Robert FARNON (1917-2005)
Concorde March (1969) [3:10]
Holiday Flight (1958?) [2:52]
London Symphony Orchestra/Robert Farnon
rec. 1975, West Ham Central Mission, UK
CRD 6001 [6:04]
This is a one-off. In 1969 British Air commissioned a
march to celebrate the successful launch of the Anglo-French Concorde
supersonic airliner. They turned to Robert
Farnon, eminent composer of light music and many other types of
music, as well as conductor, arranger, broadcaster etc for the March.
It was recorded by Farnon and the London Symphony Orchestra in the early
days of the CRD label and released as what was then known as a “single”.
CRD have re-released the single as a CD both as a tribute to the 50th
anniversary of Concorde and as a reminder of their own history.
The Concorde
March is vintage Farnon and more reminiscent of his film music than
of the better-known light music. The flip side of the original disc
and the second track on this one is a revised version of his well-known
piece Holiday Flight. Sound quality has advanced a lot since
the 70’s but the acoustic is good for the time and orchestral
details come through clearly, especially the vibraphone in Holiday
Flight.
A six-minute CD may not seem like a good buy to some listeners, even
at a bargain price, but there are many, many Farnon fans who will want
this disc and others who are interested in the Concorde and aviation
history in general. Highly recommended for these audiences and as a
reminder of an era of great technological achievements.
William Kreindler
Footnote
Nimbus initially released these as digital only singles
but it was picked up by Scala Radio and then by the aviation museums
who requested CDs for the gift shops.
