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Best of British Light Music
Richard ADDINSELL
(1904-1977)
1. Theme from “Goodbye Mr Chips” (1939)
[3:19] 2. Warsaw Concerto (1941) [9:06]
Sir Richard Rodney BENNETT (b.1936)
3. Theme and Waltz from “Murder on the Orient Express” [5:43]
Ronald BINGE (1910-1979)
4. The Watermill [3:46] 5. Elizabethan Serenade (1951) [3:39]
Eric COATES (1886-1957)
6. Sound and Vision (ATV March) (1955) [3:32] 7. Covent Garden
(from “London Suite”) (1933) [5:13] 8. March “Calling All Workers”
[3:26] 9. By the sleepy lagoon (1930) [3:46] 10. Dam Busters’ March
[3:56]
Samuel COLERIDGE-TAYLOR (1875-1912)
11. Hiawatha Overture [11:24]
Anthony COLLINS (1893-1963)
12. Vanity Fair (1952) [3:43]
Frederick CURZON (1899-1973)
13. March of the Bowmen (from “Robin Hood Suite”) (1937) [4:51]
Trevor DUNCAN (b.1924)
14. High Heels [3:04]
Vivian ELLIS (1904-1996)
15. Coronation Scot (1938) [2:55]
Robert FARNON (1917-2005)
16. Melody Fair [2:51] 17. Colditz March [3:08]
Sir Edward GERMAN (1862-1936)
18. Sophia’s Waltz-Song from “Tom Jones” (1907) [3:07]
Ron GOODWIN (1925-2003)
19. Theme from “633 Squadron” [2:57]
Percy GRAINGER (1882-1961)
20. Country Gardens [2:05]
Anthony HEDGES (b.1931)
21. Overture “Heigham Sound” (1978) [5:39]
Albert KETÈLBEY (1875-1959)
22. “In a Persian Market” (1921) [5:34]
23. “In a Monastery Garden” [5:15]
Billy MAYERL (1902-1959)
24. Marigold (1927) [3:58]
Roger QUILTER (1877-1953)
25. A Children’s Overture [11:09]
Ernest TOMLINSON (b.1924)
26. A Little Serenade (1955) [3:23]
27. Shenandoah [3:53]
Sidney TORCH (1908-1990)
28. Shortcake Walk (1952) [2:17] 29. All Strings and Fancy Free
[3:32]
Geoffrey TOYE (1889-1942)
30. Concert Waltz “The Haunted Ballroom” (1935) [6:59]
Edward WHITE (1910-1994)
31. “Puffin’ Billy” [3:02]
Haydn WOOD (1882-1959)
32. Serenade to Youth (1954) [2:45]
Bill WORLAND (b.1921)
33. Millennium – A Celebration March (2000) [4:30]
Slovak Radio Symphony Orchestra (4,5,7,8,9,10,13,14,16,17,18,20,22,23,24,25,26,27,32);
Adrian Leaper (conductor) (7,8,9,10,13,16,17,18,22,23,25,32), Ernest
Tomlinson (conductor) (4,5,26,27), Keith Brion (conductor) (20),
Gary Carpenter (conductor) (24), Andrew Penny (conductor) (14):
Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (6); Paul Murphy (conductor) (6); RTE
Concert Orchestra (2,3,11,12,15,30,31,33); Ernest Tomlinson (conductor)
(12,15,30,31), Gavin Sutherland (conductor) (33), Proinnsias O’Duinn
(conductor) (2,3), Adrian Leaper (conductor) (11); RTE Sinfonietta
(21); Anthony Hedges (conductor) (21); BBC Concert Orchestra (1,28,29);
Barry Wordsworth (conductor) (28,29), Kenneth Alwyn (1); New Zealand
Symphony Orchestra (19), Ron Goodwin (conductor) (19); Philip Fowke
(piano) (2,3)
rec. no information given
NAXOS 8.570575-76 [75:51 + 74:19]
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Inevitably
these discs are samplers for the Marco Polo and Naxos CDs from
which all the items come. The numbers of the source discs are
set out in the helpful notes. More importantly this set serves
as a good advertisement for the genre. I am sure that no two people
would agree as to which pieces really are “The Best of British
Light Music”, but some at least of those chosen would be likely
to appear on most lists. Indeed, if the discs are to appeal to
those who already own similar compilations or some of the original
CDs from which the items come, there is a need for novelties as
well as the familiar favorites which inevitably predominate. The
main novelties for me were Anthony Hedges’ “Heigham Sound”, Bill
Worland’s “Millennium” and Coleridge-Taylor’s Overture to “Hiawatha”.
The last of these is strongly derived from Dvořák, and is
thus in a wholly different idiom from the rest of the programme.
I was however glad to hear it, and the other pieces new to me.
I have no doubt that overall the discs give an enjoyable overview
of the genre, even if the lack of Edwardian waltzes and the marches
of Kenneth Alford may seem inexplicable to some.
There
is however a problem in the way in which the music is laid out
across the two discs. They are not grouped by composer, as set
out above, by date, by theme or by any other obvious method.
Instead they seem to be either taken at random or to fall into
small groups of very similar pieces. For instance in succession
we get “Vanity Fair”, “The Watermill” and “A Little Serenade”,
which merely emphasises their somewhat derivative qualities.
Similarly following “Calling all workers” with “Coronation Scot”
and the “Colditz March” is simply too much of a good thing.
Maybe some listeners will be happy to listen to groups of similar
pieces in quick succession, but for me this draws attention
to their occasionally formulaic nature and does not show them
to best advantage.
The
performances are all relatively recent, with the Slovak Radio
Symphony Orchestra having the main share under a variety of
conductors. Their performances are never less than workmanlike,
but I do sometimes miss that indefinable sense of style which
we can hear on the reissues of earlier performances on Naxos
or Guild or Dutton. In particular, for instance, Eric Coates
when conducting his own music imbued it with much greater energy
and character. The Slovak Orchestra are no slower in a piece
like “Calling all workers” but they do not articulate the clipped
rhythms typical of the period. Perhaps only an orchestra able
to recall the clipped speech of “Brief Encounter” can match
those earlier performances. “Historically informed performance”
is just as desirable in music of this period as in that of earlier
centuries, and it is in many ways a pity that Naxos have not
taken their Eric Coates tracks from their own excellent historical
reissues of the composer conducting. This applies also in the
case of Ketèlbey, where the wonderfully coarse sounding choruses
he used in these pieces have so much more character than the
admirably disciplined Slovak singers.
The
performances on these discs are never less than workmanlike,
and in many cases they are much more than that. Those by the
RTE Concert Orchestra conducted by Ernest Tomlinson are of especial
merit and Philip Fowke does his best to make the ersatz heroics
of the Warsaw Concerto acceptable. Many groups and places
were involved in these recordings and it is to the credit of
Naxos that they achieve such high standards overall.
These
discs could have been better in terms of their choice of music
and the order in which they are placed, but they remain a very
attractive purchase. I would not want the shortcomings I have
described to put off anyone wanting to get an idea of the very
real merits of the genre or of the Naxos/Marco Polo contributions.
John Sheppard
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