An
IntroductionReviews
5101 - The Golden age of Light Music: An
Introduction
5102 - The Golden Age of Light Music: The 40's
5103 - The Golden Age of Light Music: The 50's
Three extremely well presented and packaged CDs have been received giving a splendid overview of the world of light orchestral music. They are on the Guild label and have been compiled by David Ades. GLCD 5101 is actually entitled "The Golden Age of Light Music - An Introduction" and contains 25 tracks from such light orchestral luminaries as Robert Farnon, Ron Goodwin, Andre Kostelanetz, David Rose and Mantovani. The dates range from Reginald King's 1933 version of Dainty Lady to a 1953 rendering of Dancing Princess by Frank Chacksfield's orchestra. "The Golden Age of Light Music - The 1940s" on GLCD 5102 contains much of the same, with the orchestral conductors including a smattering of names very familiar to dance band enthusiasts. Billy Ternent produces an excellent version of Just One Of Those Things and Geraldo with his String Orchestra excel in Out Of My Dreams. Stanley Black, George Melachrino, Jay Wilbur and Louis Levy are also represented, the latter closing the CD with a fine Blue Skies selection. Although GLCD 5103 is titled "The Golden Age of Light Music - the 1950's" it covers, probably for copyright reasons, only a period through to 1953. But the CD still contains a wonderful selection, both of music and arrangements. Phil Green does a great job with Duke Ellington 's Caravan and, surprisingly, Edmundo Ros is featured with his orchestral version of Marching Strings. Roberto Inglez also rather forsakes the Latin mood with The Melody Maker but Mantovani's famous strings soar very effectively in Festival. If Billy Cotton's track of Petite Waltz is another surprise, numbers by Ray Martin, Robert Farnon and Percy Faith are very much in character. Stanley Black's piano gets a solo spot in his rhythmic version of The Moon Was Yellow and it is George Melachrino this time who winds things up with a marvellous Parade of the Film Hits. Each CD has been excellently re-mastered and can be recommended, especially if you like good melody, rich orchestral sounds and no vocals. Details of availability can be obtained by consulting the Advertisement in this issue.
As to reissues, the most useful sequence comes from Guild (via Priory), three volumes of The Golden Age of Light Music, An Introduction (GLCD 5101), the 1940s (GLCD 5102 GLCD 5101-3 GLCD 5101-3) and the 1950s (GLCD 5103 ). I withhold a fifth star merely because the sound quality is old, not because of any complaints over the consistently smooth restorations. Suffice to say that the likes of André Kostelanetz, David Rose, Eric Coates, Sidney Torch, Robert Farnon, George Melachrino, Camarata etc conduct either their music or the music of others with unselfconscious relish, and that the playing of their respective orchestras is often brilliant in the extreme. You want period performances? This is the real thing with a vengeance!
PICK OF THE MONTH - THE GOLDEN AGE OF
LIGHT MUSIC (GUILD LIGHT MUSIC)
AN INTRODUCTION (GLCD 5101) THE 1940s (GLCD 5102) THE 1950s (GLCD 5103)
With two eminent light music specialists, David Ades and Alan Bunting, playing major roles, this exciting new series of CDs promises to be a winner with orchestral fans. An astute choice of recordings creatively compiled is very much David Ades’ forte and Alan Bunting’s sound restoration work is up to his customary impeccable standard. Their dedicated, caring endeavours guarantee the very best presentation of this timeless music which will evoke many treasured musical memories. Furthermore, this music of yesteryear still has a vibrancy and validity in today’s frenetic world and younger folk could do themselves a favour by listening to these recordings in order to fully appreciate what melody in music really means.
An excellent roster of American, British and European orchestras has been assembled to illustrate the many facets of light orchestral music as recorded for major record companies and for the many music publishing firms. For me, every title (74 over 3 CDs) is of interest and a reminder of just how much light music was issued on 78rpm records 60 plus years ago. One expects to hear contributions from the major names in light music but there is the extra spice with collections created by experts of items by less well known orchestras and also the occasional surprise. To illustrate these points CD GLCD51O1 contains Halfpenny Breeze by Philip Green’s Orchestra, American maestro Monty Kelly playing Granada and the well remembered Dutch conductor DoIf Van Der Linden with his recording of Grand Canyon. This first disc also contains music by Mantovani, David Rose, George Melachrino, Robert Farnon and several orchestras exclusively contracted to music publishers.
Highlights on the 1940s disc feature orchestras led by Billy Ternent (Just One Of Those Things), Morton Gould (a gorgeous version of Laura) and Charlie Shadwell and the BBC Variety Orchestra (Ten Green Bottles). Particularly prominent is the wonderful Queen’s Hall Light Orchestra with several items, and rightly so since they made such a vital contribution to light music for many years. ‘THE 1950s’ continues the impressive line up and especially welcome on CD are the splendid transfers of Liza (David Rose), The Melody Maker (Roberto lnglez) and the nine minute long Parade Of Film Hits by George Melachrino and his orchestra.
Frankly, light music buffs are in seventh heaven with such riches and I wish the series every success - in the words of ‘Del Boy - “Lovely jubbly!”
This is a three-disc collection, each CD available individually, that examines Light Music in many forms and from many countries in Europe as well as North America. There's an Introduction disc, as well as one each representing the 40's and 50's. Such well-known orchestra leaders as Andre Kostelanetz, Leroy Anderson and Percy Faith are represented, along with many lesser-known performers, all sounding pretty darn good in these well-priced collections.
Voici que David Ades, de la Robert Farnon Society, s’associe au label suisse GUILD pour le lancement de cette nouvelle série consacrée à « l’Âge d’Or de la musique légère ». Avec une telle personnalité si sympathique, d’une vaste connaissance dans ce domaine, et qui nous a déjà donné tant de merveilleux albums chez VOCALION, on ne peut qu’être convaincu de la qualité et du choix des œuvres représentées dans ces trois premiers albums GUILD LIGHT MUSIC.
Les Anglo-saxons ont toujours privilégié la musique légère de qualité (ou, selon leur appellation, "concert music") qu’ils traitent avec autant de soins attentifs que les œuvres classiques de plus grande envergure, et ils ont entièrement raison, car il n’y a pas de petite ni de grande musique, mais bien de la bonne ou de la mauvaise… Ce ne sont pas moins de 74 petits joyaux qui constituent la première fournée de cette production, et il serait vraiment fastidieux de détailler les pièces, leurs compositeurs et leurs interprètes respectifs, mais il convient d’emblée de préciser qu’aucune de ces pages n’est médiocre, et, bien entendu, aucun des interprètes ne laisse à désirer. Bien sûr, tout n’est pas d’égale qualité dans cet ensemble somptueux – ce qui est normal – mais le plaisir ressenti pendant et après audition est grand et durable, et cela est l’essentiel.
Le premier CD (GLCD 5101) constitue en fait l’introduction à cette nouvelle série, et les pièces qui y sont enregistrées s’étalent sur trois décennies : les années 1930, 1940 et 1950. Le deuxième CD (GLCD 5102) est lui consacré à des 78 tours/min de 1940, tandis que le troisième (GLCD 5103) rend hommage à la musique des années ’50.
Quels sont les points forts, essentiels de cette série ? D’abord, il convient de souligner la présence d’un géant : Robert Farnon, ce musicien canadien de génie, à la fois compositeur, arrangeur et chef d’orchestre. C’est sous ces trois aspects qu’on le retrouve ici, avec le plus intense des plaisirs, car pour chacun de ses enregistrements, on peut être totalement convaincu du plus haut sommet artistique et technique dans l’accomplissement de son idéal musical. Plus anciens, mais d’égale valeur, il convient absolument de citer les Britanniques Charles Williams et Sidney Torch, ces deux géants prolifiques de la "mood music", ainsi que George Melachrino, dont chaque composition ou chaque enregistrement sont toujours de petits bijoux magnifiquement ciselés. Et leurs homologues américains ne doivent surtout pas être dédaignés, la plupart ayant suivi une formation classique très poussée : Leroy Anderson, André Kostelanetz, et surtout Morton Gould qui s’est également distingué dans une brillante carrière dans la musique de concert classique (retenons notamment ses « Spirituals » pour orchestre, et son admirable enregistrement en création mondiale de la 1ère Symphonie de Charles Ives avec le "Chicago Symphony" chez RCA – BMG).
Mais d’autres musiciens sont également dignes d’intérêt : citons Frank Chacksfield, Ray Martin, Percy Faith, ainsi que les moins connus mais d’une tout aussi grande valeur Frederick Curzon et Dolf van der Linden qui défendit la musique légère aux Pays-Bas.
Toutes ces personnalités contribuent à nous offrir un programme des plus délectables, représentatif d’une époque hélas révolue, mais qui fait dorénavant partie d’un patrimoine musical à préserver pour le futur et à chérir.
Les transferts des 78 tours/min, réalisés par Alan Bunting, sont la plupart du temps corrects ; toutefois l’élimination radicale du bruit de fond ne se fait pas toujours sans mal pour la musique : cela est surtout gênant pour les moments très doux et calmes de la musique, où apparaissent de très légers bruits parasites ("artefacts"), surtout audibles au casque. Cela n’affecte pas les passages plus sonores.
Les textes de la plaquette, dus à David Ades qui a réalisé ces compilations, sont comme de coutume un modèle d’information incomparable et difficilement surpassable. Michel TIBBAUT , ir
An
Introduction
These three excellent discs are the first to emanate from a series that is to be devoted to that rich seam of British Light Music by the ever enterprising Guild label. As is indicated by the titles, the first disc offers a wide ranging selection of pieces that is titled as an introduction while the other two discs are dedicated to specific decades in what was supposedly the heyday of this beautiful genre. The music was compiled by that doyen of BLM, David Ades who has already contributed so much to Michael Dutton's many releases dedicated to Robert Farnon, Mantovani and The Queens Hall Light Orchestra series.
Volume 1, as I am wont to call it contains quite a few pieces that have been duplicated in various discs on the Dutton Vocalion label, mostly the Queens Hall items. The great composers such as Farnon, Charles Williams, Sidney Torch and Eric Coates all have some small pieces whilst there are also the rarer items by David Rose, Duncan's 'Vision in Velvet' and an interesting tidbit from Morton Gould. This issue serves as a useful introduction to the multi-faceted style of the genre and is expertly annotated by David Ades with recordings ranging from the 30's to the 50's.
The second volume dates from the 1940's with about twenty short pieces from a veritable plethora of artists. Among the more memorable are a delightful 'Waltz from The Three Bears" conducted by Eric Coates himself and a number of other intriguing pieces such as 'Ascot Enclosure' by Yorke, 'Wagon Lit' by Sidney Torch and a fine medley of Irving Berlin themes titled 'Blue Skies'. The recordings sound quite well for their age and again, the remastering is excellent.
In 'The 1950's' we are regaled with another delightful collection of tunes from such masters as Robert Farnon, Frederic Curzon, Mantovani and a host of other composers and artists. Addinsell's beautiful 'Festival' is wonderfully done by Mantovani and his orchestra whilst Henman's 'Champagne March' veritably bubbles over in Robert Farnon's exquisite interpretation. The disc ends with another medley, this time from various film hits, performed with style by the inimitable George Melachrino.
As a lover of the genre, I can live with the inevitable duplication that entails when collecting such recordings. It is now to be hoped that Guild will focus on some neglected areas of this genre with such important composers such as Curzon, Haydn Wood, Trevor Duncan and Ernest Tomlinson receiving their full due through individual collections. However, these discs deserve all the widest currency and are highly recommended to all those who wish to begin exploring this fabulous genre.
Copyright © 2004 by Gerald Fenech
Page revised 10.06.04