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The Golden Age of Light Music — Light Music While
You Work - Volume 4
Track-listing below
rec. 1943-46
GUILD GLCD 5198 [78:25]
There are three earlier discs in this particular series — GLCD5128, 5137 and 5186. The genesis of the original recordings was the BBC radio programme of the same name, and all sides were pressed by Decca. However there was not much publicity and deletions were in some cases rapid, so many would have sold in low numbers. Guild’s concentration is here exclusively on the Light Music productions and means that Harry Fryer, Ronnie Munro, Reginald Pursglove, Harold Collins, Richard Crean and Harry Davidson are strongly represented here and elsewhere in the series. All these tracks were made and issued between 1943 and 1946.
The disc begins with a typical cavalcade of foot-tappers from 1943 courtesy of Harry Fryer. To ensure productivity was kept up there was a steady diet of uplifting melodic numbers and also a wide range of waltzes in this MWYW series. Ronnie Munro, whether with his Waltz Orchestra or with the Scottish Variety Orchestra is the purveyor of several easeful and charming waltzes. You won’t be surprised to read the names of Strauss (Jr.), and Waldteufel against Munro’s repertoire list. Reginald Pursglove had a handy band and takes the distinctive violin solo in Lonesome And Sorry with a peppy piano supporting him. Fryer died in 1946, and his was a significant loss, as he would surely have gone on to bigger and better things had he lived. He gives Carmen a Light Music going over, but Bizet wouldn’t have minded one feels, and does the same to Gounod’s Faust. Maybe he would have minded this ‘Rhythmic Paraphrase’. There’s a touch of Walton’s Façade about Dainty Miss, a song by Bernard Barnes.
Richard Crean’s orchestras always come up to the mark, no more so than when they are purveying the music of Eric Coates, so an ear should be cocked toward In A Country Lane. He’s also good at gently scrubbing down an old classical instrumental favourite like Gabriel-Marie’s La Cinquantaine, beloved by all the old school cellists, such as WH Squire. Harry Davidson mines his own personal Sousa in Old Faithful, and very rousingly so. He seems to have liked its composer, Abe Holzmann, because he returns with a toe-tapper of a march called Yankee Grit. Yes indeed. Reginald Burston, not to be outdone, bursts in with a confident, indeed swaggering Waldmere, a braggadocio march.
I assume there’s a volume 5, which should be good, because this one is excellent, albeit you must expect a certain amount of similarity of style and genre. For my taste the transfers are rather too treble starved, but they are very clear.
Jonathan Woolf
Excellent, albeit you must expect a certain amount of similarity of style and genre.
Track-listing
1 Cavalcade Of Martial Songs - The King's Horses - The Toy-Town Artillery - The Tin-Can Fusiliers - When The Guards Are On Parade - There's Something About A Soldier - When A Soldier's On Parade - When The Band Goes Marching By - The Toy Drum Major arr. Horatio Nicholls - Noel Gay - Everett Lynton - Horatio Nicholls - Horatio Nicholls - Noel Gay - Horatio Nicholls - Horatio Nicholls - Horatio Nicholls HARRY FRYER AND HIS ORCHESTRA 5:31
2 Roses From The South Johann Strauss, Jr. RONNIE MUNRO AND HIS WALTZ ORCHESTRA 3:22
3 Lonesome And Sorry Benny Davis, Con Conrad REGINALD PURSGLOVE AND HIS ORCHESTRA 3:02
4 Carmen - Rhythmic Paraphrase Georges Bizet, arr. Arthur Lange HARRY FRYER AND HIS ORCHESTRA 3:02
5 Dainty Miss Bernard Barnes HAROLD COLLINS AND HIS ORCHESTRA 2:35
6 Love Dance - Intermezzo (from 'Madame Sherry') Karl Hoschna DAVID JAVA AND HIS ORCHESTRA 2:52
7 Tick Of The Clock James Perry HARRY DAVIDSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA 2:53
8 Voices Of Spring Johann Strauss, Jr. RONNIE MUNRO AND HIS WALTZ ORCHESTRA 3:13
9 Light And Shade Wynford Reynolds as 'Hugh Raeburn' HAROLD COLLINS AND HIS ORCHESTRA 3:07
10 At The Dance (from 'Summer Days' Suite) Eric Coates RICHARD CREAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA 2:58
11 In A Country Lane (from 'Summer Days' Suite) Eric Coates RICHARD CREAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA 3:06
12 Knuckledust George Blackmore HAROLD COLLINS AND HIS ORCHESTRA 3:02
13 Dreaming Archibald Joyce HAROLD COLLINS AND HIS ORCHESTRA 3:00
14 La Cinquantaine Gabriel Marie RICHARD CREAN AND HIS ORCHESTRA 3:06
15 Faust - Rhythmic Paraphrase Charles Gounod, arr. Arthur Lange HARRY FRYER AND HIS ORCHESTRA 3:02
16 Tesoro Mio Ernesto Becucci RONNIE MUNRO AND HIS WALTZ ORCHESTRA 3:03
17 Old Faithful Abe Holzmann HARRY DAVIDSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA 2:55
18 Vision Of Salome Archibald Joyce HARRY DAVIDSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA 3:14
19 Heyken's Serenade No. 2 Jonny Heykens DAVID JAVA AND HIS ORCHESTRA 3:06
20 Les Sirenes Emile Waldteufel RONNIE MUNRO AND HIS SCOTTISH VARIETY ORCHESTRA 3:06
21 Waldmere Frank Hoyt Losey LONDON COLISEUM ORCHESTRA Conducted by REGINALD BURSTON 2:42
22 Danube Waves Iosif Ivanovici RONNIE MUNRO AND HIS SCOTTISH VARIETY ORCHESTRA 3:01
23 Amina - Intermezzo Paul Lincke HARRY DAVIDSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA 2:41
24 Artists Life Johann Strauss, Jr. RONNIE MUNRO AND HIS WALTZ ORCHESTRA 2:55
25 Yankee Grit Abe Holzmann HARRY DAVIDSON AND HIS ORCHESTRA 2:57