A 232rd GARLAND OF BRITISH LIGHT MUSIC COMPOSERS
To start with here is a clutch of ballad or ballad-like
composers, spanning a very considerable period. Florence Marshall
comes earliest in time as her Ask Me No More, the only song of
hers which achieved wide fame, dates from 1880. Gertrude Sans-Souci
comes perhaps a generation later and is, in effect, another "singleton",
as her When Song is Sweet (but only that) may still be encountered.
Charles Vale, active either side of the Second War, composed
or arranged many songs, some, like Everyone Sang (words, Sassoon),
quite serious, but other lighter, notably Green Meadow and Lane,
ten songs for young singers dating from 1947. Cyril Winn, from
approximately the same period, had a distinguished career in musical
education; his songs include Song of the Music Makers, Knitting and
The Guardians. Stewart Nash was active as a piano accompanist
to singers before and after 1970; he composed songs for them, too –
two titles are Leisure and Rich Days, both sung (by the
mezzo Shirley Minty), at a Doncaster Arts Festival recital in 1970.
Talking of musical education, a number of composers
have specialised in work for young performers which basically falls
within our (admittedly wide) definition of light music. Sheila Nelson
is well known as a writer of instruction books and exercises for students
on stringed instruments; a few of her pieces, like Fiesta for
strings and the variations on Early One Morning can be heard
in concert. Peter Kay has composed musicals for young voices,
to words by his wife Heather, examples being The Snowman of Kashmir
(1975) and Theseus and the Minotaur, or Knock-Out at Knossos
(1976).
Anthony Foster, who lives in Sussex, has composed,
in addition to church music, Jonah and the Whale, an entertainment
for junior choirs, audience, piano and other instruments ad lib
and pieces for recorder ensemble like Show Waltz and Calypso
and Carol and Rumba. Beryl Price, active particularly
in the 1970s, produced many arrangements of traditional material for
young singers or instrumentalists, along with original compositions
– an Andantino for virginals and On the Go; Six Sketches for
Piano. Harold Perry was also a prolific arranger around the
same period along with a few orchestral pieces, like The Curtsey
and Maypole Dance. Malcolm J. Singer also comes into this
category with his piano pieces For Young Ears Only, one of whose
movements rejoices in the titles Cannoning Gavottes. Timothy
Baxter is another whose church music output is leavened by short
pieces for young performers, like The Naturity (five pieces for
piano), Jota and Cock Sparrow. And quite possibly teacher/pianist/composer
Christopher Headington’s (1930-98) short piano pieces Barcarolle,
A Cheerful Tune, Italian Dance and Sad Pastoral were also
aimed at young performers.
One or two minor instrumentalist composers to note
before we pass to some brass band specialists. Clara Ross’s compositions
were primarily for mandolin and piano – a Sicilienne dated circa
1900, is especially attractive. Franz Holford’s published work,
by contrast, was for oboe and piano: Dance For a Gnome (1957),
Summer Madrigal (1957) and Pastorale and Goblin (1959).
The earliest of our brass composers is Shipley Douglas
who dates back to the early 20th Century. He wrote marches
of which Mephistopheles and Peace and War have retained
some popularity. Trevor Walmsley served in the RAF during 1939-45
and later conducted various brass bands, Wingates, Brighouse & Rastrick
and, from 1965, Yorkshire Imperial Metals – his works for band include
one called Ocean Bounce. From roughly the same period, Ron
Gardner composed variations on A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go,
a solo, Flugel Blues and, a quintet, Kaleidoscope.
Finally for our TV/film composer. Nicholas Hooper
lives in Oxfordshire and his many scores for the large and small
screens include, most recently (2001) that for BBC1’s adaptation of
The Way We Love War.
Philip L Scowcroft
November 2001
Philip's book 'British Light Music Composers' (ISBN 0903413 88 4) is
currently out of print.
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