GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5194

Nature’s Realm

1 Thunder And Lightning Polka (Johann Strauss, arr. Sidney Torch)
SIDNEY TORCH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Parlophone R 3488 1952
2 Stormy Weather (Harold Arlen, arr. Morton Gould)
MORTON GOULD AND HIS ORCHESTRA
RCA Victor LSC-2552 1961
3 Misty Valley (Peter Yorke)
FRANK CHACKSFIELD AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Decca F 10315 1954
4 Tango In The Rain (Lotar Leonard Olias)
RAY MARTIN AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA
Columbia 45-DB 3895 1957
5 Over The Hills And Far Away (Frederic Curzon)
NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by DOLF VAN DER LINDEN (as ‘Nat Nyll’ on disc label)
Boosey & Hawkes O 2290 1957
6 Whistle Down The Wind (Theme music from the film) (Malcolm Arnold)
THE WAYFARERS
Decca 45-F 11370 1961
7 Meadow Mist (Trevor Duncan, real name Leonard Charles Trebilco)
NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by DOLF VAN DER LINDEN (as ‘Nat Nyll’)
Boosey & Hawkes OT2340 1959
8 The Whirlpool Theme (from the film "Whirlpool") (Ron Goodwin)
RON GOODWIN AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA
Parlophone 45-R 4537 1959
9 Saga Of The Seven Seas (Clive Richardson)
THE SYMPHONIA ORCHESTRA Conducted by CURT ANDERSEN
Charles Brull/Harmonic CBL 438 1959
10 Summer Skies (Leroy Anderson)
EASTMAN-ROCHESTER "POPS" ORCHESTRA Conducted by FREDERICK FENNELL
Mercury AMS16037 1960
11 Wandering The King’s Highway (Leslie Coward)
DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON (as ‘Melodi Light Orchestra Conducted by Ole Jensen’ on disc label)
Chappell C 509 1955
12 Softly As In A Morning Sunrise (from "The New Moon") (Sigmund Romberg, arr.
William Hill Bowen)
THE MELACHRINO ORCHESTRA Conducted by GEORGE MELACHRINO
RCA SF 5063 1960
13 Fireflies (Peter Yorke)
QUEEN’S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by SIDNEY TORCH
Chappell C 338 1948
14 September In The Rain (Al Dubin; Harry Warren, arr. Ronald Binge)
RONALD BINGE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Decca F 10410 1954
15 Blue Is The Night (Percy Faith)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Columbia CS 8360 1961
16 Whirlwind (Eric Spear)
QUEEN’S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by CHARLES WILLIAMS
Chappell C 286 1946
17 Countrywide (Anthony Mawer)
HILVERSUM RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by HUGH GRANVILLE
De Wolfe DW 2678 1961
18 Tonnerre Sur La Louisiane (Thunder In Louisiana) (Gérard Calvi, real name
Grégoire Elie Krettly)
GÉRARD CALVI AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Pye NPL 28003 1958
19 Twilight On Las Pampas (Dominico Savino)
RICHARD HAYMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Mercury SR60103 1959
20 Headland Country (Robert Farnon)
QUEEN’S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON
Chappell C 652 1959
21 Trotting Class (Bruce Campbell)
DOLF VAN DER LINDEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA (as ‘Paul Franklin’)
Paxton PR 679 1957
22 Landscape (Paysages) (Roger Roger)
ROGER ROGER AND HIS CHAMPS ELYSEES ORCHESTRA
Chappell C 517 1955
23 The Mad Mountain Ride (George Trevare)
QUEEN’S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by SIDNEY TORCH
Chappell C 377 1950
24 Spring Idyll (Cyril Watters)
NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by CEDRIC DUMONT
Boosey & Hawkes O 2306 1957
25 Sunrise (from "Grand Canyon" Suite) (Ferde Grofé)
HOLLYWOOD BOWL SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Conducted by FELIX SLATKIN
Capitol SP 8347 1956

Stereo tracks 2, 10, 12, 15, 19 & 25; rest in mono

Initially this collection of Light Music was intended to reflect the scenic beauty of our world, but it soon became apparent that composers often took a different view – the opening track is a good example. Sometimes the word ‘nature’ means anything about our planet which is non-human, so this automatically encompasses the animal world, in all its myriad of forms. In total this offers many opportunities for composers to give their creative juices full rein, which explains why "Nature’s Realm" is certainly much more varied, and hopefully exciting, than the sequence of serene melodies which the album’s title originally suggested.

Johann Strauss II (1825-1899) conditioned his nineteenth-century audiences to expect charming waltzes, so it must have come as quite a shock to them when they saw Unter Donner und Blitz on the programme for the first time in 1868. Somehow the familiar English title Thunder and Lightning sounds less dramatic, but arrangers and orchestras ever since that first performance over 140 years ago have managed to create a big impact with Strauss’s Opus 324. The arrangement by Sidney Torch, MBE (born Sidney Torchinsky 1908-1990) avoids the percussive excesses of some versions, while still retaining the excitement of one of the most famous works of the ‘Waltz King’.

From thunder and lightning it is a natural progression to the accompanying storm, and probably the most famous piece of music that conjures up the sultry conditions that often lead to a storm’s climax was composed by Harold Arlen (born Hyman Arluck, 1905-1986). Stormy Weather is said to have been co-written with Ted Koehler at a party in 1933. Whether or not this is strictly true, there is no doubt that the weather exerted a benign influence on Arlen, who composed Over The Rainbow for "The Wizard of Oz" in 1939, even though the song almost ended up on the proverbial cutting-room floor. Our version of Stormy Weather, arranged and conducted by Morton Gould (1913-1996), bears all the hallmarks of quality to be expected from one of America’s most honoured musicians.

Peter Yorke (1902-1966) provides two compositions for this collection. It seems likely that Frank Chacksfield (1914-1995) recorded his Misty Valley in 1954 hoping that it might emulate the success of his big hit Ebb Tide a year earlier. Later we hear Fireflies, a catchy number Peter wrote for the Chappell Recorded Music Library.

Viennese Raymond Stuart Martin (1918-1988) was born Raymond Wolfgang Kohn, but after he fled from the Nazis and settled in England before the outbreak of World War 2 he chose to be known as ‘Ray Martin’. He became one of the biggest names in British popular music during the 1950s, and many of his own instrumental recordings were either waltzes or tangos. Tango In The Rain is by the prolific German composer Lotar Leonard Olias (1913-1990).

LondonerFrederic Curzon (1899-1973) devoted his early career to working in the theatre and like so many of his contemporaries he gradually became involved in providing music for silent films. As well as being a fine pianist and a conductor, he also played the organ, and his first big success as a composer was his "Robin Hood Suite" in 1937 from which comes March Of The Bowmen on Guild GLCD5106. This encouraged him to devote more of his time to writing and broadcasting, and several of his works have become light music ‘standards’, notably The Boulevardier (GLCD5177), Dance of an Ostracised Imp and the miniature overture Punchinello. He was eventually appointed Head of Light Music at London publishers Boosey and Hawkes, and for a while was also President of the Light Music Society. He wrote a large amount of ‘mood music’ himself – his setting of Over The Hills And Far Away being a typical example of his style.

Before he gained recognition for his more serious music, Sir Malcolm Arnold, CBE (1921-2006) was much in demand as a film composer. His most famous work was on "The Bridge On The River Kwai" (1957) but he seemed equally at home on small budget British movies, such as "Whistle Down The Wind". Mystery surrounds the performers of the title music, The Wayfarers, with some writers suggesting that the similarity to the film soundtrack could point to Arnold himself conducting a small group of musicians for the Decca recording.

Regular collectors of this Guild series of CDs will already be familiar with the music of Trevor Duncan (real name Leonard Charles Trebilco, 1924-2005). His beautifully crafted compositions continue to appear on new CDs, and this time it is his dreamy pastoral tone poem Meadow Mist that enhances this collection. He was working as a BBC sound engineer in the late 1940s when one of his first compositions, High Heels (on Guild GLCD 5124) made the light music world sit up and take notice. Eventually his successful and prolific output mushroomed to such an extent that he had to give up his ‘day job’ at the BBC, and also find several different publishers simply because he was writing too much for just one to handle.

Ronald (Ron) Alfred Goodwin(1925-2003) was a brilliant British composer, arranger and conductor, whose tuneful music reached the furthest corners of the world. As he gained recognition for his original compositions he became in demand for film scores, and one of his earliest major commissions was "Whirlpool" in 1959, from which we hear the main theme.

Clive Richardson (1909-1998) was best-known as a pianist during his early career, but working on many pre-war British films (usually without any credit on-screen) honed his talents as an arranger and composer. His London Fantasia (on Guild GLCD5120) was widely praised, and thereafter his work was regularly commissioned by many leading publishers – Saga Of The Seven Seas being a good example of his penchant for melodies with a nautical theme.

Leroy Anderson(1908-1975) is probably the best-loved American light music composer of his generation. For many years he was the chief arranger for the Boston Pops, and its famous conductor, Arthur Fiedler, introduced many Anderson novelties to an appreciative world. He was so prolific that some of his numbers have tended to become overlooked, such as the tender Summer Skies.

Wandering The King’s Highway, which appears to have beencomposed in the 1930s by Leslie Coward, owed much of its popularity to the recording by the famous Australian bass-baritone, Peter Dawson (1882-1961).

Sigmund Romberg (born Siegmund Rosenberg, 1887-1951) excelled at writing operettas – that once popular mainstay of the music scene that is now almost forgotten. "The New Moon" in 1928 contained two numbers which have become standards, partly through their unlikely attraction to jazz musicians – Lover Come Back To Me and Softly As In A Morning Sunrise. The latter receives a mystical arrangement by William Hill Bowen (1918-1964) for the famous British orchestra conducted by George Melachrino (1909-1965).

The American popular and operatic singer James Melton (1904-1961) introduced September In The Rain in the 1937 movie "Melody For Two". Our version is arranged and conducted by Ronald Binge (1910-1979), destined to remain forever remembered as the gifted arranger who designed the ‘cascading strings’ effect for Mantovani, but his true achievements deserve far greater recognition.

Percy Faith (1908-1976) hardly needs any introduction to Guild ‘regulars’. Born in Toronto, Canada, in 1940 he moved permanently to the USA where he quickly established himself through radio and recordings. From the 1950s onwards his fame spread internationally, due to the great success of his numerous long playing albums. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Faith arranged all his own material, and his compositions such as Blue Is The Night confirm his mastery of the light orchestra.

The composer of Whirlwind, Eric Spear (1908-1966), will forever be associated with the theme for the TV series "Coronation Street", but this was only one of many light music works he wrote. Midnight Blue, on a Ron Goodwin (1925-2003) 78, was included on Guild GLCD 5111, and his other works reissued on Guild include Proud As A Peacock (GLCD5160) and Stratosphere (GLCD5183).

In 1955 the English composer Anthony Mawer (1930-1999) started contributing occasional mood music pieces to London publishers De Wolfe, before joining the staff in 1959, where he remained until 1965. During this period he composed almost 500 titles exclusively for them, and Countrywide is just one of many delightful melodies he has created – this is his fifth to reach a wider audience through Guild.

Gérard Calvi (real name Grégoire Elie Krettly, born 1922) first came to the attention of the public in his native France when he contributed the music in 1948 to a show called "Les Branquignols", with Robert Dhéry adding witty lyrics to his quirky melodies. The following year he composed the score for "La Patronne", launching a career in mainly European films that would continue for the rest of the 20^th Century. By far his best known cinematic work was for the "Asterix" films, but Calvi was equally at home in the theatre and recording studios, and writing popular songs – over 300 in total. Probably his most successful composition internationally was One Of Those Songs - thanks to Will Holt adding the English lyric to a catchy orchestral piece called Le Bal de Madame de Mortemouille (on Guild GLCD5160). Tonnerre Sur La Louisiane is his seventh composition to date included on a Guild CD.

Richard (Warren Joseph) Hayman (b. 1920) started at the age of 18 as a harmonica player in Borrah Minevitch’s Harmonica Rascals, but he wisely decided to concentrate more on arranging and conducting. He worked on the MGM musical "Meet Me In St. Louis" and was put under contract by Mercury Records in 1950, for whom he made many singles and albums, the best-seller being his version of Ruby from the film "Ruby Gentry". Over a period of more than 30 years he also arranged for the Boston Pops, serving as back-up conductor for Arthur Fiedler. An established Guild favourite (this is his 23^rd appearance), on GLCD5191 he conducted Corrida by Dominico Savino (1882-1973), and this time he features the same composer’s sultry Twilight On Las Pampas.

The Canadian composer Robert Joseph Farnon (1917-2005) produced such a wealth of light music, that it is hardly surprising that some of his catchy numbers are still unknown to many people. Such a piece is Headland Country, and it would be surprising if he didn’t have his beautiful homeland in mind when he composed it.

Bruce Campbell was one of several writers who owed much to his association with Robert Farnon. He was a fellow Canadian, who actually came to Britain some years before Farnon, and played trombone with various British bands during the 1930s including Ambrose, Jack Harris, Jack Hylton, Sid Millward, Hugo Rignold and Lew Stone. Campbell assisted Farnon on his post-war BBC radio shows, and eventually became a frequent contributor to various mood music libraries. Trotting Class was written for the Paxton Mood Music Library, and it joins eight of his own works already on Guild.

The French composer/conductor Roger Roger (1911-1995) is also a prolific contributor to Guild ‘Golden Age of Light Music’ collections – 14 so far, and still counting. Paysages (Landscape) was one of his many titles that reached a world-wide audience, thanks to the Chappell Recorded Music Library.

The composer of The Mad Mountain Ride was George Trevare, who is mentioned on the internet working as a trombonist and arranger with the ABC Dance Band in Sydney from 1936. There are also references to him producing an Australian television series from 1961 to 1974 "The Magic of Music" which featured Eric Jupp (1922-2003).

Although not as well-known as most of the other composers on this CD, Henry Cyril Watters (1907-1984) was highly respected by music publishers, with his work readily accepted for its unfailing high standards. At times he was employed as a staff arranger by Boosey & Hawkes and Chappell, and he generously devoted some of his energies in running the Light Music Society for the benefit of his fellow musicians. He achieved a minor hit with his Willow Waltz (on GLCD5189)when it was used as a television theme, and his beautiful Spring Idyll is his ninth composition now receiving a fully deserved commercial release on Guild.

New Yorker Ferde, or Ferdie Grofé (born Ferdinand Rudolph von Grofé, 1892-1972) became known in his native USA during the 1920s, partly through his piano playing with the famous Paul Whiteman (1890-1967) Orchestra. He created hundreds of arrangements of popular tunes for the band, the most memorable being Rhapsody In Blue by George Gershwin (1898-1937). Possibly Grofé’s own most remembered work was his "Grand Canyon Suite", composed in 1931. The opening movement Sunrise provides a suitably dramatic conclusion to this collection.

David Ades

GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5189

Holidays For Strings

1 Belle Of The Ball (Leroy Anderson)
LEROY ANDERSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Decca DL 78954 1959
2 Beyond The Blue Horizon (from the film "Monte Carlo") (Richard Whiting; W. Franke Harling)
JACK SHAINDLIN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Brunswick STA 3055 1961
3 Love Is Sweeping The Country (George Gershwin)
FREDERICK FENNELL AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Mercury CMS 18050 1961
4 Dance Of The Slave Maidens (also known as ‘Stranger In Paradise’) (from "Prince Igor")
(Borodin, arr. David Carroll)
DAVID CARROLL AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Mercury CMS 18045 1961
5 Thanks For The Memory (Leo Robin; Ralph Rainger)
GEOFF LOVE AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA
Columbia SCX 3527 1958
6 Serenade To Double Scotch (George Martin)
RON GOODWIN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Parlophone PCS 3019 1961
7 Gigi (Theme from the film) (Alan Jay Lerner; Frederick Loewe)
THE MELACHRINO STRINGS Conducted by GEORGE MELACHRINO
RCA Victor LSP 2412 1961
8 Cumana (Barclay Allen; Roc Hillman)
THE CLEBANOFF STRINGS AND PERCUSSION
Mercury CMS 18053 1961
9 The Willow Waltz (Cyril Watters)
NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by MONIA LITER (as ‘Paul Hamilton’)
Boosey & Hawkes O 2381 1960
10 Perfidia (Alberto Borras Dominguez)
XAVIER CUGAT AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Mercury PPS 2003 1961
11 Bouquet (Percy Faith)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Philips SBBL 615 1961
12 The Most Beautiful Girl In The World (Richard Rodgers; Lorenz Hart, arr. William Hill Bowen)
THE LIVING STRINGS Conducted by HILL BOWEN
RCA Camden CAS 637 1960
13 Adios (Enric Madriguera; Eddie Woods, arr. Geoff Love)
MANUEL AND THE MUSIC OF THE MOUNTAINS (‘Manuel’ is GEOFF LOVE)
Columbia SCX 3402 1961
14 Then You May Take Me To The Fair (from "Camelot") (Alan Jay Lerner; Frederick Loewe, arr. Brian Fahey)
CYRIL ORNADEL AND THE STARLIGHT SYMPHONY
MGM SE 3916 1961
15 Time Waits For No One (Cliff Friend; Charles Tobias)
REG OWEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
RCA LPM 1908 1959
16 Spending Spree (Andy Thurlow, real name Harry Rabinowitz)
DOLF VAN DER LINDEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA (‘Paul Franklin’ on disc label)
Paxton PR 681 1957
17 Nurseryland (Angela Morley, as ‘Walter Stott’)
TELECAST ORCHESTRA Conducted by ANGELA MORLEY (‘Walter Stott’ on disc label)
Chappell C 699 1961
18 On The Loose (Pat Beaver; Tony King)
THE WESTWAY STUDIO ORCHESTRA
Southern MQ 506 1960
"The Rebel" – Music from the film (Frank Cordell)
19 Main Title Theme
20 Oo-La-La
FRANK CORDELL AND HIS ORCHESTRA
HMV 45-POP 852 1961
21 Vanessa (Bernie Wayne, real name Bernard Weitzner)
CHARLES WILLIAMS AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA
Columbia DB 3167 1952
22 Faraway Music (Steve Race)
STEVE RACE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Parlophone 45-R 4840 1961
23 The Singer Not The Song – Theme from the Film (Philip Green)
THE KNIGHTSBRIDGE STRINGS Conducted by PHILIP GREEN
Top Rank International JAR 532 1961
24 Strolling Home (Robert Farnon)
STRING ENSEMBLE Conducted by ROBERT FARNON
Chappell C 707 1961
25 Periwinkle (Frank Sterling, real names Stuart Crombie; Dennis Berry)
THE WESTWAY STUDIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by KING PALMER
Southern MQ 519 1961
26 Jeunesse (Anthony Mawer)
HILVERSUM RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by HUGO DE GROOT
De Wolfe DW 2676 1961
27 Romance In The Breeze (Edward White)
THE BOSWORTH ORCHESTRA
Bosworth BCV 1353 1961
28 Holiday For Strings (David Rose)
DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
MGM SE 3748 1959

Stereo: 1-14 & 28; rest in mono

Two superb composer/conductors open and close this collection dedicated to the strings of the orchestra – although the other fine instruments are not exactly ignored! Leroy Anderson filled the airwaves of the 1950s with a succession of pleasing melodies that soon became firm favourites. And David Rose is widely credited as the man who injected short, bright pieces of instrumental music with an infectious string sound in the 1940s that would be emulated by many musicians during the following decades. Both have earned their place in Light Music’s Hall of Fame, but a glance through the list of numbers on this CD confirms that they were not alone in creating the pleasing sounds that once appealed to the majority of music lovers.

Although there were a number of popular conductors in the USA during the middle years of the last century, Leroy Anderson (1908-1975) is probably the best-loved American light music composer of his generation. For many years he was the chief arranger for the Boston Pops, and its famous conductor Arthur Fiedler introduced many Anderson novelties to an appreciative world. Several have already appeared on Guild CDs, and this time it is the turn of Belle Of The Ball which first delighted listeners when the composer’s own mono recording was released in 1951. Fortunately for posterity he made a new recording several years later when stereo arrived.

Beyond The Blue Horizon introduces Jack Shaindlin (1909-1978) to a Guild CD for the first time, but it should be noted that he was a big name in American music circles for most of his life. From his humble origins in the Crimea, Ukraine, he moved to America as a young boy after winning a music scholarship in Russia. He worked as a pianist for silent films, and his career eventually embraced composing, arranging and conducting (in the late 1940s he was musical director of the Carnegie Pops Orchestra). His music was used extensively in films and television, ranging from documentaries to cartoons. He was musical director of the March of Time newsreels which became a part of US culture.

Another Guild ‘newcomer’ from the USA is Frederick Fennell (1914-2004), who gained an international reputation as a conductor. He tended to specialise in wind bands, notably the Eastman Rochester Wind Ensemble, which he was reputed to have devised in 1952 when recovering from hepatitis. But his wide experience during his long life (he died aged 90) allowed him to participate successfully in many areas of the music scene, and Love Is Sweeping The Country is a delightfully feel-good version of one of the lesser known tunes from the songbook of George Gershwin (1898-1937).

David Carroll (1913-2008) – real name Rodell Walter ‘Nook’ Schreier – was well-known in his native USA as a conductor and arranger. In the mid-1940s he joined the newly formed Mercury Records where he spent the next 15 years. Initially employed as an arranger and conductor, he progressed to being a producer and was later promoted as head of artists and repertoire. His track in this collection (after ‘Kismet’ it became best known to the world as Stranger In Paradise) illustrates his versatility. He was particularly successful writing TV jingles for advertising, and became familiar to the public through his work with The Smothers Brothers, eventually becoming their General Manager.

The pendulum swings across the Atlantic to Britain for three of the top recording orchestras of the post-war years. Geoff Love (1917-1991) enjoyed a long musical career. He was accomplished in all aspects of music and was successful as a musical director, composer and arranger. He was a well-known personality in the 'easy-listening' music world, gaining international fame through his ‘Manuel’ alter-ego, under which guise he returns later conducting Adios.

Ron Goodwin (1925-2003) rose to prominence in Britain during the 1950s through a series of recordings that revealed a fresh and vibrant style of light music that greatly appealed to the public. Serenade To Double Scotch was penned by Goodwin’s recording manager George Martin (b. 1926), who also looked after The Beatles for Parlophone.

George Miltiades Melachrino (1909-1965) was one of the big names in British light music from the 1940s to the 1960s. Born in London, he became a professional musician, competent on clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone, violin and viola, and he worked with many British dance bands in the 1930s. After war service he built an orchestra which became of the finest in the world; when long playing records arrived, Melachrino’s sold in vast quantities, especially in the USA.

Chicago-born Herman Clebanoff (1917-2004) had a sound education in classical music and was an experienced violinist and concertmaster before he was 20. Usually just known as ‘Clebanoff’, he had a long association with NBC, and from 1945 he spent the next ten years as concertmaster of their Chicago-based orchestra, playing a wide repertoire from the classics to popular tunes.

Cyril Watters (1907-1984) was highly respected by many music publishers, and from 1953 to 1961 he was chief arranger with Boosey & Hawkes, often providing appealing arrangements for melodies supplied by other composers who were either too busy, or insufficiently skilled, to orchestrate their own creations. His compositions were accepted by several different publishers, but Boosey & Hawkes had the honour of introducing his most successful composition to the world – the sensuous Willow Waltz which created quite a stir in Britain when used as the theme for ‘The World of Tim Frazer’ on BBC Television in 1960. The orchestra is conducted by Monia Liter (1906-1988) who at the time was running the Recorded Music Library at B&H. Born in Odessa, he left his homeland following the 1917 Russian revolution, working as a pianist in a cinema orchestra in China. From there he moved on to many varied jobs in the Far East, finally ending up in Singapore where he spent seven years leading a dance band at the prestigious Raffles Hotel. While in Singapore he became a naturalised British subject, and came to Britain in 1933 where he worked with many of the top bands, including the famous vocalist Al Bowlly. In 1941 he joined the BBC as a composer, conductor and arranger, initially with the Twentieth Century Serenaders. After 10 years at the BBC, he left them to concentrate on concert work and composing.

Xavier Cugat (1900-1990) was a Spanish born bandleader who spent his formative years in Havana, but achieved fame in the USA. He provided the resident orchestra at New York’s Waldorf-Astoria before and after the Second World War, and he was also a cartoonist and successful businessman. His four marriages provided fodder for gossip columnists, but his lasting legacy is appearances in several Hollywood films and many fine recordings of Latin American music.

Percy Faith (1908-1976) hardly needs any introduction to Guild ‘regulars’. Born in Toronto, Canada, in 1940 he moved permanently to the USA where he quickly established himself through radio and recordings. From the 1950s onwards his fame spread internationally, due to the great success of his numerous long playing albums. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Faith arranged all his own material, and his composition Bouquet is a perfect example of the heights which orchestral music attained around 50 years ago.

William Hill-Bowen (1918-1964) was George Melachrino’s right-hand man in the years immediately following World War 2, often appearing on piano but, perhaps, more importantly as a brilliant arranger who managed to recreate his master’s famous style to perfection. Later as simply ‘Hill-Bowen’ he was to receive due recognition for his talents, partly thanks to a series of LPs commissioned by RCA.

From the late 1950s onwards Cyril Ornadel (1924-2011)) made many fine orchestral albums with his ‘Starlight Symphony’, aimed primarily at the American market. His regular arranger was Brian Fahey (1919-2007), well-known in Britain as a musical director, arranger and composer. Their contribution is a catchy tune from ‘Camelot’ that seems to have been forgotten.

Reg Owen (born George Owen Smith, 1921-1978) studied at the Royal College of Music in London. Following RAF service he became arranger for the Ted Heath orchestra from 1945, then arranged for other conductors including Cyril Stapleton.

Dolf van der Linden (real name David Gysbert van der Linden, 1915-1999) was the leading figure on the light music scene in the Netherlands from the 1940s until the 1980s. As well as broadcasting frequently with his Metropole Orchestra, he was regularly commissioned by the background music libraries of leading London music publishers to conduct their new works. He also made transcription recordings for Dutch radio and other companies. His commercial recordings (especially for the American market) were often labelled as ‘Van Lynn’ or ‘Daniel De Carlo’. Spending Spree comes from the pen of South African Harry Rabinowitz (b. 1916) who became well-known in Britain from his work in radio and television.

During the 1950s Angela Morley (1924-2009, at the time working as ‘Wally Stott’) composed many light pieces for Chappell & Co., the leading London publishers of background music. Nurseryland is typical of the pleasing, tuneful pieces that became her trademark.

On The Loose introduces us to a rare composition co-written by Pat (Patrick) Beaver, one of the sons of Jack Beaver (1900-1963) who was a leading figure in British production music circles for many years.

Frank Cordell (1918-1980) was a fine English composer, arranger and conductor whose work first became noticed through the tuneful backings he often supplied to some contract singers on HMV singles in the 1950s. Occasionally he was allowed his own 78s, and he was also responsible for several distinctive LPs which quickly became collectors’ items. The cinema beckoned with some prestigious projects and he was nominated for an Oscar for his work on "Cromwell" (1970). One of his early commissions for the big screen was "The Rebel" (1960) starring Tony Hancock (1924-1968) who was the top British comedian of his era, with millions adoring his radio and television shows. Like some other comedians before and since, he did not find it easy to translate his humour to the cinema, but "The Rebel" still contains many priceless moments, especially when he ‘spars’ with his landlady Irene Handl. Cordell’s score was superb, which HMV issued on both sides of a 45. From time to time Frank Cordell contributed to publishers’ production music libraries, and also composed (and conducted) under the name Francis Meillear (or Meilleur).

The American composer Bernie Wayne (born Bernard Weitzner 1919-1993) is best known at home for his "Miss America" Beauty Pageant theme, and the hit song Blue Velvet. His string of instrumental successes became popular worldwide, and included Port-au-Prince (GLCD5130) and Veradero (GLCD5111). Vanessa was also widely recorded by the top orchestras, and we have selected the Charles Williams (1893-1978) version for this CD.

Steve Race (1921-2009) first became noticed as a pianist and arranger with many top British bands of the post-war years, and he was a prolific contributor to production music libraries. His wide-ranging career also embraced conducting for many TV shows, and he was a popular compere of panel games and music programmes.

Philip Green (born Harry Philip Green 1911-1982) began his professional career at the age of eighteen playing in various orchestras. Within a year he became London’s youngest West End conductor at the Prince of Wales Theatre. His long recording career began with EMI in 1933, and he is credited with at least 150 film scores, including "The Singer Not The Song" (1960).

During his long career (from the mid-1930s to the 21^st Century) the Canadian composer Robert Farnon (1917-2005) became involved with many kinds of music, from the classics to jazz. Although his forte was undoubtedly in light music circles, Strolling Home finds him very much at ease with the melodic opportunities on offer from the small ensemble he conducted for the Chappell Recorded Music Library back in 1961.

The next three pieces from production music libraries are by composers who made significant contributions to this area of the music business. In particular Dennis Alfred Berry (1921-1994) who worked, at various times, for Francis, Day & Hunter, Boosey & Hawkes, Paxton and Southern; Anthony Mawer (1930-1999) who was a staff composer at De Wolfe from 1955 to 1965; and Edward White (1910-1994) the creator of two light music ‘standards’ – Runaway Rocking Horse (on Guild GLCD5102)and Puffin’ Billy (GLCD5101) as well as many other appealing melodies.

The final number in this collection features the talented musician whose famous composition, while still a young man, would ensure him lasting fame for the rest of his life. David Rose (1910-1990) created a unique string sound with his Holiday For Strings in the early 1940s that would inspire many fellow composers for years to follow. From time to time he made subtle changes in the orchestration, and during the 1950s he decided to extend and rework his best-known (at the time – The Stripper came a little later) melody, without spoiling its original ‘feel good factor’. It’s incredible to think that dots on a music manuscript could give so much pleasure to so many people for so long!

David Ades

GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5190

Continental Flavour – Volume 2

1 City Movement (Roger Roger)
ROGER ROGER AND HIS CHAMPS ELYSEES ORCHESTRA
Chappell C 696 1961
2 Simonetta (Belle Fenstock; Irving Caesar)
WERNER MÜLLER AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Polydor BM 6021 1956
3 So Wird’s Nie Wieder Sein(How It’s Never Going To Be)(Gerhard Winkler; Bruno Balz)
HANS GEORG ARLT AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Ariola 71231 1959
4 La Polka Des Menottes (Polka Of The Handcuffed Men) (Gérard Calvi, real name Grégoire Elie Krettly)
GÉRARD CALVI AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Pye NPL 28003 1958
5 Das Karussell, Das Dreht Sich Immer Rundherum (The Carousel Goes Round And Round) (Michael Jary; Hans Fritz Beckmann)
HANS GEORG ARLT AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Ariola 32721 1958
6 Champagne (Franck Pourcel)
FRANCK POURCEL AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Capitol T 10229 1960
7 Paris Palace Hotel (Paul Jules Durand)
HELMUT ZACHARIAS AND HIS MAGIC VIOLINS
Polydor 20742 1957
8 Tu T’Fous De Moi (Are You Kidding Me?) (André Varel; pseudonym of André Tubiana and Charles Bailly)
EMILE NOBLOT AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Odéon SOE 3181 1956
9 Toy Trumpet (Raymond Scott)
EGON KJERRMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Decca SDE 7134 1958
10 Parade Of The Elves (Heinzelmännchens Wachtparade, a.k.a.Tomtarnas Vaktparad)
(Kurt Noack)
EGON KJERRMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Decca SDE 7134 1958
11 Teddy Bears’ Picnic (John W. Bratton)
TEDDY PETERSEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Polydor 20394 EPH 1958
12 Les Demons De La Nuit (The Devils Of The Night) (Gérard Calvi, real name Grégoire
Elie Krettly)
GÉRARD CALVI AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Pye NPL 28003 1958
13 Till Margareta (To Margareta) (Kurt Larsson)
AKE JELVING AND HIS ORCHESTRA, solo violin SIXTEN STROMVALL
HMV 7 EGS 182 1960
14 The Phantom Brigade (William H. Myddleton)
EGON KJERRMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Decca SDE 7134 1958
15 The Whistler And His Dog (Arthur Pryor)
TEDDY PETERSEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Polydor 20394 EPH 1958
16 Hem Fran Slattern (Home From The Plains) (Kurt Larsson)
AKE JELVING AND HIS ORCHESTRA
HMV 7 EGS 182 1960
17 Happy Time (Tom Wyler, real name Toni Leutwiler)
TONI LEUTWILER AND HIS ORCHESTRA (as ‘The Harmonic Strings’)
Charles Brull/Harmonic CBL328 1952
18 Cupido Dansar (Cupid Dances) (Einar Hylin)
AKE JELVING AND HIS ORCHESTRA
HMV 7 EGS 182 1960
19 The Extravagant Polka (Pierre Leemans)
EMILE DELTOUR AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Oriole CB 1353 1957
20 Dance Of The Millions (Dolf van der Linden)
DOLF VAN DER LINDEN AND HIS METROPOLE ORCHESTRA
Paxton PR 526 1952
21 Ferry Boat Serenade (La Piccinina) (Eldo di Lazzaro)
CEDRIC DUMONT AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Polydor 45 073 LPH 1955
22 Military Tango (André Popp)
ANDRÉ POPP AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Columbia WL 130 1958
23 Amphitryon Waltz (Walter Borchert; Franz Doelle; Charlie Amberg)
ORCHESTRA MASCOTTE
Parlophone R 2691 1939
24 Tango Bolero (Juan Liossas)
BARNABAS VON GECZY AND HIS ORCHESTRA
HMV B 8833 1938
25 The Little Goblin (Der Kleine Kobold) (Willi Samariter)
FREDERICK HIPPMANN AND HIS KÜNSTLER ORCHESTRA
Odéon 26392 1930
26 Tales From The Orient – Waltz (Märchen Aus Dem Orient) (Johann Strauss II)
MAREK WEBER AND HIS ORCHESTRA
HMV C 2810 1936
27 Gib Obacht! (Watch Out!) (Ernst Fischer)
OTTO DOBRINDT AND HIS PIANO SYMPHONISTS
Odeon O 31166 1937

Stereo: tracks 3, 5 & 6; rest in mono

There is a slight shift in emphasis in this second volume of music associated with the Continent of Europe, compared with the first selection issued in 2007 on GLCD5132. Previously the intention was to create the impression of melodies reminiscent of various countries, often as perceived by musicians far distant from those foreign shores. This time all the tracks are played by orchestras resident in Europe, and there are examples of them performing some standard works from the light music repertoire, as well as pieces more closely associated with their homelands.

Two of the biggest names in Light Music during the post-war years in France and Germany have the honour of launching this collection. Roger Roger (1911-1995) was a leading figure on the French music scene for many years, and his fine compositions and arrangements also won him many admirers internationally. His own instrumental cameos were featured in a radio series called "Paris Star Time" (Paris a l’heure des Etoiles), which brought him to the attention of the London publishers Chappell & Co., who were rapidly expanding their Recorded Music Library of background music at that time. Roger’s quirky compositions soon became available to radio, television and film companies around the world, and more than a dozen have already deservedly appeared in this series of Guild Light Music CDs. British TV viewers with long memories may recall City Movement being used as the signature tune for the BBC soap opera "Compact" which was first screened in 1962.

Werner Müller (1920-1998) is also a well-established Guild favourite, sometimes under his familiar pseudonym ‘Ricardo Santos’. He was a bassoonist who became the original conductor of the RIAS (Radio In American Sector) Dance Band based in Berlin, which gave its first concert on 24 April 1949. It was not long before Müller began to realise that the public’s love affair with the swing era was gradually starting to wane, and sixteen strings were added to the line up. The band had built up a strong following through its Polydor recordings, and by the mid-1950s the labels dropped the ‘RIAS’ tag and simply credited ‘Werner Müller and his Orchestra’. In 1966 Werner moved to Westdeutsche Rundfunk in Cologne, where he continued to make LPs – both purely orchestral and also accompanying popular singers.

The fine orchestra conducted by Hans Georg Arlt (b. 1927) makes a welcome return with two contrasting and attractive numbers. So Wird’s Nie Wieder Sein(How It’s Never Going To Be) was co-composed by Gerhard Winkler (1906-1977), a highly respected composer and arranger on the German light music scene, whose charming melodies occasionally reached an international audience, such as Neapolitan Serenade on GLCD5115. Das Karussell, Das Dreht Sich Immer Rundherum (The Carousel Goes Round And Round) was the work of Michael Jary and Hans Fritz Beckmann – Jary (born Maximilian Michael Jarczyk 1906-1988) also co-composed Durch Dich Wird Diese Welt Erst Schön (Through You This World Is Beautiful) previously included on Guild GLCD5169. Hans Georg Arlt was the Concert Master of choice for many leading German conductors, such as Werner Müller, Werner Eisbrenner, Heinz Kiessling and Hans Carste.

Gérard Calvi (real name Grégoire Elie Krettly, born 1922) first came to the attention of the public in his native France when he contributed the music in 1948 to a show called "Les Branquignols", and started to write for films. By far his best known cinematic work was for the "Asterix" films, but Calvi was equally at home in the theatre and recording studios, and writing popular songs – over 300 in total. Probably his most successful composition internationally was One Of Those Songs - thanks to Will Holt adding the English lyric to a catchy orchestral piece called Le Bal de Madame de Mortemouille (on Guild GLCD5160). This time we feature two more of his original pieces, La Polka Des Menottes (Polka Of The Handcuffed Men) and Les Demons De La Nuit (The Devils Of The Night).

Any collection of Continental music would be lacking without a contribution by the great French conductor Franck Pourcel (1913-2000). During his lifetime he recorded over 2,000 songs, with I Will Follow Him (co-written with Paul Mauriat) becoming a big hit, especially in the USA. In 1960 he composed and conducted for Capitol an album devoted to French wine, from which comes the suitably bubbly Champagne.

Our roster of Continental Light Music ‘Greats’ moves back to Germany for the famous violinist who rose to prominence in the 1950s when the American Forces Network in Frankfurt described him as ‘the best jazz violinist in the world’. During his long career Helmut Zacharias (1920-2002) composed over 400 works and his album sales exceeded 13 million. Paris Palace Hotel is the title music from a 1956 French romantic comedy film starring Charles Boyer. The composer was Paul Jules Durand (1907-1977) who contributed the music score to numerous French films, and the 1954-55 TV series "The Adventures Of Sherlock Holmes".

Our first Guild ‘newcomer’ is Emile Noblot (1909-1965) who studied harmony and piano at the Paris Conservatoire, then pre-war earned his living giving piano lessons and playing on the radio. In 1940 he became a prisoner of war, and through the Red Cross he was allowed to organise a small orchestra to entertain his fellow prisoners. Back in civilian life he formed an orchestra for radio broadcasts, which sometimes numbered as many as 48 musicians. He often played on the piano, and many of his recordings featured the accordionist René Joly, who can be heard on Tu T’Fous De Moi (Are You Kidding Me?) – a tune which was made popular by Jacqueline François.

Raymond Scott’s (1908-1994) famous Toy Trumpet heralds the Swedish conductor and composer Egon Kjerrman (1920-2007), the second of several new orchestras making their debut this time. Kjerrman also conducts two other Light Music standards: Parade Of The Elves (by the German composer Kurt Noack 1895-1945) which boasts several alternative titles; and The Phantom Brigade by William H. Myddleton (1873-1950) whose surname sometimes appears as ‘Middleton’. Under the pseudonym ‘Arnold Safroni’ he wrote the famous Imperial Echoes march.

Danish music lovers will be familiar with the work of conductor and violinist Teddy Peterson (1892-1991), who is another new orchestra to Guild in this collection. He was formally trained at Copenhagen’s Music Conservatory, and played violin in many orchestras in addition to conducting his own orchestra. He was active in the film industry, and it is estimated that he recorded around 1,000 pieces of music during his long career. On this occasion we feature him conducting two well-known pieces of light music – Teddy Bears’ Picnic and The Whistler And His Dog.

A musician whose name will be familiar in his native Sweden is Ake Alexander Jelving (1908-1979). He played the violin in the Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, and was also a composer and conductor. His frequent radio broadcasts, particularly during the 1950s and 1960s, made him a household name, and his first appearances on Guild feature him in charming versions of melodies by Swedish composers Kurt Larsson (b. 1909) and Einar Hylin (1902-1975).

As will already have become evident, many of the orchestras featured in this collection will have been favourites in their own countries, and often beyond their national borders. As ‘Tom Wyler’, the Swiss violinist and composer Toni Leutwiler (1923-2009) became known outside his homeland, partly due to the success of his charming composition Lovely Day (on GLCD5183) which Frank Chacksfield recorded commercially for Columbia in Britain. His music was in demand from many broadcasting stations, and he was reported to have created over 2,000 arrangements. Bristol Cream (on GLCD5182) is another fine example of his mastery of string writing, but perhaps his most popular work is Happy Time on this CD.

Belgian violinist Emile Deltour (1899-1956) appears to have started his recording career as ‘Eddie Tower’, and some 78s he made in April 1940 of versions of Count Basie titles have received approval from jazz enthusiasts. Little seems to be mentioned in reference books about his light music, apart from a charming Concertino in Jazz for Harp and Orchestra which he first performed in the 1930s. On Guild GLCD5146 he appeared as both conductor (Aperitif) and co-composer (Polka For Strings); our choice this time is Extravagant Polka by the Belgian composer Pierre Leemans (1897-1980) which will have been one of Deltour’s last recordings.

We are back in familiar Guild ‘territory’ with Dolf van der Linden (real name David Gysbert van der Linden, 1915-1999). He was the leading figure on the light music scene in the Netherlands from the 1940s until the 1980s. As well as broadcasting frequently with his Metropole Orchestra, he conducted numerous recordings for the background music libraries of major music publishers. He also made transcription recordings for Dutch radio and other companies. His commercial recordings (especially for the American market) were often labelled as ‘Van Lynn’ or ‘Daniel De Carlo’. Dolf van der Linden has already appeared on more than 30 Guild CDs, and his inventive compositions such as Dance Of The Millions will ensure his deserved place in the Light Music Hall of Fame.

We return to Switzerland for a track conducted by Cédric Dumont (1916-2007), who was born in Hamburg, Germany, but during his long career he became known as "Mr. Music Man of Switzerland". He settled in Switzerland at the outbreak of World War 2 and was soon broadcasting from the studios in Basel. His career touched the classics as well as jazz, but it was in the sphere of light music that he became known throughout Europe. Eldo di Lazzaro’s catchy La Piccinina became an international hit in 1940 when the Andrews Sisters recorded it as Ferry Boat Serenade and took it to the top of the American charts.

André Charles Jean Popp (b. 1924) is a French composer, arranger and screenwriter whose main claim to fame rests with his composition Love Is Blue which was a big hit for Paul Mauriat in 1968, reaching number one in the US charts. But Popp’s long career has embraced many styles, often leading to eccentric arrangements, much of it for his broadcasts on French radio. Another success was The Portuguese Washerwomen (on Guild GLCD5132), and he returns this time with Military Tango.

There is one European light music ensemble that retains a special place in the affections of music lovers who still enjoy the traditional styles that were popular in the inter-war years. In Britain, Australia and New Zealand its numerous recordings were released under the name "Orchestra Mascotte". In Germany, Austria and Switzerland it was the "Wiener Boheme-Orchester". French record collectors looked for "Le Grand Orchestra Bohémien", and other titles included "Orchestra Tipica Viennese" (in Italy), Orquestra Los Bohemois Vieneses" (Spain and Argentina) and "Wiener Walzer Orkest" in the Netherlands. With such confusion over its name, it is hardly surprising that the conductors were also rather shadowy figures. However there is no doubt that Dajos Bela (1897-1978) and Otto Dobrindt (1886-1963) played important roles, although it seems that the various names used for the original orchestra were possibly later adopted by record companies for other ensembles. Following their Guild debut on GLCD5163 with Court Ball Dances, this time we feature the attractive Amphitryon Waltz.

Barnabas Von Géczy (1897-1971) was born in Hungary although his family originally came from Venice. After the First World War he decided to try his luck in Berlin where in 1924 he obtained his first resident engagement at the Weinhaus Traube. From 1925 to 1937 he led the Hotel Esplanade house orchestra, and during this period he made numerous broadcasts and recordings and undertook frequent tours. He became one of the best-known hotel ensembles in Germany and gained an international reputation, helped by superb performances of popular works such as Juan Liossas’ Tango Bolero.

Frederick Hippmann and his Künstler Orchestra from Berlin complete the list of five new orchestras appearing on Guild for the first time playing Willi Samariter’s The Little Goblin.

Marek Weber (1888-1964) was a major recording artist in the 1930s. He was born in the Ukraine, developed his career mainly in Germany, then moved to London to escape the Nazis, before living briefly in Switzerland - then emigrating in 1937 to the USA. His contribution this time is the waltz Tales From The Orient, one of the lesser-known works by Johann Strauss II.

Otto Dobrindt’s connection with the Orchestra Mascotte has already been mentioned, but this was just one of the many areas of Germany’s light music scene to benefit from his participation. As ‘Robert Renard’ he has previously appeared on Guild conducting Acrobatics (GLCD5132) and Donna Juanita (GLCD5116) but this was just one of several pseudonyms he adopted. From 1928 onwards he led orchestras with various names including the Odeon Dance Orchestra, Otto Dobrindt’s Piano Symphonists, Eric Harden, the Dobbri Orchestra and Frank Sandlers. To close this collection we unite his ‘Piano Symphonists’ with Ernst Fischer (1900-1975), whose compositions such as the South Of The Alps Suite (on GLCD5180) were to gain him recognition as an important light music composer. His catchy Gib Obacht! is no doubt intended simply as an entertaining novelty number, as which it perfectly succeeds.

David Ades

Light Music CDs. Some highly recommended releases.

Light Music is ignored by most Record Stores and Radio Stations, yet it is enjoyed by millions of people around the world.

You may know it as Easy Listening or Concert Music ... or maybe Middle-of-the Road. Whatever you happen to call it, Light Music offers relaxing enjoyment at any time of the day or night, and we hope that you will return regularly to this page in the Robert Farnon Society website to keep fully informed on the latest releases.

Releases up to December 2011

For 2011:

VOCALION REISSUE FOUR VINTAGE FARNON PHILIPS/MERCURY LPs FROM THE 1960s

Robert Farnon & His Orchestra
THE HITS OF SINATRA & A PORTRAIT OF JOHNNY MATHIS

THE HITS OF SINATRA
THE ORIGINAL LP SFL 13048 (1965) STEREO Second Time Around (Van Heusen; Cahn)
All the Way (Van Heusen; Cahn)
Come Fly with Me (Van Heusen; Cahn)
A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening (McHugh; Adamson)
In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning (Mann; Hilliard)
Only the Lonely (Van Heusen; Cahn)
Young at Heart (Richards; Leigh)
Call Me Irresponsible (Van Heusen; Cahn)
(Love is) The Tender Trap (Van Heusen; Cahn)
All or Nothing at All (Altman; Lawrence)
Nancy (With the Laughing Face) (Van Heusen; Silvers)
My Kind of Town (Van Heusen; Cahn) A PORTRAIT OF JOHNNY MATHIS
THE ORIGINAL LP SBL 7659 (1965) STEREO Misty (Garner; Burke)
The Twelfth of Never (Livingston; Webster)
It's Not for Me to Say (Allen; Stillman)
What Will My Mary Say? (Vance; Snyder)
When Sunny Gets Blue (Segal; Fisher)
Maria from 'West Side Story' (Bernstein; Sondheim)
Chances Are (Allen; Stillman)
A Certain Smile (Fain; Webster)
Gina (Vance; Carr)
Small World (Styne; Sondheim)
Wonderful, Wonderful (Edwards; Raleigh)
Someone (Kaempfert; Ilene)

Vocalion CDLK 4455

Robert Farnon & His Orchestra
MY FAIR LADY AND OTHER MUSICAL BOUQUETS & THE SENSUOUS STRINGS

MY FAIR LADY AND OTHER MUSICAL BOUQUETS
THE ORIGINAL LP SFL 13047 (1964) STEREO Get Me to the Church on Time (Lerner; Loewe)
Wouldn't it be Loverly (Lerner; Loewe)
On the Street Where You Live (Lerner; Loewe)
I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face (Lerner; Loewe)
Button Up Your Overcoat (De Sylva; Brown; Henderson)
Black Bottom (De Sylva; Brown; Henderson)
Dancing in the Dark (Schwartz; Dietz)
The Best Things in Life are Free (De Sylva; Brown; Henderson)
I'm a Dreamer, Aren't We All? (De Sylva; Brown; Henderson)
Sunnyside Up (De Sylva; Brown; Henderson) THE SENSUOUS STRINGS
THE ORIGINAL LP 852011 BY (1962) STEREO The Touch of Your Lips (Noble)
To a Young Lady (Farnon)
Isn't it Romantic? (Rodgers; Hart)
La Casita Mia (Farnon)
Moonlight Becomes You (Van Heusen; Burke)
When I Fall in Love (Young; Heyman)
Two Cigarettes in the Dark (Pollack; Webster)
I'm in the Mood for Love (McHugh; Fields)
Hey There (Adler; Ross)
Something to Remember You By (Schwartz; Dietz)
Just a Memory (De Sylva; Brown; Henderson)
Alone Together (Schwartz; Dietz)

Vocalion CDLK4462

Mike Dutton, of the UK Vocalion label, has been responsible for restoring almost all of Robert Farnon's early recordings to availability in recent years. Farnon fans owe him a deep debt of gratitude for making available once more those glorious 1950s sounds on Decca, but there has been a gap waiting to be filled regarding the 1960s -; until now.

Surprising the copyright owners have shunned the 1960s Philips LPs for decades, despite false hopes being raised on a few occasions. For years it had seemed to RFS members that the pairing of Bob's Sinatra and Mathis collections was a 'natural' for reissue, but it has taken until late 2011 for this to happen. Mike Dutton has now obliged, but he has gone one step further, by reissuing the 'My Fair Lady' and 'Sensuous Strings' albums as well.

Readers will not need reminding that these two CDs contain fine examples of Farnon's mastery of string writing, as well as his instinctive feel for the swing era that played an important part of his upbringing. What stands out today, is that these recordings do not sound dated: they could have been recorded a month or two ago, such is the timeless quality of beautifully crafted music such as this.

A long held appreciation of Farnon's work must have been the main reason why Quincy Jones signed him up to make a series of LPs for US Philips, a division of Mercury Records, also released in Britain by Philips. This produced five outstanding orchestral albums, the first of which was "The Sensuous Strings of Robert Farnon", released in October 1962. As the title suggests, "Sensuous Strings" focuses on Farnon's mastery of string writing, rather than his command of the full forces of a modern concert orchestra.

The sessions took place on 10 and 11 May 1962 at the Cine-Tele Sound (CTS) studios then situated at 49-53 Kensington Gardens Square in Bayswater, London. In some ways Farnon was thumbing his nose at Decca for their failure to fully promote his work while under contract with them, because these were new stereo recordings of numbers that had previously appeared in mono on various LPs of the 1950s.

In JIM 18 (August 1962) David Ades reported on the final session on the evening of 11 May, which he was able to attend. David wrote: "The first tune played at my visit was Just A Memory and it took well over an hour before everyone was satisfied with the result. The other three tunes -; When I Fall In Love, Hey There and To A Young Lady -; were recorded with very little trouble. Of these, To A Young Lady was the most memorable for me. It was about 9:40 and the session was due to end at 10:00pm. Only the string session and a flautist were left in the studio, and the almost haunting quality of the flute introduction had everyone in the control room amazed. The first 'take' was perfect, but with a few minutes left it was decided to play safe and have another run-through. This second performance turned out to be one of the few occasions when it has been possible to improve upon perfection!"

David also spoke with producer Quincy Jones: "Quincy Jones, A & R Manager for Mercury Records, couldn't hide his enthusiasm for Bob's music. 'I'd like to record fifty albums with him!' he told me." Douglas Gamley was also present, sitting with the balance engineer and closely checking the score to make sure that all the notes were finding their way on to the tapes.

Although the emphasis was on strings, Farnon makes subtle use of occasional woodwinds and brass. It is also good to hear two of his own compositions, the afore-mentioned To A Young Lady (dedicated to his daughter Judith) and La Casita Mia, blending perfectly with the standards making up the rest of the collection. On numerous occasions we hear the sublime violin of Raymond Cohen, for many years Farnon's concertmaster.

In later years Robert Farnon's recording sessions would be regularly reported in Journal Into Melody, but a glance through back issues in the 1960s reveals very little about the other sessions that Bob did for Philips. There were actually five instrumental LPs, the one still awaiting reissue being "Captain From Castile and other Great Movie Themes". This could be paired with the "Shalako" soundtrack, and we have suggested this to Vocalion. Will there be some good news to report about this one day soon?

This report is taken from 'Journal Into Melody', issue 191, March 2012.

GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5182

A Second A-Z Of Light Music

1 At The Theatre ("Up For The Day Suite) (Graeme Stuart, real name Frank Tapp)
REGENT CLASSIC ORCHESTRA
Bosworth BC 1200 1947
2 Bristol Cream (Toni Leutwiler)
THE SYMPHONIA ORCHESTRA Conducted by CURT ANDERSEN
Harmonic/Charles Brull CBL 446 1959
3 Curtain Time (J. George Johnson)
NEW WORLD THEATRE ORCHESTRA
Stereo Fidelity SF-3000 1957
4 Downland (Cecil Milner)
L'ORCHESTRE DE CONCERT Conducted by PAUL O'HENRY
Chappell C 389 1950
5 Edelma (Pasilli) (Terig Tucci, arr. Percy Faith)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA with MITCH MILLER (Oboe)
Columbia CL 551 1954
6 Fairy Tiptoe (Julian Fredericks)
HARRY DAVIDSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Decca Music While You Work MW 406 1946
7 Gazelle (Montague Ewing)
NEW CENTURY ORCHESTRA Conducted by SIDNEY TORCH
Francis, Day & Hunter FDH 060 1950
8 Huckle Buckle (Robert Farnon)
LESLIE JONES and his ORCHESTRA OF LONDON
Pye-Nixa NSPL 83009 1959
9 In A Monastery Garden (Albert William Ketèlbey)
NEW SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Conducted by STANFORD ROBINSON
Decca LK 4080 1954
10 Jack O'Lantern (Feux Follets) (Roger Roger)
ROGER ROGER AND HIS CHAMPS ELYSEES ORCHESTRA
Chappell C 470 1954
11 Kings Of Sport (Jack Beaver)
QUEEN'S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON
Chappell C 295 1947
12 Let Us Live For Tonight (Adrian Bernard, arr. Sidney Torch)
NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by REG LEOPOLD
Boosey & Hawkes OT 2127 1948
13 Miss Melanie (Ronald Binge)
STUTTGART RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by KURT REHFELD (as 'Lansdowne Light Orchestra' on disc label)
Impress IA 125 1956
14 No Orchids For My Lady (Alan Stranks; Jack Strachey)
ERNEST MAXIN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Top Rank International JAR 335 1960
15 On A Little Street In Singapore (Peter DeRose; Billy Hill)
MONTY KELLY AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Trans-World TWLP 211 1957
16 Prairie Schooner (Ron Goodwin)
CYRIL STAPLETON AND HIS ORCHESTRA ( as 'Malcolm Peters')
Top Rank 39/668 1960
17 A Quiet Stroll (Charles Williams)
CHARLES WILLIAMS AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA
Columbia DB 3215 1952
18 Romantic Illusion (Mischa Spoliansky)
THE HARMONIC ORCHESTRA Conducted by I. KARR
Harmonic/Charles Brull CBL 337 1952
19 Stereophonic March (David Rose)
DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
MGM SE 3748 1959
20 Taxi (Bruce Campbell)
DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON ('Melodi Light Orchestra' on disc label)
Chappell C 546 1956
21 The Unstoppable Man (theme from the film) (Bill McGuffie)
BILL McGUFFIE, piano and conducting THE CINE-MUSICA OF LONDON
Philips BBE 12374 1960
22 Vienna City Of My Dreams (Rudolf Sieczynski, arr. Billy Ternent)
JACK HYLTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA
HMV BD 393 1936
23 A Waltz For Terry (Trevor Duncan, real name Leonard Trebilco)
NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by DOLF VAN DER LINDEN ('Nat Nyll' on disc label)
Boosey & Hawkes O 2350 1959
24 Exotica (Philip Green) (from "Maku And The Monkey – Ballet)
PHILIP GREEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
MGM 180 1948
25 Young Man's Fancy (Peter Barrington, real name Felton Rapley)
NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by CEDRIC DUMONT
Boosey & Hawkes O 2208 1951
26 Zip Along (Edward White)
THE GROSVENOR STUDIO ORCHESTRA
Synchro FM 217 1959
Stereo tracks 3, 8 & 19; rest in mono

Just as two economists usually disagree, it would be difficult to find two music lovers who acknowledge where the exact boundaries of Light Music actually lie. The repertoire covered in this collection would certainly provide food for some serious arguments, but does it really matter? If music is enjoyable, then why do some people get so uptight about labels? At Guild we simply want to offer a varied selection that is pleasing upon a first encounter, and can become increasingly rewarding when it becomes better known, like a good friend.

Our first composer this time is Frank Harold Tapp (1883-1953) who was a contemporary of Eric Coates (1886-1957). Using the pseudonym 'Graeme Stuart', Tapp composed a suite "Up To Town which certainly contains the kind of atmosphere often generated by 'the uncrowned king of light music' when creating works dedicated to his adopted home city, London. Other suites by Tapp included "English Landmarks and "Land Of Fancy, but today his music seems largely forgotten, although two of his works have previously been featured on Guild CDs – Beachy Head Overture (GLCD5107) and Fighter Command (GLCD5164). From 1910 to 1919 he directed the Bath Pump Room Orchestra, which would have been a sizeable ensemble in those days.

As 'Tom Wyler', the Swiss violinist and composer Toni Leutwiler (1923-2009) became known outside his homeland, partly due to the success of his charming composition Lovely Day (on GLCD5183). His music was in demand from many broadcasting stations, and he was reported to have created over 2,000 arrangements. Bristol Cream is another fine example of his mastery of string writing.

J. George Johnson was an American pianist and composer who wrote more than 500 songs, although he never seems to have attained success in the charts. His best known was probably The Laughing Samba (with lyrics by his wife Anne Spear Johnson), which was recorded by The Andrews Sisters in the USA and Edmundo Ros in Britain. His composition Curtain Time came from a collection of several pieces connected with New York, from which Guild has previously included his Central Park Romance (GLCD5155) and Greenwich Village (GLCD5167). He died in April 1994 aged 80.

Edward Cecil Milner (1905-1989) was a respected backroom boy in London music circles, arranging for many top orchestras such as Mantovani, for whom he supplied around 220 scores. He was also an accomplished composer (he was being recognised while still in his twenties), with his works, such as Downland for Chappells, willingly accepted by several background music publishers. He was also closely associated with Charles Williams since their days working on pre-war British films.

Terig Tucci (1897-1973) was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, but he achieved fame spending most of his working life in New York. He played the violin, piano and mandolin, but his affinity with Latin American music meant that the major US radio stations employed him mainly as an arranger and orchestra leader. He made numerous recordings for RCA, where he was an executive producer for a while during the 1930s. His composition Edelma has rightly become a light music standard.

Julian Fredericks' Fairy Tiptoe was published in 1911, and it is among at least 40 of his pieces which were accepted by leading publishers between around 1902 and 1927. Little seems to be known of him today.

The English composer Montague Ewing (1890-1957) also wrote under the name 'Sherman Myers' (to appeal to American audiences), and he had a most successful career mainly as a composer and arranger of light music and popular songs. Among his best known works are Policeman's Holiday (GLCD5139) and Butterflies In The Rain (on GLCD5106 and 5137). Gazelle is a piece he composed for the mood music library established by London publishers Francis, Day & Hunter.

Canadian-born Robert Farnon (1917-2005) is widely regarded as one of the greatest light music composers and arrangers of his generation. His melodies such as Portrait Of A Flirt (on Guild GLCD5120) and Jumping Bean (GLCD5162) are familiar to millions around the world. He composed a vast amount of background music for the Chappell Recorded Music Library, and one of his lesser-known, but very appealing, pieces is Huckle Buckle. Around 40 of his works are already available on Guild Light Music CDs.

From the Lozells area of Birmingham, Albert William Ketèlbey (1875-1959) was a highly successful composer, who earned the equivalent of millions of pounds during the peak of his popularity. Pieces such as In a Monastery Garden (on this CD), The Phantom Melody, In a Persian Market (GLCD5120) and Bells Across the Meadow (GLCD5108)brought him international fame, no doubt assisted by his enthusiastic participation in the rapidly growing business of producing gramophone records.

Roger Roger (1911-1995) was a leading figure on the French music scene for many years, and his fine compositions and arrangements also won him many admirers internationally. He started writing for French films towards the end of the 1930s and after the Second World War he played piano and conducted a 35-piece orchestra for a major French weekly radio series "Paris Star Time" (Paris a l'Heure des Etoiles), which was sent all over the world and even broadcast in the USA. Roger's quirky compositions soon became available to radio, television and film companies, one of the earliest being Jack O'Lantern (original French title Feux Follets). His music is already well-represented on Guild.

Jack Beaver (1900-1963) was a 'backroom boy' in the music business – always busy composing and arranging, especially for theatrical productions. He has already been represented with a dozen of his mood music pieces on Guild, and Kings Of Sport was a gift to newsreel companies around 60 years ago.

Adrian Bernard wrote the words and music for the song Let Us Live For Tonight, but the credit for making it sound so special belongs to Sidney Torch (1908-1990) who arranged it for Boosey & Hawkes. It is conducted by Reginald Leopold (1907-2003), for many years a familiar name to BBC radio listeners, especially through his 17-year association with the "Grand Hotel programme.

Ronald Binge (1910-1979) is destined to remain forever remembered as the gifted arranger who designed the 'cascading strings' effect for Mantovani, but his true achievements deserve far greater recognition. He was a prolific composer in his own right - Elizabethan Serenade (on GLCD5162) The Watermill (GLCD5183) and Miss Melanie (on this CD) being three of his best-known works.

Jack Strachey (1894-1972) has ensured his musical immortality by composing These Foolish Things (GLCD5133). In the world of light music he is also remembered as the composer of In Party Mood (GLCD5120), the catchy number he wrote for Bosworths in 1944 which was later chosen for the long-running BBC Radio series "Housewives' Choice. No Orchids For My Lady was first made popular by Frank Sinatra in 1948.

Peter De Rose (1900-1953) was a prolific and successful American songwriter, whose most enduring standard is probably Deep Purple (on Guild GLCD5129). He wrote On A Little Street In Singapore in 1938.

Prairie Schooner is a composition by Ron Goodwin (1925-2003) who was under contract to EMI for many years. Similarly Cyril Stapleton (1914-1974) had a Decca contract, so when they decided to record an LP of Ron's original pieces for a rival label Cyril had to become 'Malcolm Peters'.

Charles Williams (born Isaac Cozerbreit, 1893-1978) composed a vast amount of music for films and production music libraries. He is one of the top contributors to Guild CDs, and A Quiet Stroll became familiar in Britain as a signature tune to a regular farming programme.

Mischa Spoliansky (1898-1985) was one of several Russian-born composers who left the German film industry during the 1930s to work in Britain, and later the USA. He provided a few pieces for London publishers of mood music, which is where his Romantic Illusion originated.

London-born David Rose (1910-1990) became one of the truly great light orchestra leaders in the USA, and his compositions such as Holiday For Strings (Guild GLCD5120) made him world famous. When stereo arrived in the mid-1950s his record company asked him to write something that would exploit the new wonder, and Stereophonic March was the result – even though it was first released in some countries in mono only! Is there a faint similarity to the music for the TV series "Highway Patrol (on GLCD5130)? There has long been a rumour in the music business that the composer of that famous theme - credited as 'Ray Llewellyn' - was actually David Rose.

Bruce Campbell was one of several writers who owed much to his association with Robert Farnon. He was a fellow Canadian, who actually came to Britain some years before Farnon, and played trombone with various British bands during the 1930s. Towards the end of the 1940s Campbell realised that he possessed some skills as a composer, and Farnon encouraged him and provided some valuable guidance. The fruits of this meeting of talents have already been experienced on Guild CDs in titles such as Cloudland (GLCD5145), Windy Corner (GLCD5150) and Skippy (GLCD5125). Taxi can now be added to Campbell's growing list of Guild credits.

Another musician whose career crossed paths with Robert Farnon is William (Bill) McGuffie (1927-1987). He is remembered by most music lovers as a fine pianist, often leaning towards jazz, although his occasional work in films proved that he was also a talented composer. The 1960 British crime film The Unstoppable Man may have vanished from cinema radar, but the music certainly deserves to be remembered.

The famous Austrian tenor Richard Tauber (1891-1948) made Vienna City Of My Dreams world-famous in the mid-1930s, so it came as no surprise when one of Britain's premier bandleaders, Jack Hylton (1892-1965), decided that it deserved what was termed in those days a 'concert arrangement'. His top arranger Billy Ternent (1899-1977) provided an inventive score that certainly put Hylton's polished musicians through their paces.

Trevor Duncan (real name Leonard Charles Trebilco, 1924-2005) was working as a BBC sound engineer when one of his first compositions, High Heels (on Guild GLCD 5124) made the light music world sit up and take notice. Eventually his successful and prolific output mushroomed to such an extent that he had to give up his 'day job' at the BBC, and also find several different publishers simply because he was writing too much for just one to handle. He was successful in many musical styles, and A Waltz For Terry finds him in a wistful mood.

We have had to admit defeat in our efforts to find a composition this time beginning with the letter 'X'. But Exotica sounds like it might start with an 'X' and we hope that the choice of music will forgive this lapse in precision. Its composer Philip Green (born Harry Philip Green 1911-1982) began his professional career at the age of eighteen playing in various orchestras. Within a year he became London's youngest West End conductor at the Prince of Wales Theatre. His long recording career began in 1933, and he is credited with at least 150 film scores.

Edmund Felton Rapley, ARCM, graduated from being a church organist in Gosport, to a familiar name on the BBC especially during the 1940s and 1950s. He studied at Winchester Cathedral School, and was a regular organist for the Gaumont British Picture Corporation– sometimes being given the prestigious invitation to perform the opening concert on newly installed organs. He was a prolific composer and arranger, seemingly at home in varied styles although many of his arrangements were hymns and religious works. His own pieces included the Overture Down The Solent (on Guild GLCD5140) and the catchy Peacock Patrol (written under the pseudonym 'Peter Barrington') on GLCD5143. He wears his 'Barrington' hat again for Young Man's Fancy.

Edward White (1910-1994) enjoyed considerable acclaim with his Runaway Rocking Horse when it emerged as one of the most popular pieces of light music in the immediate post-war years – the version by the Orchestre Raymonde can be heard on Guild GLCD5102. But he was to achieve even greater success a few years later with Puffin' Billy (featured on Guild GLCD5101), thanks to its use in Britain as the signature tune of "Children's Favourites, and as the theme for "Captain Kangaroo in the USA. Many other White originals found their way into the recorded music libraries of several London publishers, and this time we have chosen his lively Zip Along to complete this A-Z of Light Music.

David Ades

GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5184

The Lost Transcriptions – Volume 3

MANTOVANI AND HIS ORCHESTRA

1 Ad Infinitum (Kenneth Sydney Baynes, arr. Ronald Binge)
MANTOVANI AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Lang-Worth Feature Programmes PC-136A 1952
2 Dear Little Soldiers (from the show "Conversation Piece) (Noel Coward)
MANTOVANI AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Lang-Worth Feature Programmes PC-135B 1952
3 Heykens' Serenade (Jonny Heykens)
MANTOVANI AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Lang-Worth Feature Programmes PC-142B 1952
4 So In Love (from the show "Kiss me Kate (Cole Porter, arr. Ronald Binge)
MANTOVANI AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Lang-Worth Feature Programmes PC-115B 1952
5 Elizabethan Serenade (original title Serenade) (Ronald Binge)
MANTOVANI AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Lang-Worth Feature Programmes PC-146A 1952
6 Prima Donna (Paolo Cortese, pseudonym for Mantovani)
MANTOVANI AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Lang-Worth Feature Programmes PC-146A 1952
7 The Deserted Ballroom (Morton Gould)
MANTOVANI AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Lang-Worth Feature Programmes PC-123B 1952
++++++++++
8 Hallelujah (from "Hit The Deck) (Vincent Youmans; Leo Robin; Clifford Grey)
AL SACK AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Standard Radio Transcription Services Z-219-3 1945
9 Turkey In The Straw (trad. arr. Van Phillips)
VAN PHILLIPS AND HIS ORCHESTRA
BBC Transcription 12PM-18889 1943 or 1944
10 Malaguena (from "Boabdil) (Moritz Moszkowski)
THE ORCHESTRA OF H.M. ROYAL MARINES (PORTSMOUTH DIVISION) Conducted by Captain F VIVIAN DUNN, MVO ARAM RM
ORBS Cut 3080 (2EN 12169) Issue MK 6337 1940s
11 Lizards In The Lounge (Peter Yorke)
PETER YORKE AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA
World Programme Service 370 c. 1952
12 Prunella (Leslie Bridgewater)
ARMY SALON ORCHESTRA Conducted by ERIC ROBINSON
ORBS Cut 2791 (2EN 10537) Issue MK 5509 1944
13 Stairway To The Stars (Park Avenue Fantasy) (Mitchell Parish; Matt Malneck)
CAPTAIN ROBERT FARNON Conducting THE CANADIAN BAND OF THE A.E.F. featuring DENNY VAUGHAN, piano
Overseas Recorded Broadcasting Service for ENSA taken from "Canadian Caravan Broadcast on BBC Light Programme 27 August 1945
14 Handley's Seaside Holiday (based on It's That March Again : Michael North, arr. Hal Evans)
BBC VARIETY ORCHESTRA Conducted by CHARLES SHADWELL
BBC Transcription c.1947
15 Flower Of Love (Dave Dreyer; Herman Ruby; Harry Akst; David Mendoza)
CARL CHANDLER ORCHESTRA [real name EMIL CADKIN] Standard Radio Transcription Services Z-253-4 1949
16 Espanita (Edwin Franko Goldman)
HARRY HORLICK AND HIS ORCHESTRA (as 'Rene Savard' on disc label)
Standard Radio Transcription Services T 234-9 1945
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DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA

17 Just A Memory (from the 1927 musical "Manhattan Mary) (Buddy De Sylva; Lew Brown; Ray Henderson, arr. David Rose)
DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Standard Radio Transcription Services Z-160-1 c.1942
18 A La Bien Aimée (Eduard Schutt, arr. David Rose)
DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
World Program Service 179 c. 1945
19 Green Moods (Raymond A. Bloch, arr. David Rose)
DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Standard Radio Transcription Services Z-154-5 c.1942
20 Puppet Serenade (David Rose)
DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
World Programme Service (Australia) 012 c. 1945
21 Trees (Joyce Kilmer; Oscar Rasback, arr. David Rose)
DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
World Program Service 8419-8422 c. 1945
22 Won't You Be Mine (David Rose)
DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
World Programme Service (Australia) 012 c. 1945
23 There's A Small Hotel (Richard Rodgers; Lorenz Hart, arr. David Rose)
DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
World Programme Service (Australia) 639 c. 1945
24 Rose Of Bel-Air (David Rose)
DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
World Program Service 8419-8422 c. 1945
25 You Stepped Out Of A Dream (Gus Kahn; Nacio Herb Brown, arr. David Rose)
DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
World Programme Service (Australia) 006 c. 1945

The notes accompanying previous Guild collections of 'Lost Transcriptions' have explained in some detail what these recordings actually were. On this occasion suffice it to say that many of them were produced by broadcasters, although a large number came from commercial companies specialising in meeting the needs of radio stations. Others were produced for the Armed Forces during and after the Second World War, but they all had one thing in common: they were not available to private purchasers, and it was assumed that they would eventually be destroyed after they had served their initial purpose.

Happily for us some of them fell into the hands of enthusiasts and collectors, and in many cases they offer unique examples of work by leading composers and orchestras which was never made available in commercial recordings. The second "Lost Transcriptions CD (Guild GLCD5181) contained nine tracks from the Mantovani Orchestra, and from the same source we can enjoy seven more this time. Annunzio Paolo Mantovani (1905-1980) was the conductor of one of the most famous light orchestras in the world from the 1950s onwards. Born in Venice, his family came to England when he was aged four and he was something of a prodigy on the violin by the time he reached sixteen. But he leaned more towards popular music, and fronted many different kinds of ensembles before long-playing records (especially when stereo arrived) brought him universal acclaim.

In the immediate post-war years his Concert Orchestra was, in effect, a traditional light orchestra, similar to his peers such as Sidney Torch, Charles Williams and George Melachrino. Before Ronald Binge (1910-1979) created the now famous 'cascading strings' effect, Mantovani could be relied upon to produce superior performances of many light music 'standards', as well as original works that were 'missed' or 'neglected' by his contemporaries.

The first track Ad Infinitum was composed by Kenneth Sydney Baynes, one-time Head of Light Music at the BBC who was the son of Sydney Baynes (1879-1938), famous for his Destiny waltz (Mantovani's version is on GLCD5110).

Noel Coward (1899-1973) was a major force in British theatrical circles and his musical "Conversation Piece (1934) was just one of many similar productions. It was less successful than some of his other works, managing only 177 performances at His Majesty's Theatre. The big hit from the show was I'll Follow My Secret Heart, and the track on this CD is a comparative rarity. Mantovani was Coward's musical director after the war for "Sigh No More" (1945-46), "Pacific 1860" (1946-47) and "Ace of Clubs" (1950-51). His choice of Dear Little Soldiers is from an earlier era and must have been a particular favourite, although he did not record it for Decca. For the most part, he got on well with Coward and gave him great support in those ventures mentioned above. Coward was the only person who called him affectionately "Manti"; everyone else referred to him as "Monty."

Jonny Heykens (1884-1945) was a Dutch composer who was particularly popular in Germany. His most successful work became known as Heykens' Serenade (Ständchen) - the traditional Marek Weber version is on Guild GLCD5120, but Ron Goodwin also made a fine recording for the small British company Polygon in 1953 (on Guild GLCD5101).

So In Love hardly needs an introduction. It was just one of many hit songs in "Kiss Me Kate by Cole Porter (1891-1964). The version heard here is a completely different arrangement from Mantovani's Decca recording of the same tune, recorded in the summer of 1960.

Another hit follows, but this took some while to become one of the best-known pieces of light music from the past century. Mantovani's one-time chief arranger Ronald Binge wrote a melody he called Serenade, and the maestro made its first recording for Lang-Worth before the title was changed to Elizabethan Serenade – possibly at the time of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. It seems that this transcription recording was used as a signature tune by AFN in Germany, which probably led to the popular vocal recording by the Gunter Kallmann Choir. Strangely Mantovani didn't make a commercial recording for Decca, leaving the field wide open to Ron Goodwin (1925-2003) whose 1957 Parlophone single (reissued on Guild GLCD5162) was a steady seller for many years.

Mantovani demonstrates his skill as a composer in Prima Donna for which he used the pseudonym 'Paolo Cortese'. It also bears strong influences of Ronald Binge's work, suggesting that he may also have had a hand in it.

Another landmark piece of light music from the 20^th century was The Deserted Ballroom by the highly respected American composer Morton Gould (1913-1996). Among his best-known works were the ballet Fall River Legend and American Symphonette No. 3, which became better known as Pavanne (the mis-spelling was deliberate); versions have already appeared on Guild by Jay Wilbur (GLCD5139) and Percy Faith (GLCD5181). His distinguished career was crowned with a Pulitzer Prize (for his Stringmusic, commissioned by Mstislav Rostropovich for the National Symphony Orchestra of Washington) just a year before his death at the age of 82. This Mantovani version is longer than his commercial recording for Decca.

Before David Rose takes centre stage for the third part of this CD, we feature a varied selection of orchestras and composers from both sides of the Atlantic. Al Sack (1911-1947) was an American arranger and conductor whose promising career was cut short when he died aged only 36. He was also an accomplished violinist and composer, and when he left his home town of Cleveland to settle in California he worked with the likes of David Rose and Paul Whiteman. As well as his own instrumental recordings (Hallelujah is one he made originally for Black and White Records), he also accompanied leading vocalists such as Tony Martin, Fred Astaire, Dinah Shore and even Gracie Fields.

The American Van Phillips (1905-1992) was a respected member of London's dance band fraternity from the late 1920s onwards, and for a while was Dance Music Director for Columbia Records. He had a gift for arranging (as evident in his whimsical Turkey In The Straw), and after the Second World War he discovered a new talent for writing background music for publishers' libraries. When this failed to satisfy his creative instincts he eventually became a highly regarded professional photographer.

Malaguena features the Orchestra Of The Royal Marines (Portsmouth Division) conducted by Captain F.Vivian Dunn (1908-1995). He was their Director of Music from 1931 to 1953, in which year he was promoted to be Principal Director Of Music, Royal Marines, with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. In later years his conducting duties included tours on the Royal Yacht, and he became the first military musician to be knighted when he became 'Sir Vivian' in 1969.

One of the benefits of transcription recordings is that they regularly contain material not available elsewhere – which seems to be the case with Lizards In The Lounge by Peter Yorke (1902-1966). Leslie Bridgewater's (1893-1975) charming Prunella did find its way into the Paxton Mood Music Library, but Eric Robinson (1908-1974) offers us a slightly longer version.

Born in Toronto, Canada, Robert Farnon (1917-2005) had a distinguished career in Canadian Radio during the 1930s including a spell as first trumpet player in Percy Faith's CBC Orchestra. When Faith went to the USA in 1940, Farnon picked up the baton, but the Second World War was to make a major impact upon his life and career. As Captain Robert Farnon, he was posted to Britain in the summer of 1944 conducting Canadian Band of the Allied Expeditionary Forces, working alongside Glenn Miller and George Melachrino, who fronted the American and British bands. Farnon made numerous broadcasts for the BBC's AEF Programme, under such titles as 'The Canada Show', 'Night Cap', 'Canada Swing Show' and 'Canadian Caravan', which is the source of Stairway To The Stars. The piano soloist is Denny Vaughan (1922-1972) who also hailed from Toronto. He replaced Dick Misener as the band's pianist in April 1945, and also doubled as a vocalist. After the war he became known as the 'English Sinatra' through his work with Geraldo. He returned to north America in the early 1950s and made a successful career in radio and television. The Canadian Band's broadcasting schedule regularly involved around five new shows each week and, although Farnon did many of arrangements, the sheer volume of new music performed meant that he needed reliable orchestrators and copyists. The arranger of Stairway To The Stars wasn't credited on the original broadcast: it doesn't bear the usual hallmarks of a Farnon score, so it may have been the work Dick Misener, or possibly one of the regular team of arrangers which included Gary Hughes and Tony Braden.

During the Second World War comedian Tommy Handley's "ITMA ("It's That Man Again) BBC radio programme lifted the nation's spirits, and Charles Shadwell (1898-1979) (conductor of the BBC Variety Orchestra) was regularly featured to chat about the special orchestral interludes that became a popular part of the show. The programme actually continued until Handley's death in January 1949, and arrangers like Clive Richardson, Gordon Jacob and Charles Williams (to name just three) became better known as a result. Hal Evans took the show's signature tune It's That March Again as the theme for his Handley's Seaside Holiday, which amusingly traced the comedian's trip by train to the seaside, where he seems to have had difficulty finding somewhere to stay ('digs' being another word for a guest house). In the end Handley realises that 'there's no place like home' – maybe because he had to sleep on the beach with seagulls for company!

'Carl Chandler', the conductor of Flower Of Love, masks the true identity of Emil Cadkin (believed to have been born in 1920 – various references to his age differ), a prolific American musical director whose name crops up in films, television shows and as a composer of stock music, sometimes in collaboration with others such as Harry Bluestone (1907-1992) and William Loose (1910-1991). The Americans sometimes favour 'stock' as a description of production or mood music.

Russian-born violinist Harry Horlick (1896-1970) was the conductor of one of early American radio's most popular salon orchestras, largely due to his regular appearances on the long-running "A & P Gypsies show from 1924 to 1936. When this series ended, Decca signed him for almost twenty sets of 78s featuring what has been described as 'musically sturdy, if somewhat careful, albums, with a number devoted to popular and theatre music'. Such descriptions certainly apply to the recording of Espanita by a prolific American composer of band pieces, Edwin Franko Goldman (1878-1956), which Horlick recorded for Standard Radio Transcription Services in 1945, using the pseudonym 'Rene Savard'.

Finally the spotlight falls on David Rose (1910-1990) who needs no introduction to regular friends of Guild Light Music. Born in London, his family moved to the USA when he was four, and during his prolific career he became one of the biggest names in radio, films, television and – of course – records. Holiday For Strings (on Guild GLCD5120) gave his career a sudden boost in the early 1940s, and it proved to be one of the first in a string of memorable compositions that kept flowing from his fertile inspiration. During his very long career he made numerous commercial records, initially with RCA but mainly with MGM and, from 1967, Capitol. But at one time he was also active making transcription recordings, and these provide the final nine tracks in this collection.

To begin with he creates a distinctive brisk string sound (echoes of his famous Holiday For Strings) in his arrangement of Just A Memory, in contrast to some other arrangers who have tended to treat it as a slow, romantic ballad. Less familiar will be A La Bien Aimee and Green Mood, while Trees will bring back memories of rather strait-laced vocal versions by tenors long ago – happily it is reinvigorated in Rose's new 'canopy'.

The standards There's A Small Hotel and You Stepped Out Of A Dream complete the familiar titles in this collection, just leaving three original Rose compositions which may be less recognisable to many of his admirers. Puppet Serenade is hardly a serenade, sharing an affinity more in line with Parade Of The Clowns (the Charles Williams version is on GLCD5104). Won't You Be Mine certainly tears at the heartstrings; surely it deserved to be better known? It seems to be omitted from the list of his compositions on the David Rose Publishing website. Rose Of Bel-Air did become more familiar through later versions, although this early (was it the first?) version possesses its own special 1940s' ambience. The question arises: was this a self-portrait, or did David have another 'Rose' in mind when he composed it?

David Ades

GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5187

Light And Easy

1 Pyramid Dance (also known as "Heart Of Stone from the musical "Goldilocks) (Leroy Anderson)
LEROY ANDERSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Brunswick STA 3030 1960
2 Mack The Knife (also known as "Moritat from "The Threepenny Opera) (Kurt Weill; Eugen Berthold Brecht)
THE CLEBANOFF STRINGS AND ORCHESTRA
Mercury SR 60163 1960
3 I Love Paris (from "Can Can) (Cole Porter)
PARIS THEATRE ORCHESTRA
Somerset SF 2500 1957
4 Light And Easy (Harry Rabinowitz)
THE SYMPHONIA ORCHESTRA Conducted by CURT ANDERSEN
Harmonic/Charles Brull CBL 451 1960
5 On A Cheerful Note (Cyril Watters)
DOLF VAN DER LINDEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA (as 'Paul Franklin' on disc label)
Paxton PR 681 1957
6 Wind-Bells (Mahlon Merrick)
MAHLON MERRICK AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Urania LP 9013 1957
7 A Cup Of Coffee, A Sandwich And You (Joseph Meyer; Billy Rose; Al Dubin)
JOHN CLEGG AND HIS ORCHESTRA
RCA LPM 1916 1959
8 Main Line (Bruce Campbell)
BRUCE CAMPBELL AND HIS ORCHESTRA ('Coronet Orchestra' on disc label)
MGM 30837 1953
9 Fashion Show (Angela Morley, as 'Walter Stott')
TELECAST ORCHESTRA Conducted by ANGELA MORLEY
Chappell C 693B 1960
10 Pan American Panorama (Philip Green)
QUEEN'S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by SIDNEY TORCH
Chappell C 322 1947
11 Las Vegas Lady (Clive Richardson)
NEW CENTURY ORCHESTRA Conducted by ERICH BÖRSCHEL
Francis, Day & Hunter FDH 126 1954
12 Hilltop Holiday (Anthony Mawer)
COSMOPOLITAN ORCHESTRA Conducted by PHILLIPO ANDEZ
De Wolfe DW 2658B 1960
13 Bermuda Holiday (Kermit Leslie & Walter Leslie real surnames Levinsky)
KERMIT LESLIE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Epic LN 3452 1958
14 Las Vegas (Laurie Johnson)
GROUP-FORTY ORCHESTRA Conducted by LAURIE JOHNSON
KPM Music KPM 041 1960
15 Gay Time (Alan Perry, real name Ernest Tomlinson)
NEW CENTURY ORCHESTRA Conducted by ERICH BÖRSCHEL
Francis, Day & Hunter FDH 222 1959
16 Blues On The Rocks – Concerto (Bernie Wayne, real name Bernard Weitzner)
BERNIE WAYNE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
ABC Paramount ABC 182 1957
17 4:20 AM (David Rose)
DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
MGM SE 3748 1959
18 Lazy Day (Robert Farnon)
LESLIE JONES and his ORCHESTRA OF LONDON
Pye-Nixa NSPL 83008 1959
19 I'll Be Seeing You (Irving Kahal; Sammy Fain, arr. Glenn Osser)
GLENN OSSER AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Kapp KL 1022 1955
20 Now I Know (from the film "Up In Arms) (Harold Arlen; Ted Koehler, arr. Reg Owen)
REG OWEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
RCA LPM 1907 1960
21 This Might Be Love (Jerry Bock)
ACQUAVIVA AND HIS ORCHESTRA
MGM E 3696 1958
22 Stella By Starlight (Victor Young; Ned Washington, arr. Richard Jones)
PITTSBURGH STRINGS Conducted by RICHARD JONES
Capitol LC 6816 1956
23 More Than You Know (from the musical "Great Day) (Vincent Youmans, arr. Robert Farnon)
ROBERT FARNON AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Decca LF 1052 1951
24 There's A Lull In My Life (from the film "Wake Up And Live) (Gordon; Revel, arr. Frank Cordell)
FRANK CORDELL AND HIS ORCHESTRA featuring RONNIE CHAMBERLAIN, soprano saxophone
HMV CSD 1294 1960
25 Waitin' For The Dawn (Ron Goodwin)
CYRIL STAPLETON AND HIS ORCHESTRA (as 'Malcolm Peters')
Top Rank 39/668 1960
26 That's All (Bob Haymes, arr. Henry Mancini)
HENRY MANCINI AND HIS ORCHESTRA
RCA LSP 2101 1959

Stereo tracks 1, 2, 3, 17, 18, 24 & 26; rest in mono

It's a pity that so many people insist upon attaching labels to all kinds of music, because they tend to erect barriers that may often lead to false impressions. This can create situations where those who are unwilling (or maybe simply scared?) to venture outside of their usual comfort zones could well be denying themselves of many pleasures. In the case of 'Light' music, the term can mean unworthy or lacking substance in the closed minds of some professed music 'experts', yet to dismiss the composers and arrangers represented in this collection in such terms is surely a gross injustice.

The opening track is a shining example of the wealth of talent that so many possess. Leroy Anderson (1908-1975) is widely regarded as America's foremost composer of what his fellow countrymen often refer to as 'concert music' during the last century. Partly through his long association with the Boston 'Pops', he crafted many appealing melodies such as Belle Of The Ball, Blue Tango (Hugo Winterhalter's version is on GLCD5114), Forgotten Dreams (GLCD5135) and Sleigh Ride (GLCD5185) which have become part of his country's proud musical culture. But these were just four titles among a considerable number, and Pyramid Dance suggests that many more of his works could have become better-known, given the necessary promotion.

When a particular orchestra becomes especially popular, rival record companies try to ensure that they have a similar sounding ensemble under contract. In the case of the American Mercury label they chose Chicago born Herman Clebanoff (1917-2004) as its answer to the likes of Mantovani, Percy Faith and George Melachrino who were selling vast numbers of long playing records. Yet he deserved to be recognised in his own right, since he had a sound education in classical music and was an experienced violinist and concertmaster before he was 20. Usually just known as 'Clebanoff', he had a long association with NBC, and from 1945 he spent the next ten years as concertmaster of their Chicago-based orchestra, playing a wide repertoire from the classics to popular tunes such as Mack The Knife, his contribution to this collection.

When stereo discs were launched in the second half of the 1950s, record producers did not hesitate to tempt the public with exotic sounding titles that disguised the fact that they were probably not quite what they may have seemed. The Paris Theatre Orchestra, together with 101 Strings, were names used by the American Miller International Company on their bargain basement priced Essex, Somerset and Stereo Fidelity labels. The recordings usually employed various European symphony and radio orchestras and were linked by the name of Joseph Francis Kuhn (1924-1962) who composed, arranged, scored or conducted most of the early ones. It is highly likely that I Love Paris was his own arrangement, which he also conducted.

Harry Rabinowitz (born Johannesburg, South Africa 1916) came to England in 1946 and was employed by the BBC, first as a pianist then as conductor of the BBC Revue Orchestra. He later worked in television, and conducted many film scores. His composition Light And Easy provides the title for this collection.

Henry Cyril Watters (1907-1984) was a backroom-boy in the music business in every sense of the word. From 1953 to 1961 he was chief arranger with Boosey & Hawkes, and worked in similar capacities with other publishers, including Chappells. His own compositions were willingly accepted for many mood music libraries, and On A Cheerful Note was one of several issued on 78s by Paxton.

The American composer and conductor Mahlon Merrick (1900-1969) studied at the Chicago Conservatory of Music, but the lure of working in early radio drew him to California in 1927. He was associated with comedian Jack Benny for around 30 years, and was particularly successful at composing advertising jingles.

The John Clegg Orchestra is making its Guild debut with a catchy version of A Cup Of Coffee, A Sandwich And You. In "Lullaby Of Broadway, the daughter of Al Dubin says her father's inspiration for this song was the "Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam which contains what she calls the classic line "A loaf of bread, a jug of wine and thou..." The lyrics were co-written by Billy Rose, who found Joseph Meyer to compose the music. It was sung by Gertrude Lawrence and Jack Buchanan in "Charlot's Revue of 1925.

Bruce Campbell was one of several writers who owed much to his association with Robert Farnon. He was a fellow Canadian, who actually came to Britain some years before Farnon, and played trombone with various British bands during the 1930s. Towards the end of the 1940s Campbell realised that he possessed some skills as a composer, and Farnon encouraged and provided him with some valuable guidance. The fruits of this meeting of talents have already been experienced on Guild CDs in titles such as Cloudland (GLCD5145), Windy Corner (GLCD5150) and Skippy (GLCD5125). Main Line comes from a very rare single which appears to have only been released in the USA.

Another composer and arranger who received encouragement from Robert Farnon is Angela Morley (1924-2009) – born 'Wally Stott' in Leeds, Yorkshire. Today she is regarded as one of the finest British arrangers and film composers of her generation. In her later career she left England for the USA where she worked on several big budget movies (one example is the "Star Wars series assisting John Williams), and on TV shows such as "Dallas and "Dynasty. But during the 1950s and 1960s she made numerous recordings under her former name, also contributing many light music cameos to the Chappell Recorded Music Library– from which comes Fashion Show.

Also from the Chappell library we hear Pan American Panorama composed by Philip Green (born Harry Philip Green, 1911-1982). Apparently he was a compulsive worker, responsible for numerous broadcasts, film scores and compositions during a career lasting from the 1920s to the 1980s. His work is already well-represented on Guild Light Music CDs.

Clive Richardson (1909-1998) was best-known as a pianist during his early career, but working on many pre-war British films (usually without any credit on-screen) honed his talents as an arranger and composer. His London Fantasia (on Guild GLCD5120) was widely praised, and thereafter his work was regularly commissioned by many leading publishers.

The English composer Anthony Mawer [1930-1999] started contributing occasional mood music pieces to De Wolfe in 1955 (his first was Palm Beach Interlude), before joining the staff in 1959, where he remained until 1965. During this period he composed almost 500 titles exclusively for them, and Hilltop Holiday is typical of the bright, tuneful music that was much in demand around 50 years ago.

Kermit Leslie (born Kermit Levinsky in New York City) often composed with his brother Walter (1929-1999), and it seems a pity that he appears to have made relatively few recordings. Bermuda Holiday is the tenth work by the Levinsky brothers to appear on Guild.

Laurie Johnson (b.1927) has been a leading figure on the British entertainment scene for 50 years. A gifted arranger and composer, Laurie has contributed to films, musical theatre, radio, television and records, with his music used in many well-known productions such as "The Avengers and "The Professionals. Las Vegas became very familiar in Britain through its use as the signature tune of BBC TV's "Animal Magic for many years from 1962 onwards.

Ernest Tomlinson (b.1924) is one of Britain's most talented composers, working mainly in light music, but also highly regarded for his choral works and brass band pieces. During a very productive career, he has contributed numerous titles to the recorded music libraries of many different publishers, often under the pseudonym 'Alan Perry'. He often jokes that 'Alan Perry' has been more successful than him, especially the number Gay Time. In recent years Ernest has worked tirelessly to preserve thousands of music manuscripts that would otherwise have been destroyed, and he is the President of the Light Music Society.

The 1950s seems to have been a very busy period for the American Bernie Wayne (born Bernard Weitzner 1919-1993). In the USA he is best known for his "Miss America Beauty Pageant theme, and the hit song Blue Velvet. His string of instrumental successes included Vanessa, Port-au-Prince(GLCD5130) and Veradero (GLCD5111). His mini-concerto Blues On The Rocks takes us from the 'light' numbers in this collection, to some which can be classified as slightly more 'easy' and, perhaps, sophisticated.

London-born David Rose (1910-1990) became one of the truly great light orchestra leaders in the USA, and his compositions such as Holiday For Strings (on Guild GLCD 5120) and The Stripper sold millions. 4:20 AM was one of his earlier compositions, which he 'jazzed-up' a little when he recorded it again for MGM as stereo arrived on the scene.

The English conductor Leslie Jones (b. 1905), a solicitor by profession, gave a large number of Robert Farnon (1917-2005) compositions their first stereo versions in sessions for Pye towards the end of the 1950s. Several have already been featured on Guild, and Lazy Day perfectly suits the 'easy' ambience of this part of our CD. Farnon's own orchestra appears later with his 1940s-influenced version of More Than You Know.

Abe (Glenn) Osser (b. 1914) first came to prominence though his close association with Paul Whiteman for whom he provided arrangements and often conducted the orchestra, usually for the vocalists. Other top bands which used his scores included Les Brown, Jan Savitt, Bob Crosby, Bunny Berigan and Charlie Barnet. For much of his career he freelanced as a conductor and arranger, and became closely associated with the "Miss America beauty pageants for many years. He sometimes worked under pseudonyms such as Arthur Meisel, Bob Marvel and Maurice Pierre. I'll Be Seeing You was the perfect song to remind servicemen in World War II of their loved ones back home, although it was first published in 1938.

Reg Owen (born George Owen Smith, 1921-1978) was a busy British arranger and bandleader whose book "The Reg Owen Arranging Method" in 1956 inspired many fellow musicians. He worked in all areas of the music business, especially films and recordings.

The American composer and conductor Nick (Nicholas Paul) Acquaviva (1925-1998), although not a frequent visitor to the recording studios, gained recognition in the USA through his involvement with the Symphony of the Air orchestra and as conductor of the 135-strong New York 'Pops' Symphony Orchestra which promoted new works by young composers.

There was a time when record companies thought that the word 'Strings' added to an orchestra's title would enhance sales. It didn't seem to matter if there were other instruments as well, but a few were genuine string ensembles, such as The Pittsburgh Strings, for which Capitol Records engaged Richard Jones. He conducted and arranged for the complete string section of the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra, led by their famous concertmaster Samuel Thavin.

Frank Cordell (1918-1980) was a fine English composer, arranger and conductor whose work first became noticed through the tuneful backings he often supplied to some contract singers on HMV singles in the 1950s. Occasionally he was allowed his own 78s, and he was also responsible for several distinctive LPs which quickly became collectors' items.

Waitin' For The Dawn is a composition by Ron Goodwin (1925-2003) who was under contract to EMI for many years. Similarly Cyril Stapleton (1914-1974) had a Decca contract, so when they decided to record an LP of Ron's original pieces for a rival label Cyril had to become 'Malcolm Peters'.

Our final track is a tribute to two great men of music. Firstly the late Alan Dell, a much-missed broadcaster who used That's All to sign off his BBC Radio "Sounds Easy broadcasts. Secondly it allows us once again to feature Henry Mancini (born Enrico Nicola Mancini, 1924-1994), who became one of the top American film composers. During the 1950s his talents were widely recognised within the music business, and thereafter he was offered numerous commissions for television series, films and – of course – recordings. For the next three decades his name was constantly being noticed by the public, but his prodigious output was not achieved at the expense of quality.

David Ades

GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5188

The Art Of The Arranger – Volume 1

1 Can Can (Jacques Offenbach, arr. Hal Mooney)
HAL MOONEY AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Time S 2005 1960
2 The Continental (from "The Gay Divorcee) (Con Conrad; Herb Magidson, arr. Conrad Salinger)
THE CONRAD SALINGER ORCHESTRA Conducted by BUDDY BREGMAN
Verve MG VS-6012 1958
3 Almost Like Being In Love (from "Brigadoon) (Alan Jay Lerner; Frederick Loewe, arr. Brian Fahey)
CYRIL ORNADEL AND THE STARLIGHT SYMPHONY
MGM SE 3781 1959
4 Birth Of The Blues (from "George White's Scandals Of 1926) (Buddy De Sylva; Lew Brown; Ray Henderson, arr. Morton Gould)
MORTON GOULD AND HIS ORCHESTRA
RCA LSC 2104 1960
5 Windows Of The East (Ya Mayla) (Rahbani Brothers, arr. Ron Goodwin)
RON GOODWIN AND HIS CONCERT ORCHESTRA
Parlophone PCS 3002 1959
6 London By Night (Carroll Coates, arr. Angela Morley)
ANGELA MORLEY AND HER ORCHESTRA (as 'Wally Stott')
Philips SBBL 501 1958
7 Clopin Clopant (also known as 'Comme Ci, Comme Ca') (Pierre Dudan; Bruno Andre Coquatrix, arr. George Melachrino)
THE MELACHRINO STRINGS Conducted by GEORGE MELACHRINO
RCA Camden CAS 10173 1958
8 My One And Only Love (Robert Mellin; Guy Wood, arr. Henry Mancini)
HENRY MANCINI AND HIS ORCHESTRA
RCA LSP 2101 1959
9 Taboo (S.K. Stillman; Margarita Lecuona, arr. Les Baxter)
LES BAXTER AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Capitol T 733 1956
10 The Thrill Is Gone (from "George White's Scandals Of 1931) (Lew Brown; Ray Henderson, arr. Gordon Jenkins)
GORDON JENKINS AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Capitol ST 884 1957
11 Old Man River (from "Show Boat) (Jerome Kern, arr. David Rose)
DAVID ROSE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
MGM 3555 1957
12 Please Be Kind (Sammy Cahn; Saul Chaplin, arr. Nelson Riddle)
NELSON RIDDLE AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Capitol T 753 1957
13 Te Quiere Dijiste (Magic Is The Moonlight) (Maria Grever, arr. Mario Ruiz Armengol)
MARIO RUIZ ARMENGOL AND HIS ORCHESTRA
RCA LPM 1292 1956
14 Willingly (Melodie Perdue) (Carl Sigman; Hubert Giraud, arr. Monty Kelly)
MONTY KELLY AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Carlton STLP 12/123 1960
15 Summertime (from "Porgy and Bess) (George Gershwin, arr. Frank Cordell)
FRANK CORDELL AND HIS ORCHESTRA featuring JACK LA ROQUE, violin
HMV CSD 1294 1960
16 The Song Is You (from "Music In The Air) (Jerome Kern, arr. Paul Weston)
PAUL WESTON AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Columbia CS 8049 1958
17 Across The Wide Missouri (Shenandoah) (Traditional arr. Robert Farnon)
ROBERT FARNON AND HIS ORCHESTRA
MGM SE3804 1960
18 Destiny (Sydney Baynes, arr. Sidney Torch)
SIDNEY TORCH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Parlophone E 11454 1947
19 The Irish Washerwoman (Traditional, arr. Clive Richardson)
GROUP-FORTY ORCHESTRA
KPM Music KPM 063 1960
20 Symphonic Rhapsody on "With A Song In My Heart (Richard Rodgers, arr. Eric Coates)
COURT SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Conducted by ERIC COATES
Columbia DX 63 1930
21 Temptation (from the film "Going Hollywood) (Arthur Freed; Nacio Herb Brown, arr. Percy Faith)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Columbia CS 8292 1960

BONUS TRACK

22 Percy Faith discusses his arrangement of Temptation with Goddard Lieberson for a Columbia Records TV advertisement 1960

Stereo tracks 1-8, 10, 14–17 & 21; rest in mono

The arrangers are some of the most important people in the music business, yet all too often their work is taken for granted and frequently ignored. Yet without the skill of the arranger, the glorious sounds that any musical ensemble can create might never emerge.

Some light music composers do not need arrangers. Usually music is conceived at the piano, and those who possess the necessary talents are able to produce a full score which sets out in fine detail how each instrument will play the work. Often these prove to be the definitive versions, which are used whenever the music is performed.

But other composers are blessed with a gift for being able to write a good tune, which they prefer to leave others to interpret. They may offer guidance as to how they feel their music should sound, but they are usually happy to trust their chosen arranger with the intricacies of deciding which instruments should play different sections of the music. In the case of well-known tunes, such as those first heard in shows or films, over the course of time there will be many different arrangements made of the songs which are most popular.

Sometimes there is confusion between the roles of the 'arranger' and the 'orchestrator', and it is true to say that there is not universal agreement on the precise meanings of these terms. Generally the arranger is regarded as the person who decides how the music should sound, indicating the points in the score where different instruments will be playing. Other guidelines such as tempo will also be identified, and in some cases an arranger may go on to complete the entire score. But a busy musician is likely to pass over the manuscript to an orchestrator, who will then proceed, according to the arranger's guidelines, setting out all the individual notes to be played throughout the piece. At this point the music will be in the form of a complete score, with all the instruments placed at the usually accepted points down the (quite large!) page. This will be used by the conductor when the work is performed, since it is possible to see at a glance which instruments should be playing.

The final stage is for the manuscript to be passed to a copyist, who will make separate scores for each of the instruments in the orchestra. This means that the violins will only see those parts of the music where they are playing, with similar scores for all the other sections of the orchestra.

The description above relates to the traditional method by which arrangements are created, and it certainly applies to the music in this collection. However modern technology – computers– now mean that a composer (if he or she wishes) can do all these tasks on their own, then simply press a button to get all the individual scores printed.

From the foregoing it will hopefully be clear that the arranger is the essential ingredient in ensuring whether or not a piece of music will succeed. Arranging is an art form in itself: there are good and bad arrangers - two different ones working on the same piece of music can produce settings that are poles apart. Without the skill of the arranger, the works of excellent tunesmiths such as Richard Addinsell and Vivian Ellis in Britain, and Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter and Frederick Loewe in the USA, might never have made such a big and lasting impact.

It is, perhaps, a strange coincidence that two of the greatest arrangers of quality popular music during the second half of the 20^th century were born in Toronto, Canada, and their paths crossed during their early careers. Percy Faith (1908-1976) sought fame and found fortune in the USA, whereas his fellow countryman Robert Farnon (1917-2005) decided to base himself in Britain after service with the Canadian Army during World War II. In the late 1930s Faith was conducting the CBC Orchestra for a popular series of programmes that were also heard in some areas south of the border. His lead trumpeter for a while was Robert Farnon, who also did some vocal arrangements for the show. When Faith eventually decided to accept one of the lucrative offers he kept receiving to work in the USA, Farnon took over the orchestra in 1940.

But the war dictated that Farnon's immediate future involved providing musical entertainment for the troops, and in 1944 he arrived in England to work alongside the US and British service orchestras fronted respectively by Glenn Miller and George Melachrino. When hostilities ceased Farnon remained in Britain, and became one of the top composer, arranger and conductors of his generation. Faith did the same in the USA, although it was his arranging, rather than his composing, that would ensure his lasting fame. Thanks to long playing records, both became known to music lovers around the world, and their styles have been text book examples for others to emulate, on occasions almost to the extent of plagiarism.

Unfortunately the space available in notes such as these does not allow the complete biographies that all of the arrangers featured on this CD fully deserve. However the advent of the internet has meant that it is now relatively easy to undertake more thorough research than has previously been possible, so maybe the following brief details will provide useful pointers.

Our opening track Can Can features the work of Harold (Hal) Mooney (1911-1995), an American composer, arranger and conductor who worked with most of the top bands and singers during a long career. It demonstrates how a brand-new approach to a familiar and often hackneyed melody can be given fresh life in the hands of an expert arranger.

Conrad Salinger (1901-1961) is now recognised as one of the great arrangers during the 'Golden Days of Hollywood' especially with his contributions to numerous MGM Musicals such as "Meet Me In St. Louis (1944), "Singin' In The Rain (1952) and "The Band Wagon (1953). During his lifetime he never received the recognition that his work deserved, but in recent years his inspired scores have been championed by the British conductor John Wilson.

From the late 1950s onwards Cyril Ornadel (1924-2011) made many fine orchestral albums with his 'Starlight Symphony', aimed primarily at the American market. His regular arranger was Brian Fahey (1919-2007), well-known in Britain as a musical director, arranger and composer. Fahey's mastery of the full orchestra is given full rein in this version of Almost Like Being In Love from "Brigadoon.

Morton Gould (1913-1996) became one of the most highly respected American composers and conductors, and he generally arranged the works he conducted in the concert hall and on records. From 1986 to 1994 he held the important position of President of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP).

Ronald (Ron) Alfred Goodwin (1925-2003) was a brilliant British composer, arranger and conductor, whose tuneful music reached the furthest corners of the world. As he gained recognition for his original compositions he became in demand for film scores and among his best-remembered are "633 Squadron (1964), "Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines (1965) and Alfred Hitchcock's "Frenzy (1972). In 1994 his talents were recognised when George Martin presented him with the Ivor Novello Award for Lifetime Achievement in Music. His big album sales also earned him gold and platinum discs.

Angela Morley (1924-2009) – born 'Wally Stott' in Leeds, Yorkshire - is today regarded as one of the finest arrangers and film composers of her generation. In her later career she left England for the USA where she worked on several big budget movies (one example is the "Star Wars series assisting John Williams), and on TV shows such as "Dallas and "Dynasty. But during the 1950s and 1960s she made numerous recordings under her former name, also contributing many light music cameos to the Chappell Recorded Music Library.

George Miltiades Melachrino (1909-1965) was one of the big names in British light music from the 1940s to the 1960s. Born in London, he became a professional musician, competent on clarinet, alto and tenor saxophone, violin and viola, and he worked with many British dance bands in the 1930s. After war service he built an orchestra which became of the finest in the world; when long playing records arrived, Melachrino's sold in vast quantities, especially in the USA.

Henry Mancini (born Enrico Nicola Mancini, 1924-1994) was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and became one of the top film composers. In 1952 he was fortunate in gaining a job at Universal Pictures in Hollywood, and during a six-year contract he worked on around 100 films, including "The Glenn Miller Story. By 1958 his talents were widely recognised within the music business, and thereafter he was offered numerous commissions for television series, films and – of course – recordings.

Texas born Les Baxter (1922-1996) tended to be asked by his record companies to record pieces with an 'exotic' appeal, although he was a talented arranger who was capable of producing the many different styles that a busy musician working in films and television – as well as recordings – was expected to provide.

Gordon Jenkins (1910-1984) arranged for many of the top bands in America before carving out an impressive career for himself in radio and films. He signed with US Decca in 1945, and eventually became their managing director. When he later moved to Capitol he created some fine arrangements for Nat 'King' Cole and Frank Sinatra. Happily his new label commissioned him to arrange and conduct his own albums.

London-born David Rose (1910-1990) became one of the truly great light orchestra leaders in the USA, and his compositions such as Holiday For Strings (on Guild GLCD5120) made him world famous. His inventive version of Ol' Man River suggests the Mississippi is in full flood!

Nelson Riddle (1921-1985) was a trombonist who turned to arranging and conducting – with spectacular results. His work with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Nat 'King' Cole, Dean Martin, Judy Garland and Peggy Lee possibly prevented him from fully realising what could have been a highly successful career making instrumental albums on his own.

Don Mario Ruiz Armengol (1914-2002) has been compared by some musicologists as being Mexico's equivalent of David Rose, and his arrangements do contain certain snatches of Rose's unique style. During the middle years of the last century he was regarded as Mexico's foremost arranger and conductor of popular music, as well as one of its leading composers.

Monty Kelly (1910-1971) was a trumpeter, arranger and bandleader who was a regular in the recording studios, and managed to secure some success with singles such as Tropicana and Three O'Clock In The Morning (both on Guild GLCD 5105). This persuaded Cash Box magazine to name him 'most promising orchestra' in 1953, and a few years later he contributed to the universal success of the now legendary 101 Strings recordings.

Frank Cordell (1918-1980) was a fine English composer, arranger and conductor whose work first became noticed through the tuneful backings he often supplied to some contract singers on HMV singles in the 1950s. Occasionally he was allowed his own 78s, and he was also responsible for several distinctive LPs which quickly became collectors' items.

Paul Weston (born Paul Wetstein 1912-1996) was one of America's top arrangers and conductors, whose orchestral collections such as 'Music For Dreaming' and 'Music For Memories' were to provide the springboard for many future albums.

Sidney Torch, MBE (born Sidney Torchinsky 1908-1990) is well-known in Britain for his numerous Parlophone recordings, as well as his long tenure as conductor of the BBC Concert Orchestra in the "Friday Night Is Music Night BBC radio programme.

Clive Richardson (1909-1998) was best-known as a pianist during his early career, but working on many pre-war British films (usually without any credit on-screen) honed his talents as an arranger and composer. His London Fantasia (on Guild GLCD5120) was widely praised, and his Melody On The Move (GLCD5102) has deservedly become a light music classic.

Eric Coates (1886-1957) was a successful composer of ballads in the early years of the last century, before devoting all his energies to light music. He was particularly adept at writing catchy melodies that appealed as BBC signature tunes, and in 1954 he provided the memorable march for the war film "The Dam Busters". His vast body of work is still attracting the attention of the new generation of conductors, resulting in welcome performances in the concert hall and on disc.

As a 'bonus' in this compilation Percy Faith discusses his approach to arranging Temptation, which is the final orchestral work we hear. It comes from a promotional interview with Goddard Lieberson.

The aim of this collection has been to illustrate the wide variety of beautiful orchestral sounds that gifted arrangers can create. From the nostalgia of Hollywood as personified in Conrad Salinger, to the sheer opulence of a Robert Farnon miniature tone poem; the sensitive approach to the music of the Middle East when married to the West by Ron Goodwin, and the reverence shown by one major composer to another in Eric Coates' glorious tribute to Richard Rodgers. Every track possesses its own special magic giving unquestionable confirmation of the importance of the arranger in making orchestral music like this so pleasing and thoroughly enjoyable.

David Ades

Robert Farnon & His Orchestra
THE HITS OF SINATRA & A PORTRAIT OF JOHNNY MATHIS

THE HITS OF SINATRA
THE ORIGINAL LP SFL 13048 (1965) STEREO Second Time Around (Van Heusen; Cahn)
All the Way (Van Heusen; Cahn)
Come Fly with Me (Van Heusen; Cahn)
A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening (McHugh; Adamson)
In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning (Mann; Hilliard)
Only the Lonely (Van Heusen; Cahn)
Young at Heart (Richards; Leigh)
Call Me Irresponsible (Van Heusen; Cahn)
(Love is) The Tender Trap (Van Heusen; Cahn)
All or Nothing at All (Altman; Lawrence)
Nancy (With the Laughing Face) (Van Heusen; Silvers)
My Kind of Town (Van Heusen; Cahn) A PORTRAIT OF JOHNNY MATHIS
THE ORIGINAL LP SBL 7659 (1965) STEREO Misty (Garner; Burke)
The Twelfth of Never (Livingston; Webster)
It's Not for Me to Say (Allen; Stillman)
What Will My Mary Say? (Vance; Snyder)
When Sunny Gets Blue (Segal; Fisher)
Maria from 'West Side Story' (Bernstein; Sondheim)
Chances Are (Allen; Stillman)
A Certain Smile (Fain; Webster)
Gina (Vance; Carr)
Small World (Styne; Sondheim)
Wonderful, Wonderful (Edwards; Raleigh)
Someone (Kaempfert; Ilene)

Vocalion CDLK 4455