(Sidney Torch)
Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra
Analysed by Robert Walton
It may not have occurred to you, but Sidney Torch and Nelson Riddle have something in common. They both had a special “feel’’ for music and when the opportunity arose they couldn’t resist the temptation of maximizing the rhythm with a staccato effect, especially in three quarter time. The phrasing of the opening tune of My Waltz for You has two beautiful silences indicating the wonderfully appropriate cut-off points on the second beat of bars 2 and 6. These are both excellent examples of the Torch touch probably first captured by Johann Strauss Junior.
Nelson Riddle in his string arrangement of Vilia (Guild GLCD 5120) played as a waltz, gets every ounce of feeling out of the melody he could possibly find - living every natural nuance. He allows the notes to do the talking. It’s very similar to the Torch approach and gives the tune a whole new boost. They may be modern masters of music but it’s decidedly an “old fashioned” dance feel. In spite of their varied backgrounds, trombonist Riddle from the world of swing and organist Torch from popular music, both seem quite at ease with the same sort of phrasing. In no way is anything ever corny.
So let’s follow My Waltz for You in detail to find out what drives it. Johann Strauss Junior may have been the “Waltz King”, but Sidney Torch was perhaps the “Schmaltz King”, if that tiny intro with a violin solo is anything to go by. Listen to the satisfying way Torch writes for flutes. The first thing you’ll notice is what an exquisite but slightly sad melody it is, caused entirely by the strings arranged in close harmony like a jazz musician might score it. At the same time you couldn’t get a more relaxed waltz if you tried. It’s almost asleep! The first haunting 16 bars include all those staccato breaks, which build up quite logically to a song-like climax.
And so we arrive at the middle section with the tempo just a little faster. The lower strings are followed by flutes, clarinet and violins that shortly take a sudden dramatic dive. An oboe supported by the same flutes, hands back to the strings that ascend to produce a lovely Torch-like symphonic crescendo. Assorted solo brass and harp bring us gently back to the top, with the orchestra providing a positive finish. The tiny intro we heard earlier becomes the coda. The only grumble is that we aren’t treated to any orchestral “improvising” which we get in Torch’s faster pieces. However My Waltz for You is classic Torch with just the right amount of rubato and is given a perfect performance.
“The Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra”
Vocalion CDEA 6094
As he was internationally known (mostly for TV Themes and big band jazz arrangements), members of RFS might like to know that American composer/conductor Patrick Williams has passed away.
We refer to the Variety article here.
Written by Jon Burlingame
(Felix Barnard and Johnny S Black (music)
Ben Selvin and his Novelty Orchestra
Analysed by Robert Walton
Over the years I have regularly mentioned one of the most significant moments of popular instrumental history in the 20th century, that of David Rose’s million selling Holiday for Strings of 1944. Its influence on light music is still being felt right up to the present day...
(Felix Barnard and Johnny S Black (music)
Ben Selvin and his Novelty Orchestra
Analysed by Robert Walton
Over the years I have regularly mentioned one of the most significant moments of popular instrumental history in the 20th century, that of David Rose’s million selling Holiday for Strings of 1944. Its influence on light music is still being felt right up to the present day.
But let’s go back nearly a quarter of a century to another important date, 1920, and see what was happening then in the music industry. It was the year of the first known ‘pop’ disc to sell a million - Dardanella - a fictitious Italian or Spanish girl’s Christian name illustrated on a 1919 sheet music cover and inspired by the narrow strait in northwest Turkey. It would eventually sell a staggering 6,500,000 records. Ben Selvin (1898-1980), violinist, bandleader and recording manager, made more band discs than anybody else in the business - 9,000. Dardanella was written by Felix Bernard and Johnny S Black (music) and Fred Fisher (words). Its popularity was due to its continuous pattern in the bass, and is probably the first example of ‘boogie woogie’ in American music. There’s also an obvious touch of ‘shuffle’ tempo about it.
If you happened to have inherited any old 78rpm records, this sound will immediately take you back to those scratchy pre-electric days now of course cleaned up. After a quote from the end of the tune acting as the intro, it goes straight into a four bar rhythmic notation sounding like the first bar of Yankee Doodle. Also there’s a clear reminder of Poldini’s Dancing Doll and plenty of cutting syncopation from the world of ragtime.
Apart from its popularity another claim to Dardanella’s fame comes from a lawsuit in which Fisher sued Jerome Kern for plagiarism, insisting that the boogie-woogie-like recurring bass theme Kern used in his song Ka-lu-a was a steal from a similar device in Dardanella.
It took a good deal of arrogance for Fisher to sue Kern, since Dardanella had itself actually been stolen involving Fisher in a lawsuit of his own. It started out as Turkish Tom Tom a piano rag by Johnny S Black. Fisher wrote words for it and became its publisher, now using the new title of Dardanella. After its initial success, Felix Bernard, a vaudevillian came forward with a claim that it was he and not Black who had composed the main melody and renounced his prior rights to it for a cash settlement of 100 dollars. Bernard went to court to claim some of the royalties, insisting Fisher had defrauded him. Bernard’s case was dismissed but all later sheet music carried Fisher’s name as lyricist, while Black and Bernard are named as composers.
To hear Dardanella try Google.
In a few months time, our book "Hit and Miss: The Story of The John Barry Seven" will be published. Thoroughly and painstakingly researched over a number of years, it will feature contributions from several ex-members of the band and from friends and relatives of John Barry.
Comprising of around 350 pages, it will also be packed with an array of rare photos of the band, and the singers they often supported, as well as some unique images of memorabilia and documentation from that era; some never previously published, many more seldom seen.
Even if you are not necessarily a devotee of The John Barry Seven per se, the book offers a fascinating historical insight into the British music scene of the period and, more importantly, provides an essential read for anybody remotely interested in discovering more about John Barry's formative career.
It will be of great assistance to the authors if you would indicate an interest in purchasing a copy of the book *now*, without obligation. We will then be able to notify you as soon as the book is available with details of cost and how to order and pay.
Just send us an email message and we will be in touch in due course. Visit our dedicated web page here!
Obviously your personal details will be kept secure and not shared with anybody else.
Onyx Brass with guest players ● Cond. by John Wilson
Chandos CHSA 5221 (59.03)
This is a somewhat left-field release but recommendable nevertheless...
(John Fortis)
Charles Shadwell and his Orchestra
Analysed by Robert Walton
As well as developing and refining light orchestral music, Robert Farnon brought the genre to a whole new level. However we mustn’t forget it was actually David Rose who pioneered a totally original form of light music that even now in the 21st century remains unchanged and relevant. (It’s a similar situation to the standardization of the big band style in the 1950s that is still part of our culture)...
(John Fortis)
Charles Shadwell and his Orchestra
Analysed by Robert Walton
As well as developing and refining light orchestral music, Robert Farnon brought the genre to a whole new level. However we mustn’t forget it was actually David Rose who pioneered a totally original form of light music that even now in the 21st century remains unchanged and relevant. (It’s a similar situation to the standardization of the big band style in the 1950s that is still part of our culture).
The fast pizzicato opening and the slow sweeping arco middle section of Holiday for Strings stimulated a whole generation of post-WW2 composers and arrangers. And lovers of light music weren’t disappointed either. To prove it, a million of us purchased a copy of the 1944 hit record. But more than that, there’s plenty of evidence suggesting that even writers with an old-fashioned style couldn’t help but being influenced by the unique Rose format. In fact it’s no exaggeration to say that all light music written after that time was affected in some way. Here’s a good example.
Starting with the sound of rustling in the woodwind and pizzicato strings, immediately after two soft cymbal strokes (quite common in the early days of 78s), a solo flute emerges to play a bright exotic tune with a persistent rhythm over the tonic chord, like a muted Sabre Dance. But as well as that, there is a definite touch of the chords of the Latin-American tune The Breeze and I. Woodwind and strings are brought together to repeat the melody. A flute provides some decoration before the next section.
And taking a leaf out of Rose, we slip into the bridge for a little string lushness supported by the ever-faithful woodwind. As the brass enters, the Latin beat becomes evermore marked. In a way the influence of Bolero is heard. It’s strange but until I studied it more closely, Dancer at the Fair of 1947 had always sounded quite dated.
A distinct break then occurs after which we head ominously to the underworld, courtesy the cellos. The next sound could almost be the start of the 5th theme of Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue but we’re soon back in the land of Rose. We’re in the final stretch now as the brass booms in, heralding a repeat of the first chorus ending with one soft cymbal stroke.
Charles Shadwell and his Orchestra made several 78s for HMV including Dancer at the Fair that was a very popular novelty number in the early years of the BBC Light Programme and has truly earned its place in the annals of light music. “Memories of the Light Programme” EMI 8 27260 2
by William Zucker
I have read Bob Walton's article on this piece, and am induced to provide further notes and impressions on it, as I have long considered it one of Robert Farnon's best selections, judging from my own vantage point of serious music, as I feel that it exhibits a strong feeling of direction and purpose, most particularly in the latter portion of the piece...
Read Mr. Zucker's article here...
Mr Walton's article "Sevent Heaven" can be found here...
The article "Seventh Heaven", an analysis by Robert Walton can be found here (Ed.).
by William Zucker
I have read Bob Walton's article on this piece, and am induced to provide further notes and impressions on it, as I have long considered it one of Robert Farnon's best selections, judging from my own vantage point of serious music, as I feel that it exhibits a strong feeling of direction and purpose, most particularly in the latter portion of the piece.
These notes are intended to be strictly complementary to Bob's notes, and I have found nothing in them to cause disagreement, but rather for me to approach it from a different perspective, as my mode of analysis is of necessity quite different from Bob's, as I have pointed out on numerous past occasions.
First of all, I have to refer to the provenance of the recording. In a recent article I referred to the fact that many recordings released here in the USA were ambiguous as to their actual origin. I am aware of the musicians' strike that occurred in the late 40's to early 50's, during which period all recording for the purpose that "Seventh Heaven" and other selections were created had to be recorded abroad under assumed names such as in this case the Danish Radio Orchestra under Robert Farnon being presented as the "Melodi Light Orchestra" under "Ole Jensen." This is all very slowly being sorted out today, but I should mention that according to my friend Graham Miles' notes, the recording of this piece was issued in 1952, and here in the USA, an album containing this selection (the second of two albums under these auspices) appeared on the market in approximately late 1954 to early 1955. Very interestingly, regarding both of these albums, which incidentally appeared here with the name "Queen's Hall Light Orchestra" given as the performing group, with no further information about the conductor or any other specifics, also appeared in piano sheet music form, almost exactly as appearing in the albums, with the same selections and composers in the same respective order - totally unexpected, and quite a boon for anyone with a particular affinity for this genre of music.
Getting back to the musicians' strike for a moment, I should point out that we had one of our own immediately after the war. I didn't know too much about it at the time, being still in my early teens, but from what I subsequently ascertained, many recordings were made during this period that could be presented in broadcasts but were prohibited from commercial release. Undoubtedly many pirate recordings did circulate, but I can say that to this day I am discovering recordings made during that period that I had never heard of, some of which I found quite surprising.
In any event, I would suspect that Bob, who had a background in radio broadcasting as I did not, would have far more insights into these issues than I would have, and in any event I would prefer to concentrate on the music itself.
To begin, we get a preview of the main idea with its first phrase at the very outset, along with those downward arpeggio type flourishes that Bob refers to, completing the introductory portion, following which the piece gets under way.
The main idea is notable by a series of sequences following the initial rise upward, and this is repeated extending a step further up to start from a higher point, thus culminating on a different degree of the scale to pass into the next section.
This latter contrasts with the preceding in that the melodic movement is far more stepwise and conjunct than hitherto, with those repeated notes that Bob mentions, passing us into different remote keys that can be quite difficult to trace without sheet music for assistance. Especially at the end of this section, where for the moment we find ourselves back on an F pedal (F being the key of the outset of the piece), the sensation here is of having momentarily lost our way, somewhat similar to an effect I pointed out some time ago in a comment on Peter Yorke's "Melody of the Stars." But this "lost our way" effect can easily be thought of as something cleverly conjured by the composer, who was a master of this sort of effect (think of the middle section of "Promise of Spring," another of his better selections).
The tension and uncertainty is immediately resolved by the reappearance of the main idea, now stated in the horn to give it a degree of prominence which it clearly must have against the rather heavy accompanying background. What also immeasurably helps to this end is the harmonic step from F to B Flat which is a natural resolution; B Flat now being the key for the remainder of the piece.
After the full statement is disposed of, the aim is now not to once again head into uncertainty but rather to sum up everything, to pull it all together, which in this case I feel is phenomenally successful. One could point out the appearance of the main idea in augmentation, and also the final appearance over the tonic pedal with those Neapolitan and other flatward harmonies leading to the final B Flat chord, but for me, everything from the moment that the horn appears to restate the main idea to the very last note is rock solid and is subject to the highest praise as far as I'm concerned. This is what actually "makes" the piece for me. And in general, I find myself liking it far more than "Melody Fair" which Bob has also compared it to.
As far as the matter of this orchestra not having the same feel and "fit" with this material as the actual Queen's Hall Light Orchestra as Bob claims, for me the musical results sound entirely acceptable for the purpose, and I have always enjoyed listening to these recordings whatever their origin, so I would prefer not to nitpick on this issue but to simply enjoy the result as I receive it.
