The liner-notes immediately make clear the terms of reference
for this latest CD from the Guild Golden Age of Light Music
series: they state that ‘this collection does not have
a special theme or concept.’ It is quite simply an attempt
to collect a ‘varied mixture’ of pieces featuring
a diverse range of light music composers. Interestingly, David
Ades states that most of these numbers had been considered for
previous releases, but never quite found their way onto any
discs. However, he is quite clear that this was usually because
the programmes were already ‘full’ rather than any
lack of interest in this music.
Certainly the quality of this disc is immediately apparent from
the first few bars of the opening number ‘Cab Rank’
by the Dutch composer Dolf van der Linden. It is a classic example
of light music describing a cityscape - in this case, rows of
taxis somewhere in the West End. The music comes complete with
car horns. Henry Mancini is an all time favourite of light music
aficionados - best known for ‘Moon River’; however,
the theme tune to the TV series Mr. Lucky hits all the
right notes with its moody, romantic sound. Little need be said
about Duke Ellington’s lugubrious ‘Caravan’
save that is a piece that nods towards Delius - in spite of
the rather Eastern sound.
It is good to hear that great harmonica player Tommy Reilly
in a fine performance of the ‘Down Under’ theme
from the film The Sundowners. I have always felt that
this instrument is undervalued (RVW and Arnold are exceptions)
in the palette of composers’ instrumental colour. David
Rose, forever associated with ‘The Stripper,’ presents
the delicious ‘Gloria’s Theme’ from the Liz
Taylor movie Butterfield B. The score was by Kaper and
David. Kurt Weill is one of the great ‘crossover’
composers - writing ‘showtime’ music as well as
symphonies and operas. The ‘Bilbao Song’ is one
of his most delightful numbers which was part of the musical
comedy Happy End (1929) co-written with Bertolt Brecht.
The action moves back to Britain with the next couple of numbers.
London-born Trevor Duncan presents a quirky little piece call
‘Tongue in Cheek’, which seems all wrong but is
actually all right! Peter Hope, who is still very active writing
music is represented with one of his earlier pieces called ‘Spring
Collection’. To me this evocative piece suggests a wide
variety of images but is it spring in the countryside? Or perhaps
a mannequin parade with the ‘new year’s’ fashion?
Who knows, but it is a perfect piece of ‘light music.’
It was originally written as ‘library music’ for
use in newsreels or documentaries.
I am not sure what part of the world Lester B. Hart comes from,
but his ‘Scurry for Strings’ epitomises the genre:
I loved every bar of this. Murray Newman’s ‘Spinette’
is a little bit of ‘fairy tale’ music that sounds
like a music-box on holiday! I understand the title is the plural
of ‘spinet’! The ‘Cool Caballero’ by
Bernie Wayne is fun - definitely a Spanish knight having a night
on the town. Ron Goodwin is well known as a composer of film
music - especially Where Eagles Dare and 266 Squadron.
However, his little tune ‘Pleasure Island’ has a
calypso beat. It is certainly not the Isle of Wight he is evoking.
Fred Hartley was a Scottish-born conductor, pianist, and composer.
His masterpiece is the waltz ‘Rouge et Noir’. Apparently,
he occasionally wrote music under the pseudonym Iris Taylor.
‘Alma Mia’ is not the greatest piece on this CD,
but it is nice to have this piece recorded. ‘Alma Mia’,
by the way means ‘My Soul’.
I always associate Laurie Johnson with The Avengers -
the debonair Mr. Steed and the gorgeous Mrs Peel. However, from
the nineteen-sixties Johnson has been a major contributor to
TV and film music. The present piece, ‘I aim at the Stars’
is a romantic little number - however I am not sure if the ‘sound
effect’ is a rocket taking off or a hoover starting up!
Wally Stott who metamorphosed into Angela Morley has contributed
a jaunty piece called ‘Dear Old Pals’. Classic light
music sound is the order of the day in Cyril Waters ‘Leaps
and Bounds’. The mood changes slightly with Juan Rosa’s
‘Tango of the Flowers.’ We are back in a familiar
part of London with Wilfred Burns’ offering, ‘Peacock
in Piccadilly’. I think is more about vanity than the
bird - perhaps it is an English take on Frederic Curzon's ‘Boulevardier’?
Harold Geller takes us for a spun down the Autobahns with his
fast moving ‘Continental Highways’. Horsepower is
the order of the day (complete with ‘neighs’) in
Tom Wyler’s ‘Galop on Strings’. Morton Gould’s
‘Guaracha’ is the third movement of his Latin-American
Symphonette (1922). This present tune is based on a Cuban Dance
and is a finely-gauged piece that balances interest with subtlety.
Gould is a composer who is at home in a wide variety of classical
and popular musical genres. He has even incorporated ‘rap’
into one of his compositions!
Peter Yorke’s ‘Brandy Snaps’ on the other
hand is fairly and squarely in the British light music tradition,
bouncy, romantic and a little wistful. ‘Chicken Noodle’
by Peter Dennis is a ‘novelty’ song - nothing too
profound, however, there is some lovely string writing.
Back on the continent with Roger Roger and his ‘Route
Nationale’. This is scampering music with a lovely romantic
counter-melody. Certainly, it suggests motoring down to Cannes
in the immaculate open-top 1950 Citroën Roadster - or is
it a battered two-tone 2CV? The final number is the dramatic
‘On Stage’ by Billy Mack who was the Musical Director
of the De La Warr Pavilion at Bexhill-on-Sea. This piece has
all the excitement of a night at the London Palladium.
Altogether, another excellent CD from Guild. The liner-notes
by David Ades are comprehensive and give much information about
the composers and orchestras that is not readily available.
As always, the restoration of these tunes by Alan Bunting is
the best.
When I read the introduction to this CD, I was a little concerned
that we may have been scraping the bottom of the barrel. How
wrong, wrong, wrong, could I have been!
John France
Review index: Guild
Light Music
Track listing
Dolf van DER LINDEN (1915-1999) Cab Rank, The
Symphonia Orchestra conducted by Ludo Philipp (1957) [2:47]
Henry MANCINI (1924-1994) Mr. Lucky (theme from
the TV series) Frank Cordell and his Orchestra (1960) [2:16]
Edward KENNEDY 'Duke' ELLINGTON (1899-1974) Caravan,
Wal-Berg and his Orchestra (1960) [4:46]
Dimitri TIOMKIN (1894-1979) Down Under (from the
film The Sundowners) Tommy Reilly (harmonica) with Wally
Stott and his Orchestra (1960) [2:29]
Bronislau KAPER (1902-1983) Hal DAVID (1921-2012)
Gloria's Theme from Butterfield 8 David Rose and
his Orchestra (1960) [2:53]
Kurt WEILL (1900-1950) Bertolt BRECHT (1898-1956)
Bilbao-Song (from Happy End) Percy Faith and his
Orchestra (1961) [2:00]
Trevor DUNCAN (1924-2005) real name Leonard Trebilco,
With Tongue in Cheek, The Symphonia Orchestra conducted
by Curt Andersen (1960) [2:48]
Peter HOPE (b.1930) Spring Collection, The Crawford
Light Orchestra conducted by Josef Weinberger (1961) [2:49]
Lester B. HART (?) Scurry for Strings, Dolf Van
Der Linden and his Orchestra (as 'The Harmonic Orchestra conducted
by David Johnson' on disc label) (1952) [3:07]
Murray NEWMAN arr. Bruce CAMPBELL Spinette,
Bruce Campbell and his Orchestra ('Coronet Orchestra' on disc
label) (1955) [2:44]
Bernie WAYNE (1919-1993) real name Bernard Weitzner The
Cool Caballero, Bernie Wayne and his Orchestra (1957) [2:17]
Ron GOODWIN (1925-2003) Pleasure Island, Ron Goodwin
and his Concert Orchestra (1961) [2:29]
Fred HARTLEY (1905-1980) Alma Mia, Fred Hartley
and his Music (1959) [2:47]
Laurie JOHNSON (b.1927) I aim at the Stars (theme
from the film), Laurie Johnson and his Orchestra (1960) [2:31]
Angela MORLEY (1924-2009) Dear Old Pals, Telecast
Orchestra conducted by Angela Morley (as 'Walter Stott') (1961)
[2:58]
Cyril WATTERS (1907-1984) Leaps and Bounds, Dolf
Van Der Linden and his Orchestra (as 'Paul Franklin' on disc
label) (1960) [2:31]
Juan ROSA Tango of the Flowers, Dolf Van Der Linden
and his Orchestra (1957) [2:39]
Wilfred BURNS (1917-1990) real name Bernard Wilfred Harris,
Peacock in Piccadilly, Louis Voss and his Orchestra (1950)
[2:53]
Harold GELLER (1916-2005) Continental Highways,
Group-Forty Orchestra conducted by Laurie Johnson (1960) [2:31]
Tom WYLER (1923-2009) real name Toni Leutwiler, Galop
on Strings, The Harmonic Strings conducted by Tom Wyler
(1952) [2:19]
Morton GOULD (1913-1996) Guaracha (No. 3 of Latin
American Symphonette) Sidney Torch and His Orchestra (1947)
[3:13]
Peter YORKE (1902-1966) Brandy Snaps, Dolf Van
Der Linden and his Orchestra (as 'The Harmonic Orchestra Conducted
by David Johnson' on disc label) (1954) [2:43]
Peter DENNIS real name Dennis Alfred Berry Chicken
Noodle, Dolf Van Der Linden and His Orchestra (as 'Paul
Franklin' on disc label) (1956) [2:52]
Roger ROGER (1911-1995) Route Nationale, The Paris
Studio Orchestra conducted by Philippe Pares (1959) [2:56]
Billy MACK real names Walter Collins, William MacDonnell
On Stage, Dolf Van Der Linden and his Orchestra (as 'Paul
Franklin' on disc label) (1954) [2:21]
All tracks in mono except Ellington and Weill
Dates refer to recording, not composition.
GUILD LIGHT MUSIC GLCD5197 [70:20]