We begin with three composers who were active around
the turn of the 19th/20th Centuries. WARWICK MOORE
produced a considerable number of dance-flavoured miniatures like the
Russian Dance, Livonia. From some of his titles, EDWARD ST. QUENTIN
almost has the air of a "Boer War morale booster" composer, examples
from his output being his grand march, Roberts to the Front and
the quickstep Dolly Gray, published for piano solo. His song
titles included Forget All Your Troubles.
NOEL JOHNSON's songs were being sung before 1900 and
for long afterwards. Johnson, more celebrated than Moore and St. Quentin,
was indeed known mainly for his (very varied) songs. Several of these
set German words and there were Six Songs for Children and a
number of art songs like Weep You No More Sad Fountains, but
others we may count as ballads: Farewell to Summer, I Come to You,
dated 1915, If Thou Wert Blind, Grey Days, The Rose, Affinity, The
River and the Sea and Love in the Meadows. His instrumental
publications included orchestral dances from The Taming of the Shrew
and a couple of Songs i.e. without words ("I Whisper" and "Morning")
for piano solo.
JOHN W. DUARTE, born in 1919, is, as I write, happily
still with us. He is recognised as a writer as well as composer, specialising
in both areas - primarily - though by no means entirely - in music for
the lute and guitar. Many of his compositions (he has published dozens
of arrangements), mainly for guitar(s), are plausibly classified as
light music: the popular English Suite (actually "No 1", No 2
is for two guitars, No 3 for four guitars), Variations on a Catalan
Folk Song, Three Modern Miniatures (1953), Toute en Ronde, Noah's
Arks: Six Sketches for Guitar, Little Suite (for guitar quartet),
Suite Française (for two guitars) and two Greek Suites.
Finally here are two composers who have both written
a considerable amount, more particularly for young performers and of
which much is light in character. SIDNEY PAVEY has indeed had a Clarinet
Sonata published; his light novelty Gingerbread Man is also for
clarinet and piano. For orchestra his genre movements include Clog
Dance (1974), Windmills and Russian Dance. And MICHAEL
ROSE, born in 1934, has had a lot of vocal and choral music published;
his light instrumental pieces include Round Dance (1977), for
percussion, piano and string orchestra, a Suite for recorder-quarter,
Five Portraits for piano solo and an attractive Caprice
for flute(s) which I heard very recently.
© Philip L. Scowcroft
January 2000
Philip's book 'British Light Music Composers' (ISBN 0903413 88 4) is
currently out of print.
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