A 226th GARLAND OF BRITISH LIGHT MUSIC COMPOSERS
We begin this 226th bouquet with Daryl
Runswick, born in Leicester in 1946 and educated at Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge: a multi-talented figure who has achieved exposure
as conductor, tenor singer, double bass player, record producer (notably
for The Kings Singers) and as Professor of Composition and Media Studies
at Trinity College, London, a position for which he was well qualified
as he has, over the past quarter of a century, written a considerable
quantity for films and TV. He has always been interested in jazz and
a number of his publications reflect this. His compositions also include
Suite and Low, for double basses, and Suite and Hot (1988:
three movements for trumpet and piano) and he has to his credit a considerable
number of arrangements, including some for the Kings Singers.
Next for two occasional composers, both of whom were
by coincidence living in Doncaster in 1950 but who were otherwise very
different. R.L.D. Edwards ran Edwards Motors, a local car firm
founded by his father-in-law W. E. Clark. Edwards’ hobby was composing
popular songs, sometimes both lyrics and music – no fewer than
40 in 1950 alone, of which Dandelion Clock was broadcast and
Kiss Me Again and Again was published. Kate C. Mortlock
was born in 1865 and up to 1950 was credited with more than 50 lightish
compositions including songs, like Here’s To The Hunt, and piano
pieces of which we may instance A Prelude to Nothing About Less.
For our own final paragraph we return to the Victorian
era. David Clegg appears to have specialised in novelty organ
pieces like Russian Patrol, quite recently recorded, A Church
Service Interrupted By a Thunderstorm and The Famous Lucerne
Storm Piece. John Pridham’s best known piece was Battle
March of Delhi which probably celebrated the heroic action in the
Indian Mutiny 1851, which was published for piano solo but was also
arranged for orchestra and for organ; other piano titles by him included
the polka The Hop Pickers and The Yorkshire Bells.
Philip L Scowcroft
October 2001
Philip's book 'British Light Music Composers' (ISBN 0903413 88 4) is
currently out of print.
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