GLCD Guild GmbH 2009 Guild GmbH. Guild GmbH Switzerland

Transcription

1 2009 Guild GmbH 2009 Guild GmbH Guild GmbH Switzerland

2 A BOX OF LIGHT MUSICAL ALLSORTS 1 My Object All Sublime (from The Hot Mikado ) (William S. Gilbert, Sir Arthur Sullivan, arr. Robert Farnon) 3:08 ROBERT FARNON AND HIS ORCHESTRA* Everest SDBR Southern Holiday (Felton Rapley) 2:54 THE CONNAUGHT LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conroy BM 105-B Take Me To Your Heart (Werner Müller) 2:54 WERNER MÜLLER AND HIS ORCHESTRA (as Ricardo Santos ) Polydor LPHM Three-Two-One-Zero (Al Carson real name Norman William [ Norrie ] Paramor) 2:13 ERIC JUPP AND HIS ORCHESTRA Columbia 45-DB Pigalle (Georges Koger, Georges Ulmer) 1:51 BORIS SARBEK AND HIS ORCHESTRA Epic LN Mannequin Melody (Clive Richardson) 2:49 QUEEN S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON Chappell C A Letter To Three Wives Film Music (Alfred Newman) 3:17 ALFRED NEWMAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA Mercury MPL A Canadian In Mayfair (Angela Morley, as Wally Stott ) 3:00 SIDNEY TORCH AND HIS ORCHESTRA Parlophone R Thou Swell (Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart) 2:12 ANDRE KOSTELANETZ AND HIS ORCHESTRA Columbia CL Vendetta (Ken Jones, Chris Armstrong real name Ray Martin) 2:25 RAY MARTIN AND HIS ORCHESTRA Decca F A GUILD LIGHT MUSIC RELEASE Series Producer and compilation: David Ades Audio restoration and remastering: Alan Bunting Final master preparation: Reynolds Mastering, Colchester, England Cover picture: Weekend Excursion by Kenneth Grant of Sheringham, Norfolk ( Tel: ) Tiger Moth flying round the moon (based on pictures taken by the Lunar 3 spacecraft). The working drawings of this were done at the IMW Museum at Duxford. Design: Paul Brooks, Design & Print, Oxford Art direction: Guild GmbH Executive co-ordination: Guild GmbH The Robert Farnon Society embraces the entire World of Light Music, and you are invited to request a free sample copy of their magazine Journal Into Melody. Just send your name and address to: The Secretary, RFS, Stone Gables, Upton Lane, Ilminster, Somerset, TA19 0PZ, England. You can also visit the website: Guild GmbH, Moskau 314b, 8262 Ramsen, Switzerland Tel: +41 (0) Fax: +41 (0) (Head Office) Guild GmbH, PO Box 5092, Colchester, Essex CO1 1FN, Great Britain info@guildmusic.com World WideWeb-Site: WARNING: Copyright subsists in all recordings under this label. Any unauthorised broadcasting, public performance, copying or re-recording thereof in any manner whatsoever will constitute an infringement of such copyright. In the United Kingdom licences for the use of recordings for public performance may be obtained from Phonographic Performances Ltd., 1 Upper James Street, London W1F 9EE. 2 11

3 Guild presents The Golden Age of Light Music This series of CDs has been compiled by dedicated enthusiasts, whose sole aim is to offer fellow collectors superior compilations featuring often rare recordings that are difficult to find elsewhere. All recordings have been digitally remastered to the highest standards, so that you hear only the music - without the annoying background noise which used to spoil so many fine performances. Each CD contains approximately minutes of music, and there is no duplication of tracks within the series. 11 Military Samba (John McGregor) 1:53 EDMUNDO ROS AND HIS ORCHESTRA Decca F GLCD 5101 An Introduction GLCD 5102 The 1940s GLCD 5103 The 1950s GLCD 5104 Great British Light Orchestras GLCD 5105 Great American Light Orchestras GLCD 5106 The 1930s GLCD 5107 Charles Williams and the QHLO GLCD 5108 British Cinema & Theatre Orchestras GLCD 5109 Light Music From The Silver Screen GLCD 5110 Mantovani By Special Request GLCD 5111 The 1950s Vol. 2 : Midnight Matinee GLCD 5112 Reflections of Tranquility GLCD 5113 Mantovani By Special Request Vol. 2 GLCD 5114 Great American Light Orchestras Vol. 2 GLCD 5115 Highdays and Holidays GLCD 5116 The 1930s Vol. 2 : In Town Tonight GLCD 5117 Bandstand In The Park GLCD 5118 Buried Treasures GLCD 5119 The 1950s Vol. 3 : Say It With Music GLCD 5120 The Light Music Hall of Fame Vol. 1 GLCD 5121 Joyousness Haydn Wood GLCD 5122 British Cinema and Theatre Orchestras Vol. 2 GLCD 5123 Light Orchestras Salute Richard Rodgers GLCD 5124 The Light Music Hall of Fame Vol. 2 GLCD 5125 Childhood Memories GLCD 5126 Soloists Supreme GLCD 5127 Light Orchestras Salute Cole Porter GLCD 5128 Light Music While You Work GLCD 5129 Beyond The Blue Horizon GLCD 5130 The 1950s Vol. 4 : Cornflakes GLCD 5131 Light Music On The Move GLCD 5132 Continental Flavour GLCD 5133 Amor Amor : Music For Romance GLCD 5134 Four Decades of Light Music Vol. 1 GLCD 5135 Four Decades of Light Music Vol. 2 GLCD 5136 Marching and Waltzing GLCD 5137 Light Music While You Work Vol. 2 GLCD 5138 Light Music For All Seasons GLCD 5139 Musical Kaleidoscope Vol. 1 GLCD 5140 Musical Kaleidoscope Vol. 2 GLCD 5141 Globetrotting GLCD 5142 The 1950s Vol. 5 : Sunny Side Up GLCD 5143 Animal Antics GLCD 5144 Childhood Memories Vol. 2 GLCD 5145 Scenic Grandeur GLCD 5146 Stringin Along GLCD 5147 Bandstand in the Park Vol. 2 GLCD 5148 The Great Light Orchestras Salute George Gershwin and Jerome Kern GLCD 5149 The Show Goes On GLCD 5150 String Fever GLCD 5151 Going Places GLCD 5152 From Stage And Screen GLCD 5153 Strings And Things Go Stereo! GLCD 5154 Musical Kaleidoscope Vol. 3 GLCD 5155 Melodies for Romantics GLCD 5156 Picking Strings GLCD 5158 That s Light Musical Entertainment The World s most comprehensive collection of Light Music on Compact Disc Let s Go Shopping (Charles Williams) 2:37 DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON (as Melodi Light Orchestra Conducted by Ole Jensen on 78 label) Chappell C Concerto In Jazz (Donald Phillips) 7:04 THE MELACHRINO ORCHESTRA Conducted by GEORGE MELACHRINO featuring PAT DODD, piano HMV CSD Super Six (Andy Thurlow, real name Harry Rabinowitz) 2:02 GROSVENOR STUDIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by DOLF VAN DER LINDEN Synchro FM Casbah (Angela Morley, as Wally Stott ) 2:53 QUEEN S HALL LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conducted by ANGELA MORLEY Chappell C Polka Dot (Eric Cook) 2:15 THE NEW CONCERT ORCHESTRA Conducted by CEDRIC DUMONT Boosey & Hawkes O Rahadlakum (from Kismet ) (Alexander Borodin, arr. Percy Faith) 3:08 PERCY FAITH AND HIS ORCHESTRA Columbia CL The Happy Hippo (Eric Winstone) 2:42 THE CONNAUGHT LIGHT ORCHESTRA Conroy BM 131-A The Three Bears Fantasy (Eric Coates) 9:17 LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Conducted by Sir CHARLES MACKERRAS Columbia BTD

4 20 Melody In Moccasins (Wilfred Burns, real name Bernard Wilfred Harris) 2:23 PHILIP GREEN AND HIS ORCHESTRA MGM Fly Past (Cecil Milner, full name Edward Cecil Milner) 1:21 DANISH STATE RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by ROBERT FARNON (as Melodi Light Orchestra Conducted by Ole Jensen on 78 label) Chappell C Worcester Beacon (Horace Dann) 3:07 LONDON PROMENADE ORCHESTRA Conducted by WALTER COLLINS Paxton PR St. Boniface Down (Trevor Duncan, real name Leonard Charles Trebilco) 6:31 STUTTGART RADIO ORCHESTRA Conducted by KURT REHFELD (as Lansdowne Concert Orchestra on 78 label) Impress IA London Pride (Noel Coward, arr. Angela Morley) 2:58 ANGELA MORLEY AND HER ORCHESTRA (as Wally Stott ) Philips SBBL * LP credits Jack Saunders Orchestra Mono recordings, except tracks 1, 13, 19 & 24 in stereo. The copyright dates after the catalogue numbers state when the original recording was first released, according to printed catalogues and/or information on disc labels or sleeves. Compiled mainly from the collections of David Ades and Alan Bunting, who also wish to thank John Fountain, Malcolm Powell, Stuart Sonley, Kevin Stapylton and Ken Wilkins for their generous assistance in supplying some of these recordings. If you have difficulty in finding copies of other CDs in the Guild Golden Age of Light Music series at your local record store, you can always order them direct from Guild Music. Write to: Guild GmbH, Moskau 314b, 8262, Ramsen, Switzerland, or order through the website: com. Major credit cards accepted. 4 is heard: Il pleure dans mon coeur comme il pleut sur la ville. It is worth mentioning again the problem in identifying orchestras on the mood music recordings issued by the London recorded music libraries (now generally referred to as production music ) during most of the 1950s. A ban by the Musicians Union in Britain prohibited their members from performing on these recordings, so top radio orchestras on the continent of Europe were usually employed. Examples on this CD include Southern Holiday (as mentioned above) the same comments apply to The Happy Hippo; Let s Go Shopping was recorded in Denmark and credited on the 78 label as The Melodi Light Orchestra Conducted by Ole Jensen ; Super Six would have been recorded by Dolf Van Der Linden s own Metropole Orchestra in Hilversum, but Syncho chose Grosvenor Studio Orchestra as their house name; The New Concert Orchestra was the Boosey & Hawkes preferred name, although Polka Dot was likely to have been conducted by Cedric Dumont fronting his own orchestra in Switzerland; it was the composer himself who advised that St Boniface Down had been recorded in Stuttgart, although Impress usually named the orchestra on their 78s as The Lansdowne Light (or Concert) Orchestra. The exceptions are Mannequin Melody and Casbah from 1958 which were actually recorded in London when the musicians ban was lifted for a short while following negotiations with publishers, but it was later reimposed; Worcester Beacon from 1946 pre-dates the ban, and Paxton s London Promenade Orchestra recorded at Levy s Sound Studios in New Bond Street. All the composers, arrangers and conductors featured in this collection deserve to have their careers profiled in these notes in considerable detail, but sadly lack of space prevents this on every occasion that they appear in this series. Many have already been (or are likely to be in the future) given a fair share of the limelight, and if you have internet access you can read the full booklet notes for all previous releases on the Guild Music website: 9 David Ades, 2009

5 and the composer s own recording with the Queen s Hall Light Orchestra can be found on Guild GLCD If Cecil Milner s Fly Past (its original title was going to be Air Lift) is mildly similiar to the work of Charles Williams it should come as no surprise. Milner worked closely with his famous colleague (composer of Dream Of Olwen and numerous other works), and many of Charles Williams own compositions were actually orchestrated by Cecil Milner ( ), who also went on to create many fine arrangements for Mantovani. Worcester Beacon is a concert march from the pen of Horace Dann ( ) who worked for the BBC from 1932 to He became a Director of Light Music and was so highly regarded by his fellow musicians that the leading conductors and composers signed the current edition of Grove s Dictionary which they presented to him upon his retirement at the age of 60. Surprisingly his own compositions appear to have been few in number perhaps because he might have felt awkward in pushing his own work from a position of influence. (Other writers in similar circumstances often resorted to disguising their work behind pseudonyms). The respected light music authority Philip Scowcroft has expressed his admiration for Worcester Beacon, describing its excellent scoring as being very much in the tradition of Eric Coates. He also wonders if the title implies the composer s regard for the music of Sir Edward Elgar, who resided in that part of England. Regular collectors of this Guild series of CDs will already be familiar with the music of Trevor Duncan (real name Leonard Charles Trebilco, ). Some 20 titles have now been reissued, and among the best-known are his first success High Heels (on Guild GLCD 5124), Grand Vista (GLCD 5124) and Panoramic Splendour (GLCD 5111). When pressed to reveal his own personal favourite among all his works the reply was not one of his many catchy novelties, but the atmospheric St Boniface Down composed in October It is named after an area on the south coast of the Isle of Wight, and it was dedicated to C. Gurrieri (the young lady who had inspired The Girl From Corsica) who came from the Auvergne. To quote Trebilco s own words: The work celebrates a silent walk along the ridge of St Boniface Down; it was followed by a beautiful correspondence for some weeks. In the string subject, the metre of a Paul Verlaine line Robert Farnon ( ) certainly provides a bright opening number for this collection, and his brilliant arrangement takes full advantage of the opportunities offered by the arrival of stereo on the recorded music scene. Gilbert and Sullivan purists were not exactly pleased, but the American public enjoyed Mike Todd s production of The Hot Mikado, his first Broadway musical in Southern Holiday by Felton Rapley was one of the early releases in 1958 on the new Conroy Recorded Music Library, founded by Ron Berry, a director of London publishers Campbell Connelly. A year later it was selected as the theme for a television play Sudden Holiday and the strong reaction to the music prompted the new Top Rank label to issue it under the play s title as one of their early 45s (45-JAR 111) with the anonymous orchestra credited as The Serenaders. In reality it was probably one of the European broadcasting orchestras employed by the British production music libraries due to the recording ban imposed by the Musicians Union. A likely candidate is the Stuttgart Radio Orchestra, since its conductor, Kurt Rehfeld, is also represented as a composer in the Conroy catalogue at that time. 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 invited to perform the opening concert on newly installed organs such as the Wurlitzer in Hanley on 11 February 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 GLCD 5140) and the catchy Peacock Patrol (written under the pseudonym Peter Barrington ) on GLCD Among his other notable compositions of light music were Portrait of Claire (based on Schumann s song Devotion), Ecstasy, Evening in Capri and Romantic Rhapsody. Into the 1960s he remained a celebrity, often being billed as the famous BBC Organist when appearing in concerts. When considering the great film composers from Hollywood s Golden Age during the middle years of the last century, Alfred Newman ( some references give his birth date as 1900) is occasionally overlooked, yet for much of his career he was probably the most influential 8 5

6 and respected among his peers. In 1920 he became the youngest musical director on Broadway, and in 1930 his Hollywood career began. He composed the famous 20th Century Pictures logo theme, which was retained when the studio merged with Fox films; in 1953 he added some extra bars for CinemaScope releases still in use today. One of his early scores was Street Scene in 1931 (the music is included on Guild GLCD 5153), and until John Williams finally overtook him in January 2006 he was the most Oscar-nominated composer/conductor, with a tally of 44 nominations resulting in 9 Academy Awards. From 1939 until 1959 he was the musical director at 20th Century Fox, reputed to have worked on around 225 films. The 1949 film A Letter To Three Wives featured a memorable Alfred Newman score, which vividly recaptures the atmosphere of so many black and while melodramas of that era. Newman must have thought that it also suited the sensual charm exuded by Marilyn Monroe, because he adapted the same theme for The Seven Year Itch six years later. At the time when Angela Morley ( ) composed A Canadian In Mayfair she was known as Wally Stott, and she dedicated it to Toronto-born Robert Farnon whose music had become familiar to her when they were both working for the Geraldo Orchestra in the immediate post-war years. It was just intended as a piece of fun, based on Farnon s big success Portrait Of A Flirt, and the Mayfair tag related to the film Maytime In Mayfair which Farnon had recently scored for Anna Neagle and Herbert Wilcox. Farnon was evidently impressed and insisted that Angela s composition should be shown to his publishers, Chappell & Co, who promptly added it to their mood music library appropriately conducted by Farnon himself. Broadcasting orchestras soon started to feature it in their programmes, and Sidney Torch ( ) made the superb commercial recording for EMI s Parlophone, which is featured on this CD. Angela Morley went on to enjoy a long and successful career in recordings and films, eventually being much in demand in Hollywood to assist leading composers on major projects working with John Williams on Star Wars being a prime example. Her many TV credits included Dallas and Dynasty. London-born Donald Phillips ( ) was a quiet, courteous man who never courted fame although, as a talented pianist and musical director, he worked with many of the top stars of the 1940s to the 1960s including the Marx Brothers, Beverley Sisters, Dickie Valentine, Shirley 6 Bassey, Donald Peers, Alan Jones and Anne Shelton. He took part in the 1954 Royal Command Performance before the Queen at the London Palladium, and in 1958 he won the Ivor Novello award for his outstanding contribution to British popular music with Melody of the Sea. During his long career he was regarded as a true Tin Pan Alley man and among his best-known songs were Old Piano Rag and A Live Show is the Best Show - a perennial favourite at seaside concert parties. He composed two major mini-concertos, the more familiar being Skyscraper Fantasy recorded by Charles Williams on Columbia (included on Guild GLCD 5101), and Mantovani on Decca. Its transatlantic style sounded more like the work of an American composer, rather than a Londoner. The other was Concerto In Jazz which attracted commercial recordings by Sidney Torch, Charles Shadwell, The Skyrockets Orchestra and Mantovani in 1948 (on GLCD 5113). When George Melachrino ( ) decided to make it one of his early stereo recordings he gave it a lush treatment which is significantly different from the performances a decade earlier. The Guild collection British Cinema and Theatre Orchestras Volume 2 (GLCD 5122) included Eric Coates The Three Bears played by the Plaza Theatre Orchestra conducted by Frank Tours in a 1928 recording. But such a notable work from Britain s Uncrowned King of Light Music surely deserves to be available in stereo, performed by a large orchestra, and our choice of the London Symphony under the baton of Sir Charles Mackerras comes from a highly regarded Columbia release in the mid-1950s. Eric Coates ( ) began his career as a violinist, and was such an accomplished string player that in 1913 he was appointed principal viola of Sir Henry Wood s Queen s Hall Orchestra. His real passion was in composing, and his earliest successes were ballads, notably Stonecracker John. Coates seems to have regarded this as somewhat restrictive: he wanted to express himself through the full orchestra, probably encouraged by the warm reception for his Miniature Suite at the 1911 Promenade Concerts. In the 1920s he absorbed the syncopation that was influencing popular music, and turned his attention to nursery subjects which were sometimes called tone poems but which he preferred to label Phantasies. Of these The Three Bears became the most popular: Coates wrote it in 1926 for his four-year old son Austin, and the opening notes clearly convey the fairytale s famous line who s been sitting on my chair? The main waltz theme is sometimes heard as a separate concert piece, 7

7 My Object All Sublime (Gilbert; Sullivan) ROBERT FARNON & His Orchestra Southern Holiday (Rapley) THE CONNAUGHT LIGHT ORCHESTRA Take Me To Your Heart (Müller) WERNER MÜLLER & His Orchestra Three-Two-One-Zero (Carson) ERIC JUPP & His Orchestra Pigalle (Koger; Ulmer) BORIS SARBEK & His Orchestra Mannequin Melody (Richardson) Queen s Hall Light Orchestra/ROBERT FARNON A Letter To Three Wives Film Music (Newman) ALFRED NEWMAN & His Orchestra A Canadian In Mayfair (Morley) SIDNEY TORCH & His Orchestra Thou Swell (Rodgers; Hart) ANDRE KOSTELANETZ & His Orchestra Vendetta (Jones; Armstrong) RAY MARTIN & His Orchestra Military Samba (McGregor) EDMUNDO ROS & His Orchestra Let s Go Shopping (Williams) Danish State Radio Orchestra/ROBERT FARNON Concerto In Jazz (Phillips) The Melachrino Orchestra/GEORGE MELACHRINO Super Six (Thurlow) Grosvenor Studio Orchestra/DOLF VAN DER LINDEN Casbah (Morley) Queen s Hall Light Orchestra/ANGELA MORLEY Polka Dot (Cook) The New Concert Orchestra/CEDRIC DUMONT Rahadlakum (from Kismet ) (Borodin) PERCY FAITH & His Orchestra The Happy Hippo (Winstone) The Connaught Light Orchestra The Three Bears Fantasy (Coates) London Symphony Orchestra/Sir CHARLES MACKERRAS Melody In Moccasins (Burns) PHILIP GREEN & His Orchestra Fly Past (Milner) Danish State Radio Orchestra/ROBERT FARNON Worcester Beacon (Dann) London Promenade Orchestra/WALTER COLLINS St. Boniface Down (Duncan) Stuttgart Radio Orchestra/KURT REHFELD London Pride (Coward) ANGELA MORLEY & Her Orchestra 3:08 2:54 2:54 2:13 1:51 2:49 3:17 3:00 2:12 2:25 1:53 2:37 7:04 2:02 2:53 2:15 3:08 2:42 9:17 2:23 1:21 3:07 6:31 2: Guild GmbH 2009 Guild GmbH Guild GmbH Switzerland Printed and made in England Total Time: 77:51 stereo & mono ADD Compiled by David Ades Audio restoration and remastering by Alan Bunting The World s most comprehensive collection of Light Music on Compact Disc Mono recordings, except tracks 1, 13, 19 & 24 in stereo. A BOX OF LIGHT MUSICAL ALLSORTS A BOX OF LIGHT MUSICAL ALLSORTS 2