In its March/April issue, the American music magazine 'Fanfare' included a survey on Guild Music.
David Ades was interviewed by the magazine's regular light music reviewer, Paul A. Snook, to discuss the story behind the "Golden Age of Light Music" series of CDs.
Light Music: A Reconsideration (An Interview With David Ades)
By Paul A. Snook
Over the past several years some 70-plus volumes titled Golden Age of Light Music have emanated from the unlikely source of the Swiss label Guild. Under the authoritative guidance of compiler David Ades, this series now represents the most comprehensive and diversified cross section of a kind of orchestral music that during the first 60 years of the last century appealed to a large and varied audience that has now unfortunately dwindled to a handful of dedicated enthusiasts.
This sorry state of affairs is no doubt due to the accelerated dumbing-down of the standards of so-called popular music over the past half-century, due to the unthinking canonization of adolescence and the resulting lemming-like embrace of Neanderthal - or perhaps more accurately Lumpenproletariat - culture by the educated elites, for whom the sound of even a Leroy Anderson miniature constitutes a form of "classical" music. Conversely the classical crowd for the most part harbours a reflexive contempt for any work whose primary aim is to entertain in a musically intelligent manner within a compressed two-to-three-minute framework.
Ades and his cohorts are making a brave - and perhaps foolhardy? - effort to reverse these lamentable trends, or at least to document an era when there was an unquestioned acceptance and appreciation of much more elevated levels of musical artistry than obtains today among the general populace.
Here is how David Ades perceives his role in this musical wasteland:
Q. Before we talk about the Golden Age series proper, perhaps you could fill in the background of your personal involvement with light music.
A: Growing up in Britain during the 1940s and 1950s I heard a lot of light music on the radio. Unless we were prepared to endure often awful reception from stations based in Europe (usually Radio Luxembourg), our radio entertainment came from the non-commercial BBC, and they employed a large number of musicians. There were orchestras based in all the main regions of the United Kingdom, and the schedules included a lot of live music - partly because the airtime allocated to playing records was restricted to avoid musicians losing their jobs. Things gradually changed during the 1960s, when many broadcasting ensembles were either reduced in size or simply disbanded. Partly this was due to the public's changing musical tastes, but BBC radio was also being starved of funds, which were increasingly diverted to its television channels. However, during the immediate post-war years radio reached its peak of popularity, and it produced an amazing array of all kinds of light-entertainment programs. Many of these had signature tunes selected from the recorded music libraries of major music publishers, and even today people still talk about the themes associated with their favourite shows. Public demand resulted in some of them being recorded commercially, which many people avidly collected. As a teenager I was curious to learn more about the composers and conductors whose work I admired, especially as I was starting to see them in their own television shows - notably Robert Farnon and Ray Martin. Through a friend I learned in 1956 that a Robert Farnon Appreciation Society was being formed by a group of enthusiasts based in London. A magazine was launched and the society made slow but steady progress in the following years. This allowed music lovers elsewhere to become involved, and the society gradually expanded to include all composers and musicians working in the light-music field. Today the scope of music the Robert Farnon Society (the word "appreciation" was dropped early on) covers is even wider, with members in all five continents. I was asked to become honorary secretary and treasurer in 1962, a commitment that continues to this day. For much of that time I have also edited the society's magazine, Journal Into Melody.
Q. What was the origin of the idea for this kind of series?
A: Guild Music is an independent record label that now operates from Switzerland. For many years it concentrated mainly on historical classical recordings (and it still does), building up a fine reputation internationally. The managing director is Kaikoo Lalkaka, and during 2003 he happened to mention to the company producing his CD booklets that he was thinking of expanding the range of his releases. It so happened that the same company was designing booklets for another record company that regularly employed me to compile their CDs of light music, including writing the booklet notes. They told Mr. Lalkaka what I was already doing elsewhere, and he approached me to ask if I thought there was a future in a series of light-music CDs. Initially I suggested that the market should be tested with just one compilation, but he said that it would make a better impact if we issued three at once. To be honest, I thought that might be all we would do, and I tended to include some of the very best pieces of light music in those first three CDs! But to my slight surprise and delight, the CDs sold sufficiently well to continue with the series and I was asked to prepare new compilations at a rate of two CDs every two months. I am now working on the 80th collection. This certainly is the "Golden Age of Light Music": there has never been a time when so much of it was available to the public on compact discs and Internet downloads.
Q. Why did you decide to use the concept of themes for each release instead of some other basis as an organizing principle?
A: As a lifelong collector myself, I am very much on the side of record buyers. I have always thought it unfair that so much music gets duplicated in new releases. I have a wide knowledge of what is available, so I think I have a good idea of what keen music lovers will already have. It should also be emphasized that there is no duplication of tracks within the series, although, of course, there are instances of more than one recording of the same piece as interpreted by different orchestras. The vast majority of other releases of light music are simply reissues of LPs. This means that a lot of other music (especially older 78s) is automatically excluded. By allowing each collection to contain music from many different sources it is possible to include a vast range of music and, hopefully, a lot of pleasant surprises. It is necessary to create different themes to give the collections a foundation for the repertoire chosen, although every so often I compile what I acknowledge is a haphazard selection to mop up some of the tracks that inevitably get excluded because they may not fit specific themes. I like to think that my deliberate policy of trying to include some rare pieces in most collections is helping to get certain composers far better known, and encourage people to seek out some of their other work.
Q. Why the decision to include instrumental pop standards instead of only actual light-music compositions?
A: The simple answer is to try and make the collections more attractive, especially to casual purchasers who may only come across them when browsing in record stores. Although there is a vast amount of what might be termed "pure" recorded light music available (much of it locked away in publishers' libraries, never previously available), the majority of it is probably unknown to all except the most serious students of the genre. People coming across unfamiliar titles by composers unknown to them are going to need some persuading before they will make a purchase, and I have little doubt that the Golden Age of Light Music series would probably have come to an end fairly quickly if I had adopted a narrow approach toward the repertoire. "Light music" (or concert music, easy listening, middle-of-the-road, etc.) covers a wide range that can embrace the traditional styles of light music (perhaps a bit prim and proper to some younger people) and lush orchestral arrangements of popular music, especially show tunes. If these CDs don't sell in sufficient quantities the series will come to an end. I have to make new CDs appealing to casual buyers as well as confirmed enthusiasts (an amazing number of people automatically buy each new release unheard), so from time to time I include a collection of general interest, such as the Cole Porter and Richard Rodgers CDs. With around 2,000 tracks now included in the series there should be something for everyone. Compared with pop music, one has to acknowledge that light music appeals to a relatively small number of people, and probably over 90 percent of the music reissued on the Guild CDs is no longer of any commercial interest to others. I should add that, as the series has progressed, we get an increasing number of contacts from regular purchasers asking for pieces of music to be included; most new collections now contain several tracks in response to specific requests.
Q. I imagine locating some of these long-out-of-print 78s, LPs, and single 45s must be quite a chore. What are your sources?
A: Initially the music came from my own collection with additional titles supplied by Alan Bunting, who handles the digital sound restoration and remastering. But very quickly collectors around the world sensed our mission to try and make available a whole range of recordings that had been neglected by other record companies, and I have been amazed at the generosity of fellow enthusiasts in many countries, such as the U.S.A., Canada, South Africa, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany, and Portugal - as well as a large number in Britain. They have allowed us access to their precious recordings, and the result has been the creation of the foremost library of light orchestral music in the world. It would be nice to hope that future generations of music lovers will appreciate the importance of our work.
Q. In this connection, many of these older recordings probably require a good deal of tuning-up, right?
A: In some respects we have made a rod for our own backs in deciding that each CD would include music from a variety of different sources. Some collections feature music recorded well over 30 years apart, from a period when the techniques of sound recording went through many different stages. Collectors will know that contemporary recordings made today in different studios can have a distinct sound; when you add that to the advances made in microphones since electrical recording was introduced in 1925 - not to mention stereo - you can appreciate the challenge in trying to avoid too many harsh fluctuations in sound quality. I am very fortunate in having Alan Bunting as my colleague handling all the technical aspects. He shares my passion for light music and is widely recognized as a world leader in his field, going to great lengths to obtain the finest possible sound quality from the often less than perfect discs that come our way. We spend hours listening and refining the sound of each collection, with test CDs going back and forth several times before we are both satisfied with the results. Only very rarely do we allow something of historical importance to sway our judgment of what is acceptable. It is not unusual to use passages from more than one disc where there may have been needle damage, and I frequently experiment with different styli. Perhaps the greatest satisfaction comes from records made in the 1930s, which sound superb when processed with the latest state-of-the-art restoration tools. In one collection we even restored one of the very earliest stereo tests from 1934. Strangely some of the recordings that give us most problems are LPs from the 1950s, where there were often excessive amounts of treble (particularly from some U.S. labels), which made the strings sound distinctly harsh.
Q. How would you define "light music" in all its ramifications?
A: It would be difficult to find two people who agree on the exact definition of "light music." Music has been called the international language, and in its many guises it is probably as diverse as all the spoken tongues around the world. Individual styles constantly develop and change in response to various influences, and there is no doubt that our ancestors who listened to what we might term "their" light music in the 1800s would find the sounds of the 1950s too avant-garde for their ears. Light music is not alone in this; some of today's best-loved classical works were harshly criticized at their premieres. My own personal idea of light music is that it is essentially non-vocal and performed by an ensemble that can range in size from a quartet to the full forces of a symphony orchestra. But often it is a case of "less is better." An orchestra that is too large can struggle with the delicate nuances that are a feature of many of the finest light-music cameos. For many works, a concert orchestra of around 30 musicians is often ideal, with perhaps a few extra soloists as the composer (or arranger) demands. Tasteful orchestral arrangements of songs also impress me as light music, although I am aware that not everyone will agree with me.
Q. How do you perceive the role and place of light music in the wider context of music as a whole?
A: It is a pity that some musicologists find the need to pigeonhole different styles of music. They are often the losers, because their blinkered attitude prevents them from exploring a lot of the available repertoire. Many concerts of "serious" classical music could benefit from the inclusion of a lighter work as an opening number, or to fill a short gap between longer works. During its best years radio used to offer such a wide variety of music: you could tune in to one station early in the day and if you left it playing you would come across many different styles - often providing pleasant surprises. Today that doesn't happen, and broadcasters are to blame for fostering generations with a very shallow knowledge of music as a whole. I have heard critics say that pop music (especially in the 1950s and 1960s) was to blame for the demise of light music, but I believe that is a fallacy. Light music has always been squeezed between other music forms, and the main losers from the Presley and Beatles generation were the crooners and swing bands of the 1940s.
Q. What are the differences between the U.S., U.K., and the Continent in their awareness and appreciation of light music?
A: I think that the more traditional style of light music has a slightly stronger base in the U.K. and Europe, but the U.S. and Canada (don't forget that Robert Farnon and Percy Faith came from Canada) have had a major impact on the development of this genre. It is impossible to overstate the importance of people like André Kostelanetz, David Rose, Morton Gould, and the Boston Pops in keeping light music alive internationally.
Q. Do you envision any future hope for a wider audience for light music in any form?
A: In Britain there are several young conductors who are doing a good job in keeping light music going - John Wilson and Gavin Sutherland immediately spring to mind. They make the valid point that - unlike the older generation - it has nothing to do with nostalgia as far as they are concerned; it is simply well crafted and very enjoyable music. The problem is that radio stations tend to ignore it. Unless people are allowed to hear this music, they won't know it is out there. When young people (such as amateur youth orchestras) are exposed to it, the reaction is usually favourable. Light music won't go away, but it needs enthusiasts to keep giving it the kiss of life!
The above interview appeared in the March/April issue of the American music magazine "Fanfare", and is reproduced with due acknowledgments.
The interviewer, Paul A. Snook writes regularly for Fanfare, and he has been a member of The Robert Farnon Society for many years.
Paul was born in 1935 in the Bronx, and during his childhood years in the 1940s he was constantly exposed to radio broadcasts by the big bands and their vocalists doing mostly "Hit Parade" material. At the same time he responded instinctively to the sounds coming off the screen when his mother took him to the movies. After eight years of piano lessons, he had learned to read music, but his teacher told him he would never go beyond competency, whereas at playing the phonograph he was a virtuoso! So he naturally began to focus more on the music he heard over the air and on early television. At the age of 14 he took a survey course on the history of classical music, realizing that the harmonic and rhythmic characteristics of late Romantic and early 20th-century composers paralleled those of Ellington, Goodman, and Kenton, together with the Hollywood composers, all of whom he loved. With the advent of long-play records, he began to haunt Sam Goody's and other stores, to acquire the music he began to unearth from the Schwann catalogue - Debussy, Stravinsky, Ravel, Bartók, Prokofiev, Hindemith, Milhaud, Honegger, Sibelius, Rachmaninoff, as well as the American symphonists. Most of what he learned about this repertoire he absorbed by listening to the records and reading the liner notes.
After graduating from Princeton with a BA in English, Paul fulfilled his dream of moving to the Upper West Side of Manhattan to attend graduate school at Columbia. His record collection grew exponentially as he discovered the many composers in other countries who derived from his favourite modern masters, while at the same time rediscovering the great pop artists of his earlier years.
Eventually he amassed over 20,000 LPs - which he still plays and enjoys - plus some thousands of tapes and cassettes exchanged with fellow collectors throughout the world, which were ultimately donated and housed in a special archive located at Columbia University, to which Paul maintains lifetime access.
Meanwhile, to pay for all this, he held jobs in public relations (Queens College) and public information writing (United Nations), but his most musically significant posts were three years as classical music director for Riverside Radio (WRVR) and most of the 1970s working for his friend Will Lerner at his legendary record store, Music Masters. Now a grandfather, Paul says he plans to go on reviewing recordings of 20th-century music for 'Fanfare' until he is too weak to load the tray on his CD player!
This feature appeared in 'Journal Into Melody' - September 2011
"LIGHT FANTASTIC" WAS SIMPLY FANTASTIC!
The response from readers to the Editor’s request for comments on this Festival has been magnificent! What has been particularly interesting is that many correspondents have brought out different aspects to comment upon.
The enthusiasm expressed time and time again must surely convince the BBC that "Light Fantastic" in 2011 must not be a ‘one-off’ event!
One day we may look back on 2011 as the year when Light Music finally came out of the musical shadows. If we do, then "Light Fantastic" may deserve a large part of the credit for making music lovers aware in Britain that there is an enjoyable form of music between classical and popular that many people enjoy - if only the opportunities exist to hear it.
It's been a long struggle, but the origins of the present 'renaissance' (if that is what it proves to be) extend back to the early 1990s when record companies such as EMI, Grasmere, Hyperion, Marco Polo and Naxos were dipping their toes into the light music stream. They were soon joined by the likes of ASV, Vocalion, Epoch and Guild - the latter being one of the most adventurous with over 80 CDs now available in its "Golden Age of Light Music" series that is sold around the world.
If commercial record companies were noticing light music once again, it seemed that broadcasters remained unconvinced. After the act of cultural vandalism that destroyed the BBC Radio Orchestra, for a long time "Friday Night Is Music Night" has been the BBC's only token gesture to placate light music 'aficionados', with just a few occasional extra concerts. There were the "Legends of Light Music" programmes on Radio-2 around the turn of the century, but the opportunity was missed to make this a regular weekly series, which would have built up a loyal following. On Radio-3 Brian Kay's "Light programme" was like an oasis of melody to gladden the hearts; it lasted for several years, but sadly has been absent from the schedules for far too long.
Back to "Light Fantastic". It would have been nice to have seen some positive publicity from the BBC. The editor of Radio Times should be thoroughly ashamed of the scant coverage she allotted to it - especially as the previous week she had given the cover over to Radio-2 for their 'festival' which lasted for just 12 hours. Similarly BBC TV went overboard to publicise Radio-2, but completely ignored "Light Fantastic".
Fortunately the musical press was not so neglectful, with even national papers such as the Daily Telegraph running special features. The August issue of Classic fm Magazine made John Wilson its cover star, and included a long interview about his work. The June issue of Classical Music Magazine produced a timely feature ahead of the event, and gave good coverage to Gavin Sutherland, the other major light music conductor involved in the "Light Fantastic" festival. Both John and Gavin are 'heroes' as far as light music lovers are concerned. We have known them in RFS circles since they were both in their early twenties, and it has been a real joy to witness how their brilliant careers have developed. They both have a wonderful future ahead of them making glorious music for us all to enjoy.
But now it's time to let RFS members tell us what they thought about "Light Fantastic" - both from their differing viewpoints of either being present at the South Bank Centre, or joining the millions of listeners at home through radio or the internet.
Former BBC radio producer Anthony Wills begins our reviews of the BBC’s "Light Fantastic"
From time to time the BBC goes into overdrive, and many Radio 3 listeners must have viewed its Light Fantastic Festival with as much enthusiasm as I viewed 12 days of wall-to-wall Mozart at the beginning of the year. The rest of us, however, must have been in seventh heaven, even if the pudding was a little over-egged at times. And after all, if the "youf" can have its Glastonbury, why can’t us more mature licence fee payers get something to suit our musical palates for once?
The celebrations actually began over on Radio 4 on 18 June with one of its Saturday night archive programmes, in which the excellent Paul Morley examined the Light Music phenomenon and the BBC’s role in it. It was only right that Ernest Tomlinson should be prominently featured (as he was to be later) and Morley got to climb up the ladder in Tomlinson’s barn containing over 30,000 sets of orchestral parts that the BBC, in its wisdom, had decided to throw out in the 1980s. The Radio Times billing for this programme had suggested that Morley would be interviewing Eric Coates and Ronald Binge, a fascinating promise which unsurprisingly was not honoured!
Composer Of The Week, broadcast twice daily on Monday-Friday, featured Donald Macleod in conversation with Brian Kay, who had also selected the music. Brian covered the ground pretty well, though some of the recordings he chose seemed a little questionable: an over-indulgent Girl From Corsica for example and, astonishingly, Robert Farnon conducting Jumping Bean at such a pace that the orchestrastruggled to keep up. Brian injected nice touches of humour into his presentation, reminding us how deeply his weekly afternoon Light Programme series is still missed, as is Matinee Musicale.
London’s South Bank was the principal venue for most of the Festival performances, but on the Friday afternoon came a concert live from a factory at Irlam near Manchester, played by the BBC Philharmonic bedecked with high visibility jackets in a vast warehouse, performing to a rather bemused gaggle of workers. This was meant to replicate Music While You Work which it singularly failed to do as the material was totally wrong and there were frequent interjections from Suzy Klein. The orchestra however seemed to enjoy itself under the baton of Stephen Bell.
That evening saw the first ever simulcast on Radios 2 and 3 of Friday Night Is Music Night, featuring the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Gavin Sutherland and introduced by the urbane Petroc Trelawny. This was a very hit and miss affair containing a lot of music that should have been left on the shelves – Addinsell’s score for The Charlot Revue of 1926 and Alfred Reynolds’ 1066 And All That being notable examples. Charlotte Page sang sweetly but Lesley Garrett came unstuck in Gilbert & Sullivan’s immortal The Sun Whose Rays, while baritone Richard Suart was cruelly under-used though his Model Of A Modern Major General (sans chorus) was as splendid as you might expect. The show only really came to life with Iain Sutherland’s fine arrangement of Me & My Girl and Sidney Torch’s Ivor Novello medley (in which Suart was bizarrely given the soprano number My Dearest Dear). You’d think that for a gala FNIMN edition broadcast on two networks the BBC could have afforded a chorus for once, but no, as usual on this programme the orchestra filled in, and boy did it show. Incidentally both Petroc’s commentary and the interval feature showed that Radio 3 has no idea of how the Light Music element in radio’s longest-running music series has diminished over recent years. The Concert Orchestra also recorded a further programme at the Plymouth Pavilions for broadcast on the Monday evening, including works by Peter Hope, Gordon Langford and Paul Patterson, all happily still with us.
Trelawny was back on Saturday anchoring an interesting discussion on Music Matters with a studio panel plus recorded contributions from Paul Gambaccini and Gillian Reynolds. As elsewhere during the week came the incredible story of the confidential audience report in 1963 in which listeners expressed overwhelming enthusiasm for Light Music, which was quietly buried by the then Third Programme Controller (William Glock) and his producers, who had no time for melody. In a further well researched programme Matthew Sweet turned the spotlight on the use of library music as signature tunes for radio and television series. Earlier that morning, in Record Review, Adrian Edwards conducted a scholarly review of recent CD releases (and re-issues) of Light Music, of which there are apparently hundreds.
On Saturday night the BBC Symphony Orchestra joined in the fun under the baton of John Wilson for an enthralling and well built selection of Light Music masterpieces. I was in the Festival Hall audience for this one (which was broadcast live and also filmed for future transmission) and was able to admire at close hand John’s impeccable stick technique and his ability to draw the very best out of the players, who played superbly. The concert featured several items unfamiliar to me including Edward German’s Prelude To Romeo & Juliet and Haydn Wood’s London Cameos suite. Eric Coates dominated the evening and once again you had to sit back and marvel at his total mastery of melody and orchestration. As John Wilson put it, "He knew what he was good at and stuck to it, so he didn’t write any bad symphonies or concertos like some composers"! There was also of course time for Jumping Bean and Angela Morley’s wonderful tribute to Bob Farnon, A Canadian In Mayfair. David Ades of the Robert Farnon Society was interviewed during the interval. On exiting the hall we found the BBC Big Band under Barry Forgie playing a swinging tribute to the BBC Dance Band and other late lamented staff orchestras in the Clore Ballroom (broadcast on Sunday night).
It’s impossible to do justice to the 15 hours of Light Music-themed programmes broadcast on the Sunday. The morning was devoted to salon music. Later came a beautifully crafted and informative documentary on the last remaining seaside orchestra at Scarborough (now just 10-strong but sounding bigger). After a 15-minute spot for theatre organ buffs Fiona Talkington introduced a selection of Light Music listener requests played by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales under Grant Llewellyn. This contained several rarities including compositions by Norman O’Neill and Anthony Hedges, who was present in the hall; but who on earth allowed David Owen Norris to play that well-known "Light Music" piece Walton’s Spitfire Prelude & Fugue as a piano transcription?
Choral Evensong from the Queen’s Chapel added its twopenny worth with anthems by Sullivan and Rutter before we returned to the South Bank for a tea dance with the John Wilson Orchestra, reminding us that this ensemble had begun its life with residencies in hotels. John popped up in yet another guise, giving a most lucid and interesting analysis of the art and craft of Eric Coates in Discovering Music with Catherine Bott and the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra.
Petroc Trelawny and Suzy Klein wrapped up the weekend with a selection of excerpts from the weekend’s events, including some amateur performances I had missed. If they appeared at times too weary to read their scripts, spare a thought for John Wilson who made yet another appearance to sum up the Festival as Artistic Director. John had also pre-recorded five programmes of Light Music with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra which aired during the following week.
All in all, in spite of some twee presentation, the Festival was an exhaustive and pretty comprehensive survey and celebration of that oft-derided and misunderstood term Light Music, which as was pointed out, also embraces works by Mozart, Dvorak and Brahms, to name but a few, though possibly NOT the National Anthem, which was performed twice! There was however a notable absence of cross-trails between Radio 3 and Radio 2, which after all still has several ongoing Light Music series in its schedules*. There seems to be a complete lack of communication between these two networks. And surely there could have been some coverage on BBC television? In any case, congratulations are due to all the producers and editors, and above all performers, for a splendid achievement. Please don’t put the scores away in the cupboard for another sixty years!
*On the same Sunday evening Alan Titchmarsh played compositions by Haydn Wood, Joseph Horowitz and Ivor Novello in his early evening Radio 2 programme. And ‘Listen To The Band’ and ‘The Organist Entertains’ still deliver music in the Light Music vein to their specialist audiences.
Terence Gilmore-James shared the enthusiasm of many of us
What a WONDERFUL weekend of Light Music on Radio 3, and continuing each afternoon. "Fantastic" indeed, so, along with millions of others (we hope!), we are emailing the BBC to congratulate and thank them, also to urge them to make the Festival an annual event and consider putting a Light Music feature back onto the weekly programme order – Radio 3 or Radio 2. The scale of support for the events and the number of young people in the audiences will surely persuade the ‘powers that be’ that a Light Music profile on radio (as on TV during the Proms – past and this year too) at least should be a serious factor for regular broadcast consideration. We think you will have received lots of messages already with the same sentiments.
We know Gavin Sutherland fairly well: he has recorded Mansel Thomas’s "Six Welsh Dances" and "Breton Suite" with the Royal Ballet Sinfonia and we await the issue of the CD – hopefully this autumn. John Wilson also deserves a BIG pat on the back!
Good old radio! Still a prime source of sheer enjoyment, education, stimulation and opportunity. Here’s to more of the same – but EVERY WEEK!!!!!
Geoff Sheldon appreciate the coverage given to Eric Coates
As Chairman of the Eric Coates Society, I can honestly say that I have for a number of years supported the view that Light Music is emerging from the mists of its glorious past, and this week end- June 24th 27th has more than confirmed its rightful place in the Nations Ears. (In our Society we have witnessed the growing public affection, obviously because of Eric's place in the World of Light Music, displayed at the Concerts that we have held locally.)
The variety of programmes selected by the BBC were an eclectic mix of national nostalgia, reminders of our younger days when Light Music more than held its own. As David Ades said in his 'Interval Interview' "There are many CDs on the music market, offering thousands of pieces of music, most of which is still available." ‘Friday Night is Music Night’ is still the BBC's flagship programme for keeping alive Light Music's cause, but they should recognise that the largest group of people, numerically speaking, is the 60+ brigade and they should analyse how little is programmed for them. John Wilson's Prom Concerts and subsequent Tours of MGM Music reveal that audiences are looking younger as a new generation of the population recognise the delight and joy of Light Music.
Also, we are technically blessed with the many forms of music presentation, and playback. No crackles or hisses, no tracks to jump, no wow and flutter, no distortion. clear highs and rumble free lows. And, what is left of F.M. & D.A.B. All of which provides the very best Listening pleasure, because listening was always a pleasure, whether Charles Williams’ intro for "Dick Barton", Eric Coates’ Sleepy Lagoon, Calling All Workers and Knightsbridge, Vivian Ellis's Coronation Scot for "Paul Temple", and so many more. The orchestras, conductors, composers, technicians, venues are ready and waiting, so are the Public!
Martin Cleave was one of many RFS members present at the Royal Festival Hall
Congratulations must go to all concerned for making the recent Light Fantastic Weekend at London’s South Bank Centre such an enjoyable experience. While it was lovely to hear examples of the theatrical contribution made to light music on the Friday Night Is Music Night broadcast, the highlight for me was the Great Masters of Light Music concert given by the BBC Symphony Orchestra the following evening.
Under John Wilson’s enthusiastic baton the music sounded as fresh and relevant as the day it was written. In many cases this was a rare chance to hear these pieces live with the full resources of a symphony orchestra, which in turn gave us a greater insight into the orchestrations (not always possible on recordings, particularly older ones). For me, the sheer beauty brought to Springtime in Angus from the Three Elizabeths Suite by Eric Coates was particularly moving.
How ironic, that as an encore a BBC orchestra should play Non Stop by John Malcolm, the onetime theme tune to the ITV News. The story goes, I believe, that it was chosen because Sir John Barbirolli said it could either be followed by a report of a royal wedding, or the start of World War Three, and be appropriate for both! Unfortunately for us all it was time to make our way to the exit.
Such an enthusiastic reception from an audience of all ages would seem to prove that, with its abundance of good tunes, this is simply great music that deserves a regular airing, rather than just dusted off occasionally like an old photo album for a trip down memory lane.
David Daniels travelled down from Yorkshire, but wished a few more had also made the effort to attend the concerts
You wait ages for a bus then three come all at once. That is the feeling after three days on the South Bank in June - almost too much to take in! As one who has written to the BBC as much as anyone I never expected to hear almost two weeks of wall to wall light music — an embarrassment of riches!
I do hope that regular Radio 3 listeners enjoyed it as much as us, for the whole weekend was so enjoyable and grateful thanks are due to John Wilson and Gavin Sutherland in particular though all the BBC performing groups played a vital part
Sadly the weather spoiled what was for me the first event – ‘Brass on the Bridges’ the fanfare by Anne Dudley written especially for the event would have sounded amazing out on the terrace but the heavens opened so it had to he done indoors, but was nevertheless very impressive.
"Friday Night Is Music Night" was great though personally I would have been happy to sacrifice Billy Mayerl for the full set of dances by Montague Phillips and baritone Richard Suart’s wide vibrato was not to my taste. However the singing of Charlotte Page and ‘Our Lesley’ was wonderful as, of course, was the Concert Orchestra as ever showing how light music should be played.
The following evening with John Wilson and the Symphony Orchestra was quite brilliant though the Edward German piece chosen was hardly ‘light’! As you would expect all the music was in first class performances, and it was especially nice to hear music by Ernest Tomlinson who John Wilson himself pointed out in one of the many talks on offer throughout the weekend has done more than anyone to keep light music alive. This concert was recorded for TV so we look forward to that.
The Central Band of the RAF gave an excellent concert the same afternoon in the Queen Elizabeth Hall and I was so happy to hear Gilbert Vinter’s Hunters Moon so memorably recorded by Dennis Brain and the BBC Concert Orchestra in the 1950s.
There was just one disappointment during the whole weekend, for both Festival Hall concerts I had the balcony almost to myself and even the FREE concert by the RAF Band was only 2/3rds full. After all the complaining to the BBC it appears we cannot muster enough support to fill an average size hall where was everyone -- at Wimbledon or Glastonbury???
Another RFS member, John White, shares his enthusiasm with us
I very much enjoyed the programmes and concerts in the recent BBC Light Fantastic Weekend on Radio 3 and was fortunate in being able to attend Friday Night Is Music Night on 24 June 2011, Great Masters of Light Music on the Saturday evening and the John Wilson Orchestra Tea Dance on the Sunday afternoon, all at the Royal Festival Hall in London.
The Composers of the Week programmes with Donald Macleod, on the five weekdays prior to the weekend, were also most interesting. Brian Kay was (and is), undoubtedly, a very well-informed and knowledgeable contributor. We must also not forget the importance of the library of the Light Music Society, which has made possible the marvellous renewal of interest in light music resulting in many performances over the last twenty years or so.
Photography in the RFH was not allowed but I was able to take some pictures in The Clore Ballroom where the BBC Big Band and the John Wilson Orchestra, respectively, performed. My friend, Siobhan Murphy, and I were fortunate to have our photograph taken with John Wilson. Siobhan told me that the show tunes in FNIMN reminded her of her days (some years ago, now) singing with the Cork Operatic Society in the Cork Opera House, Co. Cork, Ireland. Mr Wilson was most friendly and approachable. He told us that he would be working in Dublin for two weeks during August. I do hope the BBC will resume featuring light music on a weekly basis in future.
Finally, a big "thank you" to everyone involved in the planning, production and broadcast of the concerts and of the numerous other events held at the Royal Festival Hall over the Light Fantastic Weekend, and most especially to John Wilson for being such an enthusiastic champion of light music.
John E. Govier listened at home
Well, it has all come and gone as these things do, but let us all hope that the BBC has at last received and understood the message: that British Light Music is not the preserve of a few reactionary fuddy-duddies and eccentrics, but a living testament to native art, just as other forms of classic music are.
There were so many things to rejoice in where the concerts were concerned that it would take half the current issue to cover them in detail; but one simply must mention the BBC Symphony Orchestra show conducted by John Wilson - it was pure joy from start to finish, and another hour would have not been enough!
Regular Radio 3 programmes much appreciated for their Light Music coverage: "CD review" (recommended Light Music by Adrian Edwards) "Music Matters" (J.W. and Philip Lane among the discussion panel) and for the previous five days "Composer of the Week" was pluralized, with Brian Kay as "tour guide".
Disappointments? Only one or two minor, and one major one. On "FNIMN" the two "Merrie England" extracts were, for me, inadequately sung and the baritone soloist was frankly not up to scratch. (I've heard better amateur renditions of "Yeomen of England" and I assure you I don't exaggerate); but both Lesley Garrett and Charlotte Page were fine in the other numbers - the former especially so in the Noël Coward extract ("If Love Were All", incidentally, not "I'll See You Again" as advertised). More often than not, I enjoy the Sunday lunchtime programme "Private Passions" but not this time: we were back with patronising facetiousness in the shape of Dame Edna Everidge - but then she/he/it is one of my blind spots - I do 'ave' 'em!
But it would be churlish to dwell on one or two shortcomings, and I hope that all aficionados of the Palm Court style tuned in to "Sunday Morning" (10.00 am to 12.00 noon) and heard Shelley van Loen and the Palm Court Strings, and the veteran but still virile tenor of Robert White performing ballads in the manner of the Great John McCormack; and later on the programme about the Spa Orchestra in the northern outpost of Scarborough - worth it just for this 10 piece band's version of "Devil's Galop", but all great stuff, and delightfully presented.
The Tea Dance featuring the John Wilson Orchestra was another Sunday afternoon treat; small wonder if not a few of us were feeling spoiled by now!
Returning for a moment to the concerts (and the Friday Composers of the Week with Brian Kay) how good it was to hear so much splendid music by living composers, and to learn that many of them were in the audience: one of them, Anthony Hedges (80 this year, incidentally) introduced his suite "Scenes from the Humber" during the concert from Cardiff.
On the Monday evening after the Plymouth concert recording (marvellous unhackneyed programme, but a little ironic we were not given all the "Drake 400 Suite" since Ron Goodwin was a local man), the edition of the regular discussion programme. "Nightwaves" included Light Music as one of its topics. As far as could be discerned by me, only one of the panellists sneered - but after all, he did give the impression of not being completely happy unless absolutely miserable!
Philip Scowcroft compares ‘Light Fantastic’ with earlier Light Music Festivals
The BBC has often been criticised for its neglect of light music over the past forty years or so, though to be fair, this has often reflected the snobbishness of a proportion of its audience. However that may be the Corporation made striking amends with its Light Fantastic Festival over the weekend 24/27 June 2011, preceded by "This Week's Composer" (20/24 June) which happily revived Brian Kay's skills as a presenter of light music, and followed by concerts in the "Afternoon on 3" in the week 27 June/1July.
The festival revived memories for me of the Royal Festival Hall Festivals of the 1950s and 1960s and the (purely studio) week-long Light Music Festival of March/April 1949, so important in the development of my music appreciation, and not just "light music". The 1949 Festival was largely made up of special editions of then regular BBC programmes like "Music in the Air", "Album of Familiar Music" and "Grand Hotel". To an extent Light Fantastic did the same, with special editions of "The Choir", "Discovering Music" and "Friday Night is Music Night", 58 years old and for which Gavin Sutherland built a gorgeous programme devoted to the British musical theatre. There was also an adapted revival of the iconic "Music While You Work", in which the BBC Philharmonic was taken into a work place (a factory in Irlam, Greater Manchester) to play light music to an audience of workers, and they seemed to love it.
Many tend to think of "light music" (to use that expression as a convenience rather than as a term of art) as restricted to light orchestral works, rather as many think of music generally in orchestral terms. This festival, rightly, spread its net much more widely, with stage music on "Friday Night", choral music on the Sunday evening "Choir" programme, big band music, wind and brass bands, piano music, solo songs, theatre organs and much else. The main Saturday evening concert combined two past BBC Light Music festival traditions, given as it was by the BBC Symphony Orchestra (the 1949 Festival imported three major symphony orchestras of the day to play light music and popular classics) but in this 2011 concert in the Royal Festival Hall, scene of the festivals of the 1950s and 1960s. And it was a fine programme, too, embracing a century's music from Sullivan onwards.
Yet, arguably, an even more interesting programme was offered on the Monday night (actually recorded the night before in Plymouth). None of the pieces heard were "first performances", unless we count Paul Lewis English Overture as a "first concert performance" (it had introduced a radio station for years) and Holst's Songs of the West as a "first modern performance" (it had not been heard here for a century); yet the items by Matthew Curtis, Philip Lane, Ernest Tomlinson, Paul Patterson and David Lyon were all new to me. It was good, too, that the festival came from so many different places - the West Country, Wales, Scotland, Lancashire and Scarborough, last of the one-time seaside orchestras - unlike the previous broadcast light music festivals which were essentially London based.
The festival was a heady mix of the traditional and, in broadcast terms, the novel. Some of the novel features will, I hope be explored further in future. Bringing amateur ensembles to record in the studios - all over the country - paid tribute to the work amateurs had done to keep light music alive during the leaner years. And the most fascinating festival feature for me was a brilliant analysis by festival director John Wilson (who got through a formidable amount of work during the weekend) of two compositions by Eric Coates, the Knightsbridge March and the Three Men suite. Ironically, such analysis might seem to run counter to the definition, adopted by myself and others, of light music as "where the tune is more important than what you do with it", as Coates clearly "did" so much with his tunes; but at the same time John Wilson showed that "light music" is not simply entertainment (though it is that, of course) but repays study in depth, just as Bach, Beethoven and Brahms do. This can only be good for light music's future.
The future? Surely the BBC will not let Light Fantastic be remembered as a one trick pony? Is it too much to hope that it may end up as an annual event, exploring ever wider and different aspects of that huge expanse of repertoire which makes up "our sort of music"; a rich heritage and one which still lives?
Tony Foster also enjoyed the Festival via the radio at home
A wonderful celebration and feast of Light Music, which began in the days before the main weekend concerts with ‘Composer of the Week’, devoted to light music. The five one-hour programmes were presented by Donald MacLeod and, making a welcome return for this series, the much missed Brian Kay with his expert and friendly manner. This made for a very rewarding listening experience. In between the music Donald and Brian held a very informative discussion about light music during each programme, which had the added benefit of a daily repeat in the early evening.
We were treated to a superb selection each day from the Masters of Light Music, from Clive Richardson’s Melody On The Move to Philip Lane’s Pantomime. Particular favourites were Ron Goodwin’s Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines, Angela Morley’s Rotten Row and, of course, Robert Farnon’s Westminster Waltz and Jumping Bean. Donald and Brian also discussed what they thought light music is, and where its future lies. CDs were also mentioned, especially the wonderful Guild series.
The long running "Friday Night Is Music Night" was, of course, dedicated to light music for the occasion, with a wonderful performance from the BBC Concert Orchestra conducted by Gavin Sutherland with guest artistes, presented by Petroc Trelawny who made an excellent host.
The highlight of the Light Fantastic festival was the concert on the Saturday evening, given by the BBC Symphony Orchestra conducted by John Wilson. This was ‘live’ from the Royal Festival Hall, and featured in the interval a chat with John Wilson and RFS secretary David Ades. An archive interview with Eric Coates made this a real bonus in addition to an enjoyable evening of orchestral music. I particularly enjoyed Vivian Ellis’ Coronation Scot, Angela Morley’s A Canadian In Mayfair in tribute to Robert Farnon, and Bob’s Jumping Bean.
I kept my radio on for most of the day on the Sunday, as there was so much happening, with discussions about light music which made a nice change from the usual routine. I did enjoy the evening concert with the BBC Scottish Symphony, again conducted by John Wilson, in which he also talked about Eric Coates’ style of composing in between the music.
John Wilson as Artistic Director and conductor, Petroc Trelawny and Radio 3 are to be congratulated for making the Light Fantastic festival such a marvellous celebration of a style of music which has been unfairly neglected for far too long.
Let’s hope that the BBC has been encouraged to feature more light music in its schedules in future, as this festival must have proved that there is a demand for the kind of music we all love so much.
Finally David Ades shares his Personal Diary of the Light Fantastic Weekend
My experiences of the weekend can be summed up in two words: frustrating and exhilarating! ‘Frustrating’ because of my trying encounters with ticket machines – at Yeovil station and bus stops in London; and ‘exhilarating’ because I was uplifted by the wonderful music I heard and the people I met.
The Light Fantastic festival was based at the South Bank Centre, with most of the events taking place at the Royal Festival Hall. I arrived at Waterloo at lunchtime on Friday 24th June, and after booking in at the hotel I made my way to the RFH. I have been there before, but it was a long time ago and my memories of the building (other than the main concert hall) were vague.
In recent years it has had a lot of money spent on it and in the 1980s the decision was taken to keep it open every day from mid-morning, rather than open the doors only when a concert was taking place. The result has been that the building has become the venue for all kinds of cultural activities, many of them taking place in what is called The Clore Ballroom, a large sunken arena facing the main bar in the foyer where most people tend to congregate. It seems that music is being created at all times of the day, by both professional and amateur musicians, in this area which tends to be a magnet for people simply wanting to relax and watch others performing. The ballroom is surrounded by terraces and seating on three sides, so there is plenty of room for everyone – at least most of the time!
The first sounds to greet me upon my arrival were amateur brass bands – about five of them! They were rehearsing a new work by Anne Dudley which was due to be performed by 250 brass players on Hungerford Bridge (adjacent to the RFH) at around 7:30 pm. This was to be recorded and broadcast in one of the many Radio 3 programmes that were coming from the South Bank Centre that weekend.
But the weather gods decided otherwise. The heavens opened and the performance had to take place around the bar and ballroom. So I found myself literally in the middle of six brass bands (the five amateurs were joined by the brass of the BBC Symphony) and I have never before seen one piece of music conducted at the same time by five conductors!
BBC producer Andrew Smillie had been in touch with me for several weeks before the festival, and we arranged to meet after he had recorded the band. "Look for someone holding a big microphone" he said, and it worked! We briefly discussed the arrangements to meet the following afternoon during the rehearsals for John Wilson’s concert with the BBC Symphony, which they kindly allowed me to attend.
I lost count of how many Robert Farnon Society members I bumped into over the weekend, and I am not going to list them all for fear of leaving someone out. But within an hour or so of my arrival we were holding a mini RFS meeting in the bar, and while relaxing before the evening concert in the "Friday Night Is Music Night" series I suddenly discovered that David Daniels was sitting next to me. He had travelled down from Doncaster to support the BBC Concert Orchestra - like me he is an enthusiastic member of their club.
The Royal Festival Hall is well served with toilet facilities – I should imagine at least 15 or 20 throughout the building. So the chances of meeting someone you know in such a place must surely be statistically remote. But just as I was leaving one I met Philip Farlow who was coming in! I’m sure we would have found each other eventually, but this ‘close encounter’ meant that we could tell each other what we had learned about the various events, and we spent much of the Friday evening and the Saturday roaming around from event to event – usually accompanied by other RFS members. Several times I heard someone call out "David!" as I was wandering around, and it was a pleasure to greet yet another RFS member!
As already mentioned, the concert on Friday evening featured the BBC Concert Orchestra, conducted by Gavin Sutherland with singers Lesley Garrett, Charlotte Page and Richard Suart. I have to admit that I do not always enjoy the vocal interludes when listening to FNIMN at home, but being in the concert hall is an entirely different experience. Richard Suart in particular had the audience in the palm of his hand, although the eye candy was supplied by Lesley Garrett who treated us (at least the men in the audience) to two stunning creations from her wardrobe.
I didn’t get a chance to chat with Gavin, because he had to dash off afterwards to travel to Plymouth where he was conducting another concert on the Sunday evening. But I did renew an acquaintance with senior BBC producer Neil Varley, who was deeply involved with the festival. I first met him when Brian Kay kindly invited me to be a guest on his "Light Programme" back in 2004. I learned that Neil was responsible for the invitation I had received to participate in the interval feature during John Wilson’s concert on the next evening.
Like everyone else that evening I got soaked by the rain on the way back to the hotel, but happily it had stopped when I drew back the curtains the next morning. It was still cloudy, but the weather forecasters had told us that it was going to get very warm over the next two or three days, and they were certainly right for once! The hottest day for five years happened that weekend!
I arrived at the RFH around 10:15 and decided to look around the free Exhibition on the ground floor about the original Festival of Britain 60 years ago in 1951. The Royal Festival Hall is the only surviving building from that ambitious project, and the models inside reminded me of the Dome of Discovery (the inspiration for the Millennium Dome?), the TeleKinema (where I saw 3-D films for the first time – they are not new, as some youngsters might believe), and the famous Skylon looking like a massive cigar with points at both ends aiming at the stars. Like thousands of other schoolchildren I stood right below the point of the Skylon and looked upwards – it required a certain amount of courage! I was saddened that it had to be scrapped for the steel to be recycled but, like today, those were hard times and money could not be wasted. One of the exhibits was a film about the Festival with music by Clifton Parker. Unfortunately it was a poor copy, and the music sounded distorted most of the time.
It was then time to have a coffee in the bar on the ground floor looking out across the riverside terrace to the Thames. There are plenty of places for refreshments on the South Bank site, with many tables outside – just like you find in Mediterranean countries. This is becoming more common in Britain these days, but the reason is probably the ban on smoking inside buildings, rather than a sudden improvement in the weather!
I found a spare table and settled down to enjoy my coffee, and started looking through some of the leaflets I had picked up with details of the festival events. A few minutes later I casually looked around and discovered to my surprise that Petroc Trelawny was sitting at the next table with a gentleman I assumed to be a BBC producer. They were obviously working on a forthcoming programme, so I waited until they got up from the table before introducing myself as the person Petroc would be interviewing during the concert interval that evening. I received a warm welcome, but quickly left because he was obviously busy and there would be plenty of time during the afternoon to discuss my interval chat.
Back in the main bar area (adjacent to the ballroom) I soon met up with Philip. We checked the various events that were taking place and decided that it would be nice to join the audience for "Music Matters", broadcast live on Radio 3 from 12:15 to 1:00pm. The subject under discussion was ‘What Happened to British Light Music?’ Petroc Trelawny chaired a panel consisting of John Wilson, Philip Lane, Anne Dudley, Stephen Banfield and Richard Witts – the last two being music historians.
The opinions of the panel were interspersed with recorded segments from Daily Telegraph radio critic Gillian Reynolds and Paul Gambaccini. I was particularly pleased that a number of recordings I had sent to Andrew Smillie were used in the programme. He had told me a couple of weeks earlier that he couldn’t find any openings or endings of light orchestral programmes in the BBC archives. I supplied him with several, so listeners heard brief intros from "Farnon in Concert", "Music All the Way" (Farnon) and "String Sound". Other dubs I provided turned up elsewhere, including Eric Coates talking about his "Knightsbridge March" during an interval chat with John Wilson later that evening.
I was prepared to be disappointed with the programme. So often discussions about Light Music tend to get rather stuffy and highbrow and drift into areas not really relevant. But this time I was pleasantly surprised by what I heard; Paul Gambaccini, in particular, had a good depth of knowledge and he clearly explained how the BBC had decided it didn’t want light music any more, even though the public clearly enjoyed it.
I knew that several RFS members had joined Philip and myself in the audience (Brian Reynolds and André Leon to name just two), but it came as a complete – and very pleasant – surprise as we were leaving after the programme to discover that Marjorie Cullerne and Gilles Gouset were with us. Marjorie is a great niece of Haydn Wood, and UK members will recall the entertainment she and Gilles provided at our London meeting in April 2009. Our paths were to cross several times during the weekend. As the audience melted away we suddenly realised that several RFS members had stayed behind to chat, so we had another mini-meeting of the society!
Mention should be made of the Function Room in which the broadcast took place. It is situated on the fifth floor, and the audience sits facing the outside wall of the building which is entirely glass. The view is breathtaking: the nearest large object is the London Eye – still going strong 11 years after it was constructed for the millennium. A little further away, and somewhat older, are the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben, alongside the River Thames. It is a vista to cherish, and many people remarked on it.
Although there is a welcoming bar in the main meeting area of the RFH, someone in authority made the very sensible decision to make copious amounts of water freely available. At each end of the bar there were four or five water jugs, regularly replenished, with plenty of plastic cups. We all made full use of this facility, because it was getting very warm although the air conditioning seemed to be coping quite well.
During Saturday afternoon I was privileged to sit in on the rehearsals by the BBC Symphony for the "Great Masters of Light Music" concert to be broadcast on Radio 3 in the evening. Television cameras were also present to record the concert for transmission later on BBC Four.
The leader of the BBC Symphony is Andrew Haveron, a long time friend of John Wilson who I met several years ago for the Angela Morley recordings at Abbey Road in 2003, reported in JIM 156. The orchestra responded magnificently to the challenge of playing what, for them, is slightly unusual repertoire. I mentioned this to a lady violinist during the break, and she assured me that they all loved it, but added "it’s hard to play!"
John was perfectly at ease throughout the rehearsals, and he received superb support from the musicians. Not every piece was played in its entirety; professional musicians of this calibre are expert sight readers, and it was often only necessary to confirm the tempo and deal with any special nuances that John wanted to bring out. During Scrub Brother Scrub John asked if I thought he had got the tempo right. "Yes …spot on" I told him, to which he replied "I think I’ll take it quicker" – which he did! I felt around eighty pairs of eyes looking towards me wondering what on earth that elderly gentleman was doing sitting alone in the audience, advising John on a particular tempo!
During the afternoon I chatted briefly with producer Andrew Smillie and presenter Petroc Trelawny to decide on the format for the interval feature. There was no question of using a script – that would have sounded too contrived. So we decided that I would ‘busk’ it, confident that Petroc would keep everything under control.
The rehearsals were over by 6:00pm and I met up with Philip, his wife Edwina (who had arrived for the concert) and some other members in the bar. But I was still replying upon copious amounts of that free water: the secretary of the Robert Farnon Society sounding drunk on air would not have done much for our image!
Barry Forgie and the BBC Big Band were rehearsing in the ballroom for their concert due to be recorded later that evening for broadcast late on Sunday. The indefatigable John Wilson had agreed to do a pre-concert talk at 6:45 so we made another visit to the Function Room with its magnificent view. Once again, many RFS members were present to hear John chatting in a relaxed manner about his career. Half an hour later he had to leave us to get dressed for the evening concert which commenced at 8:00.
Unlike the previous evening, the concert was entirely orchestral. The full programme is printed elsewhere in this feature, from which it will be noted that the first part concentrated on three ‘major’ composers, while the second part featured some lighter works. Knightsbridge was supposed to be the final piece, but John treated us to an encore with Non Stop by John Malcolm, the famous ITN signature tune.
I was sitting in the BBC’s box during the concert, where the technical equipment for interviews was installed. This is situated above stage right, and immediately below me was the telescopic TV camera which zoomed over the orchestra and sometimes came so close that I could have almost jumped on!
At the end of the first part, as John Wilson left the stage to enthusiastic applause, he was grabbed by Petroc for an interview. When asked, John said that his favourite composer was Eric Coates, and this was the cue for an interview with Coates played with Knightsbridge in the background. This allowed enough time for Petroc to dash off the stage and run through the maze of corridors at the rear, then come up two flights of stairs and join me in the box for the live interview. "Don’t worry", the producer had told me. "He timed it earlier today and he managed it with six seconds to spare!"
Petroc asked me about Robert Farnon and the society, then Anthony Bath, the 93 year old son of Hubert Bath talked in a recorded interview about his famous father. I chatted again, mostly about the music in the second half (especially Haydn Wood and Angela Morley) then it was all over. The final recorded segment featured a new brass fanfare composed by Anne Dudley especially for Light Fantastic, then John was back on stage for the second half.
The producer had asked me to call round afterwards to meet him at the two outside broadcast vans parked next to the Queen Elizabeth Hall. He seemed happy with the way it had gone, then said: "I didn’t like to tell you before, but you were my first live interview!" It was also a first for me, because all my previous appearances on national radio have been recorded. What a risk the BBC took, letting me loose with a live microphone!
When I got back inside the Royal Festival Hall I was greeted by Philip who told me, somewhat excitedly, that he had just heard the BBC Big Band play a rare Robert Farnon arrangement called Monseigneur which he had done for Lew Stone. The band would be continuing until near midnight, so understandably no one seemed to want to leave. Soon we saw John mingling with the crowds; goodness knows where he gets his energy, having been ‘on the go’ since mid-morning onwards.
I decided that I deserved my first G&T of the day, so I waited patiently at the bar. Looking in the mirror behind the bar I noticed that Petroc had joined me, so I offered him a drink. He politely declined, explaining that he was buying for his family who had attended the concert. A young schoolgirl, who he introduced as his niece, was with him and he said she had enjoyed the concert. "What did you like most", I asked her. "Jumping Bean" she replied with a lovely smile!
I stayed to enjoy the BBC Big Band until after 11:00 and then decided to make my way back to my hotel. Outside on the South Bank it was still pleasantly warm, and all the bars and outdoor cafes were still very busy. It was a lovely atmosphere, which perfectly matched the day which was just ending.
Around 10:30 next morning I was back in the foyer of the Royal Festival Hall where the sound of an amateur choir learning to sing Noel Coward’s Play Orchestra Play greeted me. Absolutely charming. Then I met André Leon. We had only been chatting for a couple of minutes when we were joined by Marjorie Cullerne and Gilles Gouset, and decided that it was time for coffee. We sat outside on the riverside terrace and spent a most pleasant half hour chatting about music.
One of the many events that had been organised for the weekend was a ‘busk’ of the Archers’ signature tune. Some amateur musicians were starting to congregate nearby and Marjorie (who had her violin with her) decided to join them. Soon around fifteen assorted instrumentalists launched into Barwick Green and the result was absolutely hilarious. Petroc was with a BBC sound engineer recording the ‘performance’ and I told him that one of the violins was played by the great niece of Haydn Wood. He was impressed!
In the foyer of the Queen Elizabeth Hall next door Radio 3’s "Sunday Morning" with Suzy Klein was already in full swing, and we made our way there to enjoy Shelley Van Loen and the Palm Court Strings. Brian Reynolds was already in his element, but before I took my seat Petroc asked me to confirm the Barwick Green details, because he introduced an excerpt from the ‘busk’ in the programme. We also heard the tenor Robert White sing a beautiful version of Eric Coates’ Bird Songs At Eventide with Stephen Hough on piano.
At 12 noon André and I decided it was time for lunch, and a cup of tea and a generously filled ham sandwich fitted the bill admirably. I was so fortunate to have André with me because, not only is he fascinating company, he also knows the area like the back of his hand. I had my own personal guide! After lunch we strolled along to the National Film Theatre, taking care not to get too close to a fountain where it seemed like hundreds of children were having the times of their lives using it to keep cool. The snack bar of the NFT was packed, but André’s experience turned up trumps, because he took me through the building to a bar at the rear which was not only pleasantly cool, but almost empty.
We looked around the NFT then decided to return to the Royal Festival Hall where we found a quiet area on one of the upper floors overlooking the Thames so that André could interview me for a future UK Light Radio broadcast. He is still working very hard to get this exciting project up and running, and if persistence has its own reward he will surely succeed. When we made our way down to the foyer we found that John Wilson and his Orchestra were starting to rehearse for their Tea Dance due to be broadcast from 5:00 until 6:30. They sounded marvellous, and John had clearly taken a lot of trouble in his choice of material. We were sitting at the side of the dance area near the band, and halfway through I Concentrate On You John came across to me and asked if I recognised it. Of course I knew the tune (it happens to be one of my favourites by the great Cole Porter), but the arrangement was new. "It’s by Bob Farnon!" said John, with a big grin on his face. He must have discovered it in the library of maybe Ted Heath or Geraldo - no doubt we’ll find out one day.
The rehearsals continued all afternoon, and were a real joy to hear. But the place was starting to get busy, and people were arriving all dressed up for the dancing that was to follow. We had to vacate our ringside seats, and wander off to the side areas.
It was soon apparent that the BBC and Royal Festival Hall had failed to anticipate the excitement that John’s Tea Dance would create. The place was getting packed, and people were wandering around trying to find seats. I suspect that nearby bars and cafes were being ‘raided’, because I observed people coming in from outside carrying piles of seats with them!
No doubt the dancers and onlookers enjoyed themselves for long into the evening, because a Disco followed the Tea Dance. But André had to get back home for another commitment, and I decided that an evening meal in the calm of the hotel would be the perfect end to the day.
The coincidences that had been such a feature of my own ‘Light Fantastic’ weekend continued on the Monday. While waiting at Waterloo station for my train to be advertised on the departures screens the gentlemen standing next to me said ‘hello’. It was Peter Simpson (chairman of the Harry Roy Appreciation Society and a member of the RFS since the early days) who was waiting for the same train! He and his wife Beryl were going to Honiton station en route to a week’s holiday in Sidmouth, which happens to be a favourite spot for Moira and I to relax as often as we can. So I had the pleasure of their company all the way to Yeovil, which made the journey pass so much quicker than it usually does.
It was the perfect end to a magical three days, which was made all the more enjoyable by the many wonderful people I met.
This feature appeared in ‘Journal Into Melody’ – September 2011
Remembering George Shearing
SIR GEORGE ALBERT SHEARING, OBE, jazz pianist and composer, born Battersea, London, August 13, 1919; died New York City, February 14, 2011, aged 91. Like Glenn Miller in the previous decade, who searched for and found 'his sound', in forming his now legendary quintet in 1949, George Shearing achieved at a stroke his own unique sound signature. This allowed the group to achieve astounding record sales and fame across the globe soon after the quintet's formation, fame that would continue throughout Shearing's long and successful career. The world which he would inhabit in his professional life was another planet away from his humble, not to say, poor childhood background in what was then (in early 1920s) a not so salubrious part of south-west London. His father delivered coal and his mother had a night job, cleaning trains, after spending all day looking after her nine children. Although born blind, Shearing at an early age had the facility not only able to memorize a tune, but also would attempt to play it on the family's piano. Recognizing the talent, he was given piano lessons by a local teacher followed by formal education at a school for the blind, the Linden Lodge School, based in Wandsworth, which still today educates dual-sensory impaired/deafblind children. Such were Shearing's abilities he could have been the recipient of university scholarships to study music but the family's financial constraints prompted him to earn his keep and he opted initially, aged 16, for playing in local public houses in the Battersea and Lambeth areas, first, popular songs of the day, followed by ever-increasing excursions into the field of jazz. In 1937 he joined a stage orchestra as a pianist, and it was through that exposure that Shearing's name started to become noticed. Encouraged by friends he made in the orchestra, he immersed himself in jazz, to the extent that his playing style bore the influence of prominent exponents of the genre, like Fats Waller and Teddy Wilson. A year later he made his début on radio, following which he recorded regularly as a soloist or part of an ensemble or band, not least recording many times with the renowned jazz violinist Stéphane Grappelli. The next decade saw Shearing rise to fame with breathless speed, to illustrate which a poll in the 'Melody Maker' magazine, voted him 'the tops' as a British pianist for 7 successive years. Then happened one of those serendipitous encounters of musicians, that unbeknown to them at the time, are destined to change for ever the public perception of jazz and popular music - an invitation from emigré-pianist, composer, and critic, Leonard Feather to visit New York. Shearing stayed for three months of 1946, recording for the Savoy label as part of a trio, but had been so taken with his experiences that he emigrated permanently in late 1947. After serving his "apprenticeship in a heaven that money couldn't buy" as he put it, accompanying singers such as Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald, he had an opportunity in 1949 to join a quartet at the Clique Club with clarinettist Buddy De Franco. Due to contractual reasons De Franco had to opt out of recordings, so Leonard Feather suggested that perhaps a quintet might fit the bill, and so it was that to the usual piano, bass, and drums, a guitar (Chuck Wayne) and vibraphone (Margie Hyams) was added - the George Shearing Quintet was born - and with it one of the most distinctive musical sounds ever created. The formation of the ensemble was not the only happenstance. The Quintet was born into a world of music dominated by energetic Bebop, so when the soothing timbres created by Shearing's piano technique ('parallel chords' pioneered by American pianist and organist Milt Buckner) and the close harmony of the rest of the group including melodies doubled a couple of octaves apart, it struck a chord then (literally in this case) in the hearts of music-loving public that was to last for decades. Nothing like this had been heard in the jazz field before but it fulfilled an obvious need, and fame came with startling rapidity, not least in the sales of a recording made for MGM - September in the Rain - which sold in excess of 900,000 copies. The 'Shearing sound' soon became the epitome of 'mood music' for the romantic, 'low lights' atmosphere. Other huge successes for the quintet came in 1950 with Kern's Pick Yourself Up, and two years later, the music which resonated with the public and overshadowed the rest of Shearing oeuvre (some 300 songs) - Lullaby of Birdland. Such was the impact of this song that in the late 1990s when introducing it at a concert, Shearing was heard to quip (perhaps with not a little chagrin): "I have been credited with writing 300 songs. Two hundred and ninety-nine of them enjoyed a bumpy ride from relative obscurity to total oblivion - here is the other one!" A little later in the 50s, Shearing pursued an interest in what is now dubbed, Latin-inflected jazz, which resulted in another hit record, Mambo Inn, and in 1954 the issue of a very popular album with singer Peggy Lee, Beauty and the Beat. Departures from the received Shearing sound came in the 1960s in the form of leaner ensembles, duos and trios - or even the occasional solo concert - and in another direction his concerto performances with leading symphony orchestras. He had such facility that it was not unknown for him to improvise in styles as diverse as Bebop and Bach - sometimes in the same piece. Shearing formed a pivotal partnership with Mel Tormé that was to last for many years and was so successful that 'Grammies' were awarded in 1983 for An Evening with George Shearing and Mel Tormé, and in 1984, Top Drawer. In the 1970s, with some critics saying that the quintet had become predictable, Shearing gradually phased it out and disbanded it totally in 1978, although it was reformed for recordings made in 1994. A frequent visitor to his home country, he gave concerts with vocalists of no mean reputation in their own right, particularly Joe Williams (a Count Basie singer), and Carmen McRae. A duo that Shearing had formed with bassist Neil Swainson appeared with Mel Tormé and the BBC Big Band at a special eightieth birthday show in 1999. For many years Robert Farnon had been a close friend, and at the end of the 1970s they were finally able to realise a long held ambition to record together. The occasion was the album "On Target" for the German label MPS; the Shearing trio recorded their part on 18-21 September 1979 at the MPS studios in Villingen, with the orchestral backings added a year later at the CTS studios (then known as Music Centre Sound Studios) in Wembley, London, on 5 & 6 November. The liner notes were provided by the one and only Gene Lees, who finished: "Shearing with Farnon. What an inspired - and inspiring - combination". In 1992 the same artistic forces were reunited at CTS Wembley on 17-19 September for the Telarc CD "How Beautiful Is Night". For many years (especially the 1990s) the Shearings used to spend the summer months in the beautiful Cotswolds area of England, where they were visited by many special friends, including Alan Dell and Brian Kay. George was most touched, it is said, when in Battersea the 'George Shearing Centre' was opened to provide facilities for disabled people. He still performed into the early present century, and in 2003 was awarded the Ivor Novello Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition to his OBE awarded in 1996, he was knighted in 2007, noting later, "So the poor, blind kid from Battersea became Sir George Shearing - now that's a fairy tale come true." This was a 'fairy tale' that was followed by millions of fans throughout his long career, and will continue to attract admirers in generations yet to come through the portals of his recordings that are set to endure.
David Ades adds: I had the great pleasure of meeting George and his charming wife Eleanor at several Robert Farnon recording sessions. George loved to joke and tell tales. When he was honoured by the Queen he remarked that it was the second time that his family had visited Buckingham Palace; on the first occasion his father delivered the coal! At one time he was a member of an all-blind orchestra, and during a number one of the musicians shouted that one of his glass eyes had dropped out. The band immediately stopped playing, and all the musicians were on hands and knees trying to feel where the missing eye had gone. George also confessed that he wouldn't want to be able to see, if medical science made such a happening possible. He explained that it would be too difficult having to completely learn again how to live in a sighted world, after existing so happily as he was. This modest, charming and extremely talented man was one of the nicest people I have ever been fortunate to meet.
This tribute first appeared in 'Journal Into Melody', issue 188 dated June 2011
JOHN BARRY (1933-2011) – HIGHLIGHTS & MEMORIES
John Barry Prendergast (John Barry), film composer: born York 3 November 1933; OBE 1999; died New York 30 January 2011 from a heart attack aged 77. One of John Barry's greatest admirers was RFS member Gareth Bramley, and he has contributed the following Obituary, which he calls "Highlights and Memories".
John Barry's love of film music began at an early age when his father introduced him to the world of films at the cinemas which he ran in the north of England. His earliest recollection was being carried into the York Rialto by his father and seeing a huge black and white mouse moving across a large white screen. Later, aged 14, John was able to run the projection booth alone and a year later left school to work for his father full time.
John had learnt piano from age nine - and later trumpet; and studied harmony and counterpoint under Dr. Francis Jackson, the Master of Music at York Minster just down the road from the family home in Fulford. He formed his own local jazz band, The Modernaires, playing trumpet. Three years later, in 1952, he was called up for National Service, joined the Green Howard's regiment (for three years) and used his spare time to practice and play trumpet. It was here he undertook a correspondence course (Composition and Orchestration for the Jazz Orchestra) with Bill Russo, former arranger with The Stan Kenton Orchestra.
Back in York he would send arrangements to Johnny Dankworth, Ted Heath and Jack Parnell and it was the latter who advised him to start his own rock and roll band - and in 1957 The John Barry Seven was formed with some friends and ex-army colleagues and they played the local circuit. Concerts, tours and TV appearances followed and a record deal with EMI; and their first single, a vocal, 'Zip Zip' / 'Three Little Fishes', was released in October 1957 - the same year the group made their professional debut at the York Rialto on March 17th. He appeared with the band on the TV shows '6-5 Special' (debuting 21/9/57), 'Oh Boy' (from 15/6/58) and later 'Drumbeat' (4/4/59); and it was because of the latter programme that he became associated with Adam Faith.
When Faith, as a result of his 'Drumbeat' success, co-starred in his first film 'Beat Girl' in 1959 – who better to compose the driving score than the man who had arranged all Faith's 'Drumbeat' material. Barry was recommended to the producer by Faith's manager Evelyn Taylor. He always said that it was his intention from an early age to get into scoring films and this was his chance.
Prior to the release of 'Beat Girl', Faith and Barry had their first record success when 'What Do You Want' made No. 1 in the charts in late 1959. One previous recording, 'Ah, Poor Little Baby', released a few months earlier, was a chart failure - their only one together.
Further assignments followed and Barry continued to tour and record instrumental material with the Seven and arrange material for other artists on the EMI roster (including Anita Harris, Peter Gordeno, Johnnie De Little, Denis Lotis, Marion Ryan, and Marty Wilde). In 1962 Noel Rogers (head of United Artists Music in London) approached him to arrange the theme for the first in a series of films about a super-hero called James Bond ('Dr. No').
The story of the 'James Bond Theme' has been documented many times, but it was evident that through this film alone Barry was able to go on and write the complete score for 11 more films in the series – culminating with 'The Living Daylights' in 1987 and including 'Goldfinger' in 1964 for which he won a Gold disc. During the 'boom' times of the 60s Barry would be offered film after film; and it wasn't long before the time-consuming touring with the Seven finished. He still continued to record for EMI but left in 1963 to take up a position as A & R manager with Jeff Kruger's Ember label. Some classy releases followed, to include solo recordings; film soundtracks such as 'Zulu', 'Four in the Morning' and the TV spectacular 'Elizabeth Taylor in London' (for Colpix); a couple of singles for pop duo Chad & Jeremy; and a critically-acclaimed jazz album with Annie Ross. However, sales failed to match the quality of the productions, apart from one Chad & Jeremy hit single, and it wasn't too long before his association with the label ended.
Film offers continued to increase – Bryan Forbes gave him 'Séance on Wet Afternoon' on the strength of two excellent jazz themes he had provided for his previous film 'The L-Shaped Room'. 'King Rat', 'The Whisperers', 'The Wrong Box' and 'Deadfall' followed. At the same time Barry scored other notable films and won Oscars for best score and song for 'Born Free' (1966) and best score for 'The Lion in Winter' (1968). He was also won a Grammy for 'best instrumental theme' for 'Midnight Cowboy' (1969). Many of John's scores thankfully materialised on record albums; but after leaving Ember he signed a deal with CBS in the UK and besides numerous soundtrack albums such as 'Ipcress File', 'The Chase', 'The Quiller Memorandum' and 'The Lion in Winter'; many compilation albums containing studio recordings of his film themes materialised - culminating in 1971 with an LP (and single) from a new TV series starring Roger Moore & Tony Curtis who received equal billing as 'The Persuaders!'.
This is where MY passion for John Barry started – a driving moog synthesiser riff accompanying lavish titles drove me to watch each and every ensuing episode. This record would end up being Barry's most successful single reaching No. 13 in the charts at the end of '71, and stayed there for 15 weeks.
I had been born the same year John had been commissioned to write his first film score (1959) and now, at the age 12, I was left wanting to hear more music by John Barry. In the mid-70s when I'd bought my first record player I was able to purchase a single of 'The Persuaders!' theme which was still in print. A couple of years later I bought the long playing album and found great satisfaction from the new themes on it – in particular some of those from the James Bond films which I already knew and loved. I was keen to hear more of this splendid music and found a copy of the 'James Bond Collection' which included the themes from 'Dr. No' to 'Diamonds Are Forever' (1971). Since this LP contained only 2 or 3 themes from each film, I attempted to search out the full scores which I eventually bought.
In 1972 Barry switched labels to Polydor and I found the album of the concert he did at the Royal Albert Hall in October 1972, recorded at Abbey Road Studios. If only I'd been older and appreciated the music of such a great composer earlier in life – I may have been in the audience that night when he was on stage alongside Michael Crawford (dressed as the white rabbit) and Fiona Fullerton (dressed as Alice) to conduct, amongst others, a suite from his then new film 'Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'. Barry was invited back to the Royal Albert Hall a year later, when he also conducted a concert at the Hollywood Bowl. He toured Japan in 1975 doing a series of 30 one-night stands, over some 5-6 weeks with an orchestra including accomplished trombonist Don Lusher.
Barry scored some memorable films in the early 70s – 'Walkabout', 'The Last Valley', 'Mary, Queen of Scots' – the Royal Film Performance for 1972 – receiving an Academy Award Nomination. He also worked on 'The Dove' and the stage musical 'Billy' (1974) which starred Michael Crawford and ran for two and half years in London. The same year Barry left London for Majorca; and a year later moved to the States to score a TV spectacular he'd been offered called 'Eleanor & Franklin – The White House Years'. In the same year he was offered 'Robin & Marian' (directed by Richard Lester) and stayed in Beverly Hills, marrying Laurie in 1978. Other notable films of that decade were 'The Day of the Locust', 'The Deep', 'King Kong' and 'Hanover Street', not forgetting three more in the James Bond series: 'Diamonds are Forever' (1971), 'The Man with the Golden Gun' (1974) and 'Moonraker' (1979). Unfortunately, he was unable to score 'Live & Let Die' in 1973 as he had already committed to working on 'Billy'. He also had to forgo scoring 'The Spy Who Loved Me' (1977) since he was unable to return to Britain because of tax problems. Shortly afterwards, in 1980, John and Laurie moved to Oyster Bay near New York.
It was at this time that my real love for John Barry started. I'd heard snippets of his music on Star Sound on BBC Radio 2 and attempted to search out more and more films scored by Barry using Halliwell's Film Guide. The snippets and requests – even my own - continued on Star Sound and I started to buy as many soundtrack albums and singles by Barry that I could find. I'd watch films two or three times – captivated by these wondrous scores – 'Raise the Titanic', 'Body Heat', 'Hammett' for example. This was the turn of the decade - Barry was still in huge demand and further films like 'Somewhere in Time', 'Frances', 'The Cotton Club' and 'Jagged Edge' followed and his final three Bond outings, 'Octopussy' (1983), 'A View to a Kill' (1985), and 'The Living Daylights' (1987), which was his Bond swan-song. Barry remained unable to return to the UK in 1981 to score 'For Your Eyes Only' and had decided that enough was enough after 'The Living Daylights', blaming lack of a proper fee and creative control of score and song, plus the fact that he thought the formula had now become repetitive.
Fortunately, the latter films had soundtrack albums but many films – like 'Svengali', a made-for-TV movie, and a few others such as 'Hammett', 'Mike's Murder', and 'Masquerade', did not - as the record market was in decline. However, compact discs of these scores were released by specialist labels some years after the films' release. To satisfy my own demand I collected every single piece of music commercially issued with the help of mail order outlets and record fairs; and I'd soon amassed every recording available. In 1984 we could hear film music on a new medium with the advent of CD and I continued to buy each and every release. Fortunately, film music now sounded much fresher.
Around about this time I became friends with Geoff Leonard and two years later Barry received his 4th Oscar for his score for 'Out of Africa' (1985). In the late 80s Barry suffered a serious illness with a torn oesophagus brought on by a toxic health drink but came back with a score for 'Dances with Wolves' earning him his 5th Oscar in 1991. In 1993 he was nominated for 'Chaplin'.
In the 90s Geoff and I released several CDs with music by John – the first was 'Beat Girl' (1990) - his first film score from 1960, coupled with his first studio album 'Stringbeat' (1961). This was a big achievement at the time for an unknown company but the licensing manager at EMI, Norman Bates, had faith in us and gave us our start. It sold out very quickly and other releases followed – including John's work for Ember and some songs he wrote with his lyricist and friend Don Black. In 1993 EMI themselves released three separate volumes of all the recordings he had made with the label in the 60s.
In 1992 and 1995 respectively, Barry recorded two complete non-soundtrack albums for Sony – 'Moviola' and 'Moviola II – Action and Adventure' – which contained some of his best themes arranged in concert form and played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.
More film assignments followed in the 90s –'Indecent Proposal', 'My Life', 'Cry, the Beloved Country' and the IMAX film 'Across the Sea of Time'. Then suddenly out of the blue at the beginning of 1998 we heard of a forthcoming 'comeback' concert at the Royal Albert Hall ('The Man, The Movies, The Music') which was to take place in April of that year - to tie in with his new concept album 'The Beyondness of Things'.
Geoff and I were collaborating with Pete Walker on a biography of Barry and we had just found a publisher; but had decided to hold back on publishing in light of the concert so we could include an account and photos of the event.
I can't think of a word to describe the concert, but 'awesome' would perhaps suffice. A full 20-minute plus James Bond Suite; music from his 60s films 'The Knack' and 'The Ipcress File'; my favourite theme - 'The Persuaders!'; 'Dances With Wolves' and some of his latest themes including a World Premiere performance of his latest film score 'Amy Foster' ('Swept From The Sea') all played to perfection by the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Barry. Perhaps the most outstanding performances of the night were his themes from the 1964 epic 'Zulu' – truly amazing with kettle drums resonating from left to right and back again; and 'Space March' from 'You Only Live Twice'. Stupendous! The concert lasted around two and a half hours and Michael Caine presented an award to a humbled composer who received at least three standing ovations.
Geoff and I had been invited by Decca to the post-concert party and various luminaries were also in attendance including the late Basil Poledouris and director Michael Winner. When a suitable opportunity arose, Geoff and I exchanged a few words with John who duly obliged by signing our invitations. He was certainly in good spirits and it was clear that he had enjoyed himself earlier. The concert left me blown away and I didn't sleep a wink all night – reliving all those tremendous moments right down to him receiving the standing ovations and the bouquet of flowers presented to him by his son Jonpatrick (then 5 years old).
A few days after the concert Barry appeared for a 'signing session' at HMV, Oxford Street but the queue was huge when we arrived – it was almost as if 'Star Wars' was having its cinema premiere. Geoff and I decided to go to the IMAX cinema to watch 'Across the Sea of Time' but when we returned an hour or so later, everyone had gone and the session had, sadly, ended and we were told Barry had left.
After much delay and continual updating we finally went to press on the book and 'John Barry – A Life in Music' was published in November 1998, with the limited print run selling out within 18 months. We had interviewed many of John's former associates for the book - including John Barry Seven guitarist Vic Flick and Ember boss Jeff Kruger along with many others – and each and every one of them had praise for the composer.
Another concert, again with the English Chamber Orchestra ('Bond & Beyond') materialised a year later and John conducted some more of his themes including two from a new film called 'Playing by Heart' featuring Chris Botti on trumpet. The event was heavily over-subscribed from the word go as fans booked on the back of the 1998 concert; and an extra date was added to the schedule which also included a performance outside the capital at the Symphony Hall in Birmingham - 2 days before the Albert Hall. I recall John's wife, Laurie, and family sitting two rows behind us. At the end of the concert, Geoff, Pete and I were able to present Laurie with an especially leather-bound copy of the book for John.
Whilst new film assignments dwindled, a balance was achieved as specialist labels released previously unreleased scores, sometimes with extra music. Barry's great scores from the 60s/70s and 80s sounded even fresher – re-mastered onto CD for the first time. After two successive concerts it was always my hope that this would be an annual event but his participation diminished in later concerts. 'Elizabeth Taylor – A Celebration' in May 2000 was a variety performance and Barry was one of many acts. Introduced by Sir David Frost as 'The Dean of Film Music', he conducted a shortened version of the James Bond Suite and a splendid version of 'Body Heat. 'An Evening with John Barry featuring The Ten Tenors' (September 2006) saw Barry taking the baton only for a couple of numbers with Paul Bateman deputising for the rest of the evening. On 21st June 2007 he also conducted 'All the Time in the World' to accompany Jarvis Cocker at the latter's Meltdown concert. This was the last time I saw him perform live but fortunately took some pictures of the event.
Sadly, later concerts failed to materialise though it was clear that Barry – and his legion of fans - had enjoyed them. It's sad to think that his last film score was 'Enigma' in 2001 but modern age films were not to his liking and indeed directors were renowned for replacing music with songs at the last minute just for the sales of a soundtrack album. However, that year he did release a further concept album 'Eternal Echoes' which he described as 'An album of sounds, of places, and of objects that have always existed and always will exist. They are without beginning or end. They are infinite in our past and future.'
Barry's crossover into the classical genre with the 'Beyondness of Things' album (dedicated to his son Jonpatrick) was successful - as, to a lesser degree, was 'Eternal Echoes' - but in his later days poor health got the better of him. Although he was receiving more and more recognition by way of awards, he was unable to attend some of these events.
His accolade of film music awards speaks for itself – five Oscars – a record for any British composer; four Grammys; a Golden Globe – to name only a few. In 1999 he received an OBE from her Majesty The Queen for services to music. This was the first in a series of prestigious awards, including Honorary Freeman of the City of York & Goldeneye Award in June 2002; BAFTA Academy Fellowship Award (February 2005); a special honour from the French Minister of Culture (Commandeur Dans L'Ordre National Des Arts Et Des Lettres) presented at the Festival International Musique et Cinema d'Auxerre in November 2007; Max Steiner Life Achievement Award in Vienna in October 2009 and finally a Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Soundtrack Academy in Belgium (October 2010). These are just a few of the numerous awards bestowed upon a man gifted with the art of film music composition.
The story of John Barry was brought up to date when our book was extensively updated and revised with new photographs in 2008 in 'John Barry – The Man with the Midas Touch'.
John Barry may have left us but his legacy of music lives on. He will be remembered by thousands as the musical genius that he was and his timeless scores will be played over and over again. To me he will be remembered as 'The Godfather of Film Music'.
Gareth Bramley (Co-author of 'John Barry - The Man with the Midas Touch')
This tribute first appeared in 'Journal Into Melody', issue 188 dated June 2011
The feature in our last issue about 'Jan Berenska' certainly intrigued several members, with letters, emails and telephone calls criss-crossing the country!
Ken Wilkins was certainly very interested, partly because he lives in Leamington Spa where Jan Berenska used to broadcast from the famous Pump Rooms. Ken writes:
I was interested in the article by John Smith trying to trace the life and times of Jan Berenska as he and I have been in contact by telephone and email on this very subject. Unfortunately he wrote his article before I'd managed to unearth a few facts about JB.
Most of the references John wrote about refer to Charles Bye when in fact Frederick Charles Bye was Jan Berenska and born in 1905. Here I must thank Peter Worsley of Evergreen and This England magazines for sending me a print of a page from a 1997 edition of Evergreen which included information and a photograph of Jan Berenska and was published in response to a reader's request as to what happened to him.
Considering the number of concerts and broadcasts he made from the Pump Rooms here in Leamington and elsewhere, there's not a lot of information available about him. So I turned to Google with not a lot of success, but three videos of one of his compositions being performed, Taps in Tempo, are available on YouTube and a very catchy number it is too. A xylophone solo with a brass band backing, two of the videos have young men, teenagers by the look of them, the first being accompanied by I think the Birmingham Schools Brass Band at an outdoor concert, possibly in Bruges. The second, also with a young man was taped in a theatre - again abroad I think - but the third is played by a young woman (not Evelyn Glennie, at least it doesn't look like her from the distance photographed) but the express speed which she played the piece, accompanied by Kingdom Brass, takes the breath away.
Still with Google, mention is made of a Jan Berenska broadcast concert as John points out from the Roxy Cinema, Ross-on-Wye on September the 26th 1943. But for the most unexpected reference I found I needed to click on to The Straits Times of Singapore of the 7th of May 1935, and there in the radio broadcast lists was a relay from the Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa at 10:35 to 11:20 (followed by a speech made by Rudyard Kipling). Amazing what a PC turns up.
After all this the trail seemed to be petering out, so I returned to our library where I had been before but this time I managed to speak to a local historian who worked there. For some time I'd had the nagging thought that Cubbington, a village now joined to Leamington by development, had something to do with JB and so it turned out. The lady library historian said, quite out of the blue, that he was buried there.
Without further ado I drove straight to Cubbington Church and after about twenty minutes' search I found the grave with the inscription "Frederick Charles Bye" and underneath his name Jan Berenska, passed away on 20th December 1968. He was 63. and had died in hospital.
Also interred with him was "his beloved wife Mary" who died in 1974 aged 53. Whether they had any children I don't know, but a cutting from the Leamington Courier of that time that the library historian obtained for me only mentions he left a widow and sadly the grave looks rather neglected.
One other thing I found out thanks to the library was a cutting from the Coventry Evening Telegraph dated the 28th of May 1947 which states that 'Mr Jan Berenska has issued a writ for slander and libel against Leamington Borough Council" and it mentions that the amount of money involved "is believed to be considerable". I've yet to find out what this libel action was about but the Council couldn't have held it against him because some years later a new road was named after him, Berenska Drive.
Harold Rich, pianist and conductor of the BBC Midland Light Orchestra, had a surprise when he read about Jan Berenska in Journal Into Melody. He tells us:
During the thirties, and the war years, I listened avidly on the radio (sorry, wireless!) to the orchestras of Harry Fell (Aston Hippodrome), William Pethers (Coventry Hippodrome) William Hand (Dudley Hippodrome) - the latter of course became a member of the BBC Midland Light Orchestra, and was my leader when I conducted the MLO in the series "Barry Kent Sings". Another musician I enjoyed was that wonderful musician and multi-instrumentalist. Jan Berenska. I believe he once made a recording, playing violin, cello and piano! He mainly broadcast from the Pump Rooms in Leamington Spa, a venue I grew to know very well over the years.
I only met Jan once, towards the end of his life, in rather unusual circumstances. I had taken a band engagement at a hotel in Birmingham (playing truant from the MLO!) and when I mentioned this to my good friend Norman Parker, he said that he was playing that evening for the Frank Carter band in a hotel on my way home, and as my gig finished an hour earlier, why didn't I call and meet Jan, who was deputizing for Fred Kelly.
This I did, and was promptly invited up on to the stage. However that wasn't all. Frank said "Why don't you and Jan play a duet for the next quickstep?" which we duly did, Jan insisting that I played "up the top"! But imagine my amazement when we had finished, and there was a lull before the next dance, when Jan turned to me and said "I like that arrangement of yours (Butterflies In The Rain) which I heard on the radio last week", then proceeded to play it, giving a commentary on my instrumentation .... "This part you gave to the brass, this to the woodwind" ... and so on. What a musician!
However, to conclude. What completely astonished me, on reading John Smith's article, was to learn that in all my years, and having been a friend of Freddie Bye (he was the librarian of the MLO when I joined, and for years after) I never ever knew that his brother became Jan Berenska.
Editor : from Harold's comments about his friend 'Freddie Bye', is it right to assume that both of the Bye brothers called themselves Freddie, although 'Jan Berenska' gave up being a 'Bye' very early on?
Sheila MacKellow also has fond memories of Jan Berenska. She writes:
This is such a familiar name to me! I remember listening to his orchestra on the radio as far back as the 1930s when he used to play a regular lunch-time concert from the Pump Rooms, Leamington Spa. I was only a child at the time, so he must have been one of the first orchestra conductors whose name I got to know. Later on, in the 1940s, he often played in "Music While You Work" – according to Brian Reynolds' book JB played 82 editions of the programme.
He had a pianist who used to play solos with the orchestra – Jack Wilson, who later became better known as "Jack Wilson and his Versatile Five"; I believe Jan Berenska himself played violin with the Five. There was also a soloist who played the xylophone – his name was Vernon Adcock, and he also later on had an orchestra of his own which used to play on an afternoon programme called "Thé Dansant" (Tea Dance). I always liked the xylophone, so I used to listen to that too!
Jan Berenska had a very fine light orchestra, not just a dance band, but I don't know if he ever made any records, as so many orchestras in those days did not do so.
This article first appeared in 'Journal Into Melody', issue 188 dated June 2011
TREVOR DUNCAN
The Autobiography That Only Just Started
When Trevor Duncan died on 17 December 2005 aged 81, the world of Light Music lost a great composer, and we in the Robert Farnon Society mourned the passing of a true friend.
He liked to be known as 'Treb' and his birth name was Leonard Charles Trebilco. He adopted 'Trevor Duncan' when his music started to become popular, as it avoided problems with favouritism while he was still working at the BBC.
RFS Secretary David Ades first met Trevor at his home in Enmore, Somerset, in April 1994 when he was commissioned by Marco Polo to write the notes for a new CD of his music. This started a friendship that was to last for the rest of Trevor's life, and which resulted in him attending a summer meeting of our society in Somerset, culminating in his grand participation in a splendid London meeting in April 2004 when he was Guest of Honour in celebration of his 80th birthday year.
Soon afterwards Trevor told David that he wanted to write about those periods of his life which made the greatest impact upon his success as a composer. He did not envisage anything as grand as an autobiography, but he felt that some reminiscences might shed some light on the influences that would shape his future career. Later on he hoped that he could concentrate on the years when his gift of composition was at its peak, and how he hoped that he would be able to progress into other areas – such as a popular 'opera' which occupied him in his last years, but largely due to lack of interest from potential collaborators it failed to make any real progress. He was also disappointed that no one had ever commissioned him to write a ballet score.
Treb started making some pencil notes during 2004, and sent them to David. It was planned that a series would begin in Journal Into Melody when he had reached the time in his life, around 1950, when his career as a light music composer really began to take off.
Sadly the first set of notes was to be the last. Soon afterwards Trevor was taken ill, and after several months he died in Taunton hospital.
In fond memory of Trevor we feel that the time is now right to publish those notes, even though they are often fragmented and tend to concentrate on his Royal Air Force experiences during the Second World War. He never had the opportunity to revise what he had jotted down, but only minor editing has been applied, and it is hoped that the impressions Trevor wished to convey have been faithfully preserved.
This is Trevor Duncan's own story.
Born 1924 [the exact date was 27 February 1924]. Joined BBC straight from school in 1941 as Junior Programme Engineer, also called Studio Manager. JPEs played records (like seawash, thunder, engines etc and did 'spot' effects like door opening, telephone handset noises, horses hooves).
Did sound FX [effects] on ITMA (from Bangor, North Wales), Merry-go-round, Much Binding In The Marsh and others from BBC Studios in Lower Regent Street, London. Also worked below ground at 200 Oxford Street for the BBC Imperial Service. When playing Lili Bolero I never knew that it was followed by coded messages to the resistance workers in France.
1943: Joined the Royal Air Force as wireless operator, air crew. ITW (Initial Training Wing) then sent to No. 4 Radio School (Madely). Learned morse [code], and elementary servicing of 1154 and 1155 transmitter and receiver. First flying communication in D.H. Dominies, trying to hear signals through all the mush, and practising D.F. [direction finding] with loop aerials, taking turns with a few other students at the receiver.
In June/July did a gunnery course at No. 8 Gunnery School, Evanton near Inverness in Ansons.
August 1944: OAFU in Ansons WT cross country.
November: 81 OTU (Operational Training Unit) – map reading, cross country low flying, formatting in Whiteleys.
December: circuits and landings, glider lifts (Horsas).
1945 – February: Stirling IV. Heavy Conversion Unit. Crewed up, Circuits and landings. Day and night cross-country flying (find Rockall!).
March: ORTU. Glider flights, exercises cross-country and sea, and some operations including towing Horsas over the Rhine (Operation Varsity 24.3.45).
April: 196 Squadron, B Flight, Shepherds Grove. Glider lifts cross-country. Transporting prisoners, petrol, etc.
May: Transporting troops, prisoners, petrol to Norway.
June: Group exercises with gliders. Ferrying Stirlings to Maghdaberry (Ireland).
July: Transporting petrol to Norway.
August & September: Transporting Czechs from Prague, men, women and children. RAF personnel from Copenhagen.
October: To India 1588 Heavy Freight Flight. In Stirling V (IV converted to civil transport).
1946: St Mawgan, Castilo Benito, Lydda, Shaibah, Karachi, Santa Cruz. Flew back to England and to India a few times. Based at Santa Cruz, near Bombay, India. Moved freight all around Middle East, Madras, Calcutta (Dum Dum), Pegu (Burma), Butterworth (Malaya), Phapham, Bamrauli, Chakeri, Palan, Delhi, Allahabad, Kollang, Mingaladon, Hmawbi, Mauripur.
20 May 1946 Stirling V withdrawn (the Dakota was more efficient).
June: Posted to Dum Dum airfield (Calcutta). Did ground jobs. Receiving signals – mostly for met. Mapping, also worked on 'approach control' – ETAs and number of dinners required, etc. Later did signal briefing for aircraft crews, radio beacon information etc…
1947: Demobbed. Came home by ship on the Arundel Castle with large bunch of bananas.
Rejoined the BBC.
There was an examination waiting. To the amazement (and probably annoyance) of my colleagues, I took it right away.
It was a test of everything I knew and had learned from curiosity; and was indeed what every balance engineer should know.
Musical instruments and their transpositions, acoustics (frequencies, absorbtion, echo and reverberation). Simple circuits such as oscillators and rectification, microphones, loudspeakers etc.
I took the exam, passed and was put straight away on to balance and control of orchestras – Light Music Department.
This was when I first met Ernest Tomlinson! I balanced all those lovely little bands for which Ernest arranged Leroy Anderson's compositions.
[At this point Trevor jumps ahead to 1954, but we know from other sources that he continued to work as a balance engineer at the BBC during this period. He has credited Ray Martin as being the conductor who encouraged him to compose, resulting in his first big success High Heels as the 1950s dawned.]1954: I applied for the job of music producer in the Variety Department. I got the job because I didn't really want it! I loved the balancing job... I loved it very much, but the salary and status of producer was higher. I had begun composing and had a few pieces published. The future looked promising, so I resigned. I shall never forget the reaction of my boss Jim Davidson. He was horrified! 'What are you going to do?'
Compose.'
But it's hell outside.'
He did not know about my work, but 'Trevor Duncan' was already marked as 'staff' and his compositions were being denied performances on the radio, so I went.
Editor: no doubt 'Treb' was planning to embellish these notes before publication, and it would have been nice to learn more about the years between 1947 and 1954 since they were so important in establishing his credentials as a leading composer of production music. I hope readers with knowledge that I lack will forgive any spelling mistakes in the list of places that Trevor visited during his RAF service.
This article first appeared in 'Journal Into Melody' issue 188, June 2011
When you appreciate a composer’s work, it is always disappointing to discover that your admiration is not always shared by members of his or her family.
There have been many instances in recent years where we have been contacted by grandchildren (and even a great-grandchild in one case) who suddenly discovered that they had a famous ancestor in music circles. Quite why their parents hadn’t told them often remains a mystery.
Happily this is not the case with David Rose, one of the greatest Light Music composers and conductors of the last century. We were delighted to learn recently that celebrations are planned throughout his centenary year, and the following information has been kindly supplied to us by Barry Smith, of SWPR Group, Studio City, California.
In honour of the late David Rose’s 100th birthday on June 15, 2010, David Rose Publishing Company has launched a year-long salute to the award-winning composer and his works.
This centennial year will focus on a variety of projects, including the recording of a series of previously unexploited works, the first-time release of new tracks of Rose’s more popular themes and the continued promotion of his works for licensing and performances.
While the music of David Rose was created decades ago, it remains popular today in film and television and with orchestras of all sizes.
"Even 20 years after my father passed away, it’s great that his music is still requested and performed. We are regularly licensing his music and renting his scores," says Angela Rose White, chief operating officer of David Rose Publishing, and daughter of David Rose. "As part of his Centennial celebration, it’s also really exciting to take his music into the digital age. I think he would be thrilled that we are opening up his music to even more generations who can enjoy and be inspired by it."
Through digital distributor BFM Digital, David Rose Publishing’s year-long birthday celebration kicked off with the release of a new recreated master of Rose’s television theme "Little House on the Prairie" (1974). BFM also will distribute an EP digital release showcasing four separate tracks of Rose’s original television show theme "Highway to Heaven" (1984), including long and short instrumental versions and vocal recordings featuring lyrics by Hal David.
The centennial coincides with the first commercial recording of Rose’s composition "Le Papillon," written in 1980 especially for the expertise of one of the most widely heard classical flutists, Louise DiTullio. She has performed the piece live on very limited occasions during the past 30 years, and has now recorded it for the first time as part of her new CD, "The Hollywood Flute of Louise DiTullio," released in 2010 by Cambria and distributed by Naxos.
According to White, plans during the Centennial year celebration include the promotion of the David Rose rental catalogue to orchestras Rose guest-conducted during his 60-year career, and those that have rented his scores over the last two decades. Additionally, the company is working with ASCAP to launch a tribute in recognition of Rose during his Centennial year celebration.
Rose (1910-1990) helped establish the golden age of American instrumental pop and few artists have managed to equal his output in terms of innovation, diversity and volume. Dubbed "The King of Strings," Rose created his signature employment of pizzicato strings and melodic octave doubling over block chords which is clearly audible in his most popular works.
Rose is best known for his massive hits "The Stripper" (1958) and "Holiday for Strings" (1942), the latter serving as the theme song for Red Skelton’s long-running television show. Rose had a lucrative 23-year association with Skelton, writing numerous leitmotifs of Skelton’s many characters, including the clip-clop theme for Freddy the Freeloader that Rose titled "Lovable Clown."
In addition to Skelton, Rose enjoyed a long-term relationship with Michael Landon, working on three of Landon’s popular television series ("Little House on the Prairie," "Father Murphy" and "Highway to Heaven") and two Landon films. Rose’s scores for "Bonanza," "Little House on the Prairie" and "The High Chaparral" series have been regarded as some of the finest in television history and serve as a benchmark for all contemporary Western themes.
Composing music until his death on August 23, 1990, the British-born composer recorded over 5,000 hours of music and 50 albums, scored 36 films and composed the background music and themes for 24 television shows. In addition, he received four Emmy Awards and nine nominations, three Grammy Award nominations and two Academy Award nominations, as well as one gold record, two bronze records and several recognitions of repeated performances from ASCAP. He was also honoured as one of the original 1500 on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and "Holiday for Strings" also was inducted into the NARAS Hall of Fame in 2004.
To this day, Rose's music is at the forefront of Hollywood's consciousness as evidenced by its most recent use in TV shows such as "Two and a Half Men" (2009), "Ugly Betty" (2010) and "Scrubs" (2003), and films such as "Hot Tub Time Machine" (2010) and "The Full Monty" (1997) and among countless others. His legacy lives on not only through his brilliant compositions, but also through his innovation in the field of sound recording as he pioneered the use of the echo chamber and 21 channel separation in orchestral recording.
The Robert Farnon Society was proud to count David Rose as one of its members towards the end of his life. Today his music continues to appear on new CDs, especially in the Guild "Golden Age of Light Music" series where the following recordings are currently available:
DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
American In Paris, An (George Gershwin) (GLCD5120)
Bad And The Beautiful, The (Raksin) (GLCD5105)
Bewitched (From "Pal Joey") (Richard Rodgers / Lorenz Hart) (GLCD5123)
Bordeaux (David Rose) (GLCD5146)
Butterfly And The Alligator, The (David Rose) (GLCD5174)
Christmas Tree, The (David Rose) (GLCD5169)
Come Rain Or Come Shine (from the musical "St Louis Woman") (Harold Arlen) (GLCD5158)
Concerto (David Rose) + Don Ferris (Piano) (GLCD5173)
Dance Of Fury (Nacio Herb Brown) (GLCD5142)
Dance Of The Spanish Onion (David Rose) (GLCD5101)
Deserted City (David Rose) (GLCD5112)
Ding Dong The Witch Is Dead (from "The Wizard Of Oz") (Harold Arlen; E.Y. Harburg) (GLCD5174)
Falling In Love With Love (From "The Boys From Syracuse") (Richard Rodgers / Lorenz Hart) (GLCD5123)
Fiesta In Seville (David Rose) (GLCD5161)
Firebird Ballet : Dance Of The Princesses; Dance Of Kastchei; Berceuse & Finale (Stravinsky, arr. Rose) (GLCD5172)
Flying Horse, The (David Rose) (GLCD5114)
Holiday For Trombones (David Rose) (GLCD5154)
How High The Moon (Hamilton, Lewis) (GLCD5156)
Humoresque (Antonin Dvorak) (GLCD5171)
I Get A Kick Out Of You (From "Anything Goes") (Cole Porter) (GLCD5127)
I’ll Take Romance (Ben Oakland / Oscar Hammerstein II) (GLCD5170)
Intermezzo From "Escape To Happiness" (Souvenir de Vienne) (Provost) (GLCD5124)
It’s Only A Paper Moon (from the film "Take A Chance" 1933) (Harold Arlen) (GLCD5152)
Last Night When We Were Young (Harold Arlen) (GLCD5133)
Laura (From the film "Laura") (Johnny Mercer / David Raksin) (GLCD5114)
Liza (I & G Gershwin / Kahn) (GLCD5103)
Majorca (David Rose) (GLCD5165)
Manhattan Square Dance (David Rose) (GLCD5102)
March Of The Pretzels (David Rose) (GLCD5162)
Moon Of Manakoora (Alfred Newman / Frank Loesser) (GLCD5151)
October Mist (Fiorito / Webster) (GLCD5145)
One Love (David Rose) (GLCD5136)
Pam Pam (David Rose) (GLCD5177)
Peppertree Lane (from "Hollywood Bowl Suite") (David Rose) (GLCD5174)
Roman Holiday (David Rose) (GLCD5161)
Satan And The Polar Bear (David Rose) (GLCD5105)
Stars Shine In Your Eyes (from "La Strada") (Nino Rota) (GLCD5160)
Sweet Sue (Will Harris / Victor Young) (GLCD5133)
That Old Black Magic (Harold Arlen) (GLCD5119)
Waltz Of The Bubbles (David Rose) (GLCD5103)
What’s Good About Goodbye? (From the film "Casbah") (Leo Robin / Harold Arlen) (GLCD5114)
Why Do You Pass Me By (Hess / Misraki / Carter) (GLCD5155)
Why Was I Born (Jerome Kern) (GLCD5148)
MANTOVANI AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Dance of the Spanish Onion (David Rose) (GLCD5139)
MORTON GOULD AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Holiday For Strings (David Rose) (GLCD5120)
VICTOR YOUNG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
My Dog Has Fleas (David Rose) (GLCD5143)
CHARLES WILLIAMS AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA
Parade of the Clowns ((David Rose) (GLCD5104)
PHILIP GREEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Stringopation (David Rose) (GLCD5135)
DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA on Vocalion
Autumn Leaves; Music from "Gigi" (Vocalion CDNJT5206)
This feature originally appeared in ‘Journal Into Melody’, December 2010
JOHN WILSON’s RODGERS AND HAMMERSTEIN PROM CONCERT IN 2010
Special Reports by Hamish Maclean and Tony Clayden
This was another resounding success for the John Wilson Orchestra.
The Prom was given to commemorate the death of Oscar Hammerstein 11 who died 50 years ago on the 23rd August 1960. London’s Royal Albert Hall was absolutely packed and to give you an idea how difficult it was to get tickets I went on the website just after 8:00am when booking opened, and I was in a queue of just under 4,000. I cannot say whether they were all after the Rodgers and Hammerstein Prom, but when I finally got through all I was offered was the quite poor seats in the upper circle. I have since heard all seats were sold by 12:00pm
Last year it was MGM; this year it was the turn of 20th Century Fox who produced nearly all the Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals for the silver screen – in many cases the huge screen of the Todd-AO process using 70 mm film.
The spotlight was firmly on the 20th Century Fox Music Department and their director, the legendary Alfred Newman. Apart from ‘Oklahoma’ and ‘The Sound of Music’ the musical scores were adapted by him and a team of brilliant orchestrators – Edward B. Powell, Gus Levene, Pete King, Herbert Spencer and Bernard Mayers.
‘Oklahoma’ was adapted by another legendary figure, Robert Russell Bennett who wrote the original orchestrations for the Broadway pit orchestra and then was asked to expand them for a full Symphony Orchestra for the 1955 film. For ‘The Sound of Music’ Irwin Kostal wrote brand new arrangements, with the approval of Richard Rodgers, for the 1965 film directed by Robert Wise.
The Prom started with selections from ‘Oklahoma’ and concluded with the ‘The Sound of Music’. In between we had further selections from ‘Carousel’, ‘South Pacific’, ‘The King and I’ and ‘Flower Drum Song’.
The superb singers were Kim Criswell, Anna-Jane Casey, Sierra Boggess, Julian Ovenden and Rod Gilfry who all gave outstanding performances.
A special mention must be made of the Maida Vale Singers. They provided excellent soloists for June is Bustin’ Out All Over, I’m Gonna Wash that Man Right Outa My Hair, There is Nothing Like a Dame and Grant Avenue and their choral singing in Bali Ha’I and The Sound of Music’ was out of this world.
What can I say about the John Wilson Orchestra? Superlatives fail me but I am pretty sure of one thing: this Orchestra must be amongst - if not the best - in the world at playing this type of music. A friend who was with me at the concert could not believe the commitment they had to give of their very best - a point picked up by several press reviewers who commented several major international orchestras this season have failed to muster half the energy and commitment John drew from his players. The strings at one point I thought were going to take off along with the woodwind and the Big Band break in Grant Avenue made my hair stand on end.
The concert took place on Sunday afternoon, 22 August 2010 and it was broadcast ‘live’ on BBC Radio 3. For the TV transmission the following Saturday evening the BBC cut two wonderful songs from the programme – This Nearly Was Mine from ‘South Pacific’ and You Are Beautiful from ‘Flower Drum Song’ both sung by Rod Gilfry. I would be pretty furious if I was him, for he sung them beautifully and with such feeling. And why were they cut from the concert? Believe it or not they were removed to make way for another of the endless repeats of ‘Dad’s Army’. You couldn’t make it up.
The BBC should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves, but I do have suggestions to make that would go some way to making amends. Offer The John Wilson Orchestra and singers their own series on TV and Radio so that we could all hear a lot more from this world beating ensemble and PLEASE release a DVD of this Prom before the end of the year. OK!
Tony Clayden was also present in the Royal Albert Hall:
People are still talking enthusiastically about John Wilson’s 2009 Prom concert, (reputedly the most popular of the whole season!), when he presented a programme of music from the MGM musicals. Most of that material had to be painstakingly transcribed by John by listening to the film soundtracks.
After a great clamour, the BBC have finally bowed to public pressure and released a DVD of the concert, as reported in JIM 185.
It came as no surprise, therefore, that this year’s JW Prom concert was sold out within a couple of days of the tickets becoming available. My partner, Lyn, and I had ruled out any possibility of being there, but we had an amazing stroke of luck; Lyn won a prize in a local charity raffle! The prize in question was offered by a family who have a permanent box at the Royal Albert Hall, and we could select a concert of our choice - provided that the family didn’t wish to use their box on that particular day. The lady donor thought it was strange that we wanted to go to "an afternoon performance of Film Music", but yes, it was available and we ‘grabbed it with both hands’ before she changed her mind!
So it was that the afternoon of July 22nd found Lyn and I, together with David and Lillian Snell, and John Thompson, (who helps me set up the technical facilities at our London meetings), in a rather cramped box, bang in the middle of the hall, diametrically opposite the organ! The view of the orchestra was tremendous; the downside was that it became rather hot as the afternoon wore on. Still, we were much more fortunate than the poor Prommers who had to stand for a full two hours – there was no interval!
There was hardly an empty seat anywhere, (the only vacant spaces being a couple of unoccupied boxes), as John Wilson took to the podium, accompanied by a rousing cheer from the audience. This time, the programme was assembled mostly from scores which still exist – (these didn’t get binned, unlike the MGM music). The concert was planned to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the death of Oscar Hammerstein, and celebrated his partnership with Richard Rodgers, which lasted from the 1940s until Hammerstein died in 1960.
John’s aim was to present his favourite hits from the film versions of the R&H musicals; his hand-picked studio orchestra, led by Andrew Haveron, is modelled on the Hollywood Studio orchestras, which John considers to have employed the best players in the world. He chose the film - rather than the stage – versions, because he says they are more ‘opulent’ – some reviewers have commented that perhaps the sound is a bit too opulent!
The six shows featured were presented in chronological order.
The proceedings commenced with the Overture to Oklahoma! followed by Oh What A Beautiful Morning and People Will Say We’re In Love. This was then followed by three items from Carousel, which was reputedly R&H’s favourite. Following the famous Waltz, we were treated to If I Loved You and June is Bustin’ Out All Over and finally Soliloquy.
Next up were some numbers from South Pacific, which was 1958’s highest grossing film – it was also marked the first time that R&H became their own producers. The titles were I’m Gonna Wash That Man Right Out Of My Hair, Bali H’ai, There Is Nothing Like A Dame, Unspoken Thoughts and finally Some Enchanted Evening.
We then heard the Overture from The King And I. This show posed new challenges for R&H, because it was their first production containing no American characters.
The next two items were from Flower Drum Song and I believe that in this case John had to transcribe the music by ear, as the scores were not available. The 1961 film was totally overshadowed by West Side Story and this may be one of the reasons why it is much less well-known than its predecessors. The two numbers were I Enjoy Being A Girl and Grant Avenue.
The sixth and final selection was from their great enduring success, The Sound Of Music. The Main Title music segued into The Nuns’ Chorus and this was followed by two numbers which were written especially for the film version after Hammerstein’s death and for which Rodgers provided the lyrics – I Have Confidence In Me and I Must Have Done Something Good. The finale was Climb Ev’ry Mountain.
John then brought the proceedings to a rousing finish with his encore – the finale to Oklahoma!
The whole concert went extremely well, aided no doubt by the excellence of the solo performers, Sierra Boggess, Anna- Jane Casey, Julian Ovenden, Roger Gilfry and Kim Criswell, (although, in my opinion, was sometimes slightly outside her comfort zone). They were well supported by the Maida Vale Singers with some excellent ‘step-out’ soloists, including Sharon Eckman, who really deserves to be a full soloist in a concert of this kind.
Judging by the terrific response of the audience, and the many favourable comments overheard as we were leaving , this production was every bit as successful as the 2009 concert - I can do no better than quote from the Daily Telegraph, whose reporter described it as "An Enchanting Evening at the Proms with Rodgers and Hammerstein".
Let’s hope the BBC will be a little quicker off the mark this time and will release a DVD soon and let’s also hope that John Wilson will be asked back again for the 2011 Prom Season!
These reports originally appeared in ‘Journal Into Melody’, December 2010
THE ROBERT FARNON CD THAT NEVER WAS
By David Ades
On 30 & 31 October 1995, Robert Farnon was once again at the CTS Studios in Wembley, London, recording the orchestral backings for a new CD with the great American popular singer Eddie Fisher.
In a feature in JIM 125 (February 1996) it was hoped that this would be one of the most exciting new CD releases of standard repertoire that year. Eddie Fisher was reported to be full of eager anticipation for this project, which was expected to relaunch his career in a big way!
The JIM article continued: Eddie is now managed by Tino Barzie, who readers will recall recently guided the career of Pia Zadora, resulting in several superb albums which made sceptical critics eat their words.
It is hardly a similar situation with Eddie Fisher, who has been a big star for over 40 years. However he would probably agree that he has not exactly pushed himself to the forefront of the entertainment scene in recent years, but this new album is likely to do just that!
Vincent Falcone, previously Sinatra’s MD, is working closely with Eddie, and his great experience, plus Fisher’s undoubted talent, makes a combination hard to beat. Add Farnon’s brilliant scores, plus four swinging charts by Sammy Nestico, and you have a winning formula that can hardly fail.
Eddie Fisher was at the CTS Studios to listen in and guide the orchestral backings. As each score appeared on the music stands his enthusiasm grew, and the rich, warm Fisher tones could be heard soaring above the magnificent orchestra. The vocal tracks are being added in Los Angeles.
The basis of the Robert Farnon Orchestra this time is the London Philharmonic, leader Duncan Riddell ... 14 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, 2 French horns and harp. Added to that are the cream of London session players: Kenny Baker, Guy Barker, Steve Sidwell and Simon Gardner on trumpets; Don Lusher, Gordon Campbell, Bill Geldard, Mark Nightingale* and Cohn Sheen* on trombones; Roy Willox, Peter Hughes, Tommy Whittle, Duncan Lamont, Denis Walton* and Eddie Mordue* on saxes and woodwinds; Jim Lawless on percussion; Louis Stewart on guitar; Chris Lawrence on bass; and Jack Parnell on drums. Vincent Falcone was on electric piano. (*These players were not present on every session.)
The first three-hour session began at 2:30pm on Monday 30 October, and featured Robert Farnon conducting his arrangements of It Never Entered My Mind, April Showers, Oh my Papa and Love You Didn’t Do Right By Me. The evening session started with another run-through of Love You Didn’t Do Right By Me, followed by The Very Thought 0f You, My Shining Hour (this may well be the title track of the album), and My Funny Valentine. On the Tuesday afternoon Bob conducted My Foolish Heart, Love’s Been Good To Me and What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life? The rest of the Tuesday sessions were taken up with Vincent Falcone conducting the Sammy Nestico arrangements: Crazy On A Slow Boat to China, I Remember You and a medley comprising Wish You Were Here and Any Time.
……………………..
Fifteen years later we are still waiting for the CD to be issued. At the time we heard rumours that the producers were delaying its release until Eddie Fisher was available to undertake a tour of radio and television stations in the USA to promote the album, but it seems he was unwilling to commit to it.
Now that he has passed on (his obituary appears on page xx of this issue) is it possible that the CD may finally reach the record stores? It is well known that the death of an artist seems to result in an upsurge in interest of their work. The producers must have invested a lot of money in the original sessions – perhaps they may now be considering recouping it.
When he heard the test results (after Fisher’s vocals had been added in the USA) Robert Farnon confided to us that he was a little unhappy with the way in which some choral passages intruded on his original arrangements. Also it has to be said that Fisher’s voice had passed its prime.
The results could have damaged his reputation, which possibly was the real reason why these sessions produced "The CD That Never Was".
This article originally appeared in ‘Journal Into Melody’, December 2010
26
May
BBC Acknowledges that it has failed to maintain its appeal to Older Listeners
Written by Super UserBBC ACKNOWLEDGES THAT IT HAS FAILED TO MAINTAIN ITS APPEAL TO MANY OLDER LISTENERS
Last February BBC Radio 2 was told to do more to appeal to older listeners - particularly over-65s.
In a major review of the station, the BBC Trust said Britain's biggest network should find a "more varied and challenging selection of programmes" - even if this meant losing some of its audience. The review, which began nine months earlier, said Radio 2 needed to be more "distinctive" and more ambitious in its "non-music" programmes in peak-time. The station targets over 35s with 82% of its audience within that age range with the average audience member of 50. But it said Radio 2 must do "more to target those over 65 years of age". The Trust concluded that Radio 2 was highly regarded by audiences but should use its scale to be more distinctive.
Other recommendations today included: Providing peak-time audiences with more content they could not hear elsewhere, refreshing comedy and arts programmes; Reaching more ethnic minority groups. BBC Trustee David Liddiment, who led the review, said: "Radio 2 has a large audience who clearly love its output, but the review showed it must break out of the routine with its programming, in particular to be more distinctive during peak time. We're aware of concerns about Radio 2 targeting a younger audience. The current average audience age of 50 is well within the station's target audience, but the Trust is clear that this must not fall any further, and we would like to see Radio 2 work on its appeal to over 65 year olds."
For years the Robert Farnon Society has criticised the music output of Radio 2. Although there are a few notable exceptions (such as "Friday Night Is Music Night" and shows presented by Russell Davies, David Jacobs and Desmond Carrington), the music played in most Radio 2 programmes can be heard elsewhere on countless radio stations, both local and national commercial. Older listeners who enjoy light music and the kind of repertoire generally classified as 'popular' (rather than 'pop') are poorly served. Even if a change of music policy results in Radio 2 losing some of its younger listeners, it could well find that the older generation will start listening in once again. Programmes appealing to more mature listeners should be broadcast during the daytime when they are at home to listen; it does not seem sensible to target daytime programmes towards a younger audience which is either at school or at work, as seems to be the case now.
First evidence of a possible change occurred in mid-April when Desmond Carrington’s weekly show was moved to 7:00 pm on Friday evenings, immediately before "Friday Night Is Music Night" which now occupies the 8:00 to 10:00pm slot. There is also talk of a ‘special’ in the summer bringing back "Legends of Light Music" – if this happens it will be announced on the Latest News page of the RFS website. This seems to be the best opportunity in years for those of us who would like to see a more enjoyable mix of music on Radio 2 to make our feelings clear. Every letter helps, and is more seriously considered than petitions by the powers-that-be.
BBC Trust publishes review of BBC Radio 2 and 6 Music
15 February 2010
A BBC Trust review published today concluded that Radio 2 was highly regarded by audiences but should use its scale to be more distinctive, while 6 Music was distinctive and well-liked by its listeners, but needed to reach a bigger audience.
The review looked at the performance of Radio 2 and 6 Music - including usage, quality, distinctiveness and value for money.
BBC Trustee David Liddiment, who led the review, said:
"Radio 2 has a large audience who clearly love its output, but the review showed it must break out of the routine with its programming, in particular to be more distinctive during peak time. In contrast, 6 Music has a distinctive approach, but the review concluded that it needed to grow its audience base without losing its USP.
"We're aware of concerns about Radio 2 targeting a younger audience. The current average audience age of 50 is well within the station's target audience, but the Trust is clear that this must not fall any further, and we would like to see Radio 2 work on its appeal to over 65 year olds."
Key findings and recommendations
Radio 2
The Trust's review found that Radio 2 was popular with listeners, who believed the station was distinctive - eight out of ten felt that Radio 2 offered something that could not be easily found elsewhere. This finding was supported by analysis of Radio 2's output which found that, in a typical week, most tracks played were unique to the station. The Trust's review welcomed the lack of music overlap between Radio 2, Radio 1, 6 Music, and comparable commercial radio stations. It concluded, however, that the station should become more distinctive by adopting a more ambitious approach to non-music content in peak time.
Radio 2's remit is to appeal to all ages over 35. Its under 35 audience has grown significantly over the last 10 years, albeit from a low base, but since 2004 this growth has stabilised. Today some 82 per cent of Radio 2's listeners are over 35, and the average audience age is 50. The review concluded that Radio 2 should maintain this stability but also protect the interests of its older audiences - specifically doing more to target those over 65 years of age.
Radio 2's listeners are loyal to the station, with nearly five million listening to no other BBC radio, and around two million listening to no other radio at all. The review concluded that Radio 2 should use this scale and popularity to make a greater contribution to the BBC's public purposes. The review's key recommendations were as follows:
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Radio 2 should provide the peak time audience with more content that the licence fee payer couldn't hear anywhere else. This meant, for example, refreshing comedy and arts programming and using some of this material in peak time
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As an entertainment station, Radio 2 should aim to preserve the aspects of the station which made it popular but we accept the risk that some loss of audience may be a consequence of a more varied and challenging selection of programmes
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It should also seek to address variances in reach between audience groups - for example the Trust's research showed that ethnic minorities in particular were less likely to listen
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The station should seek to promote the benefits of new technology so that hard to reach groups, such as the over 65s, did not get left behind.
