Notes and Editorial Reviews
Surprises and delights.
I always consider that I am having an adventure when I first listen to a new volume of
The Golden Age of Light Music. It is quite definitely an exploration in sound and mood. In the present CD we are treated to a contemplation of ‘Nature’s Realm’. Like most of these discs there is a good balance between arrangements of standards from the ‘shows’ or the world of cinema and ‘original’ pieces. I admit that the later genre is of most interest to me.
However, the arrangements on this album are all first-class. The opening Johann Strauss
Thunder and Lightning Polka is a great place to start. Well-known to virtually everyone, it is given a vibrant performance by
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Sidney Torch and his Orchestra. This presents nature at its most thrilling and spectacular. Harold Arlen’s lovely
Stormy Weather is probably more about the ‘atmospherics’ in a lover’s hearts rather than in Nature -‘stormy weather since my man and I ain't together, keeps raining all the time.’ It is good to have Malcolm Arnold’s characteristic tune from the film
Whistle Down the Wind. It is not a film I relate to - but the music is classic Arnold. I love the sparkling score from the 1949 psychological thriller
Whirlpool starring Gene Tierney and Richard Conte. It is so typical of the period with gorgeous romantic strings and swirling harps. A slightly more relaxed mood is created by the song ‘Softly as in a Morning Sunrise’ from Sigmund Romberg’s 1927 operetta
The New Moon. Here are lots of romantic strings in the Mantovani style. Three men collaborated to provide the ravishing
September in the Rain - Al Dubin and Harry Warren’s original was given the Ronald Binge touch which certainly has echoes of Binge’s more famous ‘Sailing By’.
The remainder of the numbers on this disc are miniature tone poems describing a geological, meteorological or geographical feature: painting a picture or portraying an emotional response by the onlooker.
Peter Yorke has written an attractive little piece that perfectly - if a little romantically - describes a
Misty Valley. Not to be outdone Trevor Duncan has contributed an essay of English pastoral music called
Meadow Mist. This is one of the loveliest works on this CD and probably deserves inclusion in ‘samplers’ of English landscape music. It is at times almost ‘Delian’ in its harmonies and orchestration. I have not heard of Lotar Leonard Olias before, however his ‘Tango in the Rain’ is a little bit of a novelty: a good tune complete with ‘rain and thunder sounds’ in the background and also a melodeon, I think.
It is good to hear another piece from Frederick Curzon. He is best known for pieces such as
The Boulevardier, the
Dance of the Ostracised Imp and
Punchinello. The present accomplished arrangement is a setting of the well-known song ‘Over the Hills and Far Away’. The original dates back to the late 17
th century. Clive Richardson’s film score-like
Saga of the Seven Seas is a big, expansive piece. It conjures up images of sailing ships and wartime convoysand is full of the salt tang of the sea.
Leroy Anderson must be one of the best-known composers of light music. His contribution
Summer Skies is sultry piece that echoes its title: ideal for daydreaming. I have not come across Leslie Coward before, however his
Wandering the King’s Highway is an attractive little arrangement of a song that was once popular. It dates from the nineteen-thirties. A touch of Elgar and Coates here along with a bit of a swing.
Peter Yorke’s
Fireflies is a typically colourful piece of whimsy. Beautifully scored it vacillates between a deliciously romantic nocturnal mood and the delicate tracery of the beasties in question. It’s one of my favourites on this CD. The liner-notes are right in suggesting that Percy Faith’s
Blue is the Night reflects the composer’s mastery of the orchestra. This is a haunting number that is both romantic and descriptive. I imagine a lady or gentleman looking out over the blue Bay of Naples on a warm, still night and regretting the absence of a lost love. Listening to the progress of the music suggests they will not return … but there are plenty of other fish in the sea!
Another fine musical picture is provided by Anthony Mawer with his idyllic
Countryside. I believe it is not an English landscape - but just where it is located is harder to say; most likely somewhere a touch warmer. However, it has a lovely melody and is well arranged.
Thunder in Louisiana by Gerard Calvi is quite explicit - it starts off quietly, but a jazz suffused mood takes over. Beating drums and wa-wa brass move the music onto a different level. The score builds up to an iddy bit of a storm before subsiding. There are lots of good orchestral devices, especially in the percussion department. Domenic Savino’s
Twilight on Las Pampas is quintessential Latin-American mood music.
I guess that no compilation of light music would be complete without at least one example of Robert Farnon’s craft. In this present CD, it is his magnificent
Headland Country. It is almost like a score for a 1950s travelogue film advertising Cornwall or the Dorset Coast. However, the liner-notes suggest a possible Canadian background. Whatever the geographical setting it is a lovely expansive and undeniably romantic piece.
Trotting Class by Bruce Campbell is another ‘novelty’ number. Lots of good tunes and a clip-clop accompaniment would have made this an ideal score for a romantic Ealing Comedy featuring a day’s pony-trekking on the South Downs.
Roger Roger - I knew of someone called William William Williams once - is a French composer who has contributed his quixotic imaginary
Landscape to the Chappell Recorded Music Library.
I just love the varied movement of George Trevare’s
The
Mad Mountain Ride. This is quite a complicated piece with contrasting themes and moods. However, the basic premise would appear to be some kind of trek/ski/sledge in the high hills. The penultimate track on this CD is Cyril Watters’
Spring Idyll. Somehow, this does not quite work for me: it is just that little bit too intense. Yet there are some lovely moments that exhibit an accomplished orchestrational ability that goes well beyond much that appears as light music.
The final number on this exploration of ‘Nature’s Realm’ needs no introduction. Ferde Grofé’s stunning ‘Sunrise’ from the
Grand Canyon Suite is one of the masterpieces of American descriptive music. It holds impressionistic description with high drama in perfect equilibrium.
As usual, the sound quality of these restored tracks is excellent, bearing in mind that they have been re-mastered (by Alan Bunting) from old 78 r.p.m. and vinyl records. The accompanying notes are helpful, giving an insight into both the composers and the orchestras.
This is the 94
th release in the
Golden Age of Light Music series: it shows no sign of being the last. It never ceases to amaze me how many numbers in this genre there is. If I were honest I would have imagined that after all these CDs they would be scraping the bottom of the barrel. The opposite would appear to be the case: each new release presents surprises and delights that the listener can barely imagine. Long may the series continue!
-- John France , MusicWeb International
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Works on This Recording
1.
Unter Donner und Blitz, Op. 324 by Johann Strauss Jr.
Conductor:
Sidney Torch
Period: Romantic
Written: 1868; Vienna, Austria
Length: 3 Minutes 6 Secs.
2.
Stormy weather by Harold Arlen
Conductor:
Morton Gould
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1933; USA
Length: 3 Minutes 42 Secs.
3.
Misty Valley, for pops orchestra by Peter Yorke
Conductor:
Frank Chacksfield
Period: Modern
Length: 2 Minutes 36 Secs.
4.
Tango in the Rain, for pops orchestra by Lothar Olias
Conductor:
Ray Martin
Period: Modern
Length: 2 Minutes 42 Secs.
5.
Over the Hills and Far Away, for pops orchestra by Frederic Curzon
Conductor:
Dolf van der Linden
Period: Modern
Length: 2 Minutes 29 Secs.
6.
Meadow Mist by Trevor Duncan
Conductor:
Dolf van der Linden
Period: 20th Century
Written: England
Length: 4 Minutes 22 Secs.
7.
Saga of the Seven Seas, for pops orchestra by Clive Richardson
Conductor:
Curt Andersen
Period: Modern
Length: 3 Minutes 4 Secs.
8.
Summer Skies by Leroy Anderson
Conductor:
Frederick Fennell
Period: 20th Century
Written: USA
Length: 3 Minutes 0 Secs.
9.
Wandering the King's Highway, for voice & orchestra by Leslie Coward
Conductor:
Robert Farnon
Length: 3 Minutes 10 Secs.
10.
The New Moon: Softly, as in a morning sunrise by Sigmund Romberg
Conductor:
George Melachrino
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1928; USA
Length: 3 Minutes 3 Secs.
11.
Fireflies by Peter Yorke
Conductor:
Sidney Torch
Period: Modern
Length: 2 Minutes 47 Secs.
12.
September in the Rain by Harry Warren
Conductor:
Ronald Binge
Period: Modern
Length: 2 Minutes 40 Secs.
13.
Blue Is The Night by Percy Faith
Conductor:
Percy Faith
Period: Modern
Length: 3 Minutes 54 Secs.
14.
Whirlwind, for pops orchestra by Eric Spear
Conductor:
Charles Williams
Period: Modern
Length: 2 Minutes 45 Secs.
15.
Countrywide, for pops orchestra by Anthony Mawer
Conductor:
Hugh Granville
Period: Modern
Length: 2 Minutes 44 Secs.
16.
Tonnerre sur la Louisiane (Thunder in Louisiana), for pops orchestra by Gérard Calvi
Conductor:
Gérard Calvi
Period: Modern
Length: 3 Minutes 47 Secs.
17.
Headland Country, for pops orchestra by Robert Farnon
Conductor:
Robert Farnon
Period: Modern
Length: 2 Minutes 50 Secs.
18.
Trotting Class, for pops orchestra by Bruce Campbell
Conductor:
Dolf van der Linden
Period: Modern
Length: 2 Minutes 53 Secs.
19.
Landscape (Paysages), for pops orchestra by Roger Roger
Conductor:
Roger Roger
Period: Modern
Length: 2 Minutes 49 Secs.
20.
The Mad Mountain Ride, for pops orchestra by George Trevare
Conductor:
Sidney Torch
Period: Modern
Length: 3 Minutes 0 Secs.
21.
Spring Idyll, for pops orchestra by Cyril Watters
Conductor:
Cedric Dumont
Period: Modern
Length: 2 Minutes 56 Secs.
22.
Grand Canyon Suite: Sunrise by Ferde Grofé
Conductor:
Felix Slatkin
Period: 20th Century
Written: 1931; USA
Length: 4 Minutes 59 Secs.
23.
Whistle Down the Wind, film score by Malcolm Arnold
Performer:
The Wayfarers (Trio)
Period: Modern
Written: 1961
Length: 2 Minutes 10 Secs.
24.
Whirlpool, film score by Ron Goodwin
Conductor:
Ron Goodwin
Period: Modern
Length: 2 Minutes 58 Secs.
25.
Twilight On Los Pamas, for orchestra by Dominico Savino
Conductor:
Richard Hayman
Period: Modern
Length: 3 Minutes 18 Secs.
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