
for Living Era) is also on board, and the initial releases
included 2 CD sets by George Formby, Fred Astaire, Humphrey
Lyttelton, Nat King Cole, Paul Robeson and Tony Martin, and
single discs by Alma Cogan, André Previn, Eartha Kitt,
Louis Armstrong, Perez Prado and Sammy Davis Jr. From January
plans are for the label to release ten discs per month covering
both Nostalgia and Vintage Jazz.
Ray Crick says: "I am
delighted to be involved with RETROSPECTIVE because it gives
me the chance to create CD programmes that will bring alive
the finest recordings by those wonderful vintage entertainers
of yesteryear, both popular and jazz, for people to enjoy
here and now. The first 25 sets out our stall, with music
stretching from the music hall to jugbands to rock n
roll! We anticipate that the entire project will total more
than 400 releases, each with a smart series design, making
for a highly collectable range."
RETROSPECTIVE is a joint
venture between Wyastone Estate Limited and Retrospective
Recordings Limited. All sets will be manufactured in the UK
and the USA using the Nimbus disc and print 'on demand' production
services and distributed world-wide by Wyastone Estate Limited.
The in-house production facility ensures that titles are never
overstocked or out of stock and that they can respond immediately
to market demand. Website: www.retrospective-records.co.uk
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JUMPING BEAN
Dateline December 2008
Some JIM readers might be interested in
the recently published third edition of the 'Encyclopedia
of British Film' (published by Methuen in 2008, 885 pages,
paperback), available for £16.99 from amazon.co.uk [ISBN:
9780413776600]. This is not a book listing films like Halliwell's
Film Guide, but covers people that contributed to their making,
a kind of 'Who's Who' of the British film industry from its
beginnings (before Mitchell and Kenyon) to Harry Potter and
beyond. It features over 6,000 articles, varying in length
(up to to 1,000 words for major figures) plus articles covering
genres and themes in British film. Articles are researched
from a wide range of sources and lists of film credits are
kept to a minimum, for there would be little point in such
a book if most of the material was readily available on the
internet. There is an excellent introductory essay by Observer
film critic Philip French, a Preface from Dame Judi Dench,
suggestions for further reading, and a listing of British
film award winners. The articles cover star actors and character
players, directors, producers, cinematographers, editors,
screenwriters, studios and production companies, costume designers,
and, of course film music, composers and musical directors.
Before 1960 light music (in its broadest sense) was the basis
of most British film scoring, just as it dominated the radio
airwaves. Jazz and pop scores were rare, but became more common
with the rise of composers like John Barry, though classic
orchestral scores were still being written by the likes of
Ron Goodwin and Angela Morley. There are articles on these
and many other film composers, which relate exclusively to
the subject's contribution to British film. Apart from Robert
Farnon, light music legends such as Louis Levy, Philip Green,
Stanley Black, Laurie Johnson, Charles Williams and George
Melachrino all feature, as well as William Alwyn, Malcolm
Arnold, Eric Coates, Ralph Vaughan Williams, John Addison,
William Walton and Richard Addinsell, together with bandleaders
[Ted Heath, Jack Hylton], singers [Dame Vera Lynn, Jill Day,
Jeannie Carson, Frankie Vaughan] and songwriters [Noel Gay,
Vivian Ellis, Noel Coward, Ivor Novello, Paddy Roberts, Harry
Woods]. There are articles on classical, jazz, and popular
music in films, the 'Denham Concerto', and other music related
topics, such as 'cinema orchestras and organists', with suggestions
for further reading where this is available. So, for example,
if you are a fan of the 1953 classic "Genevieve",
you can discover that Kay Kendall's trumpet solo was played
on the soundtrack by the legendary Kenny Baker and that the
band musician who hands Kay the trumpet is none other than
that familiar lived-in face from numerous 'B' movies, Michael
Balfour (though we are sure many JIM readers will know this
anyway !)
With so many fascinating
websites now available on the internet (among all the rubbish
that is best ignored), it can be somewhat bewildering when
a simple question on a search engine produces so many results.
If you want to find other music sites where would you start?
With the name of the composer or artist is one obvious example,
but this can involve a lot of time-consuming cross-referencing.
Wouldnt it be nice if there was just one place you could
visit to see a vast number of links to all kinds of composers,
record companies, publishers, radio stations etc
Well,
the good news is that such a place does exist
on our very own website! Just visit www.rfsoc.org.uk
and click on links to other music sites where
you will discover "The most comprehensive Links page
on the Web for beautiful/ light music/ pop orchestral music."
The man responsible for compiling this valuable feature is
RFS member Christopher Landor, and we are most grateful to
him (and our webmaster Ruud) for all the hard work involved
in keeping it up to date and reliable.
RFS member Gareth Bramley
has recently told us about a new book which should appeal
to many in our Society. Unfortunately its publication this
autumn was due just too late for a review to appear in this
issue, but we look forward to including a full report on the
contents in the March magazine. The new book is called "John
Barry The Man With The Midas Touch" and it is
being published to coincide with Barrys 75th
birthday. Gareth writes: "Whether or not you purchased
John Barry - A life in Music, ten years ago, you
can look forward to a book that has been thoroughly re-written
and completely updated. We have spent a lot of time on the
picture content and this too has been extensively updated
and includes a good selection of rare photos, both colour
and black and white. There are approximately 300 pages including
two photo sections of 16 pages each of colour and b &
w. In addition to this, a photo introduces each of the thirty
chapters, and, of course, the discography has been updated
to include everything thats happened since 1998. Its
a book that does full justice to a glittering career. We want
to emphasise that this project is basically a self-publication
by people such as Geoff Leonard and myself in that we have
commissioned a publisher to act on our behalf. All the work
has been done by a team of dedicated Barry fans, much of it
voluntarily." To order this new book contact: Gareth
Bramley, 3 Newland Close, Toton, Beeston, Nottingham, NG9
6EQ, England. The price for UK is £19.99 and cheques should
be payable to G. Bramley Book A/C. RFS
members outside the UK should contact Gareth direct for more
information re price and postage. Alternatively you can visit
the website: www.johnbarry.org.uk/bab.php
Jan Eriksen is well-known
to RFS members who regularly attend our London meetings. He
has been responsible for keeping Light Music to the fore in
Norwegian broadcasting for many years, and produced concerts
featuring greats such as George Shearing and
of course Robert Farnon. In a recent message he told
us about his meetings with Iain Sutherland, who will be the
Societys Guest of Honour at our meeting on 30 November.
Jan writes:
"Iain Sutherland
was a very popular guest conductor during the 27 years I was
responsible for light music here in Norway. It is a rather
sad story that the Broadcasting Orchestra no longer plays
light music in our sense of the word. Its either serious
like Mozart, Beethoven etc, or pop music with sustained notes
in the strings and a noisy percussion in the middle. In 1985
we put on a light music concert at an event called the Elverum
Festival 120 km north of Oslo with the Norwegian Youth Symphony
Orchestra, a group of gifted young people aged from 15 to
25 years old. Bob Farnon should have conducted, but due to
health reasons was unable to appear. So I had to phone this
Scotsman [Iain!]; he came and was a great success as usual.
The programme included: 76 Trombones Wilson arr R.
Farnon; Symphonic Suite from "My Fair Lady" arr
R. Farnon; Journey into Melody; To a Wild Rose
arr R. Farnon; Portarit of a Flirt; State Occasion;
Aviator David Reilly with his father Tommy as soloist;
Westminster Waltz again Tommys version for mouth
organ and orchestra; Toledo J Moody with Tommy solo;
and last Jumping Bean. Iain Sutherland conducted our
Broadcasting Orchestra on several occasions, including its
40th Anniversary Concert in Oslo Town Hall live
on television!"
News reached us during
the summer of several broadcasters who went out of their way
to honour Robert Farnons birthday in July. Paul Barnes
on BBC Radio Norfolk, and Ted Nunn on Angel Radio are just
two who have been complimented by RFS members who appreciated
what they did. No doubt there are many more around the world.
On 20 September John Wilson
was in Germany to conduct the WDR Rundfunkorchester in a concert
of British Light Music in Cologne. The concert was broadcast
a week later on WDR Radio.
Andrew Davis has written
and produced a radio documentary about Woolworths record labels,
and we understand that he has interviewed Johnny Gregory about
his work for the Embassy label. "The Wonderful Sound
of Woolies" is scheduled for 10.30pm on 16 December
BBC Radio-2. The presenter is Brian Matthew.
You could be forgiven
for thinking that the music industry is out of touch with
the realities of present-day technologies and their likely
effect upon the availability of music in the future. The long-running
saga over sound copyright in Europe is an example of over-protectionism
at its worst, yet surely there is no point in passing draconian
laws which many people will ignore and find ways of circumventing.
If laws are respected as being sensible and fair they will
be obeyed by the large majority. With music available worldwide
via the internet, and many third world countries producing
pirate CDs and DVDs in ever increasing numbers, stricter and
unpopular rules in the old world (for want of
a better term) will simply drive more business away from honest
manufacturers. Roger Mellor recently sent us a report which
indicates that some sanity may eventually prevail. In the
USA new fees set by the Copyright Royalty Board for playing
music online by internet radio stations were so unrealistically
high that it would have put them out of business. A public
campaign has forced a Webcaster Settlement Act to be approved
by the House of Representatives, and as we go to press it
is confidently expected to be passed by the Senate. This will
allow each internet broadcaster to make separate arrangements
with SoundExchange, the body which collects royalties in the
US, according to their size and ability to pay. This replaces
a standard fee which was going to be more than doubled, with
many internet broadcasters on the point of ceasing operations.
Apparently there was some suspicion that the attempt to force
a massive increase in fees was encouraged by traditional radio
stations, who are likely to lose out as more and more people
start turning to the internet for their radio entertainment.
In our June issue (JIM
176) we reported that Alan Wright had published his last edition
of "Nelsons Notes", dedicated to that fine
musician Nelson Riddle. We are pleased to report that our
good friend David ORourke has decided that the newsletter
should not be allowed to die, and the first issue of a new
volume of "Nelsons Notes" reached us at the
end of September. It is a quality publication, nicely printed
on gloss paper with plenty of photographs. The President of
the Nelson Riddle Appreciation Society is Mrs. Rosemary Acerra
(Nelsons daughter), and membership enquiries should
be sent direct to her at: 186 Enclave Boulevard, Lakewood,
New Jersey, 08701, USA. You can also join online at: www.NelsonRiddleMusic.com.
Although the compilers
of various editions of our Robert Farnon Discography undertook
considerable detailed research, previously unknown recordings
still occasionally come to our attention. Gilles Gouset recently
wrote from Canada to say that he had discovered the following
78s featuring the soprano Ada Alsop asccompanied by Robert
Farnon and his Orchestra:
London R.10014: Pale
Moon; At Dawning
London R.10015: A Brown Bird
Singing; Morning
London R.10016: I Hear You
Calling Me; Homing
Previously we had only been
aware of:
Decca F 8988 Bring A Torch, Jeanette,
Isabella; O Holy Night
Presumably the three London
78s were also released in the UK, and if any readers can supply
catalogue numbers will they please let us know. We hope to
be able to play Ada Alsop singing A Brown Bird Singing
at our London meeting next April, when Gilles and Marjorie
Cullerne will be presenting a special tribute to Haydn Wood.
Rosemary Squires recently
signed a contract to produce a CD with the Brussels Philharmonic,
and she was in the Belgian capital 18th-24th
November to make the recordings. She is the star guest on
a ten-day tour of major UK venues with the Glenn Miller Orchestra
beginning immediately after Christmas: 27th December
Royal Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool; 28th/29th December - Royal
Concert Hall, Glasgow; 31st December - Barbican, London; 2nd
January - Symphony Hall Birmingham; 3rd January - Conference
Centre Harrogate; 4th January - Bridgewater Hall Manchester
(2 shows). In additional Rosemary continues to charm audiences
with her one-woman shows, and you can catch her at: 4th December
- Life is Song - Village Theatre, Carthorps; 5th December
- Gigs,Giggles and Gossip, Bowhill House Theatre, Selkirk;
6th December - Gigs, Giggles and Gossip, Wynd Theatre, Melrose;
7th December - Westovian Theatre, South Shields; 19th December
- Life is a Song, Burleigh Academy, Newport. Rosemary was
honoured in 2004 with the MBE for services to music and charity,
and she is now in her sixth decade as a performer. We are
proud that she is a member of the Robert Farnon Society, and
wish her continued success as a top attraction for many years
to come.
A recent brochure from
Readers Digest includes details of a new 3-CD collection
called "British Light Music Favourites". The accompanying
publicity blurb mentions just two orchestras - Mantovani and
Robert Farnon! Just a few tune titles are given, but we would
be interested to know a little more about this collection
if any readers have purchased it. The reference number is
0349623, and the price is £29.99 which makes it considerably
more expensive than similar amounts of music currently available
from labels such as Vocalion and Guild.
We are getting a steady
stream of recommendations for radio stations (mostly local
or internet) which offer our kind of music. Rod
Rizzo (USA) has told us about Rich Conarty who presents "The
Big Broadcast" on Sundays 8:00pm-midnight on WFUV (90.7
FM) a programme dedicated to music from the 20s onwards
he has been hosting for 35 years.
Many of you with internet
access have probably already discovered the "Whirligig"
site, which covers vintage UK radio and television broadcasts
www.whirligig-tv.co.uk.
Brian Reynolds has recently been contributing information
on various programmes to the site. As he told us: "Whirligig
covers many interesting facets of early TV and radio, but
its details of music programmes is sparse. Im trying
to redress the balance!"
RFS Committee member Tony
Foster entertained Cheltenham Big Band Society with a varied
programme of music on 29 August, in which he included no less
than five Robert Farnon recordings Jumping Bean,
Theme from Captain Horatio Hornblower, Portrait
Of A Flirt, Wave and Canadian Caravan.
André Leon, the
boss of UK LightRadio, tells us that response to the initial
set of test broadcasts in August was very encouraging. More
tests will be available during December, so do try to visit
www.uklightradio.co.uk
Events are moving fast, and there could be some exciting news
in the New Year. In the meantime please pay a visit to our
own website every so often and check the Latest News
section on the RFS Information page.
Sound Copyright has been
in the news on and off in recent months, and you may like
to refresh your memories as to what is at stake by reading
again the article on page 5 of JIM 176 (June 2008). As we
go to press the stage has been reached where Members of the
European Parliament are starting to consider the proposals.
From what we have been able to discover as we go to press
(mid-October), a report is scheduled for adoption in committee
at a first or single reading on 19 January. This will then
go forward to the full European Parliament at a Plenary Sitting
on 1 April (note the date April Fools Day).
As you read this report
there may still be time to make your MEPs aware of your views.
Professional Lobbyists for term extension are making the case
to MEPs inside the European Parliament right now. But your
voice is stronger than any lobbyist. We can't overstate it:
the most important thing you can do to stop term extension
is to let your MEPs know your concerns so they see and hear
your side. In the meantime the Directive is also being discussed
by representatives of Member States in the Council of Ministers.
And criticism of the Commission's proposal is emerging all
over Europe. The world leading Max Planck Institute for Intellectual
Property Law in Munich, has released a statement concluding
that prolonging the term of protection "cannot be justified
from any point of view." Professor Bernt Hugenholtz, Director
of the Institute for Information Law in Amsterdam, and one
of the Commission's own advisers, has accused Commission President
Jose Manuel Barroso of intentionally misleading policy-makers
with the proposal. Pekka Gronow, sound archivist, author of
"An International History of the Recording Industry", and
adjunct professor of ethnomusicology at the University of
Helsinki, has written and concluded that performers benefit
very little from the proposed extension ("in most cases the
resulting sums will not even cover bank charges"). You are
urged to add your own voice to the growing opposition against
this ill-conceived set of proposals.
We are pleased to report
that Ray Crick (previously in charge of the much-missed Living
Era) label is now involved in an exciting new project. Details
were still secret as we went to press, but we hope to have
some positive news in our March issue.
Looking ahead to next
April, plans are now being made for the Spring RFS Meeting
which will include live music in honour of the 50th
Anniversary of Haydn Woods passing. Members of his family
will be with us at the Park Inn (formerly Bonnington Hotel),
and this will be a special event that you wont want
to miss! Naturally full details will appear in our March magazine,
together with a special feature on Haydn Wood one of
the great composers of the last century. Make a note of the
date now: Sunday 5 April 2009.
A Society in honour
of Eric Coates has been formed by the District Council
in Hucknall,
Nottinghamshire, where
he was born. Anyone wanting more information should contact
the Secretary: Mr P.Butler, 47 Farleys Lane, Hucknall, Nottingham,
NG15 6DT Tel 0115 9537393.
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JUMPING BEAN
Dateline September 2008
James Beyer and The Edinburgh Light Orchestra
treated the good citizens of Scotlands capital city
to another fine concert in the Queens Hall on Saturday
24 May. James tells us that they had an almost capacity audience
of 744 around 30 more than their normal summer average,
and he was particularly pleased to note quite a number of
younger people in the audience. As usual the programme commenced
with Robert Farnons Journey Into Melody and among
other treats were Philip Lanes arrangement of Over
the Rainbow, In Sherwood from Frederic Curzons Robin
Hood Suite, Clive Richardsons Shadow Waltz
(composed under his pseudonym Paul Dubois), and
an exciting finale provided by Robert Russell Bennetts
arrangement of Richard Rodgers melodies from Oklahoma.
As the music critic in the Edinburgh Evening News reported:
"under the experienced baton of James Beyer
the
orchestra were tempted back to perform the Can Can
twice. Clearly the audience couldnt get enough".
London-based members interested in forgotten Gaiety Musicals
may like to know that Ken Reeves is presenting two talks (with
audience participation in songs) at Westminster Reference
Library. The first is on 23 September, with a second spotlighting
"Our Miss Gibbs" on 21 October. Seat reservations
can be made on 0207 641 5250, or contact Ken Reeves direct
at 232 Rainham Road North, Dagenham, Essex, RM10 7EA.
The centenary of Sidney Torch (1908-1990) was celebrated
in "Friday Night Is Music Night" on 6 June. The
enthusiastic audience enjoyed many of his arrangements, plus
some examples of his earlier distinguished career as a theatre
organist. Sadly only two Torch compositions were featured
On A Spring Note and All Strings And Fancy
Free - but it was a memorable occasion with Robin Stapleton
conducting the BBC Concert Orchestra in superb form. RFS member
David Daniels reminds us that events such as this are becoming
all too rare on the BBC. It is essential that we let the powers
that be know how much we value them, and want many more.
As David says: if we dont support FNIMN, who can?
On Tuesday 24 June BBC Radio-3s daily "In Tune"
programme was a live broadcast from the Maida Vale studios
featuring the BBC Symphony Orchestra. For part of the programme
the orchestra regrouped to form The BBC Light Orchestra
conducted by John Wilson. John was also interviewed
by presenter Petroc Trelawny, which gave him the opportunity
to talk about his work with Light Music and the reconstruction
of film scores. The light section of the programme
included Lonely Town (arranged by Angela Morley); Knightsbridge
(Eric Coates); Melancholy Baby (arr. Richard Rodney
Bennett); Westminster Waltz (Robert Farnon); and Nell
Gwyn Overture (Edward German). If you think that Johns
richly deserved international reputation now restricts his
activities to big prestigious events you couldnt be
more wrong. Your Editor had the great pleasure of attending
a concert in Martock, Somerset, church on 12 July, when John
was conducting a group of twelve extremely talented young
string players known as Sinfonia Westminster, in a
programme including lighter works by Mozart, Delius, Elgar,
Grieg, Percy Fletcher, Vaughan Williams, Tchaikovsky and Mascagni
all in aid of the churchs bells appeal.
JESSE KNIGHT SPREADS THE WORD ABOUT LIGHT MUSIC
On 29 June Jesse Knight, one of our keen US members, gave
a presentation on light music in Portland, Oregon, at the
Atlas Society's 19th Annual Summer Seminar. The Atlas Society
is an international group of intellectuals who meet every
summer to discuss a wide range of topics everything
from current events to economics to politics to philosophy
to literature to, of course, music. Ages range from students
upwards. There were around 300 400 people attending
the conference, and Jesse anticipated an audience in the region
of 50 for his piece. Not a particularly large number, but
as he told us "its a start!"
Jesses presentation was meant to be an introduction
to light music for those not familiar with the genre and consisted
of a lecture along with numerous musical examples. Among the
familiar pieces he included were Robert Farnons "Jumping
Bean"; "Serenade for Youth" and "Montmartre
March" by Haydn Wood; "Golden Tango" by Victor
Silvester (played by the Palm Court Light Orchestra); "Dusk"
by Cecil Armstrong Gibbs; "Woodland Revel" by George
Melachrino; "Serene Place" by Bill Worland; "Busy
Streets" by Roger Roger; "Skyline Concerto"
by Charles Kalman; "Gentle Rains" by Adam Langston;
and finally "Festa Day" by Matthew Curtis.
The idea behind the presentation was to introduce a group
of intellectually curious people to light music, a genre with
which they may not be familiar. Hopefully it would encourage
them to explore the field of light music further. He discussed
such issues as the importance of melody in light music; the
musics immediate accessibility; the absence of angst;
and other issues. He traced a bit of the history of light
music, discussing its demise, and now its recent renaissance.
In addition, he provided a list of resources for those interested
in delving into light music more, the Robert Farnon Society.
When asked for some personal information, Jesse replied:
"I have listened to classical music since a youngster.
I have for some time been interested in what might be called
the pops repertoirecomposers such as Ferde Grofe and
Erich Wolfgang Korngold. A decade or so ago I happened to
attend a Pops Concert conducted by Portlands Norman
Leyden. Among the items on the program was Robert Farnons
"Jumping Bean". I was completely delighted by the
music, and I said, "Who is this Robert Farnon?"
I began to look around on the internet and elsewhere. It didnt
take long to uncover the Farnon Society and the broader range
of light music. Since then, Ive written an article on
light music and done some minor reviewing."
ADAM SAUNDERS : A YOUNG COMPOSER WITH A BRIGHT FUTURE
RFS member Adam Saunders is already well-known to us through
his compositions such as Comedy Overture (1993) and
The Magic Kingdom (2003). Adam studied at the Royal
Academy of Music and London University, winning several prizes
for composition. Since leaving he has established a career
composing music for the concert hall and for worldwide television,
film and other media.
In addition to a period as composer-in-association with the
East of England Orchestra, Adam has had his works performed
and recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, English
Chamber Orchestra, BBC Concert Orchestra, City of Prague Philharmonic
Orchestra and Choir, Royal Ballet Sinfonia, Academy of Ancient
Music, London Mozart Players, Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra,
Odense Symphony Orchestra, Orchestra of the Renaissance and
the Brighton Festival Chorus amongst others.
As well as his work as a composer, arranger and conductor,
Adam also regularly performs as a jazz pianist with his own
group, and as a pianist has performed at venues including
Wembley Arena and the Royal Albert Hall. He is an Associate
of the Royal Academy of Music.
Since 1997, Adam Saunders and Mark Cousins have enjoyed a
fruitful creative partnership writing music for worldwide
television, film, radio and other media. They are regular
contributing composers for some of the world's leading production
music companies including Universal, Focus and Amphonic, working
on tremendously varied projects - ranging from cutting-edge
electronica to sumptuous orchestral scores and big band jazz.
Whether they're working in front of a 90-piece orchestra,
or in a completely electronic production environment, Adam
and Mark produce music with consistently high production values
and musicality.
To hear examples of Adam and Marks work, visit their
website at: www.cousins-saunders.co.uk
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JUMPING BEAN
Dateline June 2008
In February it was announced that the major British commercial
broadcaster G-Cap was closing down a number of its digital
radio channels including "The Jazz" and "Our
Kind of Music" – the station for which RFS member Albert
Killman had provided many recordings of quality popular music
including, of course, Robert Farnon. It appears that the lunatics
appear to have finally taken over the asylum as far as decent
popular music on radio is concerned. Perhaps one day future
generations will wake up to what they have lost and do something
positive about it. At least the music is being preserved on
CD, so it will be available if anyone has the good taste to
rediscover.
We are sorry to report that Raymond Elgar Beaver, the son
of composer Jack Beaver, died on 25 January 2008. Some years
ago we had the pleasure of his company at one of our London
meetings, when he spoke about his talented father whose music
is still finding a new and appreciative audience through its
reappearance on CDs.
Bev Mastin has alerted us to a music website which contains
(in his words) ‘a phenomenal selection of Farnon et al’. Bev
is right – you will be astonished at the number of often rare
records that are offered for sale, and you will probably be
surprised and delighted to discover how much some of your
own treasured LPs and 45s are worth. The site is: www.gemm.com
. As an example, when Jumping Bean looked recently he found
a less than perfect copy of the Philips "Shalako"
LP on sale at £154 [$303]!
If you can get to London, here’s an important date for your
diary! Ann Adams and The Ladies Palm Court Orchestra will
be playing in Kensington Gardens earlier this year – on Sunday
29 June from 2:00 to 3:30 pm. On our back page you can see
pictures from last summer’s event, which was greatly enjoyed
by all present, including many RFS members. If you want up-to-date
information please contact our committee member Brian Reynolds.
We hope that RFS members wishing to complete their collection
of Living Era CDs took heed of our warning in JIM 174, page
82. Many of these titles are now becoming hard to find, and
prices are rising. It is not uncommon to find some dealers
asking more than £30 for second-hand copies.
Jim Entwistle recently went into his local HMV store in the
north of England and asked the assistant behind the counter
for a Naxos catalogue. "What’s Naxos?" came the
reply.
Last year Greg Francis formed The National Concert Orchestra
of Great Britain. The orchestra is presently being registered
with the ABO, and it performed its inaugural concert last
December. The remit is to play ‘light popular music’, and
for Greg this is probably the realisation of a lifetime’s
dream – to create a new orchestra ‘specifically’ to play this
music. The first of the Leroy Anderson Centennial Celebration
Concerts is on Sunday 21st September 2008 at St
George’s Hall, Liverpool. Greg would like this to be an annual
event; he regards Leroy Anderson as a ‘master’ in the art
of bringing popular light music to the fore, and he influenced
many of the composers (including John Williams) who followed
him. Greg says: "we can’t allow his music to go unheard
and un-noticed, and it dismayed me to find that only one other
orchestra (The Scottish Festival Orchestra) has planned any
kind of tribute to him in this Centennial year."
Alan Wright recently published his final edition of "Nelson’s
Notes", dedicated to that fine American arranger and
conductor Nelson Riddle. In his last Editorial, headed "Time
To Call It A Day" Alan explained that the pressures of
producing regular newsletters (the last was his 51st)
were starting to become too great, not helped (in Alan’s own
words) "…due to those twin protagonists dodgy health
and the march of time combining to take their toll."
He felt that it was best to stop before standards went into
serious decline. However the good news is that Nelson’s music
will still be remembered through several websites dedicated
to his memory. Alan is one of that elite group of people who
has felt compelled to share his love of music with others
by keeping alive the memory of those they admire. We wish
him many happy years of enjoying Nelson’s music; since his
collection numbers over 200 CDs he shouldn’t worry about being
bored!
Warmest congratulations to our Australian member Philip Brady
who, on 8 April, celebrated 50th years working
on Australian TV and Radio. In his long career Philip has
been a newsreader, game show host and foil for the barbed
comments of several comedians! He now co-hosts one of the
country’s most popular radio shows, and is regarded as something
of a broadcasting elder statesman – as well as a celebrity.
British RFS members have had the pleasure of welcoming Philip
to our London Meetings in the past, and we hope it will not
be too long before we see him again. In the meantime we wish
him many more years of successful broadcasting ‘down under’!
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JUMPING BEAN
Dateline May 2008
The next concert by The Edinburgh Light Orchestra conducted
by James Beyer will take place on Saturday 24 May in
the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh. For more information telephone
0131 334 3140.
Plans are still progressing for the premiere performance
of Robert Farnon’s Bassoon Concerto. Daniel Smith tells
us that he now hopes that this will take place in the spring
of 2009, and we will naturally keep RFS members informed of
developments.
Kym Bonython writes from his home in Adelaide to send
warmest regards to his RFS friends, and say that he has started
to write a sequel to his 1979 autobiography "Ladies Legs
and Lemonade". His friend Barry Humphries suggested that
it should be called "In ever decreasing circles…"
probably alluding to the fact that Kym (born in 1920) has
been forced to give up riding his beloved Agusta motor cycle.
It has been sold to the Headmistress of a girls’ school in
Britain! From being a highly decorated pilot in World War
2, Kym became one of the greatest jazz promoters in Australia,
and he has also been an important patron of Australian art.
The inclusion of the BBC recordings of "Oranges and
Lemons" on the Guild ‘Musical Kaleidoscope Volume 1’
collection prompted our good friend Frank Hare to remind
us that using this piece to introduce the day’s broadcasting
on the Light programme was following an established tradition.
This traditional melody was also a ‘call sign’ for the BBC
Allied Expeditionary Forces Programme, which commenced broadcasting
on 7 June 1944 - one day after D-day. It then consisted of
about 12 seconds of the tune repeated over and over again,
with a short break between each, and played in single notes
by the famous organist Charles Smart on a Novachord with a
sustain. This can be heard at the start of the RFS CD featuring
Captain Robert Farnon and the Canadian Band of the Allied
Expeditionary Forces – still available from us for £6 (which
includes p&p).
From Volker Rippe who discovered it in a German calendar
for people learning English: Why is ‘our kind of music’ banned
from radio and television? Too much sax and violins! (Say
it out loud to yourself a few times and you’ll get the joke!)
Our thanks to Ann Adams who has sent us some nice
colour photos taken at her Kensington Gardens Concert last
summer. This time our colour reproductions had to be reserved
for last November’s London meeting, but we hope to let you
see Ann’s Ladies Palm Court Orchestra in the next issue.
Debbie Wiseman will be conducting the Royal Philharmonic
Orchestra in a concert of her Favourite Film and TV Moments
at London’s Cadogan Hall on Sunday 30 March. Telephone bookings:
020 7730 4500.
Mort Garson (born 20 July 1924), the composer of the
popular song "Our Day Will Come" died in San Francisco
on 4 January 2008. During a long and successful career he
worked with the likes of Doris Day and Mel Torme.
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JUMPING BEAN
Dateline December 2007
Further to the report in our last issue, it was announced
in September that Sanctuary Records would be closing
down its UK recorded music business. The Groups new
owners, Universal, decided that they would concentrate
on Sanctuarys management arm which it stated in a press
release was the more profitable side of the business. This
tends to conflict with the impression previously given, where
statements in recent months had suggested that expensive mistakes
in promoting Sanctuarys roster of artists (including
Sir Elton John and Lulu) were the main cause of the financial
difficulties. Apparently Sanctuarys US recorded music
operations are not affected, but the decision to close down
the UK record business means the disappearance of popular
labels such as Living Era and White Line. As we go to press
we are still able to get supplies of CDs from Sanctuarys
distributors, but we have no way of knowing how much longer
they will continue to be available. If there are any titles
you particularly want (and in recent years there have been
reviews in JIM of some interesting light music releases on
both Living Era and White Line) we recommend that you should
try to obtain them without delay.
RFS member Phil Stout has recently reported to us
on his work as a Music Consultant with Music Choice, an American
television company offering channels of various kinds of music.
Of particular interest to readers will be the Easy Listening
channel, which broadcasts uninterrupted music continuously
for seven days a week. While the music is being played a suitable
picture (usually a scenic view) is shown on-screen, together
with details of the orchestra and title of the music. Sometimes
there are photographs of the conductor, with extra information
about their careers. From time to time items of trivia, associated
with easy listening music, are scrolled across the screen.
Phil tells us that it is often difficult to find decent photographs
of the orchestra leaders. During a sample tape we saw Norrie
Paramor, Frank Chacksfield, John Wilson, Percy Faith, Andre
Kostelanetz, Franck Pourcel, Caravelli and many others; in
total there are over 3,000 tracks in active rotation. Phil
also provides a similar service for three other full-time
channels: Singers and Standards, Big Band & Swing and
Showtunes. Music Choice reaches over 30 million homes in the
USA.
Readers who have spotted Paul Clatworthys reference
to Laurie Johnsons Rue de la Paix (in
this issues Big Band Roundup) may be forgiven
for wondering why this catchy melody has not yet been featured
in the Guild Golden Age of Light Music series
of CDs. Although it was regularly being heard on BBC Radio
in the early 1950s, it was not issued on a mood music 78 by
KPM until 1960 so it is still in copyright.
RFS members will recall from recent issues of this magazine
that Robert Farnon dedicated his Bassoon Concerto to
the American virtuoso Daniel Smith. It is hoped that
the UK premiere of this work (one of Bobs last, which
he based on his Saxophone Tripartite) will take place
towards the end of next year. Daniel plans to be at our forthcoming
London meeting, when he may have some more news about this
eagerly awaited event. Meanwhile he is busily promoting his
latest CD "The Swingin Bassoon" (Guild Zah
Zah ZZCD9824) which will be launched at the Concert Jazz Club,
in Thame, Oxfordshire on 28 November at 8:00pm. Daniel would
be delighted to welcome some RFS members in the audience;
if you would like to attend please contact Eddie Fowler on
01844 353117 for more details.
Some members may recall reading features in this magazine
written by Mike Ellis. He was also a regular contributor
to In Tune International, although he had been less prolific
in recent years. Never one to shy away from being controversial,
Mike had an encyclopaedic knowledge about quality popular
music, and many of us will have learned much from his writings.
Sadly he died on 3 September following a long illness, and
we send our sincere condolences to his wife Marion and the
family.
ERIC COATES TO BE HONOURED BY BBC RADIO 3
In recognition of the 50th Anniversary of his
death, Radio 3 is to make Eric Coates Composer of the
Week 17-21 December 2007. The programmes are likely
to include a number of premier recordings, and we gather that
John Wilson is going to be featured as todays leading
interpreter of Coates music.
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JUMPING BEAN
Dateline September 2007
Warmest congratulations to RFS member Vic Lewis who
has recently been honoured by Queen Elizabeth II with the
award of an MBE.
Back in June RFS member, and light music composer, John
McLain launched a broadside against Radio Times through
Radio-4s "Feedback" programme. John was incensed
at the changes on the radio pages of Radio Times which describe
music as falling into just three categories: Rock, Pop and/or
Classical. Unsurprisingly his tirade did not make it onto
the programme. People working at the BBC these days must be
getting completely immune to all the complaints from viewers
and listeners. If anyone ever praised them theyd probably
collapse on the spot, but there seems little likelihood of
that happening!
A new work Ronnie Smiths "Seasons
of Woman" - described by Robert Farnon as "truly
beautiful music", was given its world premiere on Saturday
7 July by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Paul
Bateman. The venue chosen was the Watford Colosseum (formerly
Watford Town Hall) where Ronnie Smith and his Band regularly
performed from 1964 to 1974, often to audiences of 1,000 or
more. The highlight of the concert was Ronnies "Seasons
of Woman", composed over a period of seven years which
its creator described as a testament to his love and admiration
of women. Introduced by Rick Wakeman, the concert also included
the jazz ensemble Light & Shade with Tina May, performing
some of Ronnie Smiths latest jazz compositions and arrangements.
RFS member Robin Dodd was recently invited by Angel
Radio to present a series of one-hour programmes based on
his JIM articles about his musical voyages (the final part
of his trip to the South Atlantic appears in this issue on
page 28). The first programmes were broadcast in May and June,
with more to follow. Angel Radio can be heard in the Havant
and Portsmouth areas on 101.1 FM and it is also available
world-wide via the internet at www.angelradio.co.uk.
On 1 September (3 p.m.) the National Children's Orchestra
(under-13s) will give the first performance of a specially
commissioned work by Matthew Curtis called 'Four Winds
Suite' in the Bridgewater Hall, Manchester. On 21 October
(2.30 p.m.) there will be a concert devoted entirely
to Matthews chamber works at the Pittville Pump Room,
Cheltenham, performed by Marie Vassiliou (soprano), Verity
Butler (clarinet) and Gavin Sutherland (piano).
Dennis Wright recently gave a presentation of some
of his own favourites to his local recorded music society.
We feel sure that some other members do the same. To make
your event more memorable, it is helpful if you can provide
some literature for anyone who may be interested. Our Publicity
Officer, Paul Clatworthy, will always be happy to supply you
with a selection of back issues of our magazine for distribution
on such occasions. This is the time of year when plans are
being made for events during the darker evenings, so please
feel welcome to take advantage of this offer. You may also
help to get some new members for us.
25 years ago Fopp began as a market stall in Glasgow,
and eventually developed into a major retailer selling cheap
CDs, DVDs and books. One of the additional pleasures of attending
RFS London meetings was the opportunity to stroll along to
Tottenham Court Road and browse through the thousands of CDs
at Fopp, often as cheap as only £1 each. Towards the end of
June the company announced that all of its 105 stores in Britain
would be closed, thus depriving customers of a wonderful source
of reasonably priced products. There was speculation that
the firms problems could have arisen when it acquired
67 stores from the Administrator of the retailer Music Zone
some months earlier. However the slump in sales of CDs has
been blamed for Fopps closure; people are now getting
more and more of their music from supermarkets, rather than
traditional record stores, and internet sales (and downloads)
are booming. Another large UK retailer HMV had announced a
big drop in profits just a few days before Fopp announced
that it was closing all its stores.
Ann Adams and The Ladies Palm Court Orchestra performed
an attractive programme of music at Kensington Gardens, London,
on Sunday 22 July. Among the many famous light music composers
represented were works by Haydn Wood, Henry Croudson, Archibald
Joyce, Frederic Curzon, Harry Dexter, Roger Quilter and Albert
Ketèlbey.
Another independent record company has been taken over by
one of the majors. It was announced on 15 June that Sanctuary
(who issue Living Era and other labels and also own the old
Pye/Nixa catalogue) had agreed to a £104.3m takeover by Universal
Music. The price includes £59m of debt and it appears
that the group's difficulties had arisen through problems
with the artists management side of the business, which looks
after the careers of stars such as Lulu and Sir Elton John.
Although Universal has stated that it wishes to build upon
Sanctuary's strengths and expand the business, we still remember
what happened when BMG gobbled up the Conifer label some years
ago. If any readers still need to acquire White Line
or Living Era CDs for their collections it might be a good
idea to get them sooner rather than later. There have been
rumours of a counter-bid from a Hong Kong based consortium
but to date there is no firm news of this.
Bassist Chris Laurence released his first CD album
"New View" earlier this year, and Brian Blain interviewed
him for the May/June issue of Jazz UK. Chris said that it
was a thrill to work with Sarah Vaughan and Lena Horne "but
what really sticks in my mind was a session with Bob Farnon,
who was a really outstanding arranger, on a track with the
great trombonist J.J. Johnson. It was just JJ and me in the
middle of the old CTS studio at Wembley, on a simple blues
Opus de Focus. But it was the kind of magical moment
that stays with you forever".
Sound copyright: there is now an on-line petition
where people who wish the sound copyright term to remain at
50 years can add their name. This comes under the trial UK
government scheme whereby citizens can start up petitions
for various causes. If there are large numbers of signatories
on any given subject the government says it will take notice.
We urge all JIM readers who support this petition to add their
names as soon as possible. The petition will remain open until
2 December.
Paul Lewis has been commissioned by Bristol Silents
and Le Giornate del Cinema Muto (Pordenone Silent Film Festival,
Italy) to compose a new score for the classic masterpiece
"Pandoras Box". On 15 September Paul will
be conducting his new score with a 25 piece contingent of
the Royal Ballet Sinfonia, with film projection, at the Colston
Hall, Bristol, commencing at 7:30 pm. He has written a special
article about his work on the score (lasting an incredible
two hours and eleven minutes of music) which we will be publishing
in the next issue of Journal Into Melody.
John Wilson conducted the BBC Concert Orchestra in
a superb concert of music from British films as the second
of this years series of Promenade Concerts, on Saturday
14 July. The enthusiastic audience response must surely convince
the people who choose the repertoire for Promenade Concerts
that this should not be an isolated event. John Wilson was
introduced as one of Britains foremost light music conductors,
so lets hope that he is given a Prom next year where
he can perform some of the finest examples from the world
of light music.
Readers with access to the internet will have no problem
in finding detailed tracklistings of all the Guild "Golden
Age of Light Music" CDs on various sites, including www.guildmusic.com.
For the benefit of those without this facility, Alan Bunting
has prepared a printed list of all Guild Light Music CDs which
he will be pleased to supply on request. Write to Alan at:
28 Pelstream Avenue, Stirling, FK7 0BE, UK you are
requested to enclose three first-class stamps to cover expenses.
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JUMPING BEAN
Dateline June 2007
Martin Massini Ezcurra, from Buenos Aires, Argentina, is
a great fan of the music of Stanley Black. Before spending
a year studying in Britain, he got to know Stanley and his
wife Edna, and met him many times in 2001 and 2002. Martin
has prepared a list of Stanley Black recordings which he would
be pleased to share with any fellow admirers. If you are interested,in
the first instance please contact our membership secretary,
Albert Killman.
Danny Robinson alerted us to the following letter which appeared
in the London Times on 12 February under the heading Light
Goes Out "Sir, My ears were opened to the
joys of British light classical music by a series of free
BBC concerts in the early 1990s. The beautiful sounds of Binge,
Coates, Curzon, Torch and others came alive. In recent years,
Britons have been able to hear a regular selection of these
light classics, most of which are only three or four minutes
long, courtesy of Brian Kay's Light Programme on BBC
Radio 3, with the bonus of the playlist on the website. His
one-hour programme made for a delightful interlude, well-suited
to working in front of the PC or a break for afternoon tea.
This week, however, Radio 3 has killed off British light music.
No more dipping into an important, but little-known, strand
of our national musical heritage. What a pity that the BBC
cannot find time any more for these little snapshots of Britain.
It makes one wonder who the controller thinks he serves. LESTER
MAY, London NW1"
One of our German members, Alexander Schatte,
has written to tell us about an ongoing project in honour
of a leading composer. "For some years I have been working
in my leisure time as archivist for the "Franz Grothe Foundation".
Franz Grothe (1908-1982) was one of Germany's leading film
and light music composers from the late 1920's until the mid
1960's. His musical output contains the music for 170 feature
films, popular songs and also fine light concert works. Some
of his hit tunes also became successful abroad like his "Midnight-Blues"
in 1957. Last year I heard his famous slow waltz melody "Illusion"
(also recorded by Dolf van der Linden and other international
artists) on BBC via Internet-Radio. During recent months I
have constructed a website for the Grothe-Foundation (presently
only in the German language) which is now online at www.franzgrothe-stiftung.de
The website also contains an online "orchestra catalogue"
(103 titles) and in addition a second catalogue with our collection
of original historic arrangements for salon orchestra (185
titles). I think these catalogues are interesting for all
orchestras and small ensembles, musicians and conductors who
enjoy performing traditional light and film music from this
period. Every interested website visitor is most welcome to
contact with me for further information."
The Scarborough Spa Orchestra is now one of very
few light orchestras regularly performing light music. Their
reputation has spread far beyond their native Yorkshire, and
we hope that readers of this magazine who may happen to be
in the north-east of England this summer will make a special
effort to attend at least one of their concerts. The season
starts on Sunday 3rd June and continues to Friday 21st September.
The Scarborough Spa Orchestra gives six morning concerts and
four evening concerts every week. Morning concerts are Sunday
to Friday inclusive at 11am in the Sun Court, and evening
concerts are Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday at 7.45
in the Grade II listed Grand Hall. For more details visit
the orchestras website, which you can reach via the
Links page on our own website. RFS member Peter
Luck was intrigued by one of the tracks on the Guild CD
"Childhood Memories". When he listened to Time
For Fun And Games he realised hed heard it before,
but where? The penny eventually dropped when he discovered
that it was in "The Two Ronnies" St Botolphs
Country Dance sketch that he had on a DVD. David
Lennick has written about the Robert Farnon cutting on
page 25 of our last issue The Tinder Box.
He thinks it is likely to be from January 1943, and stresses
that the name of the radio series was "Magic Carpet".
We were sorry to learn from James Beyer that the Edinburgh
Palm Court Orchestra gave its last concert on Sunday 11 February.
The orchestras Director, David Lyle, explained that
they were having problems in finding suitable rehearsal premises,
and it was difficult to find time in busy schedules for all
the players and soloists to get together. There was also the
recurring problem of hard-to-locate scores, and rising costs
generally were a constant worry. Also their loyal audience
was getting older, and ticket sales were slipping. Happily
the Edinburgh Light Orchestra (under conductor James
Beyer) continues to go from strength to strength, and their
Saturday Concerts at the Queens Hall are a well-established
popular feature in Edinburghs music scene. Their most
recent concert was on 26 May, and it included works by Angela
Morley, Robert Farnon, Edward White and Eric Coates. For details
of their next event you can telephone 0131 334 3140. Have
you ever wondered why some musicians only use their initials?
Jack Docherty thinks he knows the answer. He recently
discovered that H.M. Farrars full name is Hubert Murgatroyd
Farrar!
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JUMPING BEAN
Dateline March 2007
Thanks to the efforts of David O’Rourke, Robert Farnon’s
How Beautiful Is Night was performed in a concert at
New York’s Lincoln Center last November. James Beyer is planning
to include the vocal version in his Edinburgh Light Orchestra’s
concert on 26 May at the Queen’s Hall, Edinburgh (for more
details telephone 0131 334 3140).
The following text is taken from Warren Vache’s website,
and dates from around April 2005: This has been a terrible
month for trumpet players. We have lost such lights as Tutti
Cammerata, Robert Farnon, Benny Bailey, Kenny Schermerhorn,
and Danny Moore. Alison Kerr of the Glasgow Herald asked me
to say a few words for an obit on Robert Farnon she will be
doing, and the process of writing re-awoke all the awe and
inspiration Mr. Farnon’s writing never failed to instil in
me. He had accepted a commission to write one arrangement
for me and the Scottish Ensemble for our recording this July
(2005), and was not able to complete it. I thought I would
include my thoughts here. Robert Farnon was simply one of
the most musical, creative, and intelligent arrangers and
composers to have graced the world. He was and will remain
the apex of that genre, and an inspiration to anyone with
the drive to write for orchestral settings. The more you look
into his work, the more there is to see and hear. And with
all that skill and intelligence, there is always a feeling
and a beauty that is absolutely gut wrenching. He was a tone
painter like no other. I remember doing a concert with The
New York Pops, and sitting in the soloists section in the
middle of the orchestra. Now, there are few sounds in the
world as exciting for me as a full orchestra, and the sound
of a live orchestra is an experience that cannot be reproduced
by any recording equipment. Well, they began to play a Farnon
setting of Harold Arlen’s ‘What’s Good About Goodbye?"
It began with an oboe solo over a lush and surprising string
background, full of wonderful, and unusual voiceings, and
a very creative harmonic treatment. The oboe was a lone voice
in a wonderland, and I wanted to be in that wonderland. As
if that weren’t enough, at the bridge, the colour changed
to four horns! It was such a dramatic and startling change,
as if the sound of the horns rose from under all those strings
to take the beauty to a higher level. Imagine the light changing
on some far off mountain. I was a puddle of tears it was so
moving. It is a gift indeed to live in this veil of tears
and be able to see through all the pain and dirt to the beauty
Farnon envisioned. The world will not see his like again,
and for me, a great source of inspiration and a window to
the beautiful has been closed. Hearing a Farnon setting was
like love without the heartbreak, and it doesn’t ever get
better than that. We are grateful to Malcolm Frazer for
discovering this for ‘Journal Into Melody’. Paul Clatworthy
reviews Warren’s CD in ‘Keeping Track’.
David Mardon has written to point out that Haydn Wood’s Soliloquy
played by the Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra conducted by Robert
Farnon was not in the Chappell Recorded Music Library, but
only on a Decca 78 (F 9265) and 10" LP (LM 4508). David
also explains that the Radio Four Theme was initially recorded
by the BBC Northern Symphony Orchestra under Fritz Speigel
(part composer), and there was an agreement with the Musicians’
Union that it was to be re-recorded every five years. As the
‘Northern’ is now the BBC Philharmonic, the last version was
under Rumon Gamba.
Tony Foster tells us that the Daily Mail (Saturday 2 December)
gave away a free DVD of the film "The Slipper and the
Rose". As JIM readers will know, Angela Morley was the
Musical Director on this film, and she worked wonders with
her arrangements of the Sherman Brothers’ songs, as well as
adding her own incidental music.
One of our USA members, Jesse Knight, has written an interesting
article on Light Music for a website. If you have access to
the internet, you are strongly urged to visit the Aristos
site at www.aristos.org
and click on to Jesse’s article which is appropriately called
"The Joys of Light Music".
Peter Burt asks us to correct a mistake which crept into
his "Back Tracks" article in our last issue. He
says: "it must have been the Little People and not gremlins
that caused me to write that Vincent Youmans was Dublin born.
It was, of course, New York. So not Vincent O’Youmans after
all!"
The Secretary recently provided the National Theatre in London
with a recording of Robert Farnon’s Openings and Endings
– the music which introduced "Panorama" when it
first appeared on BBC Television back in the 1950s. It will
be used in the play "The Reporter" by Nicholas Wright
which went into rehearsal in January. The National Theatre
had been unable to find a recording, and contacted us through
our website. Readers may remember that this music was included
on the Conifer 2-CD compilation of Robert Farnon’s compositions
released in 1996 and long deleted.
On Tuesday 17 October the Coda Club honoured Angela Morley
with their Burt Rhodes Award for lifetime achievement in music.
Unfortunately Angela was not well enough to travel from her
home in the USA to London to receive the award personally,
so it was accepted on her behalf by John Wilson. As readers
will know, John has recorded a number of Angela’s compositions
and arrangements for Vocalion in recent years, and he said
that he felt honoured to receive the award on her behalf.
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JUMPING BEAN
Dateline October 2006
JUMPING BEAN
Several British members contacted us following "The
Last Night of the Proms" on Saturday 9 September. There
was a splendid performance of Eric Coates’ Calling All
Workers played by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted
by Mark Elder which opened the second half from the Royal
Albert Hall. But what really delighted many members was the
ability to access the five other concerts taking place simultabeously
at other venues around the UK. If you had satellite television
you could switch between channels and find all six concerts;
even on terrestrial digital Freeview there was a choice of
Hyde Park and Belfast – plus, of course, the Royal Albert
Hall. While the musical establishment provided the usual high
cultural (and rather boring) fare at the Royal Albert Hall,
the other concerts offered far more interesting programmes
that will have been much more appealing to the majority of
viewers and listeners. By switching channels it was possible
to enjoy the likes of Ron Goodwin and Henry Mancini, as well
as some fine vocal extracts from musical shows. Given the
cost of staging six such concerts, surely it was a waste of
money and resources to stage them all at precisely the same
time? One can only hope that all will be repeated at some
stage in the future, so that they can be enjoyed by millions
of music lovers. Can there be any other broadcasting organisation
in the world that could stage six major concerts at the same
time played by its own orchestras?
Tim Weston has advised us that the University of Arizona
School of Music has announced the recent acquisition of the
Paul Weston and Jo Stafford Collection. This gift comes from
Ms. Jo Stafford of Hollywood, California.The collection contains
music, memorabilia, films and photographs documenting the
musical careers of husband and wife, Paul Weston and Jo Stafford.
Jo Stafford is one of America's most successful and celebrated
singers. In the 1940s she amassed 21 top-ten hits, was regarded
as the favorite singer of the Armed Forces and was the first
female artist to sell 25 million records. Her talent has labeled
her as "America's Most Versatile Singer" through her coverage
of a wide range of American music styles; ballads, folk songs,
jazz, blues, hymns, and comedy. Some of her big hits include
"You Belong to Me," "Shrimp Boats," "Candy," and "I'll Never
Smile Again." The latter recorded with Frank Sinatra during
her tenure with the Pied Pipers in Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra.
Paul Weston was one of America's leading musical directors
and arrangers. He first gained prominence in the late 1930s
as one of the first arrangers in Tommy Dorsey's Orchestra.
In 1942 Johnny Mercer hired Paul, who was then an arranger
at Paramount Pictures, to be the first musical director for
his new record label, Capitol Records. Paul produced, conducted,
and arranged scores of hits in the 1940s and 1950s for Johnny
Mercer, Margaret Whiting, Jo Stafford, Bing Crosby, and numerous
others. He wrote standards such as "Day By Day" and "I Should
Care," as well as concert works like the New Orleans Crescent
City Suite. Weston was also a founder and first national president
of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. He
and Jo were married in 1952 and have two children, Tim and
Amy Weston. "Our parents were at the forefront of arguably
the most important era of evolution in American popular music,"
said Tim Weston, who also leads Corinthian Records and Soul
Coast Productions. He adds, "Their collection of recordings,
arrangements, scores, papers and memorabilia from the '40s,
'50s, and early '60s will provide a significant amount of
research material for those interested in learning more about
this time in recorded American music." The University of Arizona
School of Music holds several prominent American music collections,
such as those of Artie Shaw and Nelson Riddle. For more information
visit http://web.cfa.arizona.edu/music/research or contact
Keith Pawlak, Music Curator, at keithp@email.arizona.edu,
or 520-626-5242
The marketing ploy of record companies to record popular
string orchestras under pseudonymous names such as 101 Strings,
Living Strings and Romantic Strings, is well known and an
established practice in the popular music industry writes
Reuben Musiker. There are countless examples. The 101
Strings were particularly prolific. This orchestra released
scores of titles in the 1950’s and 1960’s covering the great
American popular composers such as Kern, Porter, Romberg,
Gershwin, Carmichael, Youmans, Rodgers and many others. It
is perhaps not well known that the outstanding American arranger
Monty Kelly orchestrated the following discs in this series:
‘Soul of Spain’ (2 vols), ‘Soul of Mexico’, ‘Spanish Eyes’,
‘Fire and Romance of South America’, ‘Fire and Romance of
Lecuona’. The Living Strings recorded a great number of LPs
for the RCA Camden label. Principal arranger/conductor for
70 to 80 of them was Johnny Douglas. Hill Bowen also arranged
and conducted a good many of them, some of his best known
being ‘Too Beautiful for Words’, ‘Shimmering Sounds’ and ‘Music
For Romance’. Other arranger/conductors in this series were
Geraldo, Chucho Zarzosa and Bob Sharples. The Romantic Strings
were a feature of Reader’s Digest albums from the 1950s onwards.
They recorded many albums totalling 250 tracks. The arrangers/conductors
were not generally identified, but definitely included Hill
Bowen, Robert Bentley, Norman Percival and probably many more.
Tony Foster was a guest presenter at a recent meeting of
the Sinatra Music Society’s Sussex branch at the Chatsworth
Hotel in Eastbourne. He has also reminded us that the Edmund
Hockridge Appreciation Society will be celebrating its 20th
anniversary next year. Tony’s parents Edna and Percy Foster
worked hard to get EHAS successfully launched all those years
ago, and they are still remembered with affection by the members.
We need hardly add that both Edna and Percy were actively
involved with the RFS, and their friendly presence at our
meetings is greatly missed by us all. However it is good that
Tony is now a familiar face among us all at the Bonnington,
and you will have seen him chatting with David Farnon on page
34 of our last issue.
By the time that you are reading this issue the Gowers Review
may have been published. As we went to press we were unable
to get any firm information from the Government department
involved, so there is no indication of what the outcome is
likely to be. There could be serious implications for the
future of CD releases in Britain if the period of sound copyright
is extended, and we will obviously keep you fully informed
of developments in the future.
There’s something always uplifting singing a hymn with a
large brass band, especially a Salvation Army Band, but this
was no ordinary service but a celebration and thanksgiving
for the life of Don Lusher OBE. True to his Salvationist roots,
for it was where he learned the craft of brass playing, we
were among his family, friends and many fellow musicians and
admirers who packed the Central London Salvation Army’s Regent
Hall on September 25th 2006 to remember one of
Britain’s greatest trombonists whose career covered a wide
range of musical stylesDon was always eager pass on his experience
to others and for many years was closely associated with The
Royal Marines School of Music becoming their Professor of
Trombone for many years and it was a Brass Quintet of RMS
Portsmouth that played Humoresque by Dvorak and Pachelbel’s
Canon two familiar pieces in a very different instrumental
setting.Sheila Tracy, who skilfully compered the proceedings,
then introduced us to "The Best Of British Jazz",
a group of top musicans founded in the 1970s which featured
Don and Kenny Baker’s trumpet amongst others. The personnel
has changed over the years and today is fronted by trumpeter
Digby Fairweather with Roy Williams filling the trombone spot,
Roy Willox on alto and Brian Dee on piano; they swung their
way effortlessly through some familiar Jazz standards.There
was a time when BBC TV produced Light Entertainment programmes
of quality with very classy production values, and often the
credits revealed the producer to be Yvonne Littlewood OBE
who explained how she had met Don during the series "The
Best of Both Worlds" . She recalled how she had worked
on programmes with "the lovely Robert Farnon" and
how Don became her first call on her shows. In 1979 she produced
Don in his own hour long TV Special. It was special enough
for the great Nelson Riddle to arrange and conduct a piece
for Don. It was during that programme that ten -yes ten! -
trombones played a Pete Smith arrangement of Grieg’s "In
The Hall Of The Mountain King" and onto the stage
came ten trombonists, in fact some the best in the business
including Gordon Campbell, Chris Dean, Bobby Lamb, Bill Geldard
and Mark Nightingale to play that very arrangement.Derek Boulton
then recalled his early meeting with Don and his involvement,
as his agent, in the many tours and projects involving Don’s
Big Band, who had taken over the Ted Heath Band Book and continued
to play the music culminating in the Final Ted Heath Concert
at London’s Royal Festival Hall in 2000. It fell to another
Salvationist and trombonist Barry Forgie who then introduced
and conducted the Don Lusher Big Band. Barry hails from Peterborough,
as indeed did Don and Barry recalled how Don’s trombone skills
were being acknowledged amongst his fellow Salvationists even
then. The Don Lusher Big Band began their last and final appearance
with Don’s own "DL Blues" and his highly
successful "Carnaby Chick". Sheila Southern
sang a lovely version of "Everytime We Say Goodbye"
and the band closed with a rousing version Ray Anthony’s "Mr
Anthony’s Boogie". Don’s sons David and Philip thanked
everyone for attending.
Gordon Langford then explained how he had worked with Don
on the "Rhapsody for Trombone and Brass Band"
which Gordon had written for the 1975 Brass Band Championship
Gala and an extract from Don’s recording closed the service.
It was fitting that a Memorial Fund is being established in
Don’s name by the Salvation Army to help disadvantaged youngsters
with musical ambitions realise their potential. Don would
have approved. Albert Killman
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JUMPING BEAN
Dateline October 2006
JUMPING BEAN
Eric Coates’ Calling all Workers was performed by
the BBC Symphony Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall on Saturday
9th September as part of the Last Night of the
Proms.
Tony Bennett celebrated his 80th birthday with
the release of a new album in August called "Tony Bennett:
An American Classic" on which he duets with some of today’s
biggest names, such as Elton John, Stevie Wonder, Diana Krall,
Michael Buble, Barbra Streisand, Paul McCartney and instrumental
musical guests such as trumpeter Chris Botti. To coincide
with the release of Bennett’s new album a star-studded one
hour music special was televised on NBC in America, directed
by Rob Marshall, the director of the recent hit film musical
Chicago. In addition, a feature length documentary about Bennett’s
life is in preparation with the intention to release in 2007
and is being executive produced by Clint Eastwood.
The power of orchestral music has been demonstrated when
the producers of the recent thriller "The Da Vinci Code"
were told to tone down the sound mix for Hans Zimmer’s score
because British film censors felt that the tension and volume
of the music would be too intense for children. They threatened
to give the higher "15" classification if they failed
to comply.
Matthew Curtis tells us that he has just finished recording
a CD of his songs to be released by Campion Records later
this year to complement the 3 discs of his orchestral music
already issued by Campion. The 30 songs, in four cycles, are
performed by the critically acclaimed British soprano Marie
Vassiliou accompanied at the piano by Gavin Sutherland, and
are all settings of poems by Anne Harris (1926-1990), a life-long
friend of Matthew’s mother Jean.
Naxos is releasing a CD with Richard Hayman and his Orchestra
called "Irish Rhapsody". It features Macnamara’s
Band, Irish Tune from Country Derry, Irish
Suite arranged by Leroy Anderson, and many others.
Also from Naxos are two Broadway Cast recordings of Jule
Styne’s "High Button Shoes" and "Gentleman
Prefer Blondes" from 1947 and 1949 respectively, starring
Carol Channing and Yvonne Adair.
British television composer Nicholas Hooper has been appointed
to write the score for the next Harry Potter film. He will
compose the score for "Harry Potter and the Order of
the Phoenix" which is due to be released in July 2007.
He will follow in the footsteps of Hollywood composer John
Williams, who wrote the scores for the first three Harry Potter
films, and Scotsman Patrick Doyle, who composed the most recent
film.
Following the success of "Filmharmonic 1", a second
CD has been released by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra featuring
16 tracks, including Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,
Midnight Cowboy, Dead Poets Society, Oliver
Twist, and a suite from The Truth about Love composed
and conducted by Debbie Wiseman.
Due for release on 21th August by Gambit Records is a 24
track compliation CD featuring David Rose and his Orchestra
called "Music of the Stripper". Tracks include What
is This Thing Called Love, Mood Indigo, St Louis
Blues, Harlem Nocturne, Walk on the Wild Side,
and of course, The Stripper.
A new 2 CD set available exclusively through the UK mail-order
company Nostalgia Direct is called "Moonlight Serenade
– The Very Best of Geoff Love and Manuel and the Music of
the Mountains" and features a total of 48 tracks.
Admirer’s of Ray Conniff may be interested to learn that
the Ray Conniff International Fan Club Convention is to be
held in Hamburg, Germany, from May 17 to May 20, 2007. Thursday,
May 17 is a public holiday so nothing is planned for that
night except a get together for dinner. The convention will
officially begin with a reception on Friday evening. Further
details will be available on-line on Manfred’s Ray Conniff
web site. You can also email Manfred at mthoenicke@web.de
A new DVD box set of the cult TV series "The Champions"
will contain all episodes from the series and many interesting
special features, including interviews, audio commentaries
and documentaries. At the time of going to press, it is understood
the extras also include nearly 30 minutes of incidental music
composed by Edwin Astley, Robert Farnon and Albert Elms arranged
as a suite, and a different main title sequence featuring
the unused theme by Robert Farnon.
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