The Golden Age of Light Music: Nature’s Realm
see end of review for track listing
rec. 1948-61
GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5194 [77:58]
I always consider that I am having an adventure when I first listen to a new
volume of The Golden Age of Light Music. It is quite definitely an
exploration in sound and mood. In the present CD we are treated to a contemplation
of ‘Nature’s Realm’. Like most of these discs there is a
good balance between arrangements of standards from the ‘shows’
or the world of cinema and ‘original’ pieces. I admit that the
later genre is of most interest to me.
However, the arrangements on this album are all first-class. The opening Johann
Strauss Thunder and Lightning Polka is a great place to start. Well-known
to virtually everyone, it is given a vibrant performance by Sidney Torch and
his Orchestra. This presents nature at its most thrilling and spectacular.
Harold Arlen’s lovely Stormy Weather is probably more about the
‘atmospherics’ in a lover’s hearts rather than in Nature
-‘stormy weather since my man and I ain't together, keeps raining all
the time.’ It is good to have Malcolm Arnold’s characteristic
tune from the film Whistle Down the Wind. It is not a film I relate
to - but the music is classic Arnold. I love the sparkling score from the
1949 psychological thriller Whirlpool starring Gene Tierney and Richard
Conte. It is so typical of the period with gorgeous romantic strings and swirling
harps. A slightly more relaxed mood is created by the song ‘Softly as
in a Morning Sunrise’ from Sigmund Romberg’s 1927 operetta The
New Moon. Here are lots of romantic strings in the Mantovani style. Three
men collaborated to provide the ravishing September in the Rain - Al
Dubin and Harry Warren’s original was given the Ronald Binge touch which
certainly has echoes of Binge’s more famous ‘Sailing By’.
The remainder of the numbers on this disc are miniature tone poems describing
a geological, meteorological or geographical feature: painting a picture or
portraying an emotional response by the onlooker.
Peter Yorke has written an attractive little piece that perfectly - if a little
romantically - describes a Misty Valley. Not to be outdone Trevor Duncan
has contributed an essay of English pastoral music called Meadow Mist.
This is one of the loveliest works on this CD and probably deserves inclusion
in ‘samplers’ of English landscape music. It is at times almost
‘Delian’ in its harmonies and orchestration. I have not heard
of Lotar Leonard Olias before, however his ‘Tango in the Rain’
is a little bit of a novelty: a good tune complete with ‘rain and thunder
sounds’ in the background and also a melodeon, I think.
It is good to hear another piece from Frederick Curzon. He is best known for
pieces such as The Boulevardier, the Dance of the Ostracised Imp
and Punchinello. The present accomplished arrangement is a setting
of the well-known song ‘Over the Hills and Far Away’. The original
dates back to the late 17th century. Clive Richardson’s film
score-like Saga of the Seven Seas is a big, expansive piece. It conjures
up images of sailing ships and wartime convoysand is full of the salt tang
of the sea.
Leroy Anderson must be one of the best-known composers of light music. His
contribution Summer Skies is sultry piece that echoes its title: ideal
for daydreaming. I have not come across Leslie Coward before, however his
Wandering the King’s Highway is an attractive little arrangement
of a song that was once popular. It dates from the nineteen-thirties. A touch
of Elgar and Coates here along with a bit of a swing.
Peter Yorke’s Fireflies is a typically colourful piece of whimsy.
Beautifully scored it vacillates between a deliciously romantic nocturnal
mood and the delicate tracery of the beasties in question. It’s one
of my favourites on this CD. The liner-notes are right in suggesting that
Percy Faith’s Blue is the Night reflects the composer’s
mastery of the orchestra. This is a haunting number that is both romantic
and descriptive. I imagine a lady or gentleman looking out over the blue Bay
of Naples on a warm, still night and regretting the absence of a lost love.
Listening to the progress of the music suggests they will not return …
but there are plenty of other fish in the sea!
Another fine musical picture is provided by Anthony Mawer with his idyllic
Countryside. I believe it is not an English landscape - but just where
it is located is harder to say; most likely somewhere a touch warmer. However,
it has a lovely melody and is well arranged.
Thunder in Louisiana by Gerard Calvi is quite explicit - it starts
off quietly, but a jazz suffused mood takes over. Beating drums and wa-wa
brass move the music onto a different level. The score builds up to an iddy
bit of a storm before subsiding. There are lots of good orchestral devices,
especially in the percussion department. Domenic Savino’s Twilight
on Las Pampas is quintessential Latin-American mood music.
I guess that no compilation of light music would be complete without at least
one example of Robert Farnon’s craft. In this present CD, it is his
magnificent Headland Country. It is almost like a score for a 1950s
travelogue film advertising Cornwall or the Dorset Coast. However, the liner-notes
suggest a possible Canadian background. Whatever the geographical setting
it is a lovely expansive and undeniably romantic piece. Trotting Class
by Bruce Campbell is another ‘novelty’ number. Lots of good tunes
and a clip-clop accompaniment would have made this an ideal score for a romantic
Ealing Comedy featuring a day’s pony-trekking on the South Downs.
Roger Roger - I knew of someone called William William Williams once - is
a French composer who has contributed his quixotic imaginary Landscape
to the Chappell Recorded Music Library.
I just love the varied movement of George Trevare’s The Mad
Mountain Ride. This is quite a complicated piece with contrasting themes
and moods. However, the basic premise would appear to be some kind of trek/ski/sledge
in the high hills. The penultimate track on this CD is Cyril Watters’
Spring Idyll. Somehow, this does not quite work for me: it is just
that little bit too intense. Yet there are some lovely moments that exhibit
an accomplished orchestrational ability that goes well beyond much that appears
as light music.
The final number on this exploration of ‘Nature’s Realm’
needs no introduction. Ferde Grofé’s stunning ‘Sunrise’
from the Grand Canyon Suite is one of the masterpieces of American
descriptive music. It holds impressionistic description with high drama in
perfect equilibrium.
As usual, the sound quality of these restored tracks is excellent, bearing
in mind that they have been re-mastered (by Alan Bunting) from old 78 r.p.m.
and vinyl records. The accompanying notes are helpful, giving an insight into
both the composers and the orchestras.
This is the 94th release in the Golden Age of Light Music
series (see review listing):
it shows no sign of being the last. It never ceases to amaze me how many numbers
in this genre there is. If I were honest I would have imagined that after
all these CDs they would be scraping the bottom of the barrel. The opposite
would appear to be the case: each new release presents surprises and delights
that the listener can barely imagine. Long may the series continue!
John France
Surprises and delights.
Johann STRAUSS (1825-1899) arr. Sidney TORCH (1908-1990)
Thunder and Lightning Polka Sidney Torch and his Orchestra (1952) [3:03]
Harold ARLEN (1905-1986) arr. Morton GOULD (1913-1996)
Stormy Weather Morton Gould and his Orchestra (1961) [3:39]
Peter YORKE (1902-1966) Misty Valley Frank Chacksfield
and his Orchestra (1954) [2:34]
Lotar Leonard OLIAS (1913-1990) Tango in the Rain Ray
Martin and his Concert Orchestra (1957) [2:39]
Frederic CURZON (1899-1973) Over the Hills and Far Away
New Concert Orchestra conducted by Dolf Van der Linden (1957) [2:26]
Malcolm ARNOLD (1921-2006) Whistle Down the Wind (Theme
music from the Film) The Wayfarers (1961) [2:08]
Trevor DUNCAN (1924-2005) Meadow Mist New Concert Orchestra
conducted by Dolf Van der Linden (1959) [4:20]
Ron GOODWIN (1925-2003) The Whirlpool Theme (from the
film ‘Whirlpool’) Ron Goodwin & his Concert Orchestra (1959)
[2:56]
Clive RICHARDSON (1909-1998) Saga of the Seven Seas The
Symphonia Orchestra conducted by Curt Andersen (1959) [3:01]
Leroy ANDERSON (1908-1975) Summer Skies Eastman-Rochester
“Pops” Orchestra conducted by Frederick Fennell (1960) [2:57]
Leslie COWARD (?) Wandering the King’s Highway
Danish State Radio Orchestra conducted by Robert Farnon (1955) [3:07]
Sigmund ROMBERG (1887-1951) arr. William Hill BOWEN (1918-1964)
‘Softly as in Morning Sunrise’ (from The New Moon) The
Melachrino Orchestra conducted by George Melachrino (1960) [3:00]
Peter YORKE (1902-1966) Fireflies Queen’s Hall
Light Orchestra conducted by Sidney Torch (1948) [2:45]
Al DUBIN (1891-1945) Harry WARREN (1893-1981) arr.
Ronald BINGE (1910-1979) September in the Rain Ronald
Binge and his Orchestra (1954) [2:37]
Percy FAITH (1908-1976) Blue is the Night Percy Faith
and his Orchestra (1961) [3:51]
Eric SPEAR (1908-1966) Whirlwind Queen’s Hall Light
Orchestra conducted by Charles Williams (1946) [2:43]
Anthony MAWER (1930-1999) Countrywide Hilversum Radio
Orchestra conducted by Hugh Granville (1961) [2:41]
Gérard CALVI (b.1922) Tonnerre sur La Louisiane
(Thunder in Louisiana) Gérard Calvi and his Orchestra (1958) [3:44]
Dominico SAVINO (1882-1973) Twilight on Las Pampas Richard
Hayman and his Orchestra (1959) [3:15]
Robert FARNON (1917-2005) Headland Country Queen’s
Hall Light Orchestra conducted by Robert Farnon (1959) [2:47]
Bruce CAMPBELL (?) Trotting Class Dolf Van der Linden
and his Orchestra (1957) [2:50]
Roger ROGER (1911-1995) Landscape (Paysages) Roger Roger
and his Champs Elysées Orchestra (1955) [2:46]
George TREVARE (?) The Mad Mountain Ride Queen’s
Hall Light Orchestra conducted by Sidney Torch (1950) [2:58]
Cyril WATTERS (1907-1984) Spring Idyll New Concert Orchestra
conducted by Cedric Dumont (1957) [2:53]
Ferde GROFÉ (1892-1972) ‘Sunrise’ (from Grand
Canyon Suite) Hollywood Bowl Symphony Orchestra conducted by Felix Slatkin
(1956) [4:49]
Stereo: 2, 10, 12, 15, 19, 25; rest in Mono
Dates refer to recording, not composition.