GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5219
By Special Request : David Rose and Sidney Torch
David Rose and his Orchestra
1 The Magic Music Box (David Rose)
MGM C 788 1959
2 Theme from "Carnival" (Bob Merrill)
MGM SE 3895 1961
3 Autumn Holiday (David Rose)
MGM SE 3592 1957
4 Penthouse Serenade (Val Burton; Will Jason)
MGM E 515 1950
5 Fascinating Rhythm (George Gershwin)
MGM 771 1954
6 Serenade To A Lemonade (David Rose)
MGM E 3289 1955
7 Vanessa (Bernie Wayne, real name Bernard Weitzner)
World Programme Service (Australia) 404 c.1952
8 Love For Sale (Cole Porter)
World Programme Service (Australia) 166 c.1948
9 Whispering Waters (David Rose)
World Program Service (USA) 280 c.1948
10 Suddenly (Im Chambre Séparée) (Richard Heuberger)
World Programme Service (Australia) 404 c.1952
11 I’ve Got You Under My Skin (from the film "Born To Dance") (Cole Porter)
RCA Victor 20-1879 1946
12 Lovers’ Serenade (David Rose)
MGM E 3289 1955
13 River Kwai March (theme from the film "The Bridge On The River Kwai") (Malcolm Arnold, based on ‘Colonel Bogey’ by F.J. Ricketts)
MGM SE 3894 1961
14 The Stripper (David Rose)
MGM K 13064 1962
Sidney Torch and his Orchestra
(except where stated that Sidney Torch is conducting other orchestras)
15 London Playhouse (Sidney Torch)
NEW CENTURY ORCHESTRA Conducted by SIDNEY TORCH
Francis, Day & Hunter FDH 008 1947
16 Nola (Felix Arndt, arr. Sidney Torch)
Parlophone R 3450 1951
17 A Song By The Way (Eric Coates)
Parlophone R 3201 1949
18 Fiddler’s Folly (Len Stevens, arr. Sidney Torch)
Parlophone R 3224 1949
19 Speakeasy (Lewis Gensler)
Parlophone R 3155 1948
20 Whisper While You Waltz (from "Dear Miss Phoebe") (Harry Parr Davies, arr. Sidney Torch)
Parlophone R 3375 1951
21 Fiddlin’ For Fun (Les Violons s’Amusents) (Faustin Jean-Jean; Maurice Jean- Jean)
Parlophone R 3467 1951
22 The Galloping Major (George Bastow, arr. Gordon Jacob)
Parlophone R 3406 1951
23 Pale Moon (Knight Logan, arr. Cecil Milner)
QUEEN’S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by SIDNEY TORCH
Columbia DB 2564 1949
24 Cresta Run (Claude Yvoire)
Parlophone R 3450 1951
25 Song of Capri (featured in the film "That Dangerous Age") (Mischa Spoliansky, arr. Sidney Torch)
QUEEN’S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by SIDNEY TORCH
Columbia DB 2564 1949
26 Meandering (Sidney Torch)
QUEEN’S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by SIDNEY TORCH
Chappell C 350 1948
27 Domino (Louis Ferrari)
Parlophone R 3467 1951
Stereo: tracks 2, 3, 13 & 14 ; rest in mono
The world’s capital cities have been the birthplace of many great musicians, and London, England, is certainly no exception. During the first decade of the 20th century two future Light Music composer/conductors were born to parents who had originally sought refuge there from troubles in their homeland. One remained in England, and became a leading figure in Britain’s musical scene. The other was taken by his parents across the Atlantic to the USA where he would achieve world-wide fame for the unique orchestral sound he created, and which would influence many of his peers.
David Rose tends to be remembered today for two great instrumentals – Holiday For Strings (his own extended version is on Guild GLCD5189) and The Stripper (1962) which ends his part of this collection. But he achieved far more than that during his long and illustrious career. He was born in London, England on 15 June 1910, and the family moved to the USA when he was just four-years-old.
After leaving the Chicago College of Music at the age of 16, he joined Ted Fio Rito's dance band, and three years later became a pianist/arranger/conductor for NBC Radio. He moved to Hollywood, and in 1938 formed his own orchestra for the Mutual Broadcasting System, and featured on the programme "California Melodies".
Rose began working in movies in 1941 and is credited with scoring 36 films. In 1943 he had a big hit with his own composition Holiday For Strings which firmly launched him as a light music composer in the eyes of the public. Other catchy novelties soon followed, such as Dance Of The Spanish Onion (on GLCD5101) and Manhattan Square Dance (GLCD5102). During military service in World War II Rose was conductor for the Army-Air Force morale-boosting stage musical "Winged Victory", which was filmed in 1944. By the late '40s he was a regular on Red Skelton's radio show, moving with him into television. He later wrote scores and themes for over 20 television series and won Emmy awards for his 14 year stint on "Bonanza", 10 years with "Little House On The Prairie" and his work on three much-acclaimed Fred Astaire television specials.
After chart success with Calypso Melody in 1957, Rose had a worldwide smash hit in 1962 with another of his own tunes, a humorous and satirical piece called The Stripper. He had actually composed this four years previously for a television show called "Burlesque", and it gathered dust on his record company’s shelves until they needed a ‘B’ side for Ebb Tide. A Los Angeles disc jockey picked it up, and the rest – as they say – is musical history. It spawned a complete album - "The Stripper and Other Fun Songs for the Family", one of the 50 or so LPs he recorded, including the best-selling "Like Young" and "Like Blue", made with André Previn. He won numerous Emmy and Grammy awards and six gold records.
Apart from his record, film and television work, Rose was guest conductor with several symphony orchestras. His Concerto For Flute And Orchestra was first played by the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra and later by the Boston Pops. Towards the end of his life his enduring passion was miniature steam trains, which ran on 900 feet of track around his house. On several occasions he travelled back to his native land where he met fellow English train enthusiasts. Such visits usually prompted invitations to conduct, and in October 1971 he was one of four distinguished conductors with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, who introduced their own music to a packed Royal Albert Hall audience as part of Filmharmonic ’71.
His private life attracted media attention in 1941 when he became the first husband of Judy Garland. The marriage didn’t survive the pressures of Hollywood fame, but David eventually found the right partner in his third wife, Betty. He died on 23 August 1990, at his home in Burbank, California, aged 80.
David Rose’s music has already been widely represented on numerous Guild Light Music CDs. Some of the most memorable tracks include:
American Hoe-Down [GLCD5201]California Melodies [GLCD5199]The Christmas Tree [GLCD5169]Dance Of The Spanish Onion [GLCD5101]Fiesta In Seville [GLCD5161]Frenchman In New York [GLCD5214]Gay Spirits [GLCD5166]Holiday For Strings (extended version) [GLCD5189]Holiday For Trombones [GLCD5154]Manhattan Square Dance [GLCD5102]One Love [GLCD5136]Rose Of Bel-Air [GLCD5184]Stringopation [GLCD5200]Waltz Of The Bubbles [GLCD5103]
Sidney Torch, MBE, distinguished himself in two musical spheres. In his early years he gained a reputation as a brilliant cinema organist, but in the second half of his career he switched to writing and conducting Light Music, with even greater success. As well as his conventional work for radio and commercial records, he became a master of composing, arranging and conducting Mood Music (now better known as Production Music).
He was born Sidney Torchinsky of Ukranian parents, at 27 Tottenham Court Road, London, on 5 June 1908. His father, an orchestral trombonist, decided to anglicise the family name, and it was he who introduced his son to the rudiments of music. Young Sidney studied piano at the Blackheath Conservatoire, and he must have been a talented pianist, because his first professional engagement was as accompanist to the celebrated violinist Albert Sandler. He then moved into several cinema orchestras playing for silent films, but the arrival of the talkies forced him to consider a musical change of direction. Full orchestras were no longer needed in cinemas, and even prestigious ensembles such as Emanuel Starkey's orchestra at the Regal, Marble Arch, (in which Torch also played piano) had to go. But every picture palace of note decided to install an organ and Torch became assistant organist to Quentin Maclean at the Regal, taking over this famous Christie Organ full time from 1932 to 1934.
Despite the popularity of his jazzy arrangements with cinema-goers and buyers of his 78s, the BBC did not invite Torch to broadcast regularly until 1934. His signature tune became, appropriately, the popular song "I've Got To Sing A Torch Song" (from the Hollywood film "Gold Diggers of 1933") to which he added his own special lyrics. In 1937 he opened the magnificent Wurlitzer Organ at the Gaumont State, Kilburn, which was then the largest cinema organ in England.
In 1940 he was called into the Royal Air Force, and initially was stationed near Blackpool, where he continued to record at the Opera House. He first trained as an air gunner in the RAF, but was subsequently commissioned and attained the rank of Squadron Leader. He became conductor of the RAF Concert Orchestra, which gave him the opportunity to study more closely the intricacies of orchestral scoring. This experience was to stand him in good stead when he returned to civilian life after the war.
Astutely Torch realised that the days of the cinema organ as he knew it were numbered, so he turned to light orchestral composing, arranging and conducting, where he quickly established himself through his radio broadcasts and commercial recordings (in a period of less than ten years he conducted over 60 78s for EMI’s Columbia and Parlophone labels). He discovered that his composing talents were ideally suited to the requirements of the production music publishers that were rapidly establishing libraries in London. Chappells had already started recording light music for the use of radio, film, newsreel and television companies as far back as 1942, drawing mainly upon the talents of Charles Williams, who conducted the Queen's Hall Light Orchestra on those early 78s. From 1946 onwards Sidney Torch contributed many different works to the Chappell catalogue, both under his own name and also as Denis Rycoth (an anagram). He also conducted the Queen's Hall Light Orchestra on many of these special recordings. Francis, Day & Hunter employed Torch to conduct their New Century Orchestra when their library was founded in 1947, and he remained with them for two years until a Musicians' Union ban halted all such work in Britain.
Although the BBC originated most of the material it broadcast on the radio in those days, London musicians were also employed by transcription services (Lang-Worth, Muzak etc.) and overseas broadcasting organisations such as Radio Luxembourg and IBC. Torch was closely associated with the Harry Alan Towers radio production company which supplied programmes to Radio Luxembourg and, occasionally, even to the BBC.
In 1953 the BBC decided that it needed a new programme whose brief was: "to help people relax after the week's hard work and put them in the right mood for a happy weekend". With Sidney Torch's full participation, the formula for "Friday Night Is Music Night" was devised - with such foresight that the programme survives to this very day. The BBC Concert Orchestra had been formed the previous year, and Torch conducted them for almost twenty years in this series, until his retirement in 1972.
During this period Torch became one of the most popular and respected conductors in Britain. His countless broadcasts included many celebrity concerts, often at London's Royal Festival Hall as part of the BBC's regular Light Music Festivals. He had a reputation as something of a martinet, according to the musicians and singers who performed under his baton. Singers dreaded 'the glare of the Torch' if they failed to please the maestro. But he was also remembered for various acts of kindness, seldom made public, but nevertheless appreciated by some of his musicians who needed temporary financial assistance. He demanded smartness in dress from his musicians, and always had in reserve an extra pair of gloves or black socks in case of need.
Following his retirement Sidney Torch seemed to lose interest in his previous musical activities. He rarely wanted to talk about his pre-war stardom as a cinema organist, and similarly dismissed most attempts to get him to recall his great moments in light music. In a rare radio interview in 1983 he admitted that he had been cruel to most of his producers, although he felt that most of them probably benefited from the experience. He was appointed MBE in 1985.
He died from an overdose at his Eastbourne, Sussex home on 16th July 1990 at the age of 82, having been pre-deceased by his wife Elizabeth Tyson (a former BBC producer) the previous March. Sidney Torch's music is still remembered by the many admirers of the cinema organ and light music. "Friday Night Is Music Night" is regarded by many as 'his' programme, and his own compositions and arrangements are still regularly performed by 'his' BBC Concert Orchestra. Few musicians could have a better memorial to their talents.
Many more recordings by Sidney Torch are already available on Guild CDs. The following (all his own compositions) are just a few:
All Strings And Fancy Free [GLCD 5150]Barbecue [GLCD5181]Bicycle Belles [GLCD5131]Blue Night [GLCD5129]Comic Cuts [GLCD5214]Fandango [GLCD5181]Going For A Ride [GLCD5101]My Waltz For You [GLCD5212]On A Spring Note [GLCD5171]Radio Romantic [GLCD5149]Samba Sud [GLCD5200]Shooting Star [GLCD5162]Shortcake Walk [GLCD5103]Wagon Lit [GLCD5102]
David Ades
GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5222
Christmas Lights
1 Joy To The World (George Frideric Handel; Lowell Mason; Isaac Watts, arr. Percy Faith) (Originally based on Psalm 98)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Columbia CS 8176 1959
2 White Christmas (Irving Berlin)
FRANK CHACKSFIELD AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Decca SKL 4069 1959
3 God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen (Traditional English carol, believed to date from the 18th century)
BILLY VAUGHN AND HIS ORCHESTRA
DOT DLP 25148 1958
4 Deck The Hall With Boughs Of Holly (Welsh Traditional, arr. Percy Faith) (Based on a Welsh winter carol ‘Nos Galan’, dating from the 16th century)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Columbia CS 8176 1959
5 Snowman’s Land (Vogel)
ZACK LAURENCE, piano, with KEN JONES AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Parlophone 45-R 4843 1961
6 Snowy Mountains (Joyce Cochrane)
SYMPHONIA ORCHESTRA Conducted by LUDO PHILIPP
Charles Brull / Harmonic CBL 387 1956
7 Good Christian Men, Rejoice (An old English carol, believed to date back to the 14th century) (Traditional, arr. Percy Faith)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
COLUMBIA CS 8033 1958
8 Good King Wenceslas (Tempus Adest Floridum) (Traditional, arr Percy Faith) (Music based on 13th Century Spring Carol ‘Tempus Adest Floridum’; Words John Mason Neale)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Columbia CS 8176 1959
9 Snow Ride (Eric Winstone)
Unidentified Orchestra
Conroy BM 192 1959
10 Santo Natale (Merry Christmas) (Al Hoffman; Dick Manning; Belle Nardone)
STANLEY BLACK AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Decca LK 4155 1956
11 Hark The Herald Angels Sing (Charles Wesley; Felix Mendelssohn, adapted William H. Cummings, arr. Percy Faith)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Columbia CS 8176 1959
12 Angels We Have Heard On High (Believed to have French origins in the 18th century) (Traditional arr. Percy Faith)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
COLUMBIA CS 8033 1958
13 Away In A Manger (Widely known as "Luther’s Cradle Hymn". There are many different musical settings for this carol, and this one is the best-known in the United States) (Traditional arr. Percy Faith)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
COLUMBIA CS 8033 1958
14 Gesù Bambino (The Infant Jesus, composed in 1917) (Pietro Yon, arr. Percy Faith)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
COLUMBIA CS 8033 1958
15 I Wonder As I Wander (A simple American folk song, popular at Christmas in the United States) (John Jacob Niles, arr. Percy Faith)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
COLUMBIA CS 8033 1958
16 Holiday On Ice (Len Stevens)
Unidentified Orchestra
Conroy BM 192 1959
17 Once More It’s Christmas (George Melachrino)
THE MELACHRINO ORCHESTRA Conducted by GEORGE MELACHRINO
RCA LPM 1045 1955
18 Alpine Sleigh Ride (Roger Senicourt, real name Frank Chacksfield)
FRANK CHACKSFIELD AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Decca SKL 4069 1959
19 It Came Upon The Midnight Clear (Edmund Sears; Richard Storrs Willis, arr. Percy Faith) (An American carol from the 19th century)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Columbia CS 8176 1959
20 O Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles) (Attributed to various composers from the 17th century onwards, especially John Francis Wade, but could have originated as early as the 13thcentury. arr. Percy Faith)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Columbia CS 8176 1959
21 Sleigh Ride (Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart)
BOSTON ‘POPS’ ORCHESTRA Conducted by ARTHUR FIEDLER
RCA LSC 2329 1959
22 O Holy Night (Cantique de Noël) (Adolphe Adam, arr. Percy Faith)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Columbia CS 8176 1959
23 The Skaters’ Waltz (Émile Waldteufel)
FRANK CHACKSFIELD AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Decca SKL 4069 1959
24 Mrs. Santa Claus (Jack Fulton; Lois Steele)
THE MELACHRINO ORCHESTRA Conducted by GEORGE MELACHRINO
RCA LPM 1045 1955
25 By The Fireside (Ray Noble; Jimmy Campbell; Reg Connelly)
STANLEY BLACK AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Decca LK 4155 1956
26 The Holly And The Ivy; Here We Go A-Caroling (Traditional English carols, arr. Percy Faith)
PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA
Columbia CS 8176 1959
27 The First Noel (The First Nowell) (Traditional, arr. William Hill-Bowen) (Believed to be based on an English carol, possibly Cornish, from the 18th century)
THE MELACHRINO ORCHESTRA Conducted by GEORGE MELACHRINO
RCA LSP 2044 1959
Stereo : tracks 1-4, 7, 8, 11-15, 18-23, 26 & 27; rest in mono.
The success of Guild’s first collection of music associated with the Festive Season ("Christmas Celebration" GLCD5185) has prompted this second compilation. Some of the carols were featured on the first CD, but due to their universal popularity they have been included again in completely new, appealing versions, arranged by some of the very best musicians working in Light Music.
Somehow Christmas isn’t the same without Festive Music, whether traditional carols or the popular melodies dreamed up by composers who know how to tear at our nostalgic heartstrings. Both categories can be found in abundance in this collection, which offers tasteful orchestral settings of some of the best known carols from various countries alongside the catchy novelties that make Christmas such a happy time of the year. In the hands of the top arrangers and orchestras assembled on this CD, there is every chance that the discerning listener will discover some new sounds that add a welcome vibrancy to old, familiar friends.
Four of the six conductors whose music was so warmly received last time are back with some new recordings. They have been joined by several other light orchestras, and Stanley Black is particularly welcome with some tracks from his 1955 Christmas LP which seems to have been unfairly half-forgotten today. Stanley (born Solomon Schwartz 1913-2002) had his first professional arrangement of a tune accepted in 1930, and during the rest of the decade the list of his employers reads like a Who’s Who of British jazz and dance music. By the time he joined Harry Roy in 1936 (where he teamed up with fellow pianist Norman Yarlett to form ‘Black and White’) he had also worked with Howard Jacobs, Joe Orlando, Lew Stone, Maurice Winnick and Teddy Joyce. More importantly, he had broadcast and recorded with some of the more distinguished American visitors to Britain, including Coleman Hawkins, who had first heard Black on late night radio shows with Stone’s band. Black remained closely involved with jazz during his four years with Harry Roy, although a trip to South America with the Roy band in 1937 introduced him to Latin American music which was to be an enduring passion for the rest of his life. After war service in the Royal Air Force, Black was kept busy with numerous broadcasts (he was conductor of the BBC Dance Orchestra from 1944-1952), films and a recording contract with Decca which resulted in many top selling albums prompting international concert tours. He received numerous awards, including the OBE in 1985, for his services to music. Stanley Black was a Life Fellow of the Institute of Arts and Letters, and Life President of the Celebrities Guild of Great Britain.
Another welcome addition to this collection is Frank (Francis Charles) Chacksfield (1914-1995), born in Battle, Sussex, on the south coast of England. He conducted one of the finest light orchestras in the world, and during his long recording career with Decca alone it is estimated that his albums sold more than 20 million copies. In total he made more than 150 long-playing albums which were released in many countries, especially in Europe, Japan and Australia as well as Britain and America. Frank’s professional musical career began shortly before World War 2, playing at various local venues, before Army service found him working at the Royal Army Service Corp’s Southern Command Entertainment’s Section at Salisbury, Wiltshire. Later he became staff arranger for "Stars In Battledress" at the War Office in London, and back in civilian life he soon became involved with various BBC Radio shows as arranger, composer and conductor; for a while he also worked as musical director of the Henry Hall and Geraldo orchestras. In April 1953 he formed a 40-piece orchestra with a large string section. His very first 78 recorded for Decca - Charlie Chaplin’s themes for his film "Limelight" - won him a Gold Disc through its big success in the USA. In Britain it earned him the New Musical Express Record of the Year award. His second 78 "Ebb Tide" became the first-ever British non-vocal disc to reach No. 1 in the American charts, providing a second Gold Disc. American juke-box operators, in a nation-wide poll, voted Chacksfield the most promising new orchestra of the year. A steady flow of long-playing records, plus regular broadcasts in many countries, ensured his continuing popularity and high public profile well into the 1970s. Although he was also an accomplished composer - his Candid Snap (GLCD 5156), Catalan Sunshine (GLCD 5161) and Prelude To A Memory (GLCD 5104) are on previous Guild CDs - he usually relied on some of the best arrangers such as Leon Young (1916-1991) and Roland Shaw (1920-2012) to work on his albums.
Zack Laurence (who plays Snowman’s Land) is a talented English pianist who trained at the Guildhall School of Music. He has been successful in writing for films and TV, and enjoyed a world-wide hit under the enigmatic pseudonym ‘Mr Bloe’.
Joyce Reynolds Cochrane (1908-1988) composed several popular melodies during the 1940s and 1950s, one of her biggest successes being Honey Child which enjoyed a vocal recording by Gracie Fields as well as an orchestral version arranged by Robert Farnon (on Guild GLCD5104). In 1950 her song You’re Only Dreaming was included in the Ealing film "Dance Hall" which featured the Ted Heath and Geraldo orchestras on screen.
Eric Winstone (born in London, 1915-1974) is included in this collection as the composer of Snow Ride. He was one of Britain’s leading dance band leaders, who in his younger days was a virtuoso piano-accordionist. He could also compose attractive light music, sometimes with a humorous twist – as in The Happy Hippo (on Guild GLCD5157).
Len Stevens (d. 1989 - his full name was Herbert Leonard Stevens) was a prolific British composer, contributing mood music to several different libraries, with a style that his admirers quickly grew to recognise. In every sense a ‘backroom boy’ of the music business, he learned his craft in the British dance bands of pre-war years. Many London publishers were keen to employ him, both for his own original works, and also to orchestrate new pieces by other writers, who were too busy (or not sufficiently capable) of doing a good job themselves. In common with so many of the talented musicians employed in the business, he could turn his hand to any kind of music that was needed, and he was also involved in the musical theatre. Holiday On Ice is his twentieth Guild appearance.
Richard "Billy" Vaughn (1919-1991), born in Glasgow, Kentucky, is featured again playing Christmas music with God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen. He began his career playing piano and singing baritone in the group ‘The Hilltoppers’, before joining Dot Records as musical director where he accompanied many of the label’s top singers. He became one of the most successful orchestra leaders during the rock’n’roll era, and from 1955 to 1970 he managed to get 36 titles into the USA Top 200 charts, including a million seller Melody Of Love which earned him a gold disc. In 1965 he began touring internationally with his band, achieving considerable popularity in Japan, Korea and Brazil. His 1958 Christmas LP for Dot Records, from which the track in this collection is taken, tastefully combined a small choir with the orchestra.
It is possible that Billy Vaughn may have surprised some of his usual fans with the restrained treatment of his Christmas melodies, given his reputation for recordings that were often more strident. But when Percy Faith (1908-1976) turned his attention to this repertoire there was no doubt that he would treat it with proper respect. Faith was born in Toronto, Canada, and originally he expected that his musical career would be as a concert pianist. But he injured his hands in a fire, which forced him to turn to composing, arranging and conducting. During the 1930s his programme "Music By Faith" was carried by the Mutual network in the USA, which prompted offers of work south of the border. He eventually succumbed in 1940, leaving Robert Farnon (previously his lead trumpeter) to conduct his Canadian orchestra. Unlike most of his contemporaries, Faith arranged all his own material, and his exciting and vibrant scores made his work stand out among the rest. Faith was always busy, whether working in the recording studios, radio, television or films. Today it is his numerous albums that have created a resurgence of interest in his work, thanks to their reissue on CD. More than once his record company commissioned him to produce superior albums for the Christmas market, and they remain highly collectable.
Like Percy Faith, George Miltiades Melachrino (1909-1965) was asked to conduct music for the Festive Season on several occasions. The LP era was the perfect vehicle for his inventive scores (including some by his right-hand man, William Hill-Bowen 1918-1964), although as early as 1950 his Christmas Fantasy (on two sides of an HMV 78 - reissued on Guild GLCD5138) had left his admirers hoping for more. Melachrino 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. He was also in demand as a singer, and can be heard on recordings with Carroll Gibbons and others. During World War 2 he became Musical Director of the Army Radio Unit, and his 50-piece ‘Orchestra in Khaki’ toured with the "Stars in Battledress" (two of their rare wartime recordings can be heard on GLCD5174). When the Allied Expeditionary Forces Programme of the BBC began broadcasting to Allied troops on 7 June 1944 (one day after D-Day), George Melachrino was featured conducting the British Band of the AEF; his colleagues were Glenn Miller and Robert Farnon (whose recordings can be heard on many Guild CDs) fronting the American and Canadian Bands. After the war Melachrino retained the finest elements of his service band to form the magnificent orchestra that went on to achieve worldwide fame, mainly through its superb long-playing record albums which sold in millions. Many tuneful pieces of light music flowed from his pen, and he developed a unique arranging style which was instantly recognisable. Melachrino built up a thriving entertainment organisation also involved in films, theatre and broadcasting and EMI used his talents extensively when stereo arrived.
For many years Arthur Fiedler (1894-1979) was always linked in the mind with The Boston ‘Pops’ Orchestra, although in Britain its records were released under the name Boston ‘Promenade’ Orchestra, which seemed more in keeping with its repertoire. It took quite a long while before the American term ‘Pops’ Orchestra finally gained acceptance outside the USA. Fiedler’s Austrian-born father played violin in the Boston Symphony Orchestra (from which the Boston ‘Pops’ is created for its lighter moments). Arthur became the eighteenth conductor of the ‘Pops’ in 1930, and remained at the helm until a heart attack following a performance on 5 May 1979 hastened his death two months later at the age of 84.
Choosing the right melodies to open and close collections such as this can often pose problems for compilers. On this occasion the choice was easy. Percy Faith’s dramatic version of Joy To The World makes a superb introduction, while William Hill-Bowen’s inspired arrangement of The First Noel provides the spectacular finale.
David Ades